Okay, let’s talk about USA versus Canada rugby. It’s one of those rivalries, you know? Always a bit of extra spice there.
I remember this one time, must’ve been a couple of years back, I got this bright idea to actually make an event out of watching one of their matches. Seemed simple enough, right? Get some friends together, grab some beers, watch the game. Easy.
Finding the Game was Step One
First hurdle: figuring out where to watch it. I thought, my local sports bar, they show everything. Called them up. Nope. They weren’t planning on showing it. Apparently, not enough ‘demand’. They had like five different baseball games on, but no room for the rugby. Bit disappointing, that.
So, okay, plan B. Host it at my place. Now I had to find the actual broadcast. Man, that was a mission. Spent a good hour searching online. Is it on this channel? No. This streaming service? Maybe, if you buy the super ultra premium package. Why do they make it so hard? Found some dodgy looking stream link eventually, hoped for the best.
Getting People On Board
Next up, rallying the troops. Sent out a group text. You know how that goes.
- Lots of ‘Sounds cool!’ followed by silence.
- A few ‘Maybe, depends on the time’.
- A couple of solid ‘Yes!’ guys.
Trying to get a firm headcount felt like herding cats. People dropping out last minute, others asking if they could bring a friend two minutes before kickoff.
The Grand Finale (Sort Of)
In the end, kickoff time rolls around. The dodgy stream actually worked, surprisingly, but the quality wasn’t great on the big TV. We ended up crowding around my computer monitor mostly. It was me and maybe four other guys who showed up.
We made the best of it. Got pizza, had some beers, cheered and groaned at the screen. The game itself was decent, hard-fought like you’d expect between those two. But the whole experience of trying to organize the simple act of watching it? Honestly, it was way more hassle than I thought it would be.
It just felt like one of those things that should be straightforward but ends up being a bunch of small, annoying problems stacked on top of each other. Still, saw the match with some buddies, so can’t complain too much, I guess. Just reminded me that sometimes, the simplest plans turn into unexpected adventures in frustration.
