New Obsession Unlocked: The Show Pony Meets Rugby
From Olympic curiosity to a Chicago Hounds diehard, one day in Nashville turned rugby from a casual interest into my latest full-blown obsession.
This whole thing actually started a couple of years ago during the Olympics, watching the USA Women’s Rugby Sevens team pull off one of the most electric finishes I’ve ever seen to win bronze. I didn’t fully understand the sport yet, but I knew this: it was fast, violent, and wildly entertaining. And more importantly—it felt different. Not manufactured. Not overproduced. Just raw competition.
That moment stuck with me.
Then came a full-circle experience. At Radio Row for the Army–Navy Game in Washington, D.C., we had the chance to sit down with Sammy Sullivan—a bronze medalist from that very team. She told us about her journey, her Army career, how she found rugby, and how it became part of her identity. And yeah… she let me wear the medal. That’ll hook you real quick.
From that moment, rugby was on my radar.
Wait… Chicago Has a Rugby Team?!
Fast forward to a couple months ago, and I hear the Chicago Hounds are playing a match in Nashville against the New England Free Jacks in what they called the Music City Showdown.
