How a bunch of guys formed a Rugby Club then found a great reason to drink beer and play golf

In the mid 1970’s, St. Louis Missouri was a hotbed of Rugby Union play. The Missouri Rugby Football Union had experienced growth to the point of organizing three divisions of Rugby and Clubs representing both geographic and demographic diversity. Games were played in Forest Park on Sundays from early February through May. A major tournament was hosted every Easter. As many as 48 teams from around the country competed on three levels during the Easter Ruggerfest weekend.

In the elite First Division of Missouri Union play, the rivalry between the Falcons, the St. Louis Bombers, and the Ramblers was spirited and intense. The Falcons were the physical presence; many of their starting fifteen were only available during daylight hours and with the permission of their parole officers. They were as likely to bite you in the stomach, as they were to knock out several of your teeth. Their backs had enough speed to score easily after their pack had softened up the opposition. They competed successfully on the national level finishing second in the nation in two consecutive years. They were always competitive and dangerous, to opposing Rugby players and underage girls.

The Bombers were the largest club in St. Louis. Well organized and well coached they were adaptable and arrogant. Dressed in black they always looked impressive. Their inability to beat the Falcons should have tempered this arrogance but somehow they were able to ignore the annual defeats and remains aloof. Intelligence marked some of their members and they were able to converse in English at most times. The women who hung around the Bombers had all been recycled at least twice. Most had dated a back first and then one of the pack and most likely had married at least twice before they turned 24. They were not opposed to changing partners at the half.

The Ramblers Club tried to have a touch of class with sideline picnics, champagne toasts and unscarred chins. Their women, however, were hideous, and an indication of the shallowness of their gene pool. They would compete with the Falcons or Bombers but never win.

The next tier of clubs included the Norsemen (North St. Louis), the Highlanders, and the Hornets. These clubs were distinguished by differing social attributes. This being the 70’s, drug use was one of these identifiers along with the early indications of more diverse sexual orientations. For these clubs this diversity did not center just on gender but also other species. While competing in Division I they would never threaten the top teams, and in fact would limp off the field after playing them, cursing the MRFU, blaming the referees, and pledging a life of sobriety and chastity. Like a Division I Championship, these were goals they would aspire to, but never achieved.

At the next level were primarily social organizations such as the St. Louis Royals and the Sunday Morning Rugby Club. I don’t recall any stories or facts about the Royals, they were that nondescript. Sunday Morning was so named because they never practiced, and only showed up to play on Sunday Mornings.

A final group of clubs represented the youth of the Union. St. Louis University and the Webster School Boys (primarily high school) were joined in the Spring of 1975 by Washington University. Ranging in age from 16 to 22, the members of these teams were driven to Rugby by the raging hormones in their bodies, a need to find people with I.D.s to buy them beer, and in most cases frustrations brought on by their direct experience with high school or college football coache~. Tradition was that the best players from these teams would be recruited by the Falcons, Bombers, and Ramblers with the dregs going elsewhere in the Union.

Washington University and St. Louis UnIversity enjoyed a particularly intense rivalry in those first years. Wash U being the Harvard of the Midwest was founded and coached by an ex St. Louis U player, Dwayne Goddard. With his ties to St. Louis U still in place, Dwayne scheduled Wash U’s first game against St. Louis U.

St. Louis U (the Notre Dame of, well, St. Louis I guess) had canceled their football program in the early 70’s. Whether due to budget constraints or a lack of chastity displayed by the team members we will never know. Certainly the scandals in the Jesuit world in the last few years would seem to indicate a problem in this area, but in 1975 the Rugby team was well organized and popular on the St. Louis U campus.

The first game resulted in victory by St. Louis U. There is a story told by John Wolfe that he scored a key try late in the game but anyone that knows him realizes this is most likely untrue. At the keg party afterwards, a new Olympic quality sport was invented called “catch the keg”. It seems the first keg was empty. A group of players (leadership claimed by both schools) “borrowed” a full keg from the Wash U Sigma Nu Fraternity house. After convincing the Frat boys that the full keg was empty by suggesting that no one can carry a full one like that, someone tossed an empty keg into a group of players, Bernie Lears grabbed it from the air and exclaimed “Hey, watch that”. He then returned the keg by saying “who wants to catch this keg?” The scrummers took to this as great fun while the backs ran away like the women -they are. The teams then took to scoring with each other’s women and finishing the “free” keg. The St. Louis U players were astounded to meet the Jewish women watching the Wash U players, and even more astounded that they did not have to promise marriage and procreation to have relationships with these women. The Wash U players were happy to see the St. Louis U women and were just fine promising anything it took to be with a women that didn’t have a better moustache than their own. Along with the beer, it was a mix that resulted in both sides having more than a good time.

After three years a spirited opponent, several key players from both university sides were invited to join the Falcons, Bombers and/or Ramblers. While anxious to join the higher level of rugby competition, the players had learned that Rugby is first and foremost a social game. You were going to spend a lot of time traveling, practicing, drinking and most likely bleeding for your teammates. Even though social diseases centered around syphilis an gonorrhea (this was before AIDS) you had a good chance of frequenting the same neighborhood of women with your teammates and frankly the 14 year olds the Falcons favored, the 40+ thrice divorcees of the Bombers, and hideous women around the Ramblers represented “dry hole” to use a phrase most of you will understand.

The answer was to found a new Club. The idea was hatched by the founding fathers.

Eddie Neil was assigned the job of naming the team. With a bottle of Jack Daniels and a dictionary, legend has it that “light hitting” Ed passed out after writing down “Aardvarks” and “Black Sheep”. Research quickly ruled out Aardvarks (already taken) and the Black Sheep it became. Rugby Supply had a close out special on heavy cotton jerseys that were white with a banner of gold and black stripes. Johnny Wolf placed an order for 20 of them and the first game was played in Alton, IL, at the Norseman’s four team tournament. The pitch was behind a church and the temperature was 97 degrees. The Sheep won both games with star inside center Mike Patton combing his hair while kicking the winning conversion. Everyone bitched at Wolf that the jerseys were too heavy. The Sheep were on their way.

The Wash U team had met the Webster Schoolboys for the Division III Championship in the Spring of 1977. That game resulted in another influx of key Sheep members as the schoolboys folded following the game and were invited in mass to become Sheep.

The Sheep began a steady progress in Rugby and socially. In Rugby, they easily won Division III in 1979 and Division II in 1980. The Club grew to support a second side, which also advanced to Division II. Entering Division I play, they quickly established themselves as a .500 ball club that could play with the top teams but not surpass them.

On the social front, Black Sheep hung around the St. Louis U campus and made a home at Clark’s Bar. The team trophies were displayed there and Thursday night after practice was the literal start of the weekend. Mitch, Eddie, Mo and others tended bar and the team consumed Herculean quantities of beer.

About this time, team member Lloyd Herring made a deal with his father to rent the apartment over the family drug store. He invited Tim Grady and Carl Kaercher to join him in the 3-bedroom apartment. A social phenomenon resulted that can hardly be believed today. The “schvinia pit” (origins unknown, schvinia is rumored to be “pig crap” in Italian) became the site for a series of parti’es that cemented the friendships and reputation of the team. The parties always pad a theme such as The Mad Hatter party where you had to wear a goofy hat and the End Of The World party held shortly after the 3-mile island nuclear accident. The greatest of all was the Come As You Are party where men came as women and women came as men. The pictures will be posted on the web site and give you a small idea of the dedication to the theme that the Sheep had. The parties were openly advertised in the bars on the college campuses with the heading “Mothers Hide Your Daughters” and all women were invited. The team would provide 3 kegs. If more were needed, Tim would pass the hat saying, “bills don’t rattle” and “girls can pay too”. The Kitchen Olympics were invented on the beer covered floor of the kitchen. The slippery surface was perfect for hockey with the crock-pot lid as a puck.

On the pitch the team took the next developmental step by naming a full time Coach.

An ex-Rambler, Jim Dodd, known as Hondo, volunteered for the job and the Sheep began to improve. New players were arriving including the Redels (Doug, Ken and Turtle). They, along with Don Kamp and Terry Schulte added skill, toughness and depth which Hondo led to a tie for a second place in Division I, beating the Ramblers twice and the Bombers and the Falcons once each. The Falcons still won the championships but the games were serious challenges for them and the Sheep were gaining a reputation outside the region, which was leading to even more players. Somewhere in this time the “Irish Boys” arrived as saviors. Eddie recruited them and promised them jobs and women if they could travel across the ocean and play for the Sheep. Early reports had them standing 6’5″ and 240 lbs. When Jeff, Martin and Rory showed up we were a bit disappointed. They were more like 5’9″ and 170 lbs. So were they disappointed when they found out there were no jobs. They made do with women only and brought a particularly Irish style to the Sheep.

The club now fielded three teams and was looking to move up in the standings, when

in the Spring of 1981 Hondo was forced to quit due to personal issues. J. B. Volunteered to retire as a player and become coach. While his retirement as a player was cheered by ~ all, as a coach, he was less than effective. J.B. is many honorable and valued things, but as a Rugby coach his sole contribution was to suggest “more fitness”. He eventually tired of leading himself on 3-mile runs so the arrangement failed.

Kaercher’s wife, tired of the constant bitching about J.B. took it upon herself to run an ad in the St. Louis Post Dispatch saying “Coach Needed”. She was universally disparaged that this would “never” work. I personally declared it “stupid” and bitched some more about J. B. Two days later the phone rang and a voice with a New Zealand accent asked “you boys still looking for a coach”? Rex Moore, an All Black Trialist and an executive for Monsanto Chemicals, was on a two-year assignment in St. Louis and was interested in meeting the team to “consider” coaching them. The Sheep had found a real coach. Moore demanded full authority over selection and strategy. Since we had never actually had a “strategy” before, no one questioned this and the Sheep started the Spring of 1982 with high hopes and expectations. That Spring, the Sheep became more than a threat to the Falcons. In, fact, in thy first match between the two, the Sheep delivered notice that they were now a force and solidly defeated them. They followed by defeating the Bombers. In first place as Easter arrived, the Sheep again defeated the Falcons in the Ruggerfest Championship match. Steve Schmidt ran the length of a muddy pitch late in the game to score the winning try, set up by a terrific pass from Mike Mitchell. This became the highpoint of the season as the Sheep managed to let injuries and lack of focus lead to a late season loss to the Ramblers and then a loss to the Falcons in the Championship game. Second place was a bitter reward for a team that now felt they were the best in the MRFU.

The details of the 1983 season are somewhat blurry. The Sheep repeated as Ruggerfest Champions and won the Division I Championship. We have the trophy to prove it. The games against the Bombers and Falcons were hard-fought, certainly not one-sided but with Rex changing the strategy and personnel to match the opponents and the field conditions, the Sheep seemed to be one step ahead all season. The regional game was anti-climatic after winning the championship and the team looked forward to defending their title next year.

The team knew that Rex would not be in St. Louis forever, but it was unanticipated when in the Fall of 1983 he announced that Monsanto was moving him back to New Zealand. He also announced his marriage to Pauline, and the wedding would occur in St. Louis prior to their return to New Zealand. The wedding was a great send-off with Pauline’s father (a Navy man) falling in love with the East Side bars and the entertainment there. Rex has remained a lifelong member of the Sheep and someday will get back for the Golf tournament.

The Sheep took a rapid downturn in the next few years. Rex was surely missed as were key players that began retiring or moving away. Kevin Myrick’s knees gave out, Stroh moved to Indianapolis, J.B. went to Philadelphia, Grady went to Kansas City to medical school, Duck Fitzhemy went to Law School, Bernie began to procreate, Rich “the Cock” Janey went to Med school, Matt Morrissey joined the Navy out of Law ,School, Ed Neal went to France, Doyle went to Chicago, the Vanasaks split up, and

Kevin Flood went to Dental school in Chicago. Other players moved on in life and love never to forget the Sheep. By 1989, the Sheep were relegated to rare “old-timers games” against St. Louis U.

In the Summer of 1996, Bernie Lears suggested a reunion of the team. Golf and beer were all he needed to get about 40 Sheep back together. Declaring it an annual event, the following year attendance was somewhat less. Bernie and Carl thought that having a reason to get together besides golf and beer might be a good idea. So, in 1998, the golf tournament had a charity focus that included throwing $1 per beer into a pot for the Make A Wish Foundation. The team decided to have an honoree. Randi Perkins, a young stellar high school athlete suffering from a sarcoma, was selected as our honoree. (The team raised $2,500) Randi came to the golf event and the team members fell in love with her. It truly broke these good and strong men’s hearts when her cancer returned and she became our Guardian Angel the following February.

Needing to make something good out of this tragedy, the concept of a charity event took hold and has given us a reason to continue to get together. While the Make A Wish Foundation is a great cause, we found a local group doing incredible work with kids and families; Friends of Kids With Cancer, became our chosen charity. This group provides educational, recreational and a wide variety of support  to families undergoing the trauma of cancer treatment. The volunteers get to know the families and provide support on a smaller scale often for siblings and other family members that so often make quiet sacrifices while a family member goes through treatment. Every year The Black Sheep Foundation chooses one or two kids for “special” attention at the golf tournament and they receive targeted items to help support them in their battle with the disease. In 1996, the over 150 people attending the Golf event included members of the Bombers and the Ramblers. Teammates traveled from as far as California and Canada to attend. Through the generosity and good hearts of the Black Sheep, over $350,000 has been raised for the charjties to date. And we still get to drink beer and play golf. It’s a weekend with our brothers who shed blood with us, and the chance to do something really, really good for these great kids. The people at Friends of Kids have become part of the Sheep and we thank them as well. The beautiful kids going through treatment and their families give us so much as well. I try to describe how special it is that some of the past recipients have come to the tournament and drive beer carts and help out the next kids. They make us feel inadequate, strong, lucky, useful, young, important and insignificant all at the same time. Randi Perkins, Jessica Johnson, Alexi Tullman, and Abby Wunde, are our Guardian Angels.

They are looking down on us all and laughing and smiling.

The Spirit of the Sheep lives on. The Black Sheep are an 501(3)c  non-profit known as the Black Sheep Foundation. With a very active Board, we have a goal of raising $100,000 a year for pediatric medical causes through at least four fundraising events a year.