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‘‘ ’’‘‘’’‘‘ quotable columbians
Most of us knew nothing of rugby when we enrolled at P&S in 1972. We knew nothing of the rules or the flow of the game. We got more sophisticated when we’d see other teams doing things we didn’t even understand. This was pre-Internet, so you couldn’t watch the latest world finals on YouTube. We had a little book. It was somewhat of a rogue thing. We just took money out of our pockets to buy balls, shin guards, jerseys. Our uniforms were Columbia blue and dark blue stripes. We looked better than we were, initially. I’m sure the referees were pretty frustrated with our ignorance. You fight to the death on the field, but afterward you party. You could lose the game and still win the party. It became a focal point for the entire medical school. There are traditional songs, which of course we had to learn, that got carried back and forth between the teams, carousing. Read more about the start of rugby at P&S at http://www.cumc.columbia.edu/psjournal/features.
Melvin Rosenwasser and the P&S rugby team circa 1973–74
When Dean of Admissions Andy Frantz saw that someone had been a college athlete, he’d ask whether they’d be interested in playing rugby. The scuttlebutt was that telling Dr. Frantz you’d play got you a plus on your interview. Now my eldest daughter, Katie, is a fourth-year medical student at P&S. She wants to wear my old jersey, which looks like a calico; it’s been sewn back up again so many times. I told her maybe she can wear it under her graduation gown. — Melvin P. “Mad Dog” Rosenwasser’76, the Robert E. Carroll Professor of Surgery of the Hand at P&S, was a founding member of the P&S rugby team that went on to win the 1975 divisional championship of the Metropolitan New York Rugby Football Union. He earned his nickname from “little scuffles” on the field.