Some Scrummy Coverage

Lies are better than half-truths, it has been said, because with lies you're in no danger of forgetting the whole truth.

Yesterday the Crimson told a half-truth.

It was a story about Harvard's women's rugby team. The team likes to have a good time, it said. It likes to tackle. It likes to drink. It likes to play rubgy.

What it forgot to say: it likes to win.

The Crimson "A" ruggers are one of the hottest teams in the area. They are 6-2. They lost their first two games of the season, each by a try. And they haven't lost since.

They beat Boston College, the 1993 National Champions, 44-0.

They beat UMass-Amherst, 49-0.

They beat UMass-Amherst, Vermont and Amherst in succession to win the Beantown Tourney.

And they beat Williams last week, 17-5.

"We had had a hard time in our first two games," said junior Patty Seo, a Crimson editor. "We just didn't have our buts in gear yet. But we've done pretty well ever since.

"It's been a good year this year," she added. "There's been a high level of dedication. People have been sticking with it."

Sticking with it, and playing well.

What makes the Crimson's performance particularly impressive is the team's depth. Harvard's "A" team is 6-2. But it's "B" could be 6-2. And maybe even it's "C" team...

Well, maybe not. But the team is still deep.

'We have three teams, but they're pretty close," Seo said. "The 'B' Team and the "A" team are particularly close. Everyone has been pretty good."

Indeed. Its forwards are among the best in the East. Its backs aren't too bad either. And it is one of the fittest teams anywhere.

All that for a group of players who probably couldn't tell a try apart from a conversion before coming to Harvard.

"I doubt that anyone had played rugby before coming to Harvard," Seo said. "We've all picked up the game since being here."

Well, the Crimson hasn't, and we're sorry. We don't have the numbers at the present to cover club sports--ultimate frisby, men's rugby, women's rugby. Maybe we will in the future, maybe not.

But when we do cover a club sport, we have the obligation to tell the whole story..

Sometimes it is excusable to tell half-truths.

But not when the truth you neglected to tell is this good.