Let's Talk About the Proclaimers and Rugby

You know, the Proclaimers. "I would walk 500 miles..." guys.

Little did I know when I moved here that this group was such a part of the area's history. The Proclaimers are from the little village of Auchtermuchty in Fife. That's right, I teach at Auchtermuchty Primary. The 500 Miles group grew up going to my school.

This fact is nice within itself but I am amazed with all the places the Proclaimers pop up! I went to the local youth theater's performance of "Back to the 80's" this past weekend. A good 10 minute portion of the show was dedicated to joking around about the "nerdy guys from Scotland" before the two leads broke into "500 Miles" - with full audience participation.

Last night, I went to Murrayfield Stadium in Edinburgh to watch Team Scotland take on Australia in rugby. It was a pretty good game - definitely a more interesting 2nd half than first. I discovered that everything that annoys me about US Football (sorry but anyone who knows me should know I pretty much loathe American Football) is eliminated to play rugby making it a very watchable and enjoyable sport. Scotland is an OK team from my understanding where Australia is a very strong team. We have not beaten them since 1982. Until last night! What a great day to go to my first rugby game. With 2 seconds left on the clock, Scotland was ahead 9-3. By the end of that last play, Australia had finally crossed the line and brought the score to 8-3 AND they still had the chance to kick for another 2 points. All looked lost. The Scots were about to lose despite their once commanding lead. And the Aussie (aussie, aussie, oi, oi,oi) blew the kick.

The energy level was off the hook! So in this moment of history for the Scottish rugby team with an almost full stadium, what song do they blast out in celebration? You guess it..."500 Miles". With full audience participation (for the second night in a row). I suppose this loyalty and pride in The Proclaimers can be likened to hearing a Bon Jovi song at any New Jersey wedding. I'm happy to jump on this bandwagon - I've always loved the song and now realize I will forever associate it with my year in Scotland.