M

M

BARRY MARTIN

POSSUM CAREER: 1990

POSSUM NUMBER: 94

BILL McARTHUR

SELECTED TO ALL-TIME POSSUM TEAM AS C SIDE PROP

POSSUM CAREER: 1996-2002

POSSUM NUMBER: 201

JACK McCONNELL

GANGLY FLANKER JACK McCONNELL WAS A POSSUM FIXTURE FOR MANY YEARS, QUIETLY GOING ABOUT HIS BUSINESS ON OR OFF THE PITCH. CLUB FOUNDER.

KICKED PENALTIES, CONVERSIONS AND FOR TOUCH AT TIMES.


FULL NAME: JACK PERRY McCONNELL
POSSUM CAREER: 1980-1994
POSSUM NUMBER: 7
HEIGHT: 5-11
WEIGHT: 180
POSITIONS PLAYED: FLANKER, LOCK, #8. PROP AND WING IN 7s.

JOHN McCORD

TALL FORWARD WHO SPENT A COUPLE OF SEASONS AS A POSSUM AFTER GRADUATING FROM UT.

FULL NAME: JOHN McCORD
RUGBY NICKNAME:
POSSUM CAREER: 1991-1993
POSSUM NUMBER: 106
HEIGHT: 6-3
WEIGHT: 226
POSITIONS PLAYED: LOCK

PHIL McGLAMERY

HAPPY-GO-LUCKY PHIL McGLAMERY LOUDLY SUPPORTED THE POSSUMS FOR SEVERAL SEASONS.


FULL NAME: PHILIP IAN McGLAMERY
RUGBY NICKNAME: UNCLE PHIL
POSSUM CAREER: 1994-1997
POSSUM NUMBER: 151

HEIGHT: 6-0
WEIGHT: 188
POSITIONS PLAYED: PROP, HOOKER, LOCK

MIKE McSALLY

MIKE McSALLY QUICKLY ESTABLISHED HIMSELF AS AN A SIDE HALFBACK IMMEDIATELY UPON HIS MOVE TO KNOXVILLE FROM PHILADELPHIA.

FULL NAME: MICHAEL PETER McSALLY
POSSUM CAREER: 1994-1997
POSSUM NUMBER: 152
HEIGHT: 5-11
WEIGHT: 171
POSITIONS PLAYED: FLYHALF, SCRUMHALF
FAMILY:
OCCUPATION:

DEAN MENKE

HARD-RUNNING DEAN MENKE WAS PART OF A STRONG MIX OF CENTERS IN THE EARLY- TO MID-1980s.

"DEAN WAS THERE WHEN I STARTED PLAYING IN 1986," SAID PAT DORWIN. "AND WE HAD GUYS LIKE GREG WENDT, BARRY LAIL, DANNY BRASWELL AND DENNIS CARMICHEAL MANY OF THOSE SEASONS."

FULL NAME: DEAN ROGER MENKE
POSSUM CAREER: 1982-1987
POSSUM NUMBER: 41
HEIGHT: 6-3
WEIGHT: 215
POSITIONS PLAYED: CENTER, WING

MICHAEL MILLER

DESPITE BEING A POSSUM FOUNDER, MICHAEL MILLER NEVER ACTUALLY PLAYED A MATCH FOR KNOXVILLE.

HE OBVIOUSLY HAD SOME EXPERIENCE, THOUGH, AS HE REFFED SEVERAL POSSUM MATCHES, APPARENTLY NOT TAKING ANY LIP FROM BOB BOGEN, WHICH PROVED THE FACT THAT POSSUM BACKS FROM BOB BOGEN TO ED EVERETT LIKED TO CHIRP AT THE REFEREE.

RUGBY NICKNAME: SWIVEL HIPS

POSSUM CAREER: FOUNDER

POSSUM NUMBER: 3

HEIGHT: 6-1

WEIGHT: 190

PERSONAL QOUTATIONS: "BOGEN, YOU'RE OUT OF THE GAME!"

BIRTHDATE: 4-27-55

BIRTHPLACE: SOUTH RIVER, N.J.

OTHER CLUBS: WEST POINT, UT, OLD DOMINION UNIVERSITY, EVANSVILLE RFC

RESIDES: KNOXVILLE

FAMILY: WIFE, THREE CHILDREN

OCCUPATION: ENVIRONMENTAL ENGINEER

RYAN MILLER

SELECTED TO ALL-TIME POSSUM TEAM AS A SIDE HOOKER

RYAN MILLER IS PROUD OF HIS NICKNAME OF "ROOSTER."

"I CAME OFF THE PITCH AFTER A MATCH, AND THIS GUY SHAKES MY HAND AND SAYS, 'HI, I'M ROOSTER,'" SAID PAT DORWIN. "I THINK TO MYSELF, 'OK,' BUT AS I NEVER HAD COOL RUGBY NICKNAME, LET ALONE ONE NAMED AFTER A FARM ANIMAL, I MOVED ON TO SEARCH FOR A BEER.

"SURPRISING, NOW, TO LOOK BACK ON IT, BUT I WAS THE FIRST POSSUM RYAN MET AND HE WAS BEERLESS," DORWIN SAID. "IT'S A GOOD THING HE NEVER MADE THAT MISTAKE AGAIN."

DORWIN SAID RYAN LATER TOLD HIM "THAT I GAVE HIM SUCH A PERPLEXED LOOK WHEN HE INTRODUCED HIMSELF AS 'ROOSTER' THAT HE KEPT HIS NICKNAME SECRET AFTER THAT."

IT WASN'T UNTIL ABOUT A YEAR LATER AT THE NASH BASH WHEN A FORMER INDIANA UNIVERSITY TEAMMATE YELLED OVER TO RYAN AS HE WAS WALKING WITH SOME FELLOW POSSUMS.

"WHO IS HE CALLING 'ROOSTER?'" ONE OF THEM WONDERED.

"ME," RYAN SAID. "IT WAS MY NICKNAME AT IU."

THAT GOT A LAUGH AND THEN A FEW MORE AS HIS FELLOW POSSUMS LET EVERYBODY KNOW RYAN'S NICKNAME - HE, OF COURSE, HAS BEEN KNOWN AS ROOSTER HERE EVER SINCE.

PAT AND RYAN BECAME GOOD FRIENDS, WITH DORWIN MOVING FROM PIGEON FORGE TO MILLER'S APARTMENT IN SEVIERVILLE WHEN MILLER MOVED NEAR EAST TOWNE MALL.

EDITOR'S NOTE: FOR MORE OF MILLER'S ESCAPADES, SEE THE PAGE "ROOSTERISMS."

"IT WAS IN A RATHER ROUGH PART OF THE CITY KNOWN AS 'FROG ALLEY,'" DORWIN SAID. "IN FACT, THERE WAS A MURDER RIGHT NEXT DOOR A FEW YEARS BEFORE, A LOVE TRIANGLE KIND OF THING.

"RYAN WAS SOON EXONERATED AS A SUSPECT BECAUSE TOO MANY WITNESSES AGREED RYAN WAS EXTREMELY DRUNK AND WENT NEXT DOOR TO SLEEP IT OFF," DORWIN SAID. "IMAGINE THAT."

EDITOR'S NOTE: FOR MORE INFO, GOOGLE "SHAYNE LOVERA."

"SO I WAS THE FIRST POSSUM TO MEET RYAN AS 'ROOSTER' AND I ALSO PLAYED IN THE FIRST GAME HE EVER SCORED TRY, FOR KNOXVILLE THAT IS, AT A RAINY 7s TOURNEY IN NASHVILLE IN THE MID-1990s," SAID DORWIN.

FULL NAME: RYAN RALPH MILLER
RUGBY NICKNAME: ROOSTER
POSSUM CAREER: 1994-CURRENT
POSSUM NUMBER: 153
HEIGHT: 5-9
WEIGHT: 180
POSITIONS PLAYED: HOOKER, FLANKER
OFFICES HELD: VICE-PRESIDENT AND EVERY OTHER OFFICE YOU NO-LOADS COULD VOTE ME INTO
TEAM/PERSONAL HONORS: 1998 MIDWEST RFU DIV. III CHAMPS
MEMORABLE GAMES/SEASONS:
PERSONAL QUOTATIONS: PLENTY - SOME EVEN MAKE SENSE, IN A TWISTED SORT OF WAY.
BIRTHDATE: 12-13-70
BIRTHPLACE: BRISTOL, TENN. (SURE, JEFF GORDON JR.)
OTHER CLUBS: INDIANA UNIVERSITY
RESIDES: STRAWBERRY PLAINS, MUCH TOO CLOSE TO POSSUM PARK
FAMILY: WIFE, HEATHER
OCCUPATION: STATE EMPLOYEE WITH MANDATED 27 DAYS OFF PER YEAR, LADDER SAFETY INSPECTOR, FARRIER

WALT MONTGOMERY

AN EARLY POSSUM, WALT MONTGOMERY SPENT SOME TIME AT A SIDE HOOKER.

"WALT WAS A SOLID, SMART PLAYER - WHETHER HE STARTED OR CAME ON AS A REPLACEMENT," SAID PAT DORWIN.

IT WAS MONTGOMERY WHO TALKED DORWIN INTO GIVING THE GAME A TRY.

"I WAS DRIVING A PLUMBING SUPPLY DELIVERY TRUCK AND WALT CAME THERE TO HELP OUT THROUGH A TEMPORARY AGENCY," DORWIN SAID. "WE WERE THROWING A FOOTBALL AROUND DURING LUNCH AND HE SUGGESTED I GIVE RUGBY A SHOT. I'M GLAD I DID."

FULL NAME:
RUGBY NICKNAME:
POSSUM CAREER: 1981-1989
POSSUM NUMBER: 37
HEIGHT: 5-11
WEIGHT: 224
POSITIONS PLAYED: HOOKER, PROP

STEVE MOORE

VOTED AS THE "MOST GREGARIOUS" POSSUM OF ALL-TIME, AND NOT COINCIDENTLY, ALL-TIME "LOUDEST POSSUM" EVER, (BOTH UNANIMOUS) STEVE "WILDMAN" MOORE'S VOICE COULD BE HEARD ALL THE WAY IN WEST KNOXVILLE FROM FORKS OF THE RIVER ON MATCH DAYS.

"THAT MAY BE A STRETCH, BUT STEVE'S DECIBEL LEVEL RARELY WENT UNDER THAT OF A SUPERSONIC JET," SAID LONGTIME TEAMMATE PAT DORWIN. "OF COURSE, THAT ONLY WORKS IF YOU'RE FUNNY, WHICH STEVE IS, OTHERWISE YOU JUST LOOK LIKE AN ASS."

SPEAKING OF ASSES, STEVE'S HELPED PROP UP MANY A FRONT ROW OVER THE YEARS.

"HE WAS IN DECENT SHAPE AT TIMES (WEREN'T WE ALL FOR SOME STRETCH OF OUR CAREERS?), AND WHEN HE WAS, HE WAS A FORCE," DORWIN SAID. "NATURALLY STRONG, HE WAS A BIG BOY THAT DEFENDERS DIDN'T EXACTLY RELISH HAVING TO BRING DOWN, IT WAS SORT OF LIKE A PACK OF JACKALS TRYING TO DOWN A BABY ELEPHANT AT TIMES."

MOORE SAYS HIS MATCH-DAY WEIGHT "VARIED ACCORDING TO HOW MUCH BEER WE CONSUMED THE NIGHT BEFORE, OR RIGHT BEFORE GAME TIME."

FULL NAME: STEVEN GREGORY MOORE
RUGBY NICKNAME: WILDMAN
POSSUM CAREER: 1980-1983 1993-1995
POSSUM NUMBER: 19
HEIGHT: 6-2
WEIGHT: 265
POSITIONS PLAYED: PROP
OFFICES HELD: CHIEF BELLOWER
OTHER CLUBS: JOHNSON CITY

MARCUS MORTON

EARLY POSSUM PROP

POSSUM CAREER: 1982-1983

POSSUM NUMBER: 42

CHRIS MOTT

A HEADY PLAYER, CHRIS MOTT WAS ALWAYS READY TO PLAY WHEN NEEDED AFTER A GOOD CAREER AT UT.

ALTHOUGH NOT THE BIGGEST PLAYER, MOTT TOOK SHARP ANGLES AND HIT HOLES ON THE BURST FROM WING OR FULLBACK, OFTEN PICKING UP LONG GAINS OR DRAWING DEFENDERS TO SET UP TRIES.

"I REMEMBER ONE GAME THAT HE BROKE THROUGH THE LINE FROM FULLBACK," SAID PAT DORWIN. "I WAS ON HIS LEFT JUST INSIDE MIDFIELD, HE SUCKED IN THE DEFENSE AND I CALLED FOR THE BALL. CHRIS KEPT DUMMYING THE PASS AND JUKING IN AND OUT BEFORE ONE FINAL DUMMY AND HE CUT BACK INSIDE TO SCORE.

"I KINDA WAS EXPECTING A PASS EVENTUALLY BECAUSE I WOULD HAVE BEAT THE COVER TO THE CORNER, BUT ON THE JOG BACK TO OUR HALF HE SAID I MADE THE TRY BY MIRRORING HIS RUN TO KEEP THE DEFENSE HONEST AND HE WAS RIGHT."

MOTT ALSO PLAYED SCRUMHALF SOME IN 15s AS WELL AS BEING A SOLID 7s PLAYER.

FULL NAME: CHRIS MOTT
RUGBY NICKNAME: "HOOPLE, ONLY STUCK IN NASHVILLE FOR SOME REASON."

EDITOR'S NOTE: MOTT THE HOOPLE WAS AN EARLY 1970s "GLAM BAND," FEATURING LEAD SINGER IAN HUNTER AND GUITARIST MICK RONSON, FAMOUS FOR COVERING LOU REED'S "SWEET JANE," AND "ALL THE YOUNG DUDES," WHICH MAY HAVE BEEN A DAVID BOWIE TUNE. GREAT, UNHERALED BAND.POSSUM CAREER: 1992-1995
POSSUM NUMBER: 127
HEIGHT: 6-0
WEIGHT: 170 (THAT WAS THEN, THIS IS NOW)
POSITIONS PLAYED: WING, FULLBACK, SCRUMHALF
OFFICES HELD: NONE
TEAM/PERSONAL HONORS: "HELPING BRING UT AND KNOXVILLE TOGETHER, NO HELP FROM VAL (REICH)."
MEMORABLE GAMES/SEASONS: FIRST SEASON WITH THE POSSUMS WITH SCOTT SANDMAN, DOUGIE POWELL AND ED EVERETT. "ALMOST LIKE NOT GRADUATING."
PERSONAL QUOTATIONS: BEFORE KICKOFFS, "HEY, DOUGIE, WHERE DO YOU WANT ME TO KICK IT? AS DOUGIE POINTS OUT THE NEXT GUY HE'S GONNA NAIL. IT NEVER GOT OLD."
BIRTHDATE: 5-20-62
BIRTHPLACE: CHATTANOOGA
OTHER CLUBS: UT, NASHVILLE
RESIDES: FRANKLIN, TENN.
FAMILY: WIFE, AMY; CHILDREN, EMILY AND ALAN

OCCUPATION: NETWORK CONSULTING ENGINEER, CISCO SYSTEMS

JAY MULLIGAN

POSSUM CAREER: 1991

POSSUM NUMBER: 107

JODY MUNIZ

A SCRAPPY SCRUMHALF, JODY MUNIZ GOT SOME SHOTS AS A SIDE SCRUMHALF OVER THE COURSE OF A FEW YEARS, BUT WILL PROBABLY BE ULTIMATELY REMEMBERED FOR RUNNING A CONDOM THROUGH HIS NOSE AND OUT HIS MOUTH - OR VICE-VERSA - AND THEN LATER SPEAKING IN TOUNGUES AT AN OHIO BAR.

NEVER ONE TO BE RUSHED, MUNIZ WAS ONCE TOLD THE VAN WAS LEAVING THE HOTEL FOR THE FIELD IN 11 MINUTES.

"DO I HAVE TIME FOR BREAKFAST?" HE ASKED IN ALL SERIOUSNESS.

FULL NAME: JOSEPH ELVIS MUNIZ
RUGBY NICKNAME:

POSSUM CAREER: 1994-1997
POSSUM NUMBER: 154
HEIGHT: 5-7
WEIGHT: 165
POSITIONS PLAYED: SCRUMHALF

OCCUPATION: NASA SCIENTIST

JIM MURRAY

A TOP-NOTCH GOAL-KICKER, JIM MURRAY MANNED FULLBACK FOR SEVERAL EARLY POSSUM YEARS.

"HE WAS A SUPER ATHLETIC GUY," SAID PAT DORWIN, WHO PLAYED SOFTBALL WITH MURRAY FOR SEVERAL YEARS AT ST. JOHN NEUMANN CATHOLIC CHURCH IN FARRAGUT. "HE PLAYED LEFT-FIELD AND BATTED THIRD AND I PLAYED SHORTSOP AND HIT LEADOFF.

"IN RUGBY, I USED TO SEE HIS NAME IN THE SPORTS SECTION AND HE WAS ALWAYS KICKING A NUMBER OF PENALTIES AND CONVERSIONS.

"I WOULD ALWAYS SAY 'LOOKS LIKE YOU HAD A GOOD GAME,' AND HE WOULD JUST REPLY, 'YEAH,'" DORWIN SAID. "NEVER ONCE DID HE ASK ME TO COME OUT AND PLAY - I COULD HAVE STARTED MY CAREER A FEW YEARS EARLIER. AFTER I STARTED PLAYING, PEOPLE I RAN INTO GOT SICK OF ME TELLING THEM HOW GREAT A SPORT RUGBY WAS AND THEY OUGHT TO COME OUT AND GIVE IT A SHOT. OH WELL, THANKS JIM.

"HELL, HE KNEW I COULD DRINK A BEER - I WAS HALFWAY THERE."

FULL NAME: JAMES QUIET MURRAY
RUGBY NICKNAME: SILENT JIM, APPARENTLY
POSSUM CAREER: 1981-1984
POSSUM NUMBER: 31
HEIGHT: 6-1
WEIGHT: 183
POSITIONS PLAYED: FULLBACK
OCCUPATION: WAS A COCA-COLA EXECUTIVE IN KNOXVILLE.

EUGENE MUSLIN

SOUTH AFRICAN UBER COACH EUGENE MUSLIN GOT THE POSSUMS STARTED ON THEIR WAY TO THE 1998 MIDWEST DIVISION III CHAMPIONSHIP - THEN TURNED UP AS THE REF FOR THE FINAL.

POSSUM CAREER: 1997-1998

POSSUM NUMBER: 187