Charles Nailen/The Hoya
Sport: Rugby
Position: Outside Center
Hometown: Dallas
High School: Dallas Jesuit (Texas) and TASIS (England)
School/Year: COL ’05
Major: Economics
Minors: Math/Spanish
High School Highlights: Captain of the rugby team senior year . Played on the team that won the State Championship senior year . Invited to the under-21 U.S. National Rugby Tryouts . Member of National Honor Society.
Georgetown Highlights: Started all three semesters at Georgetown . On the current team that won the Potomac Rugby Union Championship, and is now preparing to compete in the Mid-Atlantic Rugby Football Union in March . 2002/2003:Led the team in tris last semester with 12 total and a scored a tri in each of the eight games played . Scored two tris in the 22-10 victory over Salisbury State University and three tris against George Washington University in the quarterfinals. 2001/2002: Interim captain for the spring semester.
What’s a tri? It’s equivalent to a touchdown in football. It’s worth five points.
How would you describe rugby to someone who’s never seen it before? It’s a combination of football and soccer. It’s like continuous football – there are no downs or anything. You can only pass backwards or lateral, and you can only advance the ball by kicking or running, usually running.
Worst injury you’ve ever had: I’ve had a reoccurring shoulder injury from football. I sublex my shoulder every game – it pops out of the joint and goes back in.
How did you become interested in playing rugby? I liked the contact, and I figured I was better at it than basketball. It was a really big team in England, too.
If you could have dinner with any three people, who would you choose and why? Helen of Troy and Elizabeth Hurley, because I want to compare the two beauties of their times, and my roommate Samuel J. Potolicchio in 20 years, when he’s the President of the United States.
Best professor you’ve had thus far at Georgetown: Professor Sandra Falcon for Spanish because she taught me the merengue and the tango. I guess she did it to give us some Hispanic culture.
If you could possess any superpower, which would you choose? It’s a toss up between flight and invisibility. But I’d have to say flight, because invisibility would just get me into too much trouble.
One word you would use to describe yourself: Aggressive.
One word your girlfriend would use to describe you: She’d say I’m a brat.
Most demanding aspect of rugby: Just being physically fit, and taking hits for 80 minutes.
Favorite childhood memory: Learning how to ski. I was really young . Actually my best memory would be not having to go to ski school anymore. I was six then.
Have you ever snowboarded? Once I rented a snowboard for a day and I didn’t take a lesson. I ended up trying to go real fast and at the bottom of the hill, I somehow landed on my head and had to hike back up to the top.
Person who can always make you laugh: Mike White, my roommate. He’s from Boston – kids from the Northeast are always bigger wise-a-es.
Three magazines on your ideal coffee table: Sports Illustrated, Maxim and ESPN The Magazine.
Favorite book: To Kill a Mockingbird.
Siblings: I have an older sister, Katy (22). We’re closer now that we’re farther apart. She graduated from Northwestern and now she’s getting her Masters in Public Health Studies at Emory University.
If you could play on any other Georgetown sports team, what would it be and why? I’d play football probably, because it’s another sport with contact. I like hitting people.
If you were going to die tomorrow, what would you want your last meal to be? Fajitas – a combination of chicken and beef – and Bratwurst with Sauerkraut and a spicy mustard and a good potato salad. For dessert I’d have an apple crisp, and I’d want a Dr. Pepper to drink.
Favorite childhood toy: Transformers.
Person you admire the most: My mother because she put up with me.
If you could travel anywhere in the world, where would you go? Fiji, I want to experience paradise.
Biggest obstacle you’ve had to overcome: oving a lot because my dad is in the oil business. I had to make new friends and adjust to new situations.
Where have you lived? I was born in Anchorage, Alaska, and moved in Midland, Texas. And then I moved to Bakersfield, Calif., which is about an hour and a half east of L.A. and then I moved to Dallas. After that, I moved to England, 30 minutes outside of London, and then back to Dallas.
Favorite place to live: Probably Dallas. Usually my favorite place to live has been the last place I lived.
If you could own any sports franchise, which one would you choose and why? The St. Louis Cardinals – I’ve been a fan since I was a little boy. My parents are from St. Louis and I didn’t have a sports team to root for until I was 10 and living in Texas. And I didn’t like the Cowboys because my father wouldn’t let me.
Favorite meal from the dining hall: The pepperoni calzones. They need feta cheese though.
Personal quirk your friends give you a hard time about: I’m not a good public speaker. I kind of jumble my words up and often don’t come off as very intelligent.
Best thing about college: Freedom, I guess. Being able to make your own decisions, but knowing that you have to do it within reason, and being able to meet a lot of people in one place.
Thing you miss most about living at home: The food. And the smell of a clean house.
What do you do as a team to get psyched for a game? We watch Braveheart a lot. Sometimes on nights before games we’ll meet and have a pasta dinner and watch either Braveheart or Gladiator, but usually Braveheart.
If you could relive one moment or experience in your life, which would it be and why? Scoring in rugby for the first time. I was 15, and I had to go through two guys to do it. It wasn’t the most amazing run, but it was my time to score.
Random goal you want to accomplish before you die: I want to be the next James Bond. It won’t happen, but . he never seems scared when everything’s blowing up around him.
Are you nervous about playing in the Mid-Atlantic Rugby Football Union? Not really, because our team’s come a long way in a short time. We’ve lost a few key players – Matt Knox and Dan Hartman who are abroad this semester, but we have others returning from abroad. We have a lot of depth, so we should be fine.
What’s under your bed right now? Dirty clothes, my suitcases and boxes. Nothing interesting.
