No account of Saracens R.F.C. games would be complete without mention of s.n.a.f.u., a by now famous Prairie rugby tournament established in Winnipeg as early as 1973. In fact Gerry Nufer, a founding Saracen, remembers his then father-in-law suggesting the name. As everyone knows s.n.a.f.u.. is a military acronym for SITUATION NORMAL ALL FOULED UP. This is according to Oxford. Webster on the other hand is more liberal and replaces FOULED with an early- world mariner's term of Dutch origin denoting a still relatively common sexual practice. Over the years the name has proved particularly apt. It should be added, this is so in both Oxford's and Webster's understanding of the expression.

From its beginnings s.n.a.f.u.. was a grass-roots prairie celebration of rugby. This meant that the St. Paul's Pigs and teams from Regina, Moose Jaw and Saskatoon would travel to Winnipeg the August long-weekend to play a few games of rugby and see who could produce the most outlandish behavior at the Saturday night social. Much praise and recognition was heaped upon those who stood-out in this second activity. Indeed over the years stories were told, re-told, embellished and placed into the amassing s.n.a.f.u.. mythology. There were absolutely no awards nor any recognition given for achievement on the field. From its inception and for some time the tournament was non-competitive. Teams were simply matched up to play a couple of games on the Saturday and more on Sunday if they were still then physically capable.

In 1976 things literally became a s.n.a.f.u.. with the club's officers unable to pull things together A number of teams traveled in that year but I do not remember a single game being played. Surely there must have been one or two. A number of the clubs were very irate and they had a right to be. But not surprisingly the annual s.n.a.f.u.. social was a huge success that year. There was just so much unused energy left to be burned up.

Equally unsurprising, clubs were most reluctant to enter the tournament the next year. The would-be organizers' problems were compounded when the town of Rugby, North Dakota, organized, for reasons best known to itself a rugby tournament to he held the same weekend. It was billed as a 'first annual' but I don't believe it was staged a second time. Regardless, and with some justification, local clubs saw this new tournament as the better alternative. The Saskatchewan teams simply refused to come to s.n.a.f.u.. that year

It was then decided that the situation might be helped if s.n.a.f.u.. was made into a genuine rugby competition. A trophy was obtained and a competitive schedule drawn up. A major problem remained: there weren't really enough teams to fill out the proposed draw. Saracens of course entered a team and so fortunately did the St. Paul's Pigs (have they ever missed a s.n.a.f.u..?) As well, there was a side from the Assassins. Three teams hardly made for a competition and, therefore, a second decision was made. That is, a fourth entry would be created to fill out the draw and it was to be a team comprised mostly of Saracens players who had attended St. John's High School.

The plan worked well enough in the end as the final was played between the Saracens and St. John's High School Old Boys. It proved a torrid affair played in an atmosphere not unlike that of teachers playing pupils, where each group has something to prove to the other. The Saracens opened the scoring in the most incredible way - a putative drop kick by a lock forward! From broken play just outside the St. John's 22, Ed Bitz - or Bolty as he was called, found himself running with the ball. Puzzled as to what he might do with it, he let go a mighty punt which went clean through the goal posts and over the crossbar. Older heads on the Saracens - and there were those aplenty - appealed for a dropped goal. John Whyte, suitably resplendent in a cricket umpire's whites, considered the request momentarily and then awarded a goal: Saracens 3, St. John's 0. B. nil. To this day, Bolty has no clue as to what the congratulations, disingenuously bestowed upon him by his teammates, were all about.

Later, but still in the first half, Howie Goss kicked an easy penalty for St. John's to tie the game up. (Why was Howie playing for St. John's?) It was still tied at the end of sixty minutes regulation time thus requiring even more decisions. Overtime was played and the game went on and on. Ten minutes each way once and then repeated. One hundred minutes played with the score still standing at 3 all and no change pending. Tired and hot, the need to prove anything rapidly evaporated, and the match was declared a draw. (It really should have been a game of cricket.) Saracens R.F.C. and St. John's High School Old Boys shared the first s.n.a.f.u.. final and the winner's trophy. They have never played each other since.