About that Conversation with Fitzgerald…

Say. I had a nice conversation with Patrick Fitzgerald last Wednesday.

Now that I've unburied myself from the fun of verdict watch, would you all like to hear about it?

FDL reader CityGirl and I ran into Fitzgerald and his spokesperson, Randall Samborn, in the hallway of Prettyman. I introduced myself and CityGirl did the same. And then I very quickly blurted out that I went to Amherst, and had played rugby there. 

A little hint to you Fitz-fans who also happen to be former Amherst rugby players: it's a topic he will engage in. I was curious, first of all, whether he had had the same coach who coached the men and women's teams when I played, Bob Hopley. Nope, apparently back in the day the rugby team was player coached. Pity for Fitz–Bob also happened to be a wine critic, which added a civilized side to captain's meetings. I made sure he knew the college team had started an alumni fundraising drive (they must have lost my address, he said sheepishly–me, I wonder whether he was simply preoccupied with something).

We talked about the character of our teams during the time we played at Amherst. In his day, the men's team was good; as it was when I played. The woman's team went from being crappy (I first played fullback and basically served as a human goalie because the rest of our defense was a sieve) to–my senior year, when I was on crutches with a knee injury–finally started beating Williams; the following year it would go Division One. 

We talked about the club teams we played with after college. The nationals players we played with. Talked about our relative speed (I had it, Fitz says he didn't) and kicking ability (ditto). Though he did tell me about a Sevens tournament he played in–restricted to players over 200 pounds–where he got to do a lot of running and kicking. As Fitzgerald told it, anyway, it sounded pretty pathetic. We talked about the recent match where the Irish scored 43 points against the English. (Yup, I mentioned that, courtesy of mr. emptywheel, I am now officially an Irish former Amhest rugger.)

It was the kind of conversation old ruggers often have, reliving the fun. Only without the beer. 

What's that? You're all asking when I got around to grilling Fitzgerald with all those questions I've wanted to ask him since day one? Like whether the prosecution really bought Addington and Cheney's theories of insta-declassification? Or whether Woodward and Novak came into their meetings with Armitage prepped to push him to leak Plame's identity? Or what George Tenet told him, particularly about the fights over his statement the week of the leak? Or Rove, how the hell Rove beat the rap? Or finally the details about Plame's status, Brewster and Jennings, and Judy's and Novak's use of the name, "Flame"?

Dammit. I forgot to ask. Sorry. 

I guess that's why I'm a blogger and not a journalist.

So, unfortunately here's my big scoop from my conversation with Fitzgerald: He played second row and eightman.  And if you're interested, I was a natural outside center.

Related posts:

1. The Contents of the Fitzgerald-Cheney Interview, Annotated Edition
2. The Contents of the Fitzgerald-Cheney Interview, Annotated Edition
3. NEA “Scandal”: Secretly Taped Conversation Appears to Have Violated State Laws
4. Patrick Fitzgerald Gets a Promotion
5. Fitzgerald-Cheney Interview: A Comedy of Excuses