Been sniffing around our fine stadium these first few days and I have but one question: Where the hell are the Yanks? You know, the global superpower that so much of the world knows and hates?
It seems they are everywhere but on the pitch this weekend. I know, I know, the US Eagles are playing. Sort of. Nothing against the boys, they play hard and are probably good kids as well. But at the end of the weekend they are going to be battling it out with the likes of Singapore and Taiwan.
Still, we need to boo some Yanks here to make this event complete and the sad truth is this American team are not even worthy of your boos.
It's not their fault either. Funding is miniscule, interest in the game back home is non-existent. But, you know, this is Hong Kong - the big stage, the Las Vegas of international sevens and an event with global cachet. You send a team to this event from the world's sole superpower and they have to be a force regardless of the lack of an indigenous rugby culture.
If this was the pinochle world championship being held in Ulan Bator you can be certain the US would send a competitive squad. They have to, the pressure's always on when you're the top dog. You have to give the world a chance to boo the US.
Besides, the Americans are looking for a little international sporting pride these days. They got their lunch fed to them at the recent World Baseball Classic and, apparently, they play a little baseball in the good old US of A. No doubt that hurts. They don't even own the Olympic gold medal or world championship in basketball any more, another game they market to the rest of the world.
In golf, the Europeans crossed the Atlantic and hammered the Yanks in the last Ryder Cup. On American soil no less. They're licking their wounds all over the place. Maybe making a mark in sevens could restore some pride.