Lara Larson & Ron Guzman

It’s a love story that even the hokiest of Hollywood producers would refuse to green-light: The courtship of the ghetto boy and the Ivy League girl. But it happened, and Lions Ron Guzman and Lara Larson tied the knot in front of friends and teammates in the fall of 2003, then celebrated in proper style -- with a honeymoon to Australia to watch the World Cup.

Hailing from the not-very-nice streets of Bushwick, Brooklyn, Ron joined the Lions in 1995, bringing size, swagger and zero knowledge of rugby down to East River Park. With exceptional athleticism for a guy his size, Guzman brought elements of playground basketball and sandlot football to the rugby pitch, and quickly became a valuable Lion -- whether it was at prop, second row or in the centers.

The daughter of a foreign service exec, Lara won National Collegiate Championships in 1995 and 1996 at Princeton, then was a founding member of the women’s Lions in 2000. Like Ron, she was equally at home in the pack or the backs, excelling at both second row and flyhalf. While serious injuries ended her rugby career prematurely, she still follows the club, and satisfies her taste for adventure by skiing, brokering business deals, and being married to Ronnie.

We shared a few bottles of Brooklyn Lager at Friends & Family Day.

A PINT WITH: Tell me about when you guys first noticed each other.
RON GUZMAN: I think it was the second year of the women’s team (2001). At some of the drink-ups we just started talking -- we both liked sports...

APW [to Lara]: You’re shaking your head...
LARA LARSON: He’s totally wrong about the timing. It was that first Vicars, Tarts & Village Idiots Party.
RG: Oh yeah! 118 Greenpoint! That was you?

APW: What were you guys dressed as?
RG: I was a flaming redhead, with a big fire engine-red wig. I was hot.

APW [to Lara]: So you saw this gigantic flaming redhead, and said, ya know, he’s quite handsome...
LL: Yeah, well, when I saw him dancing with Christian...
RG: Yeah, Christian looked like Aunt Edna. He was dressed like an old woman in a white dress, smoking two packs a day, ready for the grave. It was horrible.
LL: Pale white legs…Sailor Rich was in the moo-moo, too.
RG: There’s actually a picture of me, Sailor Rich and Wynder in dresses.

APW [to Lara]: What were you wearing?
LL: We were pretty tame. We were Village Idiots.
RG: The Princeton Trifecta: her, Rachel [Liberatore] and Tracy [Dubovick].

APW: So when was the first official date?
RG: She went off to Costa Rica...
LL: Guatemala.
RG: Let me answer the questions, alright?
LL: Our first date was Gretchen and Martin’s wedding.
RG: Yes! You came back from Costa…Guatemala, and we went to the beachhouse and the wedding.

APW: Were people on the club eyeing you guys up, like, are those two together?
RG: Maybe the girls were, but the guys, no.

APW: Then your honeymoon was to the World Cup?
RG: Yup, down in Australia. We got to two matches – the USA and France in Wollongong, and through her company we got 10th row seats to that great New Zealand-Wales game [NZ 53, Wales 37], with free rum from her company too. We climbed the Sydney Harbor Bridge, which had a big rugby ball and lights on top of it.

APW [to Lara]: Was it much of a shock for your family to meet Ronnie the first time?
RG: It’s a funny story…She didn’t even tell her parents. It was her cousin who said, "Lara has a boy." Wasn’t that the case?
LL: Yeah. She called you "Brooklyn Boy." She asked my parents if I was still dating "Brooklyn Boy."

APW [to Lara]: Where do you come from?
LL: I grew up in Iowa, but my dad was in the foreign service, so we were all over the place growing up.
RG: You were born in Iowa.
LL: Yeah, but we were in Africa at the time.
RG: You were conceived in Iowa.
LL: We lived in Africa, but we moved back when I was like six weeks old. My parents did two years in Zaire and two years in Sierra Leone.

APW: What does you father do in the foreign service?
LL: He just retired, but he was in the economic bureau – staffing embassies around the world, trade negotiations, things like that.
RG: You went to high school in France, right?
LL: Yes. I went to an American school there.

APW [to Ron]: So you fit in with Lara’s family right away?
RG: Actually, they loved me, surprisingly! Her mother’s great. She told me, "I’m glad it’s you and not some Princeton guy!" Which was surprising: someone like me over a Princeton guy? Like that guy Shecky* [*name has been changed to protect the innocent] your mother told me about.
LL [blushing]: Shut up.

APW: Here we go.
LL: I was at this guy’s wedding, this guy I went to high school and college with. I was in the ladies room when his mom walked in plastered, and said, "Oh, Elise, this is the one I was telling you about! This is Lara Larson, the one Shecky* should’ve married! I mean, I love Shecky’s wife* and all, but this is the one!"

APW [to Lara]: What was your experience, going out to Bushwick the first time?
LL: It was fun. His family is great. But it’s culture shock, for sure.
RG: She’s quiet as a mouse. She’s not used to being around people who are yelling even if they’re not fighting.
LL: They’re a loud family. But they’re very tight-knit.

APW: So you fit in?
LL: I don’t know if I fit in.
RG: She just hides in the corner. The biggest difference is, with her family, everyone’s polite and no one wants to make a decision. It’s always, "What do YOU want to do?" With my family, it’s "No, we’re doing THIS!"

APW: When you guys are home watching TV, who’s got the remote control most of the time?
RG: I do.
LL: He does. He keeps the remote, complete A.D.D. And then, if there’s absolutely nothing on, he gives it to me. But now we have Tivo, so we both have a little more control.
RG: But I still have the remote.

APW [to Lara]: If you were Ron’s coach, how would you critique his game?
LL [pauses, looks at Ron]:
RG: I’m flashy.
LL: Yeah, he’s very flashy, which is fine. But I’m more into the player that hits every ruck, instead of the one that has the glory run, then is huffing and puffing and can’t make it to the rucks. And after your flashy runs, you can control the ball slightly better. But you’re actually better about that now.
RG: Don’t mess with my game.

APW: What position is ideal for him?
LL: I like watching him at inside center, at his ideal weight...
APW [to Ron]: What are you weighing now?
RG [proudly]: 285.
APW: What’s your ideal weight?
RG: 245, 250.

APW [to Ron]: How would you critique Lara’s game?
RG: She runs into contact instead of taking angles. She’s a great tackler, but I think with the ball in hand, she could be a better runner. Great passer, great tackler, weak runner. She gives in to the tackle.

[Lara shoots Ron a look.]

APW: I’ll let you guys discuss that later...
RG: There’s no discussing it, that’s it. I only speak the truth.

APW: Do you guys get tired of people who are surprised to see you together?
RG: I don’t get that at all.
LL: In the very beginning, people were whispering in the back of Fiddlesticks.
RG: Really? I wasn’t aware of that at all.
LL: We really don’t get that anymore, though.

APW: If you have children, it seems like they’d be great players: Ron’s flashy game, and Lara’s cerebral game.
LL: Yeah, our games are completely opposite, so hopefully the kid would combine both.
RG: The problem is, I’m gonna have him trash-talking, and she’s gonna tell him to be quiet.

APW: OK, we’re done.
RG [to Lara]: C’mon, Spidah. I need a beer.

Quick Facts: Ron Guzman

• Birthplace? Bushwick, Brooklyn
• Job? Independent IT Risk Consultant
• Favorite Beer? Guinness
• Return of the Jedi or Attack of the Clones? Star Trek--Next Generation
• Most Valuable Teammate? Too many over the years. Tuohy, Graham, Barry, Clay, Raia, Donnelly, Murph, Adil, Wrafter and Yoshi.
• Best Lions Memory? 2000 Tour European Tour and Hong Kong Tour

Quick Facts: Lara Larson

• Birthplace? Iowa
• Job? Decision Support Manager (I help marketing teams make good business decisions.)
• Favorite Beer? Guinness
• Return of the Jedi or Attack of the Clones? Return of the Jedi
• Most Valuable Teammate? I hate singling people out. But if I must, Erin, Houser and Tracy are all phenomenal players and really strong leaders. All of the women who helped get the team started back in 2000 deserve serious props, but Rachel's my winner. She’s a phenomenal backrow player and could easily have played in the backs. But she sucked it up and played prop at a buck-forty with bum knees because it’s what the team needed. She could have been an individual superstar, but chose to be a pure team player. Plus, she hits like a truck.
• Best Lions Memory? My favorite memories are kind of vague -- around developing the mind-set of a winning team. The women’s team has this great confidence now when they step on the pitch. It’s as if the other team doesn’t even deserve to be there. I love that. It’s not about playing dirty or being jerks -- it’s just about having some attitude. It was fun to watch that develop.