He Said She Said: Is Rudy Ruettiger an athlete beginning with R?
R is For Rudy?
We love to play games; we own lots of games and we love having people over to play. Not surprisingly, we sometimes bicker when we play, and some games bring out more bickering than others. One game that is guaranteed to put us at odds is Scattergories. We can’t make it through a round without a pretty serious debate, and it is not unusual for a game to end abruptly with The Wife storming out of the room. Those friends and family members who have played this particular game with us know to avoid it at all costs. Those who don’t know better are not only subjected to our bickering, but they are usually forced to listen to us relive one of our greatest debates, and then forced to choose sides. Now it’s your turn.
Before we get started, let’s review some Scattergories basics.
The game is played by rolling a die with letters of the alphabet on it. Once the die is rolled, and a letter is chosen, players work through a list of categories, writing down words that start with the chosen letter. For example, if the letter D is rolled, and the category is food, a player may write the word ‘donut’ to receive a point. The answer dairy dinner rolls would earn two points, since it contains two words that start with D. If any players didn’t think dairy dinner rolls was a phrase that normal people used, they could challenge that answer, and put it up to the group for a vote. Okay, enough explaining; let the debate begin…
Today’s Ground Rules: We are each writing and posting our side of the story without reading what the other person is saying.
She Said
The letter: R. The category: Athlete. It came to me in a flash: Rudy Ruettiger–perfect, an extra point! I scribbled it down quickly and went on to try to think of more R-words for a dessert, a car part, an article of clothing (can you think of one?). When the timer buzzed, and it was time to compare answers, I had no reason to think my answer for athlete would be challenged. Imagine my surprise then, when The Donkey announced that Rudy was not an acceptable answer, and he called for a vote. I suppose I should have predicted it; he prides himself in getting double points for at least half of his answers in every round (ask his brothers about the time he convinced them there was a movie called Move over Marla Maples, Mama’s Coming Home). He must have been crushed that the name Rudy Ruettiger hadn’t occurred to him. Still though, how could he challenge it?
We all know Rudy, right? The Notre Dame fan who dreamed of playing football for the Fighting Irish? Remember the movie, how it ended with the team carrying him off chanting “Rudy, Rudy, Rudy…” How could my answer not count? Surely no one would “down it” (we vote with thumbs up or thumbs down). But then it began: The Donkey began exerting his mysterious power over the other players, and I found myself engaged in a debate over whether or not we could count Rudy Ruettiger as an Athlete whose name begins with R? The Donkey started out arguing that we couldn’t count it as double points because the name Rudy was a nickname.
Then things really heated up when he declared that I actually shouldn’t get any points at all. I can’t imagine how he justified this, but I seem to recall statements like, “Actually, Rudy wasn’t even an athlete, because he only played during that one game at the end.” I felt like I was in an alternate universe. I was so caught off guard, that I had a hard time mustering up any defense; all I could say was, “He played football. His name was Rudy Ruettiger. That’s what his parents called him at the dinner table, that’s what his teachers called him at school, that was his name. Certainly that starts with R. How could it not count?” But one by one, I saw all the players turn their thumbs down. And that was that. I got nothing. Not double points, not even a single point. Nothing.
There’s not much more I can say here to prove my point. His name is Rudy Ruettiger–whether or not it was his given name, it is clearly the name he goes by, as you can see on The official Rudy Ruettiger website. And if we can’t count nicknames, does that mean I couldn’t count Bill Clinton as a President whose name starts with B? I’m not sure what tactics The Donkey will use to convince you to take his side, but beware: he truly has a mysterious ability to convince people to do the craziest things. (The words “will you marry me” are coming to my mind…)
He Said
Sean Astin will never know the amount of contention he has caused in our house by playing a smaller than life wannabe football player.
We were playing Scattergories and the category was ‘athletes.’ The chosen letter was ‘R.’ My wife decided to be clever and put ‘Rudy Ruettiger,’ a character from the movie Rudy starring Sean Astin. As soon as I heard this, I immediately raised my hand to chanllenge.
My arguments included:
- Is ‘Rudy’ Ruettiger an actual person?
- If he is, is he an actual athlete?
- Is ‘Rudy’ his real name?
I told her that I would approve 1 point for the name Rudy or 1 point for Ruettiger, but not both. She insisted on receiving 2 votes. I politely declined and countered by stating, “You will receive zero points if you try for 2, so just take 1 point.” She refused and her fate was left to the vote of the group. Fortunately the group was well versed and knew she should receive only 1 point. Unfortunately for her, she received zero points for getting greedy. She was very upset and quit the game.
We have argued about this situation for the past 6 years and are ready to end it now. I have researched the situation and have conclusive reasons why she should have only received 1 point. There was a person named Daniel E. ‘Rudy’ Ruettiger who attended Notre Dame and played in 1 football game for 2 downs. That was it. Does this constitute an athlete? Probably not, but I will give it to her for being creative. Another part of my argument is that his name is not Rudy Ruettiger, it’s Daniel Ruettiger. Rudy is simply a nickname. Would you give 2 points for Rockin Ronnie if he were an athlete? I certainly wouldn’t because his name is not Rockin, it’s Ronnie. My best argument of all is that ‘Rudy’ is a nickname for Ruettiger. People called him Rudy because they didn’t want to say Ruettiger. To give her 2 points for the same name would be crazy. If my last name were Clark and I went by Clarky, you wouldn’t call me Clarky Clark, you would call me either Clark or Clarky. It is the same thing here. People called him Rudy or Ruettiger, but not Rudy Ruettiger.
UPDATE: Rudy’s wife has actually weighed in on the debate! Be sure to read it before you vote.
What do you think? How many points is the name worth? Be sure to vote in the poll. UPDATE: The poll is now closed. See the results here.
12 Responses to “He Said She Said: Is Rudy Ruettiger an athlete beginning with R?”
How many points would you give for musician with the letter ‘M’ and I wrote Marky Mark? That is what he went by with his funky bunch and I would fight for my 2 points. I’m with you Wife, we always needed all the points we could get when playing with The Donkey. I will always be on your side, I can be resistant to those mysterious powers of persuasion.
By Chelsea Worth on Oct 4, 2007
I would count Bill because that is a nickname for his first name. If the letter were ‘C’ I would not count Clinty Clinton as 2 point, I would simply award 1 point because this is double dipping. But greed took over and punishments had to be handed out, so zero points were given.
By The Donkey on Oct 4, 2007
If he got to play on ND’s football team – then he’s an athlete…especially if they made a movie about him. So certainly he warrants the athlete tag. Obviously, his last name starts with an “R”, so there’s no argument about giving at least 1 point. And since he went by Rudy his whole life – you’ve got to go 2 points there. If the movie was called “Frank” and he only occasionally went by Rudy, then I could see where you would have an argument. Would you tell Mitt Romney that his name isn’t Mitt? I would tell him that he’s completely full of it, but that’s another story. 2 points, Wife. Congrats!
By Philly B. on Oct 4, 2007
Oh boy!!!! This is crazy the examples people are coming up with are not relateable. Marky Mark was an officially licensed name. Mitt and Bill are some generally accepted versions of the person’s first name. Rudy was a shortened version of his last name. So putting Rudy Rutteger is using the a different version of the same name twice. If his first name had been Rudolf and his last name Rutteger then you could use Rudy Rutteger and get double points. The donkey is 100% correct wife should have received 1 point, but she got greedy. since there were manyof us, myself and my brothers were often referred to by some form of our last name. i would never try and make a claim that since one of my common nicknames was a form of my last name it was seperate from my last name.
By phil on Oct 4, 2007
I also hate when mindless minions fall subject to the Donkey’s powers. Rudy was an athlete, not a very good one, but still an athlete. Give the points. But why stop at two? In a seperate game I also put Rudy as my ‘R’ athlete. Yep, I’ll never forget the time good ol’ Rudy Rudes Rude Rud Rudester Rudski Rudimantary Rudalski Ruettiger hepled me win the round with an amazing 9 points for answer.
By Lord Baldemort on Oct 4, 2007
better mindless than hairless
By phil on Oct 4, 2007
I think Marky Mark is different because that was a band name. I would give that 2 points. However, I don’t know if people actually called him Marky. I know they don’t these days. I would actually give Rudy Ruettiger 2 points if the category was motivational speaker because he has been going by this name since the making of the movie. Way to capitalize on a stupid name.
By The Donkey on Oct 4, 2007
0 points.1. Rudy was not an athlete. He was in for 10 seconds of 1 game because he was pitied. Simply aspiring to be an athlete does not make one so. Otherwise you could have written down any human who has ever engaged in a pickup game of basketball.2. Even if you then agreed that any human to participate in an athletic event is an athlete then the points would only equal 1, for Reuttiger. Using nicknames is double dipping and should not be allowed in conventional scattegories matches. What if I was to say “Rowdy Roddy Piper?” Do I get two points? I wouldn’t expect it. Nicknames are made up.Still I wouldn’t call him an athlete so the point is moot. ZERO points.
By Karlmalone on Oct 4, 2007
I think you should go by Clarky Clark because it has a nice ring to it. I would like two points for using it in the game but I am not sure what the category would be…
By Karlmalone on Oct 4, 2007
The Wife was robbed. If you have played for Notre Dame football you’re an athlete. And if he introduces himself as Rudy I say that’s his name. And for some reason I think that if the donkey was the one who thought of Rudy Ruettiger this wouldn’t even be a debate.
By Karen Rich on Oct 4, 2007
Oh, btw an article of clothing starting with “R” Royal Robe! Do I get two points?
By Philip on Oct 5, 2007
So I join this debate almost a year to the day later. I have less problems with the Donkey and the dual points for “R” than his inference that Ruettiger was a “wannabe”. More guts, more determination, and more willpower than fifty thousand overweight genetic mutants (or maybe steroid suckers) that call themselves athletes, drink themselves silly, and think the world owes them a living because they can carry a leather bag of air.
By Ron on Oct 6, 2008