This week the Harbus has the honor of interviewing the Captain (of the backs) of the HBS Rugby Football Club. An ex-VC guy, Ken is planning to move to California after HBS in order to pursue a career in technology.
Fact File: Ken Ebbitt (OG)
Height: 5foot 8 inches (I’m really 5ft 7 3/4 – but I like to round up)
Weight: 165 pounds (although I like to round down to 160)
Eyes: Brown
Hair: Brown
Marital Status: I’ve got a long distance chick
Favorite Food: Sushi and chicken are two of the loves of my life
Favorite Drink: Bud Light
Favorite Film: All 3 Lord of the Rings and Old School (Editors’ note- who doesn’t like the Lord of the Rings?)
Favorite Band: Dave Matthews
Nickname: EBITDA
How Acquired Nickname: Somewhere between Fin1 and Fin2
Harbus: What HBS sports team do you play for?
Ken Ebbitt: The Harvard Business School Rugby Football Club.
Harbus: What position do you play?
KE: Wing.
Harbus: We’ve never interviewed a wing before. What does that involve?
KE: Running real fast and trying to avoid big guys (unlike Brendan Rauw (OF)). Equivalent in football would be wide receiver or running back.
Harbus: When did you start playing rugby? And why did you start playing it?
KE: When I was a Freshman at college (Middlebury) – I wanted to try a new sport and rugby made sense. I started playing seriously when I did a semester abroad in New Zealand.
Harbus: Is rugby big in New Zealand?
KE: The New Zealanders are fanatical about rugby.
Harbus: Why did you do a semester in NZ?
KE: A lot of people go abroad at Middlebury in order to learn languages. I didn’t speak languages and love being outdoors so NZ made sense. Also the accent was easier to understand than the Australian accent of Dan Morris (OF).
Harbus: What has been your best sporting moment on the field?
KE: Just a few weeks ago at the Duke world championships. We played well as a team. It was disappointing not to win, but still felt great to get to the final four out of 25 teams. I particularly liked our game against Darden as I received two good passes from Dan Shapero (OE) and managed to score two tries.
Eds note: Ken very humbly tried not to let on that he scored the tries
Harbus: And your worst?
KE: Last year at Duke, I got sick and couldn’t play on the 2nd day. It was bad to see us losing to AGSM(Australian team), but it was worse not to be on the field.
Harbus: How about your best moment off the field?
KE: The ride up to Montreal for the annual match to McGill in my RC year. We had 12 brand new ruggers, five 30 packs of beer, eight hours in the van and a brand new song book!
Harbus: And your worst?
KE: That would be in the Cayman Islands. I lost three consecutive rounds of 12 man spoof, which is not good in a place where the US dollar is not that strong! (Editors’ note- this means he lost a drinking game and had to buy 36 drinks!)
Harbus: So I see that Morgan Duke (NJ) followed in your footsteps in this year’s McGill tour?
KE: I like to think of him as my prot‚g‚. Although Mike Hernandez-Soria (OH) also has a lot of skill – I’d put him up for ‘rookie of the year’ honors.
Harbus: Have you had any big injuries from playing rugby?
KE: I broke my jaw in the annual game against McGill. I had a displaced compound fracture five minutes into the game (that means my jaw was on the wrong side of my head). It was my first game at HBS and I didn’t want to come off the field so I hit myself on the jaw to put it back into place and then played the rest of the game. I played OK.
Harbus: So did you go to the hospital after the game?
KE: I decided to self-medicate with shots of tequila, vodka and two dozen beers. I then went to the ballet with Derek Mendez (alumnus) and settled in for a long nights rest. I went to see as Doctor when I was back at HBS. He said it was the stupidest thing he had seen in 25 years of practice. I had my jaw wired up the next day. All I could eat for four weeks was tomato soup and milkshakes
Harbus: Did having your jaw wired shut affect your class participation?
KE: They wired me up with a portable microphone device which made me sound like a speak and spell machine. Three weeks into my HBS career it was an embarrassing experience.
Harbus: Did it affect your sex life?
KE: I guess this doesn’t say much for the state of it prior to the injury but, no it had no effect.
Harbus: Interesting. So what is the biggest challenge about being an athlete at HBS?
KE: Making it to class the morning after Kangaroo court.
Harbus: Do you have any advice for young athletes out there?
KE: Nothing apart from making sure you get interviewed by the Harbus sports editors. They’re very honest and trustworthy guys. I’d trust them with my life..
Harbus: On that note I think we’ll thank you for your time.
KE: It’s been a pleasure. Ba-cawk!
