Monday, November 4, 2002

I WANT TO KEEP COOKING

We had a nice little banquet last Friday night. Nothing was particularly special about it, except perhaps the steer that was sacrificed so that we might indulge in massive carnage (the beef was good). I say nothing was special, because nothing is that special yet for this team's accomplishments. Nothing except that we all see a big world of possibilities. Vegas was nice and all, but fall ball was just the start of how we want to play.

We elected three captains, all seniors. Jared Katz and Kale Nelson will continue, while Ryan Robichaud, returning after being out with a broken leg for all of 2001-2002, was chosen for the leadership role he was elected to last year, but could not accept due to injury. His "campaign speech" for his own captaincy sounded more like a threat than an invitation, and it cracked me up when he won. I am very pleased with our leadership choices.

We decided not to cut players, and that they trust me to scare off the ones who could suck our blood.

Our fall season was blemish-free in terms of record, but everyone knows that we are far from being anywhere, really. There was no victory celebration after the 4-0 showing in Sin City, and 11-0 record this fall, other than the "shooting of the boot", which is mandated by tradition. I expected to go 4-0 out there. That boot thing took forever, though, as we have more "rookies" than ever, and they all needed to do it, one by one..

I have never had a team that had talent that wasn't also very dependent on that talent. My hope is that this one is becoming a little different breed, talented, yet losing that dependency on individuals, exchanging it for team independence. It started at the end of last year. As it turned out, it came a little late, although we made a nice run to, and in St. Louis. This team now is developing character that is somehow keener than I've had before, capable of a collective understanding that it is the team that must be fed, not just the individual or collective egos. "Feeding the kitty" helps a team play with unity on the field, and with resolve when the "going gets tough".

DON'T ROAST THE GOLDEN RAM

As I have said and written in the past, this year was never going to be two separate seasons. It was always about building something over the course of the whole year, from September to May. Isn't that nine months? The idea for me is to make something that never stops, yet never gets old. Time will tell. At the same time, the time we just had is already telling me plenty.

My main worry with taking more of a hard core attitude in September was burnout; too much lacrosse by April and May, or worse, too much of me by March. I'm somehow unworried about it now. For one thing, most of the kids I now coach have true passion for playing the game. More and more they seem to be here for their own "right reasons", and this helps us fit together. When it fits, I guess my theory is that it allows the passion to flow more freely. The sum has more than its parts.

I am impressed with the chemistry we have begun to create here this year. I think the nature of this CSU lacrosse program has allowed me to no longer have the burnout concern quite as much. When people need time, and or space on this team, they know they have the freedom to take it and do what they need to do. The family will always be here, whether you need a day, or a year.

This all sounds nice, harmonious, and unified. Every coach needs to believe in his team. I know it's not a perfect world, and I am not trying to pretend that ours is. We whine, we get cranky, we have setbacks. The road winds and it goes up and down, with gusts of wind and weather thrown in, but as of right now I think that we all are looking in the same direction; up.

THE BUS HAS LEFT THE STATION

My approach towards individuals this fall was, "Get on the bus, or get gone!" I was not in a nurturing mood, I was in an achieving mood. I can't believe how many "jumped on the bus", just to go for the ride, and almost with blind faith.

GET READY TO BE READY

I know that our 2001 team was our best team, both in ability and accomplishment. I cannot possibly predict that this one could be better, but I wouldn't bet that it can't be, either. My message is that we have built our foundation in the fall. It is a sound one. Now they (we) must all work individually to get ready to come back and pick up where we left off. I do not hand them a workout schedule. They all know what they have to do. We have our most challenging and glamorous schedule of games that we have ever had, starting February 15 in Tucson against the U of Arizona.

I am planning to have a few more practices before Christmas break if we can.

THE RABBIT DIED

Probably the most amazing thing that happened this fall came in a single moment when I was lying on the bed in some kind of David Letterman half-daze. My wife, Ada (Ahhda) stuck one of those EPT test things in my face without a word, and there were two pink lines there. This "brought me to", to say the least. I know what this stripe means. I've seen them before, but just the same I couldn't believe that, at fifty, I am going to be a father once more. I have already seen the heart beat. I know someone is in there. How can this happen? The actual amazing part was how great and excited I felt about it, instantly, even knowing they may have to wheel me into his, her, its high school graduation ceremony.

I guess I knew and planned for this to be the new frontier of fall ball for me. I had no idea how full a season it would be.

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