Tuesday, December 10, 2002

Well, then. Onward we go. I don’t know exactly what all happened, but I’m still the coach.

We had two night sessions last week on Tuesday and Thursday in the field house. Tuesday, the 9:00 p.m. session was particularly good. We have our last pre-Christmas break indoor "practice" tonight. These have definitely been "lacrosse light" events, but just the same they have their value within our whole "one thing at a time" approach to the 2002-2003 lacrosse business schedule. We only broke one window, a fairly good save percentage. It is not easy to not break a window in there with lax balls flying everywhere.

GO NAPI

A bunch of CSUers were present in Denver Friday night for the professional lacrosse debut at "The Can" (Pepsi Center) of Mike Napolilli with YOUR COLORAAADO MAMMOTH! They played music fit for upwardly mobile aerobic classes all through the game, not just during the breaks. That sound must make it tough for a coach to coach because it makes it tough for me to watch. I don’t need WWF or MTV dressing on my lacrosse salad, I guess. All in all it was very cool, though. I have 4 really good season tickets for the upcoming season. This game was free and a free for all in terms of seating. I hope all the games don’t start at 11:30 p.m., though, or I could be in trouble. Gary Gait still dominAITs every game he plays in, and he did so for the first half of this first NLL (exhibition) game ever played in Colorado (vs. Philadelphia Wings). Piggy-backed on the Avalanche overtime NHL hockey victory over Edmonton, the crowd was huge for the first Mammoth half, and included Av’s coach Bob Hartley.

Napi played a lot in the second half, and held his own in there with the boxers and the maulers. He even had a couple shots on goal. He hustled his butt on and off the field like I have never seen. Usually when I pulled him off the field he just looked at me with bewilderment, wondering if I was really talking to him. I probably would never have thought of it, but this box game seems to suit his talents real well.

I learned a lot about the pro indoor game. For example, there can be no defense without cross checks. No wonder they fight. Napi will have to work on this, because I hate the aesthetics of cross checks, and never teach anything that remotely resembles one. It’s not hard to get guys to cross check. It can be hard to get them not to cross check. Also, the box goalie has to have more equipment dollars on his body than any athlete on earth (Michelin Man comes to my mind). Mike (son) and I had a great time at the game, and ran into more and more of the CSU family as the arena emptied out. We didn’t get home to the Fort until almost 3:00 a.m., which of course made no difference to Jordan who was peekabooing me by 7.

A FEW THINGS THAT I DIDN’T SAY THE OTHER DAY

Sometimes I give that, "Aw shucks, we’re (CSU) just a bunch of drunks and screw-ups" routine to people. Actually nothing could be farther from the truth in my mind, and one would only need to see us play one time to know what kind of team we are and how much discipline we play with. There is much more going on here than just a game. Within the game we strive to do things at a very high team level. We have a plan. You can see it.

I believe that, for better or for worse, my players understand more about me than the average player usually knows about his coach. I believe that this helps me to come to know more about each one of them, because it is all part of the process of give and take. We do not succeed simply because we have talent, or because they follow all my instructions. If we succeed, it is because we build a bond that is strong, one based on mutual trust and respect. I can't even believe how corny that sounds. Sorry, it stays in.

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