Tuesday, July 15, 2003

I thought it might be fun and different to write about the games we (Team Rock-it Pocket) played at the Vail Lacrosse Shootout over the 4th of July after the event rather than during, and with the supposed 20-20-vision of hindsight. I’m not sure I would have had the time or energy to do it (write journal entries) during the actual Vail-days anyway. When I write during the season, and particularly in St. Louis, it is always a right here, right now process of personal "journalism". It is now more than a full week since we played the last game up there. I’m pretty sure that I know nothing more now than I did then, but here goes:

BOY’S GOTTA HAVE A DREAM

For the last few years I have developed the thought and the hope of taking once and present CSU players, plus a couple of "Outsiders" or "Ringers", going to Vail, and becoming competitive in the upper division of one of the World’s most competitive "amateur" club lacrosse tournaments. Beyond that, I dare not to dream.

It was looking to me like our deeper and longer ‘03 roster should only help Team Pocket this time around, so I was cautiously optimistic that we might be able to create "something" as a team in those four days and through those 4 games. Hopefully, we could and would continue to climb to a little higher branch of this big, old, oak tree of a tournament. The wealth of talent is awesome in Vail. We (RP) could never ascend in Vail at 8150' during summer's peak as quickly as we (CSU) had emerged from those rapidly rising, early May floodwaters near St. Louis. That whole USLIA thing has grown more like a mutation anyway. We slithered in there at just the right time on that one, it would now seem. Vail is a completely different concept. As a coach, it can never mean to me what St. Louis does, but it is very, very cool. Besides, I love the possibilities that live within a 4-day tournament.

NO CONSOLATION, THANK YOU

Before we ever played a game I was saying that I would rather win the first day and go 1-3 again, rather than lose the first and then win the Consolation Bracket (3-1). There is no future in being an 8th or 9th seed. I didn’t want to be the best of the rest. We had done that, and it’s cool, but you must take another step at some point. However, I really didn’t want to be 1-3 again either.

IT DON’T COME EASY, YOU KNOW IT DON’T COME EASY
Ringo Starr

Last year, Vail 2002, was a slap down (1-3) for Team RP. We won our first game, then got pretty much mangled three times after that. We did not have the talent to compete after playing well and winning the first day. Half of our CSU "core" was in Australia at the World Games playing for the USA West Team. I knew that going in, but then the "other half" of the core either got injured or went home to break up with a girl-friend, or to work, or what-everr after that first day. My little dream began looking more impossible than I ever imagined as the week more or less deteriorated from there.

Even though I helped make up the tournament bracket, I never really looked at what would happen to us, Rock-it Pocket, win or lose, on day two of the 2003 Shootout. Nothing would be easy. There would be no "weak sisters" in Vail. All I knew or wanted to think about was that we would be playing in Edwards at 9:30 a.m. on brand new turf against a team that had beaten us last year.

GAME #1 ROCK-IT POCKET 12 MCLC 2
Thursday 7/3/03 Edwards, CO Sunny and already hot at 9:30 a.m.

A NINE-SEED TO GROW ON

We were fortunate, after the 2002 dust had settled, to remain a middle seed (9 of the 16) for ‘03. We were hanging on to the top bracket by our fingertips, but still we had a decent chance to get through the first round and on to where almost anything can happen. Our first round game in ‘03 would be against the same basic team that we had played in the last game of Vail, ’02, and it had been at some un-Godly hour of the morning. They had beaten us fairly easily in that one. We woke up for a late rally, but it was way little and way late. Still, I was confident that we were a much better team this time, if for no other reason than the team now had Mark Plonkey on it.

I HAVE ALWAYS LEANED A LITTLE TO THE LEFT

We did not click early, but the defense was solid from the get-go. We had never had a practice as this team. It was 2-2 at one point in the first half. We got on a roll in the second half, including a 7-0 fourth quarter. Lance Vitt scored four for us on the day. He plays at Ohio State, a Division I program. I think he will be a junior this coming year. He is one of our Vail "Ringers". Apparently he does not start there at Ohio State. I find it hard to believe that he is not, in spite of his lack of size, a bigger part of their offense. He finishes just fine, AND he is naturally left-handed. I was actually excited about having two lefties, because former Ram and current Mammoth, Mike Napolilli was playing for us, too, and he has a lefty cannon. I felt we could attack the "other side of the goal". Anyway, we had passed our first test. We were in the winners bracket. The game had started at 9:30 a.m (early), so maybe we actually had passed two tests.

I COULD SEE IN THEIR FACES THAT IT WOULD NOT BE GOOD NEWS

After the game, three players came up and informed me that they had to go back to Denver/Ft. Collins to work, and they couldn’t play against the #1 seeded Salmon the next day. I wanted to weep. I held strong. There goes our depth, I thought. Plus, I had looked at one of them in particular to lead us. I’m so glad I had made him captain. Aren't I smart? He felt worse about it than I did, though. I moved on.

GAME #2 JAMMIN’ SALMON 13 ROCK-IT POCKET 7
Friday, July 4, 2003 Vail, Co, Ford Field

AT LEAST WE ARE PLAYING IN PRIME TIME

This turned out to be a very interesting and somewhat humbling afternoon. We hung with the Jammers pretty well. So much so that they were not a happy bunch at all, whining with every non-call or whistle blown by the men in stripes that didn't go their way. We pulled to within one, 7-6, as the third quarter wound down. This was great. "Look at us"…., I thought. Then, they broke us down with a couple of quick ones.

SOMETIMES I WISH I COULD JUST BE QUIET

They (Jammin’ Salmon) have some genuine stars, like Joe High (3-time AA at Salisbury State), and all of a sudden it was 9-6 after three. This is when I needed to shut up, but, of course, I could not. When their bench started complaining again early in the fourth, I finally said something, and I got into it with them a little bit (Way to dabble in the muck, you idiot!). The last thing I said was something like, "Well, at least you are not running us out of here….." At which point they proceeded to run us out of there. Our crease started to look as open as an all-night diner, and none of their shooters were "going down", either. I was very disappointed; not that we had lost, but that the final score was 13-7. I felt that I had thrown gas on a very dangerous flame at a bad time, which might have helped facilitate the eventual six-goal difference. I was angry because we had shown more than that score might have indicated. I was mad at me because I hadn’t done all I could to help my team on this day.

Vitt had 4 more tallies (stupid word, tally, but I have never used it before). Alex Smith was both stellar and spectacular in goal with 29 saves. It is a stunning number of saves, but The Shootout does have the 30-second shot clock, which makes for lots of shots. He (Alex) is a pro at running a defense from between the pipes (I’m bringing out all the cliches).

The fact is that we ultimately ran out of gas on this day. I had no problem with our effort. The other team was better.

GAME #3 ROCK-IT POCKET 10 WARRIOR 9
Saturday, July 5, 2003 Vail, Co Ford Field 3:00 p.m.

CHEATERS NEVER PROSPER

I know this is not true. Cheaters prosper all the time, but I have always tried to live under the premise that they ultimately do not. At any rate, it proved to be the theme for this day.

We were matched up with the 4th Seeded Warrior team. This was a hand-picked group of mostly Division I players, disappointed that they were not playing in the semi-finals, but rather against a bunch of college "Club" schlums (us) only for the chance to play for fifth place on Sunday.

We played strong team defense again, and the game was tied 3-3 at the half. We were feeling pretty good about ourselves. In the third, though, we had some "unfortunate" breakdowns on our clear, and we gave away a few easy goals on turnovers. These were interceptions-that-went-for-a-touchdown kind of things. There was no chance for Alex to bail us out. We had a defenseman with a completely dysfunctional pocket (mesh). I will not name names, but one would think this individual (two-time USLIA First Team All-American) would know better by now. At one point later on I was screaming at our players not to throw the ball to this guy, no matter what. The Warrior speed and talent was beginning to show as they raced to a 9-3 lead after out-scoring us 6-0 in the third.

IT WAS DE JA VU, BUT I THINK I MISSED IT

Something very strange happened just then, as the third quarter was coming to a close. One of the Warrior players was complaining to the refs about a call. One of the crack Shootout staff members recognized this player's voice from his earlier whining with the Jammin’ Salmon, a team that had played and lost in the semi-finals just two hours prior. As it turned out, he was indeed the face-off guy for the Salmon, and you are not allowed to play for more than one team in The Shootout. That is a no-no. No wonder we hadn’t won a face-off in two days. This was the same guy that we played the day before, and, sadly, I never would have known the difference. You’d think I would really pay attention to individuals who kill us, but I rarely look at their faces. I just try to fix problems. Our face-off guys hadn’t noticed either, so I'm not the only space cadet out there.

All I knew for today was that we pretty much hadn’t won a face-off all game, and this was definitely not helping the overall "Pocket" cause. When this whole "playergate" thing was brought to my attention my immediate thought was that they (Warrior) would have to forfeit. As it turned out, that may not have been a done deal.

Anyway, after said player was "removed", we indeed won a couple of face-offs while we scored a couple, and all of a sudden it was 9-5, and we were "on the offense" as it were, attacking them whenever and wherever we could. We were getting energized. My thoughts were no longer on political questions concerning forfeits. I knew we were somehow almost back in the game, even down 4 almost midway through the 4th, and we were beginning to tilt the field our way just a bit, too. I was "down" for the whole make-a-run thing. With the 30-second shot clock we had a chance. If there hadn't been a shot clock, our goose might have already been cooked. As it was there was still enough time, and still the possibility that we could make all points other than scoreboard points moot ones.

I AM SHAMELESSLY ADDICTED TO PLONKEY. JUST ADD IT TO THE LIST

Ultimately we scored seven straight goals, all in the fourth. We played a great last quarter, finalizing many of our scoring chances with dunks. We ran the table, and we won the game, 10-9. Lance Vitt scored 5 this time, and was now one of the leading scorers in the tournament. Our own Thomas Robinson (CSU Midfielder ‘06) contributed mightily with three goals and an assist on the day as well. It was a team victory, even if two guys scored most of our goals. Everyone worked hard to make the goals happen. We took good shots as a team all day.

Mark Plonkey (CSU Long Pole Middie, ‘04) scored the game-winner on a coast-to-coast with just 59 seconds left. I chased him all the way down the sideline as it was unfolding. It was an absolutely thrilling conclusion to this game. Everyone there knew exactly what was about to happen (with the possible exception of Mark), as he cruised down the field on his way to the goal. Then, it really did happen. He dodged, he shot, he scored! They said the crowd reaction was huge. I wouldn’t know. I was in my own little bubble, living the moment vicariously through Mark. He had done much more for us than score that goal, though. He had stepped up to partake of a whole new level of play and player caliber in Vail, and he had remained a star.

I called a timeout after we scored that10th goal, just so the Plonkey machine could rest and cool down. Not only did I not want to play 59 seconds without him, I didn’t want to play even one. I went over to the official to ask if I could call back-to-back timeouts. I still had one timeout left. He informed me that I could not. I looked at Mark. He was absolutely spent. So, I asked him if he could go anyway. At first he said no, but he went in for that face-off. I guess I left him no choice.

We managed to get the ball again on the face-off, and I called our final timeout as the clock wound down until it had just 27 ticks left. The shot clock was now "off". Derek Koll (CSU '06) took the ball for the inbounds, and he did his run-like-a-deer thing that he does so well for about 17 of those seconds, and Warrior never got off another shot. We would play for fifth place on Sunday. Not bad atall.

WHYYYY?

My question is the following: If they (Warrior) were so much better than we were, then why did they feel the need to illegally bring in someone from another team, a soldier of fortune as it were, to fill their special face-off need? One of the Salmon players had wanted to play with us for our first game on Thursday. I looked at him as if he were a bad habit I had given up long ago. I informed him of the tournament rule. I did not thank him for his offer.

I STILL HAVE "HOMEYS"

One great thing about this game for me personally was that two of my best friends from college (1970’s) were there, in Vail, and at the game with their lacrosse-playing sons. They were all watching from near our bench, as were a bunch of my other family, people who have the same last name as me and stuff like that. Anyway, the boys of my College Buds are about 11 and 14, just getting into the game, and I think they were so pumped up after this one, that both are probably somewhere throwing a lacrosse ball against a wall at this very minute, working on their game, daydreaming about next spring’s lacrosse season.

GAME #4 TEAM GUTTMAN 8 ROCK-IT POCKET 7
Edwards, Co July 6, 2003 12:00 Very hot day

TEAM ROCK-IT POCKET ALMOST ROCKED

On Sunday we played a nooner against Team Guttman, which is comprised mostly of Middlebury players, a school that has won three of the last 4 Division III National Championships. I was informed that this team had killed us last year. I remembered being killed, but didn’t recall who-done-it.

I have mixed emotions about this 2003 game. We lost 8-7, but we were plenty competitive this time. I must admit that I was already satisfied with what we had accomplished on Saturday and what it meant to our progress in Vail, and unless we got killed on Sunday, that would not change. It would be better to leave with a fifth place showing, but I knew I could live with sixth. It was eighth that I did not want, and that was no longer a possibility.

I imagined that the electricity of the Warrior game would lead everyone on Team Rock-it Pocket together Saturday night, and, in true family style, they would eventually be getting "hammered as one". I would be fighting major post-party syndrome the next day. I didn’t even bother to broach the subject. Part of the Vail Shootout is the Three P’s. They are: Playing lacrosse, Partying hard, and I’m afraid I don’t have the courage to write the other one that starts with a capital P.

Worse, I figured the Middlebury boys would partake in a far more civilized party ritual Saturday evening, and would therefore have that going for them on Sunday. I'm thinking that their word, party, is a noun, as in, "Let's go to the party". Our CSU "party" is a verb. It is something that goes where they go, as in, "DUDE, Let's PARTY!"

Besides, they (Team Guttman) have that famous manager guy, Peter Cohn, who runs around giving them all towels and water and stuff all the time. We need somebody like him.

It was a good game, but we did not have much good lacrosse left over for this day. We rallied late, and had a chance to tie, but we couldn’t get there. Plonkey looked much like an average player in this game, and that became a problem. As long as I ever coach him, that will always be a problem for me, because in my little movie he is always Han Solo. He said he was hungover. My first hope was that I hadn’t abused him the day before and done some kind of permanent damage to the "Franchise". I could never forgive myself. I guess he's entitled to a hangover card now and then. Okay, there's his one for 2003-2004.

The TG long poles were great all over the field for the Middlebury men too, giving us trouble all day. I really like the little rivalry potential of this match-up. I hope it materializes.

One of our attackmen, Kip Hale (Dennison, '02) finally showed his promise, as I think he had 3 or 4 goals and maybe an assist for us. I think Lance had two more to finish with something like 15 points on 15 goals for the 4 games. He was the 4th leading scorer in the tournament. Alex must have had a bushel of saves for the tournament as well. Garth Heth (CSU '98) was great for us this week, too. He needs to give up that face-off-go-off thing and become a full-blown midfielder.

We (Team Rock-it Pocket) certainly have not climbed all the branches of the giant Vail tree, but 2003 was by far our best showing yet. And yes, going 2-2 in the upper division is better than winning the Consolation Bracket. No contest. This being competitive thing was fun. I can’t help but think we could do even better with one or two more "special" players. Since I don’t recruit, though, I have no idea where they will come from.

Next Entry | Previous Entry


Flip Started Blogging Before it was Cool, Read Over 400 of His Entries Since January 2001
Jump to a Period:
2006: Jan Feb Mar Apr May June July Aug Sept Oct Nov
2005: Jan Feb Mar Apr May June July Aug Sept Oct Nov Dec
2004: Jan Feb Mar Apr May June July Aug Sept Oct Nov Dec
2003: Jan Feb Mar Apr May June July Aug Sept Oct Nov Dec
2002: Jan Feb Mar Apr May June July Aug Sept Oct Nov Dec
2001: Jan Feb Mar Apr May Sept Oct Nov Dec