Wednesday, October 1, 2003

updated 10/04/03

HOMECOMING – IT’S GOOD TO BE A HOMER AT HOME

This turned out to be by far the most competitive alumni game we have played in my tenure here at CSU. I knew it would be so, yet knowing ahead of time only worried and angered me more as the game approached. We had been having terrible practices, followed by a not-so-encouraging scrimmage with the Spot Club just eight short days ago. My overall confidence was down.

I had, however, been more pleased with the recent practices this week. Team CSU '03-'04 was taking some form. With 55 players things can easily appear "amorphous" to say the least. I recently had made several necessary changes to my poor thought processes of the week prior. I had clearly been doing things in the wrong order.

I’m pretty sure these changes helped us improve more last week than we had in all the other weeks combined. Alrighty then. I could breathe again and live without fear as we prepared to play the talented, trash-talking alums.

GEE, IT’S GOOD TO BE BACK HOME, HOME IS WHERE I WANT TO BE
Paul Simon

I reconsidered a few of my earlier preparation techniques as the game itself neared. I concluded that I should cool it with my "Mr. Manic" routine, and take some pride in the fact that the CSU alumni from the last 5 or so years make up a team that is completely capable of giving this version of "us" a real game. This is true whether or not they practice as much as we do. Besides, a challenge would be good for "us".

I preached all week to the current team that we must play our hardest during every precious second that we are on the field. I also preached that at the end of the day these guys bringing it back home to "State" this weekend were and are part of our FAMILY, and without them having been here, "We" wouldn’t exist.

A "HOMER’S" RECAP
CSU 17 Alumni 6

The actual game ebbed and flowed a bit. The alumni struck first. This did not surprise me. With all that young but fleeting alumni testosterone gathered together for this mission it might have surprised me if they HADN’T scored first.

The kids took over though, and methodically it became 7-1. Our fast break was, let’s just say, "visually pleasing" to me. Then, of course, I went and made another mistake. I started throwing new and younger people in the game all over the place, confident the alumni would now fold their hangovers and give it up. They did not. Napi (#11) was on fire for the alums, and before I knew what had happened, it was 8-4 at half, it was a real game, and I was not the happiest of troop leaders. Someone on his own team called him (Napi) a "Professional has-been", and I thought that was a bit harsh. We all wish Mike Napolilli the best in his professional career with the Colorado Mammoth as he enters his second season.

We got serious again at halftime in terms of who was going to be on the field, and the third quarter became all "ours" en route to the final score, which makes the game sound easier than it actually was.

HOME COOKING

Harper (#2) had about five of our 17 goals, and that’s pretty much what I want. Midfielder Derek Koll (#12) also had a couple. I need a name for some of the goals that he scores. They are goals that he creates with and by a style all his own. It is as recognizable to me as Pablo Picasso’s signature. Also, the newly acquired freshman from the great state of New York, Danny Stevens (#32), looked good at times for us on offense. Having us appear the least bit "scary" on offense has been a missing ingredient in my attempts to create a tastier pot of offensive soup for a long time.

The defense was okay, and the alumni were good enough to really expose some of our weak spots. The "antiguas" (alumni) played hard until they finally began to think about going to Sullivan's (Pub), which is where everyone went after the game.

We also played an extra quarter, which hopefully gave everyone, old and young plenty of time on the field. Fun was had by all. "All" was a pretty large group of folks. I will say that I commend the alumni efforts to get one of our star players obliterated the night before, and their choice was based on what this player had done to them last year. My message to them, Ferrin, is that they had picked on the wrong guy. I knew this. You cannot outfox the fox.

HOME eR ON THE ROAD

Our 2004 schedule is finally all but complete. This process has seemed endless. As a season it appears longer and crazier than any of its predecessors were. The Pepsi Center exhibition alone makes that statement true, but there is much more than just that simple twist of fate. We have mini-packs of games constantly next spring, with battles spread all over, around, and about this great land mass we call The USA.

THE ODYSSEY IS ALSO A HOMER

It is clear that our depth is lacking, and we must focus on improving that part of our game during the next month. We will need the numbers this spring to survive the treacherous "Pirate Tour" schedule I have created for us, one that includes 21 games, played for the most part somewhere other than the terra firma of The Fort. There will be hidden land mines as well as "buried" treasure all over the place on this voyage.

I have dubbed this season’s schedule, "The Odyssey". I try to make everything too profound. I know this. The truth is that it will probably evolve into something more like a traveling "Animal House". By any title it will be a long, strange "road trip" to be sure, and I will desperately be trying to keep our little "Frat" off of double secret probation.

THE MODERN HOMER, HOMER SIMPSON

With yours truly as chronicler, I sense 2003-'04 will perhaps "read" more like a Homer Simpson than a Homerian epic. After last Sunday’s improved look, though, I am fascinated once again by our possibilities, so at least I got that going for me.

Homer (The original one) must have been very cool. Think about it. This guy went by one name way, way before Pele, Madonna, Ichiro, or even the legendary Dido. Homer also has indeed endured the test of time. Everyone today pretty much still knows the names of two of his "best sellers", and apparently he couldn’t see (he was blind) or write (that whole "tablet" writing thing sounds like a lot of work anyway). He also has been dead for thousands of years. That is what I call overachieving.

BEST PART OF MY HOMECOMING WEEKEND

Captain Plonkey (#17) yelling at me because I am jabbering with alums during the actual game and during a time-out. Mark was angry. It was like, "Get in the Game, Coach!".

WHY IS HE (PLONKEY) MY "HOME BOY"?

Over the years, and on our teams, the long stick midfielder has become, among other things, an extremely important part of how we "attack" with our defense. Plonkey (#17) is the player I think I had always been waiting for. I tried to make another star-type player do it (play LSM) once, but it didn't work because this kid didn't understand the potential built into the position. Mark does. We have usually done it (LSM) by committee. As with goalies, there can be only one of them on the field at any given time. For the most part, if our team has the ball, the LSM comes out of the game until we next have to play defense. It doesn't sound that glamorous to the star defenders that play the game.

By the by, a lacrosse game can easily pivot on how well a team rotates players in and out of the battle.

MY JOKE OF THE WEEK

I decided that I feel sorry for Mark Plonkey’s (#17) "understudies", and there are about 4 of them right now. My metaphor is that being Plonkey’s back-up is pretty much the same as being the "Maytag Repairman". It can be lonely for others when Mark is the type that would keep sneaking in the game if we were beating the "Sisters of the Poor" by 40 goals. It is no different in practice.

Shut my mouth. He twisted his ankle yesterday (10/02/03 update)

HOMERS IN OCTOBER, LIKE THE FALLING LEAVES

The Baseball play-offs began yesterday. My office television is on for the first time during the afternoon since I lost all my office employees, but that’s a summer thing and another story. Anyway, for the zillionth time, "I love the baseball playoffs, and this time of the sports year in general".

The Cubs won game #1 against the Braves. I wish words could express how happy I am for my mother. I also thank the Phillies. They are gone, and will no longer be "killing me softly", as they had been all summer long. For a minute it felt like 1964 all over again.

update 10/04/03 - now the Cubs are up 2-1. Go Cubs!

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