Sunday, May 2, 2004

I guess I have been gone from home a lot lately, because often when my four-year old Jordan sees me nowadays he says, "Hey, what are you doing here?" That’s what he said to me this morning.

CSU 10 CU 9
CSU - 2004 RMLC CHAMPIONS for the third year in a row

We won a hard fought Championship battle with CU, 10-9. We led 5-1 after a strong start, and another surge later in the game gave us a 10-6 lead, but each time the Buffs rallied to make the game a very intense and exciting one. Both goalies were superb, at times spectacular, playing huge roles in this big game. Pete (#3) Jokisch had 20 saves for us, while Chris Bluse had 18 for the Buffs. We were charged and led offensively by Tim Chorey’s (#16) four goals. I think our record now is 21-1. We have reached the sweet 16, the sixteen teams that will meet in St. Louis in a little over a week from now.

Our defense had some breakdowns in the game, blah, blah, blah.

STICK CHECK

Things almost unraveled late in the game when we were called for a three-minute non-releasable penalty. Several times in the last year, coaches desperate to beat us have called stick checks late in the game, which coaches are allowed to do. Each coach can basically call for one for free per game. I have never ever in all my coaching years called for a stick check of a player on another team. Not once. One might say it is "against my religion". I am aware that legendary Montreal Canadian coach Scotty Bowman called for one on Marty McSorely of the Los Angeles Kings in the Stanley Cup finals when Gretzky played for the Kings in the mid-90’s. The stick was illegal, and there is no doubt that the ensuing penalty turned the entire series around, costing the Kings the only chance they have ever had to win that coveted cup. I know all this, and I still don’t care. It is the principle of the thing. I will save all that mental meandering for another time.

I think we led 10-7 or 10-8 at that stick-check moment near the middle of the fourth quarter. The stick turned out to be illegal, of course, even though it was only a week or two old, and nothing had been done to alter it with the exception of the act of facing off. It was a smart call by the CU coach, John Galvin, the RMLC Coach of the Year for 2004. The Buffs then got on a mini-run and nearly stole the game with the momentum of that three minutes when they had an extra man on the field.

The stick belonged to our face-off guy, Dave Clark (#14). It’s not his fault. I feed him sticks, Rock-it Pocket and all. I will be paying much closer attention now. I only hope that helps.

RULES IS RULES?

Here is the thing: the rule in lacrosse is that "the head of the crosse at its widest point shall measure between 6.5 and 10.0 inches, inside measurement, at the top and the bottom of the side wall." In other words, and for the sake of this dissertation, the narrower the head opening is the better the stick controls the ball. This concept has not escaped manufacturers, and most heads that anyone ever uses all have openings of barely 6.5 inches coming out of the factory. There is a whole lot of "pinching" going on, too, but that is another topic. Players alter the plastic easily and for various kinds of advantages by "cooking" heads in the oven. I do not do this, but I do know how, and what it means.

So, you have all these 6.5 inch openings and then you add referees with tape measures, rule books, whistles and flags. They are not afraid to use these "toys". Something has to give. A face off man gets down on all fours to grovel with his opponent for the ball. When the whistle blows to start the action, these heads are crammed into the ground and twisted every which way trying to cover the ball, push it somewhere they can get it, or to rake it out for a teammate. The head of the crosse most likely become less than 6.5 in one or two face off draws for a clamper like Dave. So, when this 6.5 opening in very pliable plastic becomes 6.25 or even 6.49 for that matter, it becomes a 3-minute non-releasable penalty when you are "caught". Always with this situation the game comes to a grinding stop. Then there is a big brouhaha/performance. Yesterday was no different. It unfolded, as always, like a big drama where the sripes became the stars, the other coach looked like the Coach of the Year, and I looked like an idiot. There is something wrong with this picture.

Yesterday during the spectacle I just kneeled, grabbed onto my stick tightly, and took it the best I could. I said nothing. I just watched like everyone else as the Buffs celebrated their mini victory. They knew they had a chance at the game then. So did I. We endured, however, and ultimately the only thing that really counts when all is said and done is the final score.

Fortunately I have loyal and caring parents, and one player’s father pointed out to me that I should no longer take this. He offered an idea and I will try to use it. From now on I will have someone on our "staff" look around for an illegal stick on the other team. They are not hard to find. The next time someone calls for a stick check on us, we will also be asking to look at one of their sticks as well. I will take my chances 5 on 5 with any team I’ve seen so far.

BUS TED

We had an interesting journey home. The CSU bus blew up somewhere near Rock Springs, Wyoming. A fire truck and lots of cops showed up. This is never a good sign for me. There was some talk of a blown turbo. All we knew was that we were stuck in the middle of nowhere in the middle of the night. There had been a block party on the bus before, but this Championship celebration came to a screeching halt with the death of old CSU bus #3, and the arrival of lights and sirens.

WHY????OMING

We were fortunately stranded near a town that has tons of buses. They use them to transport miners to and from the mines in the area. The company gave us a new bus to use, and we finally made it home by 7:00 a.m. The breakdown only cost us a couple of hours.

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