Coach Flip Naumburg's Journal

Wednesday, August 25, 2004

EWE HAS A NEW LOOK

We (CSU lacrosse) had our first gathering/practice today.  I counted 55 faces at one point, many of them new ones.  I can't remember on the first day at CSU ever feeling so much like I was meeting a completely new team, at least not since my first year.  Usually it's like the old family getting back together again.  This was much more like, "My Cousin Vinnie" than say, "The Godfather".  I had them putting nametapes on their helmets.

There was great energy in practice.  For me it was the first of many auditions.  My assessment of the afternoon session, one punctuated by sunshine and perfect temperatures throughout, would be that we have a great deal of raw talent, and by that I mostly mean kids that can catch and throw and run at the same time.  We have no new glaring superstars. 

PROM QUEEN OR MISS PIGGIE?

I have predetermined practically nothing.  I can smell the thrill of the unknown.  It is in my nostrils.  Last year I knew what was behind door #1.  I knew how good I thought we were.  This year I have no clue.

HEY, HEY WE AREN'T FAMILY

Over the past few years, every time we come together as a team in the huddle, game or practice, we have mostly always chanted in unison the word, "FAMILY" at the conclusion of the meeting.  Family is what we strive to be.  I have not changed the goal.  I have changed this ritual. This year we will not say that word as one until later, if and when we really are together as one, at a time when we ARE a functioning family.

IN WITH THE GOOD AIR……..

I like this (lack of predetermined chant choice) for now because it also leaves me with no constrictions.  I can try to bring out the OHM in our TEAHM by getting them to decry simultaneously from their sternums whatever word or words might pop into my somewhat unpredictable head.

Positive reinforcement of things done well is my mantra for the fall……..Out with the bad air.

I want every player on this team to have no place he'd rather be than with WE.

FACE OFF FACTS – REMEMBER THAT THE TRUTH SHALL SET YOU FREE

I am terrified of our current face-off situation.  Face offs are extremely important in "my little game plan".  For the last few years that aspect of the game was one of those predetermined things.  It was all taken care of for the most part.  No worries, mate.  All that.  What I saw today in scrimmage on the face-off set me back about five years, but I am sure I will recover, and we will get on with that process.  It will certainly not be as simple as, "The King is dead.  Long live the (new) King".

TWELVE DAYS OF CHRISTMAS

I keep thinking of the song about the twelve days of Christmas and how it relates to my coaching philosophy for right now.  In the song, it doesn't matter how many geese are laying or how many maids might have milked.  It always comes back to that partridge in a pear tree.  I know it sounds lunatickle, but I want to practice this way, where we review each old step every time we venture onto a new one.  I'll get back to you on this metaphorical meandering at some much later date.

SOMETIMES IT IS HARD TO SET YOUR GOALS, OR AT LEAST YOUR GOALIES

We have six goalies.  None of them suck.  We (I) have never had six goalies.  Actually it is seven, but one of them has decided to change positions.  Even if I was a genius, and we know I'm not, how the hell do I keep six goalies happy?  The thing is that I would never cut any of them.  I would instead look for alternative answers, even with the seemingly hopeless number of 6.  In a way, having six goalies is a coaching dream come true (practice potential).  On the other hand, six is a lot.  We didn't have six goalies at our summer camp with 150 kids.

GETTING TO THE CORE

Today I declared my loyalty and undying love to those players who choose to be core groupers.  These are the ones who love the work almost as much as the play, the ones who want to take themselves somewhere they have never been as an athlete or as a teammate.  When a group is self-disciplined and its individuals self-motivated it always somehow seems to make me better as a coach.  Gee, I wonder why.

IT'S NOT ABOUT THE MONEY – No, wait, yes it is.

I also love you as a player when you pay your dues on time.  I truly believe that when you pay part of your own way to play at this level that it means more.  I am the anti athletic scholarship guy I guess. 

If you feel like you deserve to be in a school where someone else pays for it all, then by all means, do that.  I want you, as part of this lacrosse program here at CSU, to bleed a little green, and in more ways than one. Then maybe some gold will be woven in later on. That's part of the whole family thing, everyone is equally special, or not, depending on what we are talking about.

If, on the other hand, you are thinking about where you might rather wish to be, then I want you by all means to find a way to get there.

I KNOW WHERE I'D STILL RATHER BE

I can't wait until tomorrow.  This could be a really fun team.

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