Coach Flip Naumburg's Journal

Wednesday, December 8, 2004

SHAKE IT UP, BABY – TWIST AND SHOUT

Well, it has been a busy couple of days. There has been some "forced" CSU Lacrosse roster shrinkage among other things. We have recently (Friday) been handed down the prior pending team sanctions, ones that were selected by the CSU student government Supreme Court. These are, of course, the rulings from the "leaving for Las Vegas" / Vangate incident which took place back in October. We have expanded some of the points of the judicially chosen disciplinary actions, and we have taken exception to one of them. We are putting together an appeal on that one point, and we are hopeful that coupled with the actions that the Club and I have taken, we can negotiate the desired compromise.

This time could be a watershed period in our team history. I hope so. The expectations we put on ourselves should always surpass even the expectations of others.

HOME, HOME ON THE EDGE

We had huge numbers at practice last night at the Edge indoor facility we use (pay for). I just made it there in time from the airport, returning from my quicky trip to Michigan and Warrior Lacrosse. More on that later.

The positive practice energy and the overall feeling of team togetherness were both acutely noticeable at the Edge yesterday. In spite of the fact that the CSU players are playing for Mr. Maniac on a team with some true crazies sprinkled in, these are joyful times as we piece 2005 together.

CAN’T GET NO PEACE

Lennon (the Beatle, not the Marxist) was killed 24 years ago today. I heard this fact on the radio this morning. The death of John Lennon was a more-than-significant event in my life, because until then, probably my greatest hope for the prior ten years had been that the Beatles would reunite one day, even for just one song, and play as a band again. I guess I have always valued the "team" most. At that moment, when I heard the fatal news on that December night in 1980, the dream died forever.

It is almost amusing to historically note that the bleak bulletin was delivered to me on that night long ago by Howard Cosell, the Infamous One, as I watched Monday Night Football on the tube. Howard’s MNF sidekick, country boy Dandy Don Meredith, probably didn’t even know who John Lennon was two hours earlier, and I remember that play by play announcer Frank Gifford just continued to be Frank Gifford, untouched, every hair in place. As for Cosell, he was either visibly shaken by what had happened or he was falling down drunk, I'm not sure which. I digress.

IMAGE REALLY ISN’T EVERYTHING

What is the moral of the story of the murder of John Lennon? Is it that if you allow the world to perceive you as the Second Coming of Jesus, then sooner or later an Apostle will betray you, and ultimately you will be crucified? We all bleed when nailed to a cross or shot down in the street.

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