Coach Flip Naumburg's Journal

Friday, January 14, 2005

I am in Philadelphia for the annual National Coaches Convention.  I brought a small Rock-it Pocket entourage of sixish.  Things get going later today, Friday.

HOW YA DOIN?

I saw one of my coaching brothers upon arrival last night, and he greeted me with something just short of a hello. He had a heart felt sob story ready to tell about players recently lost to injury or whatever, and who he will not have this coming season.  I'm thinking to myself, "Pal, you got no idea", but I played along, trying to feel as much compassion as I could possibly muster, which, of course, was very little. 

I AM THE GOD OF HELL FIRE (Arthur Brown)

There are going to be over 4000 lacrosse-involved people here this weekend.  Ninety-nine percent of them have not yet arrived, but they already had a 2:30 a.m. fire alarm thing going last night. To me this indicates the beginning of a very long prank filled few days.

ONE TOKE OVER THE LINE?

There was the endless off and on alarm sound and some firemen came to the hotel. It became a CSI situation before it was over, and the final minutes of the "ordeal" found me screaming at the voice coming out of a speaker on the wall that would just not shut the you-know-what up. He was telling us over and over to stay where we were and await further direction, and it was now 3:00 in the morning. I left no expletive deleted as I shouted, because I think I might have thought to myself that there probably was no actual fire that was going to be found. I figured that they might indeed uncover a smokey bottom side of the investigation situation, and that up in that smoke they might also encounter a few "clouded" coaches, players and or just fans of lacrosse, but either way, I (perhaps stupidly) was not fearing fire at the moment.

HOPS AND HOPS

When we arrived a Bellman helped me with the endless Rock-it Pocket baggage and getting it all to my room.  I asked the guy if he had been a part of this Lacrosse Coaches Convention before, and he assured me that he had been here last year, and his comment was something about how much "we" all drink and party.  That is the impression left. This guy sees tons of convention groups, and yet we are the memorable merry makers.  I assume that there are lots of conventions held here because we are at THE Pennsylvania Convention Center in the center of Philadelphia, which also happens to be at the heart of the Atlantic Seaboard, and therefore a great compromise location for the entire east coast.

EVERYBODY GET FOOTLOOSE

This is not a team on the road.  This is a group of 4000 men and women in a hotel at a convention put on by the national governing body of lacrosse, and yes Loretta, I'll bet dollars to doughnuts that there will be naked people running through the halls here at the Philadelphia Downtown Marriott at 3:00 a.m. one of these mornings.  I assume it is not THAT much different when the Shriners or whoever come to town, but still…..

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