Coach Flip Naumburg's Journal

Monday, May 30, 2005

DISCLAIMER -

I YAM WHAT I YAM, AND THAT'S ALL THAT I YAM

This is a journal.  I don't think in my mind that it is supposed to even try to be objective, yet I so often feel this "pressure" from the "outside" that I can't say this and I should or shouldn't say that, like I'm a reporter for a newspaper with a boss and all the trimmings that go with that.  I do the best that I can (most of the time) to not offend anyone (too much), even though every time I sit down and start to write my intention is simply to free up the things that are on my mind.  Isn't that what they (diaries or journals or whatever) are for?  I try to tell myself that no one is reading, but I know that is not the truth, and sometimes that fact is indeed hard to ignore.  Still, if I didn't start there (no one is really reading this) it somehow wouldn't be the right (write) approach for me.  Public or private no one is forced to read my dribble, and I do not pretend to represent or speak for any larger entity. 

It's going to be difficult for me to not sound like the "angry man" at times for a while, and it is for that I am sorriest.

INTERVIEW WITH A RAM'PIRE

I could not figure out a way to sum up the recent events that have so radically changed the course of Flips'tory, not to mention CSU lacrosse history in such a short amount of time so I decided to interview myself for a while, and see what might come of that.

Q – Can you tell us more about the events leading up to your team not going to Minnesota?

A - I suppose that if I wait too much longer, then it becomes even more possible that what seems to be in my memory might actually become a myth, and I certainly wouldn't want that to happen, what with this being an ongoing PERSONAL JOURNAL and all.

We were getting ready to leave for Minnesota on a Monday. Games would begin on Tuesday.  We were making final preparations for the trip and the tournament.  That Friday, three days before, I got a call from our Team President saying in effect, "Houston, we have a problem", and what should we do.  We had two players that were no longer carrying the required 12 hours for the semester, and they also had not told me, or apparently anyone.  My heart sank or did a flip or maybe it just flat broke right there.

THE MAGIC NUMBER IS 12 -

As a student athlete you cannot drop below 12 semester hours of class credit.  These two had passed the first eligibility check in February, but a fairly new rule (2 years) required a second roster eligibility check right before each Conference's championships.  One of the players had not played, so he wasn't really the issue, and as for the other, it was unclear if he had technically dropped said course, so we had instant muddled. 

There would be, in my mind, some sorting out and some 'splaining to do, but at that moment on that Friday morning the thought of not being able to go didn't even occur to me.  We had done everything right.  I was sure of it.  What had happened?  Whatever it was, we could fix it with a compromise, thought I.  This was innocent, maybe a clerical mistake or something.

CHEATERS NEVER WIN – or if they do, how good can it feel?

For the record, and however I end up writing about all this, I would never risk it all for any one player, and hopefully that includes Michael Jordan.

I SAID THE MAGIC NUMBER IS 12

The players all know this 12 hour rule, because I have told them a million times since September.  I post it on the board that I carry with me to practice every single day; it is in emails, phone messages, and papers handed out to the team.

In my somewhat preppy opinion, if you can't carry a12 hour load and a 2.0 GPA you don't deserve to go to school, let alone play intercollegiate athletics representing yourself as a student-athlete.  I'm no genius and I'm saying it isn't that hard (2.0).  If you can't handle your major, then a choice has to be made at some point.  Lots of kids make that (school) choice.  We, as a program, also have helped players having academic problems, and everyone on the team knows that and that kind of help is always there and available.

Anyway, the other one of these players was not only a starting defenseman, but also a senior and a captain.  These facts absolutely fried my butt.  First and foremost for me is that Families do not keep secrets from one another, at least not in my Family.  I preach it.  I had been hounding and asking this one about school and grades for 3 years, ever since he became a borderline (>2.0) GPA problem.

NEXT QUESTION

Q – So why didn't you have the eligibility roster done for the Conference Championships, and what did you do next?

A – I'll tell me next time………

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Flip Started Blogging Before it was Cool, Read Over 400 of His Entries Since January 2001
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