Coach Flip Naumburg's Journal

Wednesday, September 28, 2005

WOOF WOOF

We were in a Dog vs. Underdog team format in scrimmage today. In other words I loaded up the side that will likely get the bulk of the playing time on Saturday against BYU on one team in hopes that this "Green" team would put an undeniable stamp on the scrimmage, this battle du jour.  Well, they certainly did, Ollie.  The "vets" pretty much spanked the "rooks", but only because the Green Machine played and executed so well that the group of mostly rookies in white never had a chance.  They didn't know what hit them.  This is the kind of impression that I want our team to make on every game they play, no matter how big or small the challenge might first appear.

TWO FACES

Right now we are also two different teams offensively.  We are the team when Tim Chorey (Sr, #16 A/M/A/M/A) is there and meanwhile making our defenders look around after each play as if wondering where the ball might have gone even though they know it is indeed in the back of the net. Then we are the other team, the one when Timmy is not present.   I am trying to bridge this current Gorham gap, the Chorey factor, but it is somewhat a new and different kind of conundrum I'm dealing with here.  Needless to say the boy from Massachusetts was present and wreaking his havoc on the Underdog defense all day today.

FIRE IN THE HOLE

"Just keep coming".  I guess that was the message I wanted them to hear from me today.  It just happened to be conveniently delivered and illustrated to everyone present by the team in Green.  The Green team might have looked better dressed in Red on this afternoon because they were on fire, and they didn't stop coming, and scrimmage had not looked like this (one-sided) before today.  That is for sure.

SPEAK SOFTLY and CARRY A BIG STICK

I also told them at one point at practice today that I want us to be very physical in our approach to the game on Saturday.  At the same time this object meanness must be carried out legally, within rules.  Intimidation that lands us in the penalty box is not really the kind of game enforcement I am looking for.  Being in the penalty box can never be advantagious. Tough and clean is what I mean.  

I want us to understand and love how large each of our challenges are, and that this quest for global imperialism is not for Girly-men nor for meatheads. Even the seemingly simple first step, a fall baller pitting BYU vs. CSU is not for the faint of heart.

TALLY HO

I want this team to look at everyone on any other team as potential prey.  No matter how good or prolific he (player on other team) might be (or not) we want to find and expose his underbelly.  Everyone has one.  We need to hunt as a pack to be successful in survival.  The more we find that which is weak on the other team, the stronger we can become, and the more the opponent as a whole can conveniently turn into the hunted, the prey. 

We are here to survive, to endure, to be still standing at game's end. However, there must always be a style of play and actions as well to keep things in place and to honor the game. 

The smell of blood has to bring out the best in our fight, in my opinion, and not compassion for the potential victim. 

The pure beauty of this game and of sport in general is manifested in the colorful rainbow of feelings, sights and sounds that come with the actual game competition. That is what makes competing so great. 

FINAL EXAMS

When you compete against others who have similar aspirations in their lives (play a live game), you then get insight as to where you really stand in a bigger picture sort of way.  It is all clear and present on the scoreboard at the end of the day.  There are no judges, teachers, administrators or panels to grade, decipher, or obstruct the beauty (or the ugliness) of sport and raw competition.  The answer always appears as crooked numbers on a scoreboard.  It is always measured by the simplest and most understandable of numerical components. 

Maybe this scoreboard thing is the only thing I do understand for sure anymore, because, for a single example, there is so much from the concept of modern political correctness that escapes my antiquated logic, and I don't even ever know where to begin with all that.  Things such as scoreboards, winning, and losing are concepts that I still thankfully understand.

SLIDE AND RECOVER

I want to attack the year, the season, the opponent, the moment, the day, the opportunity, anything possible.  I am all about anything and any way that we can come up with to start a siege of some sort. I am in favor of promoting any type of a team behavioral quirk we have that might upset our opponents or their plans.

I HAVE A DREAM that * The JOY comes from the WORK *

No matter what happens Saturday, or ever for that matter, I want us to not only rise above the wave, but to always try to use the infinite power of the moving water to our advantage.  I want to use as much auxiliary juice as possible so that I do not burn this team out or make them peak too early.  We are having fun playing hard now.  I want us to have more fun while playing even harder and more intensely later on.  I definitely wish I had the sure fire recipe for that game soufflé.  I think love and fun are at least part of the secret ingredients needed.  As seriously as I approach team excellence, it is a useless goal without the addition of an unbridled passion, the contagious joy that lacrosse players can feel as a unit while playing a team oriented game.

Next Entry | Previous Entry


Flip Started Blogging Before it was Cool, Read Over 400 of His Entries Since January 2001
Jump to a Period:
2006: Jan Feb Mar Apr May June July Aug Sept Oct Nov
2005: Jan Feb Mar Apr May June July Aug Sept Oct Nov Dec
2004: Jan Feb Mar Apr May June July Aug Sept Oct Nov Dec
2003: Jan Feb Mar Apr May June July Aug Sept Oct Nov Dec
2002: Jan Feb Mar Apr May June July Aug Sept Oct Nov Dec
2001: Jan Feb Mar Apr May Sept Oct Nov Dec