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Coach Flip Naumburg's Journal
Sunday, July 2, 2006
TEAM ROCK-IT POCKET 12 - IAS SELECT 8
We played much better today than yesterday, and that is pretty much any which way you look
at it, regardless of the opponent, etc. We won this game fairly easily by using an
excellent defense, a ride that caused turnovers made by IAS (whoever they are), and then
we scored timely team style goals. We had 11 assists on our 12 tallies, and that is
a statistic I like very much. In my opinion that is what makes a team less dependent
on just one or two players and for me it means the team machine thing is working.
I think it was said that the team we played was from the D.C. area. They certainly
were not from around here. It was refreshing to play someone that wasn't made up of
players from C.U. or Colorado or players we have played before and or recently.
Mike Napolilli (A – 2002 #11) had 3 goals and an assist to lead a small cavalcade
of scorers and point getters. Our pressure on defense made a difference and forced
mistakes or bad shots. If we could win a face-off we might have potential.
I think I will never coach a team that will go, and I hate to even say it out loud, undefeated.
I have never coached one. I had a J.V. team once that had just a tie as the blemish,
but to me that was a zit. The reason I will likely never coach an undefeated team
is because all my teams seem to need to get smacked up side the head now and again to remember
or to find out who they really are. It is somewhat unfortunate that it had to happen
to this group yesterday. At the same time I think I am excited to see how much farther
we can progress over these next two games based on what I saw today.
PLONKEY STARTED IT
We forged ahead early as I said, and by the end of the third quarter we led 10-3 and were
on cruise control and playing mostly well. Things started to get a little chippy later
on and around Mark Plonkey (#17 – CSU – 2004 –Long Stick Legend), however,
and this is par for our course as in not unusual. I didn't mind. I almost liked
it. This team needs some of that jagged edge that he often brings. It is also
the edge that can cut both ways, as we ended up with 12 penalties on the day.
Anyway, I started by trying to back Mark off. This is a guy who trash talks way better
than he socializes, and he was getting on a roll because the other team continued to feed
him ammunition with back talk.
Then someone on the other bench said something that pushed my button big time by pulling
out the CLUB card, and I joined in the talking fray like trash was my profession.
I became the garbage man. What the man had said, while looking way up at the score
on top of his own number was something about our USLIA, something meaning essentially that
we (CSU, etc,) are just CLUB and therefore basically nothing. What do we have?
These guys acted like they had invented the game back there somewhere on the east coast
in some prep school. What the hell game were they watching?
So I jumped in the pile. I think our team was divided. Some of them were telling
me to shut up. The rest surely wanted to see how far I would go with it and likely
were egging me on, I can't recall.
For the record, while I was 'debating' life issues with the other team they scored 5 goals
in the fourth quarter to make the 12-8 final look respectable. My bad! It (trash
talking) did feel kind of good, though, but in a bad or club way.
When we mentioned the scoreboard, wondering if they had noticed it at all, they said that
they had brought high school players. Oh, well why on earth did you do that? You can't
compete here with them. And where did they get all those college helmets anyway?
THE DIVISION III DREAM
Who says that you are better or have accomplished more because someone pays for your lacrosse
costs? Where is that written? Why is this so ingrained in our sport society
that if someone pays for our baseball glove that we have succeeded?
Let's take a look, shall we?
You guys play back east and you play Division III. We play out west and we are club
status. When we travel we fly, we rent vans, and we stay in mostly nice hotels.
We play big universities as well as small, and it is great to travel all over the country
and experience many different cities and university towns. We go lots of places and
play games that are meaningful to a very surprising number of people. We do pay our
own way. Yes it is true. We do miss out on that school funded bus ride from
Nazareth to Lynchburg or whatever that they get for being DIII. How often do they
fly to an away game? ZERO? That's what I thought. How many really great
trips do we at CSU take each year? We take five or six. How many do they take?
"They" get their sticks and gloves paid for. Big deal. We (CSU) have
Rock-it Pocket as a sponsor.
Most Division III teams have rarely or never played in front of more than 500 people is
my guess. I know a few do, but most definitely don't. Home or away I am extremely
disappointed if we don't draw 1000 or more, and two months ago we had about 4000 people
at Invesco Field at Mile High in Denver for our Rocky Mountain Showdown with C.U.
There was no pro game afterward or whatever to puff up the crowd. We are signed to
do it again next year. And oh, by the way, our little program made close to $10,000
that night. Our annual budget is well over $100,000, but we are nothing because, of
course, we are just CLUB.
We (club) are not as good? Well, for the most part you (DIII) won't play us, lest
you give up one of your sacred 'play dates' that are restricted by the NCAA because someone
pays for your stuff. We renegade crazies can schedule as many games as we want.
Oh my God, it's blasphemy.
I am extremely grateful to my alma mater, C.C. They are gracious enough to schedule
us each year (only at their home, but at least they play us), thus giving the chance for
us to measure ourselves against a real program.
How about rivalries? I know about Dennison and OWU, and their little Midwestern war,
but I guess someone will have to fill me in with some of the other DIII biggies. We
have wars and blood baths with the likes of BYU, Michigan, C.U., Sonoma State, and Santa
Barbara. When we get together with any of these teams it is an event, and sometimes
a spectacle. I wouldn't trade the intensity of these rivalries for any DIII one or
their budget I can tell you that.
Raising and using our own money gives us problems, but it also gives us freedom, and that
may be what I love the most. No one tells me whom to schedule. No one tells
me where our trips must go. No one crams us in 6 to a hotel room. We (I) choose
for us to travel in style. I tell everyone before they get here that playing is an
investment, and the main thing I have seen as a result is all positive, as in greater parental
involvement, as in they travel with us like groupies and really care about being part of
our family. The investment of people paying to play at CSU is a plus, not a minus.
So few people get that, and today it fried my ass.
Maybe I am crazy, but I say to any DIII program, let's go, let's see how much better you
are. Name the time and the place and don't call it an exhibition. We will be
there.
I know I am rambling, but they pissed me off and I thought about this stuff all the rest
of the day.
THE HARD ROAD TO FORD
Tomorrow we play for the right to go play at Ford field in Vail. Now we are down
valley with the 'losers' in Edwards, but we have a chance to crawl back to town on Tuesday,
and this tournament holds good and real goals for this team.
The team we will play is good. They won 15-0 today and have a bunch of Division I
players. It will not be easy to land at Ford Field.
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