Thursday, July 10, 2003

I’VE BEEN TO VAIL AND BACK

I will never say, "This was the best Vail experience ever", because there have been so many of them, and that stretch of time which encompasses ever is way too long for me to comprehend all at once anyway, but this 2003 version of Vail was good for lots of reasons. The weather was absolutely perfect for the whole deal. That was very helpful. The staff has swelled to almost 60 people now. This 2003 crew was excellent, motivated for the most part to work hard and play hard, too. The faith I had in the people on our staff to get things accomplished allowed me to step back a little, to inhale and enjoy the sweet lacrosse aromas wafting over the Vail Valley during the week. I felt a little less of the "Tournament Director" pressure than I usually do. I delegated as much and as often as possible. The Major-Dude//General-Dude//Dude//Sub-Dude system was finally back in place (more or less). I was able to deal with "bigger" problems and fix them one at a time. This year they (problems) weren’t coming at me five at once, like knuckles on a fist. It was pretty much one finger-poke at a time this time, and most of the major problems were, in fact, minor.

I thought quite a bit about the big Vail picture while I was up there this time. I am 51. I want to keep my passion for Vail so I can help it to become fresh as well as familiar every year. We (Directors) also want each one to be better than the one before. It must always be able to change as the times do. It started getting harder for me to "bring it" a few years ago. I wanted new blood involved, people who weren’t just going to help for a year or two (or a day or two, for that matter), and then move on, never to be heard from again or whatever. I wanted future "family" permanence, and there just weren’t any smoke signals that were becoming visible to me from that horizon We were all talking about quitting the whole thing after #30 in 2002.

Rise up with the new dawn’s early morning,
Feel the sunshine, warm upon your face,
Tomorrow’s come a long, long way to help you,
It’s your saving grace.

Stevie "Guitar" Miller

"We" stayed for #31 this year. I followed along, dragging my feet all the way up to somewhere around Vail 2002.5. Early on it appeared that we would have a great staff coming for ‘03. True that. Plus, the dawn of the future might have just begun in the form of some young people who might well be interested in being part of this tournament’s future for a long time to come. Alex Smith (graduating CSU goalie) and Tahlia Naumburg (niece, and lacrosse lover), are but two who would seem to have come to love and to give much to help make this the quality lax spectacle that it is. Brian O’farrell (Director) has two kids, girl and boy, Kellie and Casey. They were awesome as teen staffers this year, and not just good for their age. They were good for any age. This fact shouldn’t surprise me, though, as Father Brian has "worked like bull" for this tournament for twenty-some years, holding it all together, most usually by pounding something large into the ground to make it all stay put.

This Vail thing is, after all, a very special gathering of the big Lacrosse Tribes that come from all over for annual celebration of the sport and all its levels of play. This always happens at the always expanding, sacred summer, high altitude hunting grounds. I don't want to screw it up. I have waited a long time for the hope that comes with youth to come along and help to give direction to this tournament's future.

There is much involved in order to integrate the logistics of the whole event over the course of a day or a year. Then, of course, you must always keep your eye on the next day or year, too. Vail lacrosse is actually seven separate tournaments going on over an 8-day period, and on as many as seven fields as much as 22 miles apart. For many players it (playing in Vail) is something that motivates them all the rest of the year. I was one such player when I was a Masters participant.

The month surrounding the Shootout is full, sometimes even crazy. There is plenty to do the other 11 months of the year, too. The monster must be fed. The people who will eventually become the "Keepers of the Vail" must really care about it. It all can be painful at times. You have to "give birth" to it again each year. It will always need to be nurtured. "They" who inherit "the flame" will need to be true to an uncomplicated, yet not simple mission if it is to endure as the "granddaddy" of summer lacrosse tournaments.

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