Sunday, November 2, 2003-

THE WADING IS OVER

Colorado State University waded into the DI sports waters just a bit deeper recently as the long-awaited decision on which would be the next sport at CSU with Varsity status was finally announced. They had to add one, we all knew that. I mention this only because I have been oft-asked about this over the last six months. I never considered that men’s lacrosse was even near the pool of possibilities, although I do sometimes think about what I would do with all that "liquid".

Anyway, the school had chosen to dive in head first for the far more fiscally feasible and (not a real word) genderetically correct women’s water polo. I’m not sure what technicality ever made it possible for the short list to have any men’s sports on it anyway, but apparently there were some. I am not good at figuring out those kinds of things. I need technicality specialists. I am too busy figuring out the basic "program instructions". For me, "what if" is more along the lines of, "what if Bo Everett (#?) were to play midfield?", and further, "what do I do if he is not happy there?"

X’S AND O’S ARE JUST HUGS AND KISSES TO ME

I often like the end of a (fall) season, because it launches me into thinking about the next "new" one (spring). I can take time for a philosophical look at where we are, and the end of fall ball gives me basically three months to prepare myself to coach the "real" team starting in late January. Meanwhile I CAN play Johnny Appleseed right now, and plant a bunch of early winter seeds too.

I am not very good at X’s and O’s. I don’t draw that well. I try to improve. Ultimately I must always figure out ways to describe to the players what I want by the drills that we do in practice. I am looking right now at the many how to's of how to prepare us for what’s up next. I also have a little time to ponder some new individual and team possibilities.

This fall I looked hard at "team" to try and identify and tune in to the characteristics that we were exhibiting. I wanted to build on the good ones, and "fix" the others. I already knew we had a lot of players returning. Meanwhile I got an ample look at the expanded lot of new individuals that will play various roles in the 2004 script. I ponder potential, as well as potential for peril.

I ALWAYS LIKE A GOOD TEAM THEME

Last year our rallying cry was, and we wanted to be the, "Last team standing". That’s what sustained us from beginning to end. This new collection of players would seem to have, by and large, a huge appetite for the game. Good, because our schedule looks treacherous and long. This clan is energetic and it wants immediate gratification. Unlike last year's team, they don't want to be the "last one" of anything. They are young and hungry, as in, "When do we eat?"

The thing that keeps coming into my mind as a team "focus" is that we will most likely reflect our personality by always trying to "impose our will" on other teams. That is what we did at times this fall. It is a somewhat fragile rock of a theme song, though, for the simple reason that it might then be hard to know what to do or how to act during those times when we may not be imposing our will. Still, I see the team this year as "the aggressor", and I doubt if that will change. In the eleven game schedule we just completed we showed that we could, in fact, deal with adversities (being behind) too. We could hold it together and bounce back when we needed to.

ALWAYS BE CAREFUL WHAT YOU WISH FOR

The only negative feedback I have gotten from people who have been close to us over these past couple of months is that we have talent, and we look good for this stage and all, but that we have huge egos on this team and that might could be our undoing. It is true (the ego thing), but I am not sure that it is a new thing here. Last year (2003) was just a splendid rest after the "Clash of the Titans" that was 2002.

One of the things about having the talent you want as a coach is that it can sometimes come with an ego of equal or greater proportion. This team might be extremely "talented" then. That will be my good fortune and or my cross to bear.

ALL YOU NEED IS LOVE
the Beatles

I have seen this particular edition of the "family" in the early processes of becoming close. This is always a key thing, and one that worried me a bit as we started up in September. They have become, in fact, close to one another already. I don’t know how well I will handle the ego issues to come, but I feel far better prepared these days. I have the benefit of experience. I will not deal with problems similar to ones we have had in the past with responses that I have already tried and did not work. It is stupid to do the same thing and expect different results. I try to only reuse the ones that work. I have a bunch of "tricks" up my sleeve for this year. I see myself as still in the process of becoming more proficient at dealing with "cliques" and, or collective egos as well.

The individual egos will always remain as one of any coach’s biggest challenges. I know I have my work cut out for me this coming season. However, I am excited about selling this team on its potential. The "fear of underachievement" is part of the pitch.

MILITARY ME

Getting a team to be "all it can be" sounds "more fun" to me right now than that constant challenge of having to patch it up and "overachieve" that was part of every day last year. I will be doing some further "modeling" from the ’03 team, though. I want to bring elements that were the building blocks of that team to this one. The foundation here is clearly in place. We have talent and the expectations that come along with it. The potential to overachieve is also there. I want the whole pyramid.

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