Aug. 8, 2007

It's a yearly ritual. I travel to Central Maine for a little fishing and relaxing at a cottage with no television, internet or cell phone service, and recharge for the coming year. The rite never fails, as it allows me to think and read with an unclouded mind -- something very difficult for me to do while staring at a computer monitor.

Below are a couple of things I was ruminating about while enjoying the downtime.

Better Coverage
Last year was a bit of a transition year for Lacrosse Magazine Online with the introduction of a new format and the incorporation of several new staff members. Lost in the change was the Men's Collegiate Lacrosse Association (MCLA), formerly the Men's Division Intercollegiate Associates (MDIA), as well as the WDIA.

I've recently received feedback from MCLA types, most expressing disappointment in our coverage. Some even went so far as to insinuate that the limited response to our former associates was some sort of payback for the MCLA's departure from US Lacrosse. We're actually not that diabolical. We just didn't have the space or manpower to give the MCLA or the WDIA any love.

I'm hoping to change that. I've sent out a letter to the heads of all the MCLA leagues about my goal of covering them in some form this coming spring and asked for assistance in providing us with good feature story ideas. I will do the same for the WDIA as the season nears.

It shouldn't be a problem finding features or putting together a notebook with the number of teams available, but it will take a combined effort. If all goes well, we will be able to improve the breadth of our coverage for readers.

Summer Reading
For the past seven or eight summers I have been trying to read as many biographies of U.S. Presidents as I can. I typically finish off two or three each year and have made a pretty good dent in the total with only about 20 presidents remaining. This summer my second book is Andrew Jackson: His Life and Times, by H.W. Brands.

While Brands is setting the stage for the world into which Jackson was born, he writes about the relationship between colonists and Native Americans in the western territories. The following is an excerpt from Brands' book (pgs. 5-6).

"Pontiac's campaign was spreading faster than the news of it, and the troops and traders in Mackinac knew of no reason to fear the large group of Ojibwas who approached the fort in amicable fashion and commenced a game of lacrosse immediately beneath the walls.

The British came out to watch, as they did on such occasions. The intensity of the game mounted, until one of the players threw the ball close to the gate. The laughing, cheering spectators took no alarm when both teams tore after it. But then the players dropped their lacrosse sticks, snatched war axes from under the robes of their women, and rushed through the unguarded gate. The surprise was total and the carnage almost equally so."

The historical reference was interesting, but I found it encouraging that Brands didn't feel the need to explain what lacrosse is, and how it is/was played ---- something I've encountered in other texts. It appears even academics from Texas -- Brands is a prof at UT -- are taking for granted that lacrosse is a known quantity.

Familiar Face
While Brands has already realized where lacrosse stands in the national consciousness, it appears Sports Illustrated may be a step off the pace. The national mag highlighted Jim Berkman, head coach of seven-time NCAA champ Salisbury, in their July 30 `Faces in the Crowd' section.

Berkman deserves all the recognition he receives, and the numbers -- 308-34, as one example -- bear that out. But `Faces in the Crowd?' Isn't that for teens, college kids and senior citizen pole vault champs? I know I have a D-III bias, but recognition of Berkman is more suitable for SI's `Scorecard' section.

Skaneateles Heartbreak
Summer isn't all about breezy observations, especially when you read about the death of a man like John Kelly. A native of Skaneateles, N.Y., and a Richmond, Va., police officer, Kelly was a diehard lacrosse guy. He played at Skaneateles High School before joining the Roger Williams (R.I.) program. During his off-time from the Richmond Police Department, Kelly was the lacrosse coach at Benedictine High School.

Kelly, 32, was killed on July 8 as he was docking his boat on Skaneateles Lake. A drunk in another boat blindsided Kelly's 20-foot MasterCraft, ending the life of Kelly and that of his girlfriend, Heather Wilkins, 26.

"There wasn't a day that went by when he didn't ask every individual player how he was doing," said Patrick Dibert, a captain of the Benedictine lacrosse team, to the Richmond Times Dispatch. "Coach Kelly really cared about us."

"I underestimated my little brother," Chris Kelly told hundreds of mourners at a memorial for his youngest brother. "I knew he was great. I knew that I loved him. But the extent of what he did for his friends was just amazing."

There's a month left in the summer. Have a blast, just leave the driving to someone else. Losing John Kelly is already too much.

Slides & Rides
It's good to be King. One high school coach who played in a tournament in Baltimore said while the games were going on Hopkins head man Dave Pietramala was "being chauffeured around in his own Popemobile." It was actually a golf cart...while sitting in a bar at O'Hare Airport waiting for my flight to depart I bumped into a guy living in Seattle who picked up the sport of lacrosse as a 27-year old. He never really got the chance to play while living in Chicago, but now plays on a club team in the greater Seattle area. You're never too old...to coaches of all ages who are guiding summer league teams, a bit of advice: leave the stick checks to the regular season. I know it's a rule, but requesting it in the summer is bad form...it would appear the future of the women's national team is in good hands if the U-19 team's performance is any indication...I hope to have my Division III men's summer power rankings up by the end of the week.

Contact Jac Coyne at jcoyne@uslacrosse.org.