Eastern Lacrosse will host a Fall Festival this Sunday afternoon at 3:30.

Eastern University head coach Brandon Childs announced an opportunity for Eastern students and friends of the program to get a preview of Eastern men’s lacrosse.

In preparation for their participation in the HEADstrong event on October 10th, the squad will host a ‘red-white’ scrimmage on Sunday October 3rd at 3:30.

Childs, on being told that Eastern’s colors are maroon and white, insisted that he is not trying to change the school’s colors but rather is translating a typical practice expression into something people can watch. “When we divide up the team, we divide into red and white, ” he said, “we will divide the squad in half and play by the same rules we will use at the HEADstrong event.”

As the scrimmage goes on, there will be music, giveaways, and fan activities. The Men’s Lacrosse staff is pleased with the progress of their returning players and the quality of their recruiting class. Come to Olson Field this Sunday afternoon to see the team in action.

Man, have things changed in the last five years. Today, I would no longer use words such as toughness, loyal, and entertaining but rather choose words like egotistical, drama queen, and selfish to describe Brett Favre. The “gunslinger” has made his last minute return to the Vikings and with his arrival in Minnesota yesterday the hopes and dreams of Tavares Jackson and Sage Rosenfels have been shattered for the second year in a row.

I do feel that if the Vikings can live with what Favre has decided to do than who am I to have an opinion on the situation. However, I just can’t help myself this time. No matter how many games he has played in a row or how many touchdowns he has thrown for, I don’t believe it shows good leadership to show up to camp as camp is closing. I have heard countless Vikings talk about the leadership the “gunslinger” brings to the locker room and to that I would say, lead by example and the example is to outwork everyone including Jackson and Rosenfels. Be the first to arrive and the last to leave. Mentor the younger players especially the quarterbacks. Reach out to High Schoolers in Minnesota. Do more for others than for yourself! That is leadership and that is not Brett Favre.

So Brett Favre doesn’t want to stay in a dorm room or sleep in a dorm bed. My guess is that neither do the other seventy guys that reported for camp. My advice to Brad Childress and friends out in Minnesota would be to run your camp from your practice facility from day 1 and accommodate everyone the same as you accommodate the game’s biggest pre Madonna.

I know I am ranting here and I try not to do this on my blog, so I will digress in saying that I have no real interest in the Minnesota Vikings or Brett Favre. However, moving forward I will have an interest in the careers of Rosenfels and Jackson and I wish them well. In the meantime I will have to add a new jersey to my Christmas wish list. I think I will go with some guy named Manning.

I figured I would use this time to update the blog and talk about some hot topics in NCAA Lacrosse.  There are coaching vacancies out there. Maryland, Penn State and, Washington College have all opened up and all seem to be attracting a lot of rumors. I won’t speculate as to who will land these jobs but I am hopeful that some of the great D1 up and comers will land some of these big time jobs. Gerry Byrne of Notre Dame and Leland Rogers of Syracuse have become household names because of defense. I would love to watch these guys become the next Jeff Tambroni and have their careers advance to the point that they will be rumored for every job from this point on.

I guess the hottest topic right now is the tempo of the game and if there should be a shot clock in college lacrosse. To be honest I am not so sure where I stand on the shot clock. I do feel as though coaches should be able to game plan and develop different game plans and styles of play to suit them best. With all that being said, I wish that everyone could just agree to play faster.  I miss the days of the 22 to 21 Cuse -Virginia games. I miss seeing the ball move quickly up the field and into the net. I hate the big little, the open sets and the invert and AS A FAN, I wish they were all outlawed. AS A COACH I just don’t know how I feel. I have heard a ton of ideas and as I watched the National Championship game with three other college coaches we came up with a ton of different ideas.

We came up with a smaller box, more stall calls, 2 point shots, the shot clock and then lastly my brilliant idea eliminating the Long Stick Midfielder. I thought that by eliminating the LSM teams would have more favorable matchups and would attack more. This would also create less subbing and a quicker pace. As this idea began to make more and more sense, CJ. Costabile Duke’s LSM won the first face off in overtime and made the most exciting play of the season. Scoring just 5 seconds into the sudden death overtime. So we are back to the drawing board. A board filled with invert diagrams and big little picks.

Dave Webster the Dickinson College lacrosse coach lead his Red Devils to a 14-2 record and both his and the Red Devil’s first appearance in the NCAA tournament. Many regard Dave as one of Division III’s best coaches. I was fortunate to have worked for Dave for three years. Today, I am often asked what Dave’s tricks are. Just last summer I was asked on three different occasions, “How does he get so many good kids to go there?”

The answer to the question that everyone wants to know is that Dave is just a great guy. There you have it. There is no secret formula, no undercover recruiting trips. It is not a lucky tie or a money sport coat. Dave Webster is just the kind of guy people trust with their kid’s future with.  He is just a great guy.

I feel that in so many ways, I am the guy to tell the story on Webster. Not only did I spend three years learning from the man but I watched as my older brother played four years of lacrosse at Dickinson. He loved his time in Carlisle but wins were few and far between. Webster was on his way in, as my brother was on his way out. In just a few short years, Dave had Dickinson ranked in the Top 20 and was getting some of the best recruits in Division 3. As the rigors of leading a national contending lacrosse program increased, Dave took on more responsibility. Dave served on both the NCAA rules committee and the USILA Board. Most notably in 2006 Dave canceled a team trip to England in order to take 45 young men to Louisiana just after Hurricane Katrina shook our country. Since that trip, Dickinson Lacrosse has traveled to Albuquerque, NM and to West Virginia this past winter for mission minded trips. He has done more than just win games. He has taught his boys how to win at life.

Despite all the good that Dave has done with his programs in the past, an NCAA bid had eluded the Webster charm. So in a year where there has been many talks of NCAA snubs, I wanted to take a chance to commend a team and a coach that wasn’t snubbed but rather most deservingly accepted a bid to the 2010 NCAA Tournament . So congratulations to Dickinson for their first appearance in the NCAA Tournament. However, more importantly congrats to Dave for his first of many trips to the NCAA’s.

Freshmen Goalie Aaron Benz was named the Eastern University Athlete of the week. Check out the link below for the story!

http://www.goeasterneagles.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1600&Itemid=19

With a team so young all we want to do is practice. We started our practices on January 25^th and on January 25^th I thought perhaps we started too early and our guys would burn out down the stretch. Looking back now, thank God we did. That first week of practice we were flying around the field. We put in offenses and defenses and we were getting more touches of the ball then I thought was possible in one week. This past week could not be any more different than the first. We are getting better and better at shoveling and the coaching staff is getting better and better at planning creative practices. We have watched film, ran sprints, lifted, did circuit training, set team goals and the latest was a toughness challenge to see just who was the toughest guy on the team! I am out of ideas like PENDOT is out of salt!

So with all this snow, I got to ask why in the world would God dump this much snow on us lacrosse coaches at such an important time of year? Well I think on my snow day between shoveling sessions I found out just why God may “White Out” the entire month of February.  He is a true Lacrosse fan.

I spent most of my day shoveling but between trips outside I spent some time watching some lacrosse. I decided that I was going to pop in some old game tapes and search for some old but good offensives sets. In the meantime I was brought back to a time where lacrosse was full of fast break chances and the first game of the year was Princeton at Hopkins in early March. There were no tune ups and there were mid week games. Nowadays, we coaches treat our schedules like a game of chess. Who we play and when we play them seems to be more important than the game itself. There is something to be said for a week in early March when four top 10 teams all play each other. As a fan, I miss those days.  As a coach I am just not sure!

So as an inch of snow becomes two and two becomes more than can possibly be plowed, I have to wonder if God is just saying to us coaches……Make it fun again! I hope that we can get back on the field next week. At this point I am doubtful. However, my hopes are even higher that when we get back on the field our team becomes a product that would make the old schoolers proud. I expect fast break opportunities and midweek games that are decided by one goal. And I pray that the 2^nd week in February will teach our guys something that will result in that game winning goal!

My heart went out for McCoy and I found myself wishing that he had won. However, I got over it quickly and moved into Lacrosse season and really didn’t think about McCoy until this past season rolled around. I watched Texas a couple of times this year and was more impressed with Colt each time. I was certainly impressed with his decision making and his arm but as I looked closer I became more and more impressed with who he was as a leader. I feel like every college athlete in the country should emulate McCoy.

So it seemed like a story book ending was in sight. He was back at the Heisman presentation and back in the National Championship game for the first time as a starter. Just as it happened the year before McCoy was not awarded the Heisman. This time I didn’t feel so bad. Ingram from Alabama was nasty all season and who really cares about an individual award when you have a chance to play in the National Championship game? Having watched Colt carefully throughout the season, I knew he didn’t care he just wanted to win with his teammates and he had his chance.

Well, that chance came to a painful crash in the first quarter of the biggest stage Colt will ever see. For those of you who don’t know Colt’s career at Texas came to an end with a huge hit that sidelined him for the rest of the game. McCoy had to watch his team play for the National Championship. Just as I thought, Colt led his team from the sideline and helped his back up QB Garrett Gilbert with his reads. But there was only so much he could do and when it was all said and done he missed his chance at a National Championship but what was even more devastating was that Colt missed his chance to play one more time with his teammates.

I am a tough critic and a hard person to win over. I had my doubts about Colt McCoy all the way until the end. That was until he gave the best post game interview I can remember a college kid giving. (I have the link below.)

You could just hear in his voice how devastated he was that he couldn’t play. He was obviously upset that he didn’t win the National Championship but he was even more upset that he missed the opportunity to play one more time. He said more than once in the interview that he would have given anything to play in that game. In particular play one more time for the school that he loved and with the teammates that he loved.  All of us who participated in college athletics know that feeling. It is the worst. I will never forget the way I felt the day my college career was over. I remember thinking those same things Colt said in his interview. 5 seconds after his career was over and while blinded by Alabama players, fans and confetti Colt McCoy earned up to the tag the best of the best! McCoy didn’t just sum up the way we all feel when it is over but he looked to the sky for a second and came back with a courageous statement about his faith. “I always give God the glory. I never question why things happen the way they do. God is in control of my life and if I know nothing else, it is that I am standing on the rock.”

Wow!

Due to the extensive news coverage on CNN and ESPN, you all know by now that I was in attendance at Eastern’s winter graduation.  Not only was I in attendance, I actually received a little fold that is supposed to have a diploma in it eventually.  I was very excited to receive that folder since it has cost me tens of thousands of dollars over four years.  Graduation was okay, the highlight was definitely Dr. Frederick Boehlke falling asleep within the first five minutes of the ceremony.  For those who don’t know Boehlke, he is around 87 years old (literally) and the cutest little old man in the world, he resembles the cartoon. Magoo very closely. (http://www.zacharybass.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/07/mrmagoo.jpg).  I can’t blame him, he has had to sit through too many of these and I was at my only one and I was almost asleep.  The worst part was at the end when I was sitting at the end of the row of chairs as all the professors walked by.  This was cool since I got to see a few professors that I am going to miss, but I also had to see some of the professors I went to war with over the half decade I spent at Eastern.  A few offered congrats and I gave the most pathetic attempt at sincerity and thanked them.

I know you have all been trying to get in contact with me to see how my winter vacation went and all the great stuff I got and all the silly and immature antics I partook in.  In all honesty I did next to nothing for the past few weeks, just sitting around and getting fat has been my only activities since I graduated.  One thing I did get to do is go to the wedding of a former players brother.  And I also got to spend a lot of time with some of my favorite people in the world.  No I’m not talking about my family (they are by far my favorites), but I also got to spend time with the Jersey Shore cast and cast of Keeping up with the Kardashians.  If you haven’t seen these shows, stop reading immediately and get to a tv to watch these.

That being said, school starts Monday, and for the first time in a while I will not be there (well, I may be there because I don’t want everyone to miss me too much).  If you would like to know about how I feel about the first week of a semester you can refer back to an earlier blog “Sharbs starts his victory lap.”  But spring semester has a few things that fall doesn’t have.  The first signs that it is officially spring semester is when the soccer goals are removed from the field and the lacrosse goals are allowed to stay there, there are a few new faces because of the transfers who have come from around the country to Eastern, and everyone is sporting their new clothes that Santa game them.

But the best part of spring semester at Eastern comes with the small amount of snow that accumulates over the month of December.  As a New Englander, the snow in this area is very minor and it doesn’t cause me for too much excitement.  One reason people enjoy the snow is so they can go sledding/snowboarding on the hill next to Breezeway, I have participated and it is a pretty good time, but there is another thing that entertains me more than the sledding. With the snow on the hills on campus (not just the one near Breezeway) they become a little more slippery and muddy.  I find the most entertaining part of these hills is spotting from a distance as various people, in a hurry for class may lose their footing and partake in some of the most epic wipeouts I have had the privilege of seeing.

In response to coach Childs last post, I have decided to provide you with all my picks for the upcoming season.  I’m not trying to be funny for once, I am going to offer my actual picks for this season.

Who will be the big time team on Memorial day: Coach says it’s Virginia, but my pick is John’s Hopkins.  It’s Baltimore, they are always set up to succeed by the NCAA in the tournament, and if they can get into M&T Bank stadium in Baltimore, they will have the most ridiculous home field advantage ever.  Also Cuse is always in the mix even though I don’t like them.

Who will win the Tewaaraton Trophy in 2010?

Coach thinks it will be Ned Crotty.  Fortunately for coach I agree with him.  He has switched positions and still made an impact at Duke and I think Duke is going to be another team to watch this Memorial day weekend.

Who will be the surprise team of 2010?

Coach goes with Harvard, Brown, Albany, UMBC, Denver, and PENN.  I agree with Harvard as I have seen them play a few times.  Denver will be nasty with the new coach.  Brown and UMBC both made the tournament and were in the top 20 last year so I won’t call them surprise teams, and I think Brown will drop a bit.  But one team I think will exceed expectations by leaps and bounds is Princeton.  They have so much talent at every position.  I feel like a lot of people think that they won’t do well without Tierney but I think they will do great.  Also Dartmouth will turn some heads.  I have no legitimate evidence to make this pick, but I like them since they are from New Hampshire…

Coach of the year?

Coaches pick Dom Starsia.  I disagree for one reason he has a job where it isn’t that difficult to succeed.  All he has to do is tell a recruit where he is from and he can probably get them.  They get anyone they want almost.  The coach of the year as coach talked about earlier is John Tillman.  He took over a team that went 5-7 and turned them into a 8-5 top 20 team with his first recruiting class (something Coach Childs will do this year no doubt).  He has built this program from a punching bag team to a team that will take the IVY league over Cornell, Princeton and Brown this year.

One category coach forgot: drop off team of the year?

I pick Cornell, after pretty much winning the national championship and then letting Syracuse lift the trophy, I think they have lost too much as 6 of their top 8 point getters are gone.  I also think that Notre Dame who went undefeated last year will get rocked in the newly formed Big East conference.  Notre Dame beat such powerhouses as Dartmouth (not this year!), Vermont and Quinnipiac (twice) and beat only North Carolina as impressive wins.  This year they have to go through Cuse, Georgetown, Rutgers, and St. John’s.

Now to the most important part of my blog…birthday wishes: Happy birthday to: Chris Hannon, Nate Trunfio, Chris Franklin, Lebron James, and Tiger Woods (come on, he may be a weirdo off field but he is a nasty golfer).

I have two you tube clips for you to get excited for the upcoming Vancouver Olympic games:

First the resurgence of United States hockey (sorry Rivest):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K06XI-vuOpE&feature=related

Also, the US bobsled team is getting ready to do some damage:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bFZvRpH9a9I

Respect