Lax on TV and Why You Should Scout Your Opponents

By Reece

Wow... it's been way too long since I posted last. In my defense, there just hasn't been much time. And what have I been doing in my free time? You got it. Watching lacrosse on TV - regularly! ESPNU has been great this year, covering a few games each week. I usually don't get to see them in real-time, so I DVR all the games and block my ears when Joe starts talking about the scores. It worked until Saturday - when I learned that Army beat Navy for the first time in 13 years!

I've only seen the first quarter so far, but the Black Knights really came to play, getting up 3-0 on the Mids. What stuck out to me in this early stanza was Army's second goal. The Knights moved the ball around the outside of the offensive zone at a solid pace. No cutters, no motion, just working it around... for a while. I thought the refs may call them for stalling. The Navy defense held their ground, playing man-to-man, just following the ball. Slowly, the Black Knights started to move and a cutter came around the back of the crease, as the ball moved to the top right middie. He fed this cutter coming up from the crease, who quickly moved the ball to the top left middie cutting back door on his defender, who wasn't out of position... until it was too late. The streaking middie came down the wing uncontested and bounced it in for an easy goal.

The reason this stood out: the announcer, and former Army coach Jack Emmer, then said "Army has been running this play for years." I want to say I remember this play when we scouted them at Bucknell seven years ago, not certain though. Point is, this play was not new to Navy. They should have recognized it, particularly when Army spent so much time working it around - purposefully lulling the Navy defense into a stupor that cost them an early goal.

THIS IS WHY YOU SCOUT. Army vs. Navy! League play! Ranked opponents! Arguably each team's biggest regular season game of the year! Games like this are too important. You've got to know your opponent. I don't want to sound like I'm criticizing Navy too harshly. Obviously, Coach Meade is one of the best in the game - the Navy program is outstanding. What I am saying, is if those Navy players had a better opportunity to study their opponents, they may have iced that play long before it even started - stopping Army from getting on a roll so early on in the contest.

Overtime Media In The News: The Boston Cannons

By Dan

Reece was probably hoping we didn't catch this Q & A that the Boston Cannons posted recently, but we did, and we're sharing it with everyone we can...

If you did not play professional lacrosse, what would you be doing?

Writing and directing short films. Taking surf and snowboard trips around the world. Ballin' in general.

I wonder what he would be doing if he wasn't also founding a startup company...

Enjoy.

The Bears In The Bronx

By Reece

What a beautiful day in the Bronx this past Saturday, watching the Brown Bears play the Jaspers of Manhattan in some D-I pre-season action. Dan and I hopped on the 1 train and took it all the way to 242nd St. - I didn't even know the numbers went that high - the last stop. Manhattan College has a nice field out there underneath the elevated trains, and there was a good crowd in attendance for a scrimmage.

The Bears jumped out to an early lead and for the most part seemed to control the game. Brown's Thomas Muldoon always impresses me, and I dig Jack Walsh as a player, a scrappy hustler who makes things happen.

Manhattan kept right in it though, and put a few goals in on Bruno. One way they didn't score, however, was on their man-up. Brown had plenty of penalties - questionable calls, but who cares? It's a time to practice man-down anyway. Or was it?

Starting sometime in the second or third quarter, the Jaspers ran a stall offense on man-up, literally standing still with the ball in their stick behind the net. Not - a - single - pass. At first, believing it to be a trick play that lulls the opponent to sleep before a quick cut from up top, the Bears stayed on their toes in their box-and-one. D-middie Mike Cummins' head swiveled around looking for the sneak attack, but alas, there was none.

Brown fans were baffled and unamused, especially when it continued to happen on every Brown penalty for the rest of the five quarter game! "You're wasting my time!" and "Let the kids play!" were heard from the Bears faithful. Understandably so. In pre-season, where the coaches ultimately have control over the match (five quarters for example), it is a time for the players to get up to game speed. Stalling on man-up, for whatever reason, is a waste of your opponent's time. The Bears came down from Providence to get better on Saturday, but their man-down might as well have practiced at home. Eventually, they decided to press out and try to take the ball away.

Had the Jaspers simply not put in a man-up play yet? Was it because Inside Lacrosse ranked the Brown man-down unit third in a pre-season poll? Did Manhattan have a secret weapon that they didn't want to be seen on film yet? The sidelines were lost until we found the answer after the game. Apparently, the Jaspers had not run their earlier man-up plays as practiced, and the Manhattan coaching staff decided to teach them a little lesson as to who's calling the shots. 'Run our plays, or don't run at all.' I don't know what their incentive (READ: punishment) was to keep the players from even passing the ball, but the Jaspers responded and the Bears once again garnered a great man-down percentage.

While I would've been aggravated as an opposing player (admittedly, I was aggravated as a fan), there's something to be learned from Manhattan's coaching decision. Sometimes, a coach has to make decisions that not everyone agrees with, regardless of the consequences, but in the end proving a point. Now the Jaspers are forced to work their man-up even harder in practice and hope to be ready for the season. Maybe it's just the kind of motivation that will work. We'll see.

Hofstra Lacrosse Coaches Clinic

By Reece

Spent the morning on Long Island at the Hofstra Lacrosse Coaches Clinic, courtesy of Coach Seth Tierney. He had a huge turnout for his clinic for youth and high school coaches and we took a few minutes to promote HOMEFIELD and talk with the coaches in attendance. Great responses from the coaches of the traditional hot-bed for the game of lacrosse. We can't wait to start letting in users from the LI high school area. It's such a solid area for high school sports, and we know HOMEFIELD can make an impact for a lot of programs there.

A side note on Hofstra... what a facility! Coach Tierney gave us a quick tour and it was well worth it. I never saw the offices before, but they've really made some nice upgrades - including a stadium-seating classroom dedicated to game film! Watch out for Hofstra this year; they will be a well-prepared team (though I'll still be rooting against them on March 1. Go Brown Bears!).

Thanks to Coach Tierney, his staff and team for having us, and thanks to all the coaches for their interest in HOMEFIELD.

US Lacrosse Coaches Convention

By Joe

So we went down to the US Lacrosse Coaches Convention this past weekend. Left New York City late in the afternoon and got down to Philadelphia just in time to get caught outside in the rain, but the rest of the weekend was a huge success. This was our second convention (last December's IMLCA convention was the first) and we are extremely excited with the great strides we have made so far. We're thrilled with the positive feedback we have received from college and high school coaches alike. We feel, there is a serious need for a web service such as HOMEFIELD and it is even more apparent after talking with everyone in Philly.

While our purpose in Philly was to promote HOMEFIELD, it was great seeing all the people we know at companies like Brine, Warrior, Scorpion Lacrosse, Maverik, Inside Lacrosse, Cascade, Adidas and Atlantic Sportswear, as well as meeting new people from all over the country - Utah, Michigan, Atlanta - and the world - Ireland, Germany, Japan! It's exciting to see such growth in the game.

Though lacrosse was the focus, we also made contact with some coaches who are involved with two or three sports expressing major interest in HOMEFIELD for sports such as football, soccer and even wrestling. Remember, we created HOMEFIELD to work with any sport. So help spread the word to any coach who might be interested in our service.

Thanks to everyone who stopped by the Overtime Media booth. We'll be in touch.