“One issue that the MCLA deals with is scouting and preparing for upcoming games. There is no game tape to watch so it is very difficult to feel out your opponent before you actually step onto the field…I think if the MCLA were to create a website where every team could upload their game footage it would not only lead to an increase in the level of competitiveness in games, but also help the league and sport of lacrosse as a whole grow; buy letting people watch entire games online who would normally not be able see them.”
LaxAllstars post: Chat with Brown Bear Rob Schlesinger
By Reece
Like I said, we've hooked up with the LacrosseAllstars.com guys on a few projects, and I'm excited to show-off our latest effort - the first of many Brown Lacrosse posts featuring great players like Rob Schlesinger...
How did we help? Well besides the intro, we put together a few awesome clips of Rob from last year. Be sure to watch the video...
Fireside Chat With Rob Schlesinger, Brown University
We’ve heard there are some good players over in Providence, Rhode Island. They’re known as theBrown Bears. They took a trip to the NCAA tourney last year for the first time since ‘97, and things are looking up for 2010. One of the impact players Brown lacrosse fans are talking about is sophomore attackman Rob Schlesinger. According to BrownBears.com, he’s making a name for himself as one of the “most fearless, relentless, never-give-in competitors in the country.”
Schlesinger came up big as a freshman when his team needed him against Cornell and Hopkins. As a testament to his abilities, we have video evidence thanks to the guys at HomeField, a couple of which are Brown Bear alums and strong supporters of the program.
Check out some of his highlights from the 2009 season:
Now let’s sit Fireside and get to know this baller…
LAS: What is your fall ball schedule like this year? Are you guys doing anything differently than in years past?
Schlesinger: The schedule this year is pretty similar to those in the past, the only thing that has been different is our trip out to San Francisco. That was a great experience for us, and it definitely brought the team closer together. Right now we are done with actual team practices because of Ivy League restrictions, so we have two hour-long skill sessions a week and a couple captain’s practices.
Skill sessions are limited to 6 players per coach and we work on the fundamentals. We are also in the weight room 3 times a week and play basketball or football on Friday mornings. It’s too cold for football now, but of course the “Masshole team,” made up of high school superstars, dominated the Baltimore area team, the New York team, and the World team.
Who are some of your teammates we should watch out for this year?
We lost a lot of impact players to graduation and a few key players are abroad, so we are looking for a lot of younger guys to step up. On attack we return two starters, but look out for sophomores Parker Brown and Danny O’Brien who have been fighting for the third spot all fall.
The midfield is where we lost the most from last year. Four of our top five middies graduated, so a lot of new guys are going to see more action this year. Williams College transfer David Hawley has looked really good so far, as has freak-athlete freshman Alex Jones.
We didn’t lose a lot in the defensive side but look out for sophomore Brennan Bailey and junior Matt Greenburg. At LSM, freshman Roger Ferguson is definitely someone to keep an eye on this spring. In goal, we definitely lost a lot in All-American Jordan Burke but junior Matt Chriss has stepped up big this fall, highlighted by his 10 saves in only one half of play against UNC.
What are the team’s goals in 2010?
First and foremost our goal is to win the Ivy League championship. After that, we really want to build on our success from last year having made the NCAA tournament for the first time since ’97. It was a great experience, but we didn’t make it out of the first round. It’s not good enough for us to just make the tournament anymore. This year we want to keep winning and get a National Championship.
We hear you’re quite the competitor. How would you describe your playing style?
I’m really not a flashy player who is going to make highlight reel plays. I pride my game on physicality and playing with a fearless attitude, whether it is picking up tough ground balls or legging out a clear. That’s really how our whole team plays, and I would bet anyone who saw us play last year would agree.
What team are you looking forward to playing the most this year? Why?
Every Ivy League game is fun to play and I really look forward to those a lot. All the games are very intense and usually come right down to the wire.
Describe your pre-game… What do you do to get ready for a big game?
Everyone on the team does their own thing before we have our team warm-ups. In high school I didn’t have any real pre-game, but I kind of developed a routine last year. I’ll usually roll out my muscles for a bit in the training room, then head out to the field to shoot around about an hour before the game. After that I’ll go find a quiet place where I listen to country music and focus on what I need to do that game. While I’m focusing, I’ll have half a nutrition bar and a banana. I then head back into the locker room and meet up with the other guys who are usually bouncing all over the place listening to whatever that week’s mix is.
What’s your favorite part of Brown Lacrosse?
Brown State. You don’t understand it unless you play here.
Best place to eat in Providence?
I have to say that I really haven’t ventured out that far from the food on Thayer Street. If I want a sit down meal, it’s definitely at Spats for some nachos and a burger. If I’m looking for something quick, I’ll go for a burrito at Gordito Burrito, but there’s a new place called Baja Tex Mex that’s actually making a run for the best burrito on Thayer.
What are your three favorite songs right now?
I’m a huge country fan and I usually get a lot of crap for that being from the Boston area, but my old man liked it so I grew up listening to it. I really like anything country, but right now I would say it’s…
What kind of stick are you using right now? Type of head, shaft? String job? Tape?
I’ve always been a Brine Cyber/Cyber Pro guy, so these new rules are really messing with me right now. I was given the Brine Gospel this summer so I’ve been trying that out a bit this fall. I did order the new Cyber though, so I’ll probably use that when the shipment comes in. For a shaft, I use the Maverick Wonderboy. I’m not big on tape, I just put a little on the bottom to hold the butt end on. Stringing wise, I string all my own sticks, but no one else seems to like them. It’s probably because the ball crushes plastic on the way out.
_________________________________________________________________________________ This has been another Lax All Stars Fireside Chat. Stay tuned to the LAS Network for more interviews.
We've started partnering with a few other sports/lacrosse communities online - in particular LacrosseAllstars.com - and so far the relationship has been fantastic. You'll hear a lot more about this partnership in the coming months, but yesterday I had a conference call with a student-athlete at Brown and one of the guys from LacrosseAllstars who followed up with this:
"So far it seems like Brown students/players know how to get sh*t done. Love it!"
I really appreciate that comment personally, but even more so because I know it's true of most of my teammates. The Brown Lacrosse program produces some really high-caliber young men, and I'm proud to be a part of it.
"There has been a ton of damage to the reputation of lacrosse over the years - starting with its appropriation from the Native Americans, its niche community hold in prep schools and the Ivy League giving it that snotty air (which is still healthy with that horrible A&F video), a situation made worse by the Duke Scandal, certainly not helped at all by the NLL (which makes it uber-violent) or the MLL (which just makes it uber-desperate for ___________ [Fill in the blank: fans, $$, a website that works, players who care...]) and finally made worse by tragic marketing (here and worse here) by the likes of Warrior.
Lacrosse is one of the truly great games on this planet and lacrosse players are real athletes. While it’s a shame that we have a bad reputation around town, it’s not insurmountable.
The fix(es)?
- Be a great lacrosse player. Play hard on the field and outwork every other team around you, regardless of sport.
- And be a great person, too. Sure, start your usual shenanigans, but when you tally it up at the end of the day, don’t be a douche.
- Coach younger kids! Help improve play at every level and we will all be better for it.
- Be an ambassador! I was once somewhat ashamed to be a lacrosse player, given the reputation on campus at the time. I didn’t tell people I played, because I didn’t want it to reflect poorly on me. Wrong approach! If you’re a good guy, there’s no reason to be ashamed! Tell people you’re a lacrosse player and next time you invite people to a game they’ll say “Oh I know one of those guys, he’s cool. Yeah, I’ll go to their game.”
These are just a few things we can do. I don’t have the time to write out the solutions for the NLL/MLL/marketing debacle (though I’ll find some soon).”
Of collegiate schools with football programs, the median revenue for Lacrosse is -$640,000 according to the NCAA. I was surprised, though not entirely shocked, when I saw the rest of the figures: almost all sports - other than basketball and football - are in the red, as reported by the NCAA and the Wall Street Journal article titled One Bowl Game Buys Many Lacrosse Sticks. In fact, baseball - which generates tremendous revenue in the majors: $5.5B in 2007 - is losing the most money at -$709,000.
At Overtime Media we're well aware that basketball and football are often the big ticket items for colleges. We've also seen, at the other end of the spectrum, how absolutely dedicated club teams can be (I'm looking at you MCLA). Why is it that some sports are able to generate so much revenue while others, with arguably equal passion and dedication from the athletes, have to be subsidized by the money making programs? More intriguing in my mind though: why do the sports burning through cash and not generating profits survive?
Passion. It's the passion of the athletes that keeps the machine running. Today's student athletes (those folks who manage a full time career in sports on top of their class work) become the coaches and administrators of tomorrow, with a clear commitment to keeping their athletic departments going. They are the engine of the machine now, and provide the support (in time and money) for it later.
With so many athletes going on to lead very successful business careers, I posit that those graduates who remain involved in college sports should be able to generate profits. And they do, for athletic programs as a whole. This leads me to conclude that schools intentionally have big ticket teams subsidizing the rest. Basketball and football pull in enough cash to allow the other sports to act as loss leaders, maintaining interest in their school and parity within the leagues.
"Joe Beninati!!" That was all the email said that I got from Yevoli earlier today, but sure enough, Joe Beninati called my house an hour later to talk to Yevoli about HomeField.
Pretty awesome, because tonight is the Major League Lacrosse All-Star game, and he's the announcer. What's more, all of the MLL teams are HomeField users!
I guess it slipped through the cracks on this blog, but Overtime Media partnered with the MLL earlier this summer, because we believe the players of the MLL should have the very best. Yevoli and I used to play in the League, and it was baffling to us that we didn't watch any game film.
Step back a few years, and there's Dan and I playing at Brown, trying to arrange meetings to watch game film. The system didn't make sense, so we built HomeField and we made it super easy for coaches and players to safely review their game film online, so everyone can play at their very best.
Since we officially launched this past January, we've had some stud programs using HomeField, from high school to college to the pros. They realize that we built HomeField from a player's perspective, but they've been giving us tons of feedback and feature requests and because of it, we're happy to announce the recent launch of HomeField 2.0 - a slicker, tighter application. It's still HomeField, it just looks better, works better and it's exactly what our users want. Cool, right?
If you haven't already checked out HomeField, go to TeamHomeField.com and watch our demo video... or just sign up and create a free account. Why not? Don't you want the HomeField advantage?
HomeField in the summer: Lax Elite at Bucknell Brawl
By Reece
Earlier this week, Patrick made the long trek down Route 80 West to Lewisburg, PA - home of the Bucknell Bison. Despite being an '05 Bucknell grad, Patrick wasn't back in the 'Burg to re-live his glory days at Christy-Mathewson Memorial Stadium, he was there to get some video of our partner team, Baltimore Lax Elite, coached by our former teammate at Bucknell, Ross Albers. Their team was there for the Bucknell Bison Brawl, a summer tournament for competitive players to get some exposure to college coaches. Patrick filmed eight games over a few days, and got some great footage. Here's a slick turn-around shot and goal for Lax Elite:
Since getting back to civilization, we posted all the video to HomeField for Ross's team. He's been active on their team account, using time-coded comments to stir discussion about their game video. The players, all scattered about Baltimore with busy summer schedules have a chance to log in to HomeField, check the video, communicate privately with Ross and their teammates, and be ready for the next time they'll play together which is another major tournament - Hotbeds in Newark, DE at U. Del.
Got some video of your summer lax or any other sport for that matter? Start uploading it to TeamHomeField.com and whether you're in Lewisburg, PA or Newark, DE, you'll have the HomeField advantage.
Preparing to Win: Stat Analysis of the Men's Lax Championships
By Reece
Coolest t-shirts at the Final Four.
Memorial Day weekend just isn't complete without the NCAA men's lacrosse championship. So, despite the fact that my dear Brown University Bears didn't get to dance in the Final Four, I piled the Overtime Media team (minus Dan, with his prior obligations to "his wife") into the official HomeField-mobile and headed North.
My truck, a.ka. - the HomeField-Mobile.
The Division 1 semi-finals weren't nearly as exciting as lacrosse fans usually like - Syracuse rolled over Duke with ease and Cornell dominated Virginia. I was happy for Cornell - representing the Ivy League well and further showing they are an excellent team (thereby making Brown's win over them earlier in the year that much more sweet. Maybe bitter-sweet. Cool nonetheless.). What really impressed me was Cornell's focus and discipline. They had a game plan and they stuck to it. Virginia, who seemed unstoppable most of the year, didn't seem to show up. Perhaps they were looking ahead to Syracuse in the final, when they should've focused on the steps to get there.
On Sunday, we were at Gillette for the D-III Final see Gettysburg against Cortland State. Gettysburg battled the higher ranked Cortland hard all day, and they held a good lead for most of the game. In the end though, they played too much defense and couldn't get the ball going on offense against a solid Cortland D with a good goalie. The box score shows that the game was really evenly matched: Looking at these numbers, you can't say either team had some major advantage over the other like a dominant face-off man or a stud goalie. So the difference in score at the end of the day was a matter of a few possessions, just a couple plays really. A tough loss to swallow for Gettysburg, as those little differences in the game will always stay with them and it's hard to pin-point which play it was that cost them the game.
Conversely, Monday saw an upstate showdown between Syracuse and Cornell that one may attribute to 'Cuse's OT game-winner, but really Cornell broke down in a few areas along the way. Cornell took a lead throughout the game and held fast until the fourth quarter when Syracuse slowly but surely crept back to within striking distance. Again, let's look at the box score: The game was evenly matched in most stats except that Cornell failed to clear the ball four times (to 'Cuse's one failed clear). In particular, the Big Red didn't clear the ball in the final seconds of the 4th quarter, which led to the Orange's tying goal with 4.5 seconds left in the game, and eventually, this photograph...
Joe celebrates Syracuse's OT victory over Cornell.
Again, I don't think any one or two goal losses can ever be directly associated with a single play. Cornell could've failed to clear that ball, then won in OT. Or they could've cleared it and won the game. Either way, it's the accumulative effect of every single play of the game that makes the difference in close battles like these. Every shot, every save, every possession, every turnover... they all matter.
Interestingly enough, do you know how many Division I men's games were decided by one goal this year? It's about 25%. That's a lot. Patrick's been running numbers on this and will post more info later.
Don't get me wrong. I'm not trying to say that Gettysburg or Cornell failed to prepare for their games. These teams battled all year and worked hard to get to the championship. Both games could've gone either way based on a few plays. What I am saying, is that being prepared for your contest both physically AND mentally is absolutely crucial to succeeding on the field. Whether it's studying the game film or practicing the "little things" - the basic mechanics of the game - you've got to prepare to win.
Patrick and Joe, reppin' HomeField in our "Prepare to Win" T's.
I took over the Player of the Week duties from Patrick (call it veto power from the CEO), but no matter who writes it this week, one thing is for sure, you know the player of the week is coming from the Brown University Bears...
This match-up between #13 Brown and #2 Cornell was highly anticipated as Cornell was in position to take the Ivy Championship away from Brown on Stevenson Field in Providence during the lacrosse alumni weekend which brought back fans and alums from all over including the entire 1973 Brown Bears.
Brown State alums going nuts in the 4th quarter. Bonus: How many Overtime Media founders can you find?
The game was a total battle, tightly fought all the way through - the biggest story being the notable goaltending of Jordan Burke who made 18 saves on the day, 7 which came during the final quarter. But strong goaltending was not enough to beat the Big Red... an outstanding performance by the Bears defense - Fallon, Cassil, Westerman, Greenberg, Hardy, Melvin, Foote - kept Cornell in check, in particular holding Max Seibald to just one goal. The midfield got it done with guys like Walsh, Seligman, and Williams battling for tough ground balls and getting the ball started on offense. Finally, the attack put the game away with outstanding, multiple goal performances from Feinberg, Hollingsworth and Muldoon. And all these guys executed on an excellent game plan from Coach Tiffany and his staff. At the end of the day, the score was 11-9 Bears, and the fans went nuts, rushing the field to celebrate with the team.
Bruno the Bear dancing atop the scoreboard.
If it seems like everyone had a big hand in the win, it's because they did. This was the most complete, team performance I've seen in a college lacrosse game in a long time. It was the epitome of an M.O. that the Bears follow called "Brown State." Brown State is gritty, edgy, tough... and "a little weird" to quote Coach Tiffany's post game speech. It's what connects the guys from the class of '73 to the players of 2009 and everyone inbetween.
So the HomeField player of the week award won't go to Jordan Burke, Matt Cassil or Andrew Feinberg. It goes to every one of the players on the 2009 Brown State squad who won a battle for the ages and their chance at a second Ivy title in a match against Princeton this Saturday.
GO BRUNO!
The 2009 Brown senior class.
Photos via BrownLacrosse.org Check it out for more game blogs and photos.
Disclaimer: Is this award biased? You betcha! Reece and Dan are 2005 Brown alums. But it's still well-deserved. Another Brown mantra? Expect nothing. Earn everything. Bears - you earned it!
While waiting for another game to finish, I got to know some of my new teammates on the New York Athletic Club lacrosse team. I started talking with Mike Ammann. We asked the usual questions as we sniffed each other out. "Where'd you play? Where are you from? What do you do for work?" For most guys, you can just fill in the blanks with the following answers.
I played for ___________ (ACC Team/Cornell/Princeton).
I work for ___________ (major finance bank/hedge fund).
So I caught Mike's attention when I said that I was from Cape Cod, I played at Brown and most importantly, that I started a company that handles video for sports teams. He asked, "What's it called?"
"HomeField."
"Yeah, I thought so. I play with the NY Titans, too. We've been using it. It's great."
I was stoked! I had no idea Mike played with the Titans and it was great to run into one of our users (especially a pro). Sure, lacrosse is a tight network; nonetheless, I was psyched to have HomeField come back to me and I'm looking forward to the next time. Maybe it'll be that high school senior training at my gym, maybe it'll be a coach walking by our tailgate at the Final Four, and soon - it could be any super-fan following their team on HomeField.
Why are we happy for them? Because Albany uses HomeField to prepare for their games. Funny how that works. Better preparation = upset win over ranked team.
This past weekend Dan, Joe and I, headed North to my hometown for the annual Cape Cod Lacrosse Tournament. The tourney is run by Greg Clemens, arguably one of the greatest influences in my lacrosse career, as he has long been the primary promoter of lacrosse on Cape Cod. From the Cape Cod Lacrosse School - which I attended as a youth, and later coached - to the Cape Cod Summer Lacrosse League, originally just for men, but now with leagues for youths and women, to his general enthusiasm for the game, "Clemmy" has always brought in great players and coaches to facilitate the growth of the sport.
Until this year, I've spent every summer on Cape Cod and of course, played in the summer league. At the ripe old age of 25, I'm a veteran (not the eldest, but a veteran nonetheless). This year, I'm in NYC and I'm stuck playing in the Gotham League. It's generally good lacrosse, and I play with a good group of guys, but it'll never compare to the rivalries held on the Cape. Maybe it's because I don't work in finance, or just because I don't know the other players nearly as well as my friends (and rivals) on Cape Cod, or maybe it's just the hour-long subway ride on the A to get there, but I just don't get the same sense of competition as usual.
Actually, let me clarify that... I don't get the same sense of competition out of the other players. I often feel like I'm the only one who takes it seriously. I know. I know... "It's summer league/it's just for fun/it's not serious." Sorry... that never sat right with me. If I'm going to pay to play and travel an hour to get to the field, be certain I'm there to win. The best example I can give, was last week's game - the first round of the playoffs - when our opponents forfeited for lack of players (six showed up).
Back to the Cape Tourney... Day 1 - Team Beach House (our team, and defending champions) took care of business. We beat the Warpigs 14-2, Gilbane Insurance 7-4, and (mostly) Endicott College 8-6. We played awesome team defense and headed to the beach for a few well-earned Blue Yummies.
Day 2 - Playoff game against the Shockers (a team I've always had a certain distaste for - perhaps it's the name) and we blow a 5 goal lead, hit their goalie in the chest (several times), and play pass with the pipes all 4th quarter to lose 7-6. Bitterness ensues. Claims are made to "quit lacrosse forever... again" and a seriously dark cloud passed over our sunny Sunday on the Cape.
There were three redeeming qualities about the tourney...
Goals Against Average = 4.5 goals per game, one of the best defenses I've been a part of - particularly impressive in tournament play.
Lots of fun playing with Dan (again), with Joe (for the first time), and all of the Beach House Buzzards (a.k.a. Ninjas).
Bonus! Dedicating "Return of the Mack" to Joe during the game and watching him try extra hard to score during it.
*HomeField Plug!* - I wish I'd had a scouting report on the Shockers. Their attack really didn't look like much, but one guy was picking low corners with his eyes closed. In retrospect, we should've slid early and stayed on the double every touch he got. [Hindsight's 20/20 though... ask Dan].
Quote that makes me feel good: "I love how you even get fired up about losing a 'fun' tournament. It's one of your most endearing qualities." - Caitlin. Appreciated. I'd say that goes for Dan and Joe, too, and I think it goes beyond endearing. *Overtime Media Plug!* - We're competitive. And in the start-up/entrepreneur/sports industry, that's a good thing. A really good thing.
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.
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.
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.
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.
