July 6 = 2 years

But it only feels like 2 weeks.

Still not sure how I pulled this one off

Disc Golfing Tour

My buddies and I are pretty in to disc golf. We’ve even created a bit of a unique version that we call “dolphin.” It’s essentially the same thing, except there is no such thing as out of bounds. If you play the disc where it lies (in the water, from the top of a tree, etc), then you don’t give up a stroke. This has lead to a number of pretty hilarious situation, but I digress.

Dana and I decided to check out a new disc golf course today (new to us at least). Neither of us had ever played Eagle Island, but both of us had heard good things about it. Holy crap…it’s pretty intense. The holes don’t have the length of those at Ann Morrison, but the terrain is pretty treacherous. Here’s a couple pics of Dana in action. Notice that you can’t see the bucket in either.

Bucket behind the far tree

Hole bends around the right of the hanging tree.

By the way – Dana freaking rocks.  Also, I was pretty impressed with my phone’s ability to take non-blurry action shots.  The Samsung Glide gets a bad rap but I’ve been satisfied with it so far.

Salt Lake Recap

I just got back from coaching the BK team in Salt Lake City, where our guys had the opportunity to play a number of games against Utah competition. As I reflect on the experience one question continues to cross my mind: Why didn’t we do this before?

A whole new offense.

I couldn’t be more proud of the things the players accomplished. The players who moved up from last season’s JV squad are immediately contributing at the varsity level. We talked a lot about not spending any time being “star struck” by their participation on the top team, and it seemed like they all took it to heart. In our last game of the tournament (a victory), our first three goals were scored by players who played JV during the 2009 spring season. Another point of interest: of our five returning varsity players, only two found the net on a regular basis last year. One of those two was not able to join us on the trip, and the other had to leave after the first day. Rather than being a little demoralized by the absence of our obvious scoring threats, the other players looked at it as an opportunity to find their rhythm in the offense.

Our defense looked tremendous. Just like the offense, a few key members of our defense weren’t able to attend, and we only had three long poles throughout the entire tournament. Those three played lights out, and our goalie took control as a leader on that side of the field. I haven’t seen a defense as physical as the one I just saw since 2003. The Knights will have an embarrassment of riches in the defensive department in 2010.

Defense celebrating after a win.

I think the most impressive thing about the guys was their unwillingness to be intimidated by the other teams. Most of the programs we played were travel organizations comprised of top players from multiple high schools. We lost every time we ran in to one of them, but never by more than 3 goals, and we were able to put some of them back on their heels. I think as our guys start to get more experience and perfect the details of our system, they could start pulling those games out.

Overall, I honestly think that if we win a state title in the next two years, we will be able to look back at this weekend as one of the main reasons why. Go Knights!

Uh wha?

I think every nation that calls soccer “futbol” should have to use our lingo if we defeat them.  And no adding your language’s accent.  Spaniards, we attempt to use a Spanish accent when we try to get cute and use “hola” to greet someone.  It’s your turn now.

From Deadspin – “The U.S. got two big chances, took advantage of both and sent a message to the entire world. We are not incompetent at soccer!”

Thanks Dad!

To celebrate father’s day I thought I would bring up one of my dad’s all-star moments:

My senior year of college the Albertson College lacrosse team lost our coach. According to PNCLL rules, we needed to have a non-player coach present at all games. During practices my buddy Cody Hart and I would coach offense and defense respectively, but we could not be the official coaches in the eyes of the league. As the season approached we were having no luck finding a coach. A few promising ventures fell through and the first game was only a few weeks away. I spoke to my dad about our dilemma and he decided he wanted to help. So, even though he had no experience with the X’s and O’s of the game, my dad signed on as the head coach of the College of Idaho lacrosse team.

The 2006 Yotes - Head Coach: Dewain Gaudet

Three times a week he would drive out to Cadlwell for practice, fighting terrible rush hour traffic and giving up three and half hours of his day. When he got there, he would simply ask us what he could do to help. Sometimes he would run ground ball drills, and other times he would spend an hour backing up shots while the team played six on six. In essence, he did anything he could do to make sure our team was functioning as normally as possible.

During games he got the best seat in the house, right in the coach’s box. Technically, he will go down as the first head coach at the College of Idaho to pick up a win, as we secured our season’s only two victories in the first two games of the season. It was fun to have him as a part of the team, and he earned the support of all of my teammates, who would refer to him as “Coach Gus.” He even traveled with us on away trips to the Seattle area, Missoula, and a grueling loop around the entire State of Oregon.

Thanks Dad!

Alumni Game

When I took over at BK one of the first things that I put on my to-do list was to re-establish the annual alumni game.  We had stopped doing it a couple of years earlier, but I thought it was a great way to connect former players to the current team.  Tomorrow will be the third consecutive year for the game, and the fifth overall.

Cody Hart rips a shot for the alum in the 2007 edition of the game

In 2007 the alumni suffered our only loss in the series, falling 8-7.  The current team had some help from a Team Idaho squad that made the A bracket at Vail that year, which is an excuse we like to use, but really we just got beat.

Last year, however, the alumni stormed back and took out the current team with an 11-0 score.

Tom Seibert (left) and Dustin Williams (right) during the 2008 alumni game

This year should be interesting.  The current team will have a good mix of graduating seniors and young guys who are just starting to gel.  We’ve been practicing for the Rocky Mountain Showcase with next year’s squad, so they should be more prepared than usual to take on the alum.

My favorite part of the whole thing, however, is the fact that I get to reconnect with some guys I haven’t seen in a long time.  Every year we have a pretty solid list of people who let me know ahead of time that they plan on attending, but there’s always a few guys who surprise us.  I’m interested to see who that will be this year.

If you’re interested in attending, the game starts at 11:00 a.m. at BK.

Mama Duck

I went to grab a bucket of lacrosse balls out of my parents’ garage today (btw – thanks for storing that for me guys), and my mom and I noticed something kind of cool on the way out.

Can you find the duck?

If you can see her, a mama duck has dug herself in to the bark by the entrance to their house.  At first we were wondering if she was hurt, but upon further inspection it turns out she is nesting over some eggs.  Great job using her natural camo!

Dana Summer League Update

Dana’s girls are on a roll. They had a setback against Boise last night (38-35), but that was after probably the worst first half I’ve ever seen one of her team’s have (down 19-6). The almost-comeback was fun to watch, regardless of the outcome.

Tonight they bounced back nicely by taking down Capital (43-29), leading by as much as 20 points at times during the game. That makes them 5-1 with 3 games left to play.

Dana directing traffic against Capital

I’m still very much sold on the idea that Idaho High School lacrosse needs a summer league format like the one basketball has. It’s relaxed, fun, and good for the kids. Almost no practicing but tons of games with your high school teammates. Good stuff.

SLC or Bust!

For the first time in 11 years the BK lacrosse team will be taking part in a summer program. Since there is no high school summer league in the treasure valley (something that I seriously hope will be remedied next year), and it’s difficult to entice kids to practice for no reason, we’ve decided to go to the Rocky Mountain Showcase in Salt Lake City.

One of the main reasons we want to do this is because of the huge turnover the team experienced at the end of the 2009 season. Of 19 varsity players, 14 were seniors. Only one of those five returners was a full time starter. Not all of the guys we anticipate to be on the varsity squad next year are going to be able to make this trip with us, but enough of them are going that we should see the beginnings of some team chemistry.

BK in Seattle, Spring 2009.

One of the best experiences I’ve had with the BK guys in a while was our trip to Seattle last spring. Traditionally we’ve played pretty well when we’ve been taken out of our element, and I think this will be a good opportunity to try and re-capture that for the new guys. Expect updates on our progress.

Dana gets some varsity wins

Dana during the 2008-2009 season

This weekend Dana’s Centennial JV team participated in a tournament out in Nampa. The event hosted both a JV and Varsity bracket, and originally Dana’s girls were to compete with their junior varsity peers. However, a team from Eastern Idaho dropped out of the varsity lineup, and the organizers asked the Pats if they would like to move their JV team up.

The first day was a bit rough. They hung tough with the varsity teams in their pool, but couldn’t secure a win. However, today they broke out and upset two varsity squads, making it to the championship game in the lower varsity bracket. After defeating Ontario (OR) by two, they took out the Twin Falls varsity squad with a three point victory. In the championship they fell by just four points to the Idaho Falls varsity squad.

What a great experience for those girls. Hanging tough in a varsity tournament and even knocking a couple of them off will certainly help them this winter. Go Pats!