| Notification [x] |
Total posts: 22
Blog URL: http://laxspot.e-lacrosse.com/blogs/back_in_the_saddle
By: Justin
Im back people, and going to walk you all through the next 14 weeks of training while I attempt to not only get back in the MLL but make it stick this time! I have brought in a personal trainer by the name of Mike Duquette, from Washington College and this guy is GREAT! Wish me luck!
What’s up ladies and gentlemen?! Well it has been a while since I have posted so I have a lot to tell you about. The last time I wrote I believe I was coming off my first game back and I had a subpar afternoon at the X. I also told you that I expected to rebound pretty strong. We had a bye week and then headed out to Denver to take on the high powered Outlaws, and high powered they were. Jeff Snider (their face off man, and the most recent MVP of the world games) definitely makes the short list of face off men who I truly respect, I rank him in the top three or four, I have ever played against. To tell you the truth I went into halftime 4 and 8 (NOT GOOD) but I went in at half time and refocused. We went back and forth a few times and then I finally found what I had been looking for since the first game...RYTHYM. I was able to rattle off 13 wins in a row, it felt great. Unfortunately it made no difference in the game, we lost 19 to 11 and even though I came out on top of the face off battle, my first half performance inevitably led to my being sat down for this past weekend’s game against Boston.
As many of you may know New Jersey Drafted this kid Brennan from Syracuse, and I am sure you were all thinking, I must be Pi$$ed. Weeellllll I was, and this past weekend they played him to "see how he did against a common opponent"...here is the kicker, Jenkins who is the starting X man for Boston and the "common opponent" would not be playing in our second game. Instead good friend of mine, Ben Defelice would be taking the draws. Even though I know that Ben is a fantastic face off man, I also know that he does not regularly take face offs. In short I was real nervous, but I should have had more faith in my friend, because he dominated at the X, It was unreal.
Although I was pleased to see that my spot should be secure, it is bitter sweet. What is disappointing is that I know I could have helped us with that game since face offs played a major part in our loss this past weekend. Our offense was forced to push the issue, so to speak because we almost never had the ball in the second half, so when we got it on offense we were really forcing stuff. I also have to say that although it seems like my spot is secure I actually feel bad for this Brennan kid, to be honest he is a real nice dude, and I think he could be pretty good in this league, he just needs to be eased into the game. I think face offs in this league are one of the hardest transitions to make. EVERY face off man in this league is great, not good, GREAT, and realizing that is the first step in becoming one of them. Since it is likely that I will hang up the cleats if I get through this season in one piece, I think this kid could really learn from my experience. One of the things that I do really well is teach facing off, and it would be really smart if this kid would open his eyes and ears and let me pass along my knowledge of the game. Don’t get me wrong I have not decided if I will play next year or not but I am seriously considering hanging them up. My goal was to get back on a team and have a successful year, and if I succeed in doing so I would be fine with handing over the reins to this youngster.
Anyway I expect to be back in the lineup this week, and it should be a real good match up too. We play Rochester and some of you already know this but I actually coached Alex Smith in high school. His father found me and contracted me out to work with Alex. Alex is a carbon copy of me and my style, only he has a few more tricks up his sleeve and youth on his side. This will be like Mr. Miagi and the Karate Kid squaring off for the first time...I like to believe my wisdom will overcome his youth! As always I will let you all know how it goes...wish me luck!
Wax on Wax off!
JB
Login or sign up to add a comment
Tyrone on 06/09/2008
Not only are all of the face-off guys awesome, the wing play in the MLL is totally different. It is much easier to neutralize a good face-off guy in the MLL with great wing play than it is in college because of the league's free-for-all face-off rules. Or at least that is what it seems like to me based on my observations. Having never played in the MLL, I would have to defer to Berry's thoughts about this...
Glen on 06/09/2008
Never afraid to tell it straight up... love it Berry.
I'm not sure if it's easier to neutralize a face off man in the MLL (vs. college) or not. But it does seem that wing-men aren't used as much. It seems all the MLL FO men try to pick up their own ground balls. I picked up over 100 GBs my senior year in college and most of them came on the FO wing. Don't think that could happen in MLL.
Tyrone on 06/09/2008
I agree that the wing men don't pick the ball up as much as they do in college. However, because you can make contact with the face-off guy even if he is still engaged with the draw, and the fact that guys are coming from every angle, not just to the left and right, if a FOGO got on a roll you could counter it in more ways than you can in the NCAA. Maybe I don't watch enough MLL, but it seems like there are more options to me. For example, if I was a MLL GM, I would pick up Adam Baxter and Danny Cocchi (yes, I am Towson biased because I played there so I'll take theses two regardless) to put on the wings. I'd tell my FOGO to try to tie the other FOGO up (easier said than done, I know). While he was tied up, I'd tell Baxter to run in there and crush the dude's face. Once he was on the ground, Cocchi could run up and slash him, pick the ball up, and run by everyone. If I had a digital dry-erase board I could draw it up...;-)
Laxpunk on 06/09/2008
Watchin the LI vs PHI game on the tube, Orsen from LI had like 10 gbs off the wing. However, it's tough to get a ball then keep it off a gb in that league and Vlahakis was on smokin Corno (i believe)
Justin on 06/10/2008
actually wing play is way more important in this league than college. In this league the face off can go a couple ways...40% of face-offs result in a "fast break" situ%ation for one of the two taking draws, 20% are planned draws to the wing men and the rest(40%) are scrums where the wing men are waiting for the ball to pop out....if your wing men know your tendencies than they will know how to react to the scrums. We just drafted Jordan Levine from albany, and I have instant chemistry with him...he listens to what I say and I trust he will be where i tell him to be. For the most part the best face-off men in the league are not better than 55%(I expect Vlahakis and Smith to level out by the end of the year) and it is because every face-off man is great, and when you add wing pay to the mix it is rediculous.
Mark on 06/12/2008
Face offs in the MLL are a battle. Once you get that ball, or come close you are putting your body on the line for some major hacking. Those guys love to swing the lumber!
Tyrone on 06/12/2008
Fortunately for Berry, his frontal lobe was damaged in college during a head-butting contest at CVP. This damage prevents him from feeling pain (and putting puzzles together), so he's good to go all day with getting cracked.
