UnCensered: Alumni Bromance Only Goes So Far
by Joel Censer | Special to Lacrosse Magazine Online | Censer Archive
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Arriving at the Haverford-Dickinson game a couple hours early
two weeks ago, you might have wondered why these dudes
with burgeoning love handles, corporate haircuts and practice
pennies were on the field playing lax.
Weren’t two top-20 Division III squads supposed to be duking
it out? Had the number of teams joining the sport’s largest
division so diluted the talent base that even players in the better
programs couldn’t string together two passes in a row?
Of course, if you gave the game more than a cursory glance, you
would quickly realize that this was no normal mid-season Centennial
Conference throwdown, but instead the second-annual Dickinson vs.
Haverford alumni game.
And it was pretty much what you’d expect from a bunch of
guys whose skill sets have deteriorated and who stay coordinated by
managing multiple Internet tabs and data on Microsoft Excel. Lots
of dropped balls and missed passes. The defense talking less about
who was the second slide and more about how awkward it was hanging
out on campus the previous night. Not to mention everyone calling
out that one guy who was going a little harder than everyone
else.
Not surprisingly, the alumni experience is different than the four
games I played against the Red Devils as a Haverford undergraduate.
I mean, conference rivals that recruit the same kids and whose
games are usually decided by a goal or two just aren’t going
to get along on the field. I vividly remember during my sophomore
year, when a teammate of mine made a gas-pumping gesture at some
Dickinson defenseman who had hit him a little high, playing up the
fact that Haverford was ranked a couple spots ahead on some
arbitrary computer-generated college ranking. A year later, I
checked a Dickinson attackman long enough after a play that he
called me some names that would make Rick James blush.
But here we were now, willing and eager to drive the couple of
hours down the Pennsylvania Turnpike from Haverford -- getting all
nostalgic about watching "Vision Quest" on that roadtrip one year
-- to play the Dickinson alumni and relive our glory years
together.
Regardless, we had a blast. This happened despite the fact that of
our 10 players, just two were offensive threats (although I will
give a shoutout to Matt Handel, a lifelong d-mid who managed to hit
top shelf on an EMO), and we were unceremoniously crushed. By the
end of the game, though, the two teams took pictures together,
filled each other in on what we were all doing, and exchanged tips
on the Carlisle grub scene.
That’s the nature of our sport. Call some kid a punk during
a heated game, and the next thing you know, you’re sitting
across from him at a desk or reminiscing about the same recruiting
trip you took as high school seniors. And I know this is also the
case for lacrosse players in every division and from every
conference. I’m sure you could make an All-Ivy team from just
about every Wall Street bank in New York. And I’ve heard
coaches amicably joke about plays that they ran before I was born.
But as enjoyable as the alumni game was, when Haverford and Dickinson suited up for the main event, the alums went their separate ways to root for their respective squads. Why ruin a good thing? We were going to cheer for our team, they were going to cheer for their team, and no amount of alumni goodwill was going to change that.
It was certainly painful to watch Haverford squander a four-goal lead in the fourth quarter to a very good Dickinson team with a great faceoff guy and goaltender. (I think when I announced around a bunch of Dickinson parents after star junior attackman Max Hjelm’s second goal that he had his own apparel line, it upset our collective karma.) Still, the loss didn’t bother me as much, because I knew I was surrounded by former teammates to commiserate with—teammates who in the end have made the time I’ve spent on and around this game worth it.
And maybe because I knew those Dickinson guys probably felt
similarly.
.
Odds and Odds
Have to admit I was pretty pumped for No. 1-ranked Virginia
against No. 2-ranked North Carolina this past weekend. I
can’t remember the last time I heard the lacrosse media so
giddy about a potential one-on-one battle than the Billy Bitter-Ken
Clausen duel. (I’m still partial to the John Glatzel-Connor
Gill ’02 tussles. Seriously, when I turned on my TV last
Saturday, I half-expected to see Ali-Frazier with sticks.
Alas, one plodding defensive game and a blowout later, I guess
you could say I was bit…deflated?
I’ll say this about Virginia. They are supremely talented at
every position, and downright scary when they are clicking. I also
think Virginia’s defense played solid, and I liked how when
they guarded Bitter, they let him move up the field instead of
letting him inside roll. (They did this with Josh Coffman and Mikey
Powell at Syracuse back in the day).
Still, the Cavaliers have problems putting an entire game together. I don’t know whether it’s a lack of a leadership or discipline on offense, a fatigue issue, or something else, but I have a feeling it could to catch up with them sooner or later. And if Bitter’s head hadn’t met Bray Malphrus' stick, this game may have been different.
As for Carolina, the Tar Heels’ defense is really, really good. Keeper Madalon impressed me. Flanagan is arguably the best defender in the game. And if I’m going to channel Jay Bilas, “I like Jarvis’ length.” UNC’s other defender, Charlie McComas, is also really talented, but might have had some cobwebs after he got hit in the first quarter. (I mean, why overplay Stanwick in transition and get ESPN’d?) On offense, I think Dunster is as good a dodger as there is in Division I, but with senior midfielder Sean Delaney (shoulder) and Bitter out of the lineup, it showed. Opportunistic attackmen can only take you so far against a team like UVA. Michael Burns impressed me at the faceoff "X."
Man, I thought Princeton played Syracuse exactly the wrong way.
There’s three things you have to do if you’re playing
the Orange: guard picks well from behind the cage, not give up too
many unsettled situations to Jeremy Thompson off a faceoff,
and make the Orange really earn its points in six-on-six. No one
has the sticks to compete with these guys in a full-field
transition game. I thought the Tigers were completely outclassed in
this regard. Offensively, I know the Orange defense is stingy, but
I’ve never seen Jack McBride (and cousin Chris for that
matter) shut down like that.
I’m tired of talking about Syracuse six-on-six woes. They
shut me up for the week and are playing inspired, aggressive and
confident on both ends of the field.
Joel Censer is a 2008 graduate of Haverford College, where he was an All-American defenseman and helped lead the Fords to the second round of the NCAA Division III tournament. We found the photo (above right) courtesy of HaverfordLacrosse.com. Those were the days, Joel. Those were the days.
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