Club Canvas: Leaving an Impression
by Jac Coyne | Lacrosse Magazine
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| For one night, in front of a crowd of 2,400 fans and an
ESPNU production crew, Chapman (Calif.) University was a lacrosse
school. Not bad for a club program. © Dirk Dewachter |
There was only one game this season when the Chapman University
football team drew more than the 2,400 students, fans and parents
who attended the Chapman-Michigan lacrosse game Saturday night in
Ernie Chapman Stadium.
That's pretty heady stuff when you're able to compare a varsity
football program with a Men's Collegiate Lacrosse Association
(MCLA) club program team in a supposedly lacrosse backward like
Orange County.
What should we make of this development?
For many, the natural tendency is to mitigate this occurrence. And,
to be truthful, one could reasonably chalk up the attendance figure
to a perfect storm of sorts. It was a matchup of the two top teams
in the country, a repeat of last year's national championship game,
and when a game is televised, like this one will be on ESPNU later
this month or in early April, it tends to bring out a larger crowd
at a small school.
And it was Michigan. Whatever the sport, the Wolverines draw from a
large base of both fans of the school and those who enjoy rooting
against them.
If Chapman's goal is to go varsity, then it was a pretty impressive
statement to the university. President James Doti was in
attendance, feted like Caesar at a tailgate and in an "executive
box" in the grandstands by players' parents. All he witnessed was a
back-and-forth game that kept the stadium enthralled for the
evening -- although it would have been nice if the Panthers weren't
on the business end of a 13-10 final.
Whatever the factors involved, for one night Chapman was a lacrosse
school.
"It was unbelievable," said Michigan head coach John Paul of the
atmosphere. "They said 2,400 people were there and that's probably
about right. We saw ESPN signs all over the place, and you kind of
feel like you've arrived when you see ESPN banners up. It was an
amazing atmosphere, and the crowd was very into it.
"It was a beautiful night in Southern California."
"As far as lacrosse goes out here, the community here and the
university were great," added Mike Wood, Chapman's head coach. "The
atmosphere was as electric in that stadium as any Chapman has ever
had. The student body came out. The president came out, and the
parents put on a nice performance for him. It was just a great
lacrosse atmosphere."
Costly Loss
There wasn't a whole lot of good to be taken from the
Chapman loss - "I don't know if there are any positives when you
get beat like that," said Wood - but compounding the misery of
defeat was the injury sustained by Mike Clayton, LM's Preseason
Player of the Year in the MCLA. Going for a loose ball late in the
second quarter, Clayton collided with a Michigan player and came up
limping with an ankle injury.
Clayton sat for most of the remainder of the game. He was inserted
late in the game on the crease, but was ineffective. He was in the
hospital for x-rays Sunday, Wood said.
The Debate Begins Anew
One of the new debates raging in the lacrosse world is the
competitive relationship between the MCLA's top schools and those
in NCAA Division III. The contention has been brought up by the
"scrimmages" that take place between the two entities, like
Wednesday's game between Whittier and Chapman, won by Chapman, 12-9.
The debate really started rolling last year when Ithaca, which
ended up an NCAA D-III tournament quarterfinalist, beat Chapman,
which was the MCLA national runner-up, 18-16. The MCLAers say it
was a game played like any other, while the NCAAers say Ithaca was
stretching its legs and letting all of its players earn some
time.
Let the argument commence anew, as the Bombers visit the Panthers
on Sunday at 1 p.m. in Orange County.
What's my thought on this matter? There's no doubt that this is a
scrimmage (Ithaca doesn't even have the game listed on its
schedule, although many other D-III teams list scrimmages) and that
Jeff Long, Ithaca's coach, will want to see what some younger
players can do and try out some new schematics. With that said,
Long and Wood are longtime friends - they both coached for the
Bomber football and lacrosse programs and are in frequent contact -
and will do what they can to make sure they win the game. This
contest won't be played in practice pennies.
So the best way to view this game is as just that: a game. The
final score won't prove anything about the MCLA or the NCAA as a
whole. It's just a lot of good lacrosse players trying to get ready
to win a championship in their respective divisions. Enjoy it.
Eagles Prepping For May
Boston College is sitting at 2-2 just over a third of the
way through its season, and while it's probably not the record the
Eagles had hoped for, they are methodically preparing themselves
for a run at the MCLA Championships in May. Not only does BC play
top-flight programs like Georgia, Florida, Colorado and Colorado
State - all teams better than what the Eagles are likely to see in
the Pioneer Collegiate Lacrosse League - but they also play tough
teams on back-to-back days.
In early February, BC beat Georgia (11-5) and Florida (15-5) - both
MCLA tournament participants in 2008 - and then last weekend the
Eagles played Colorado (9-8) and Colorado State (10-8), to narrow
losses on the road.
At first glance, this might look like a case of a team giving
itself a competitive disadvantage, but there aren't many breaks
when the tournament kicks off. When the qualifiers arrive in
Denver, the format has teams playing their first round and
quarterfinals games on back-to-back days, followed by an off day
and then the semifinals and finals on consecutive days. While teams
may try to give themselves as many days of rest between regular
season games, that may not pay off when it matters.
Meanwhile, there will be no surprises for Boston College.
Coaching Farewells
The early part of the MCLA season has been marked by a
couple of coaching changes. Long-time Colorado State coach Flip
Naumburg took a leave of absence from his program on Feb. 26 for
personal reasons, according to a CSU release. Alex Smith, who will take over as
interim co-coach with Kale Nelson, hinted that Naumburg could be
back at the end of March for the "stretch run."
Tim Gray, the head coach at Northeastern, is in the process of
detaching himself from the Huskies' program after getting a job in
Southern California. Gray, who is on several MCLA committees, will
be replaced by Joe Brady as head coach.
Best of luck to both coaches. Hopefully they will be back on the
sidelines soon.
