Pick your own adjective
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- April
- 19
I’m not sure what to make of Yorktown at this point.
On Friday, the ‘Huskers were the No. 1 team in our weekly power rankings that appear each week in the boys lacrosse notebook. (OK, John Jay is the only other team that gets consideration.) And then today they get thoroughly dominated. I had seen them once before this season in a completely lackluster 6-3 win over Rye, and then it rebounded with three straight wins, two against Long Island powerhouses on the road.
Brendan Kurpis scored Yorktown’s lone goal in a 9-1 loss to Ward Melville. It was perhaps the only highlight of the game for Yorktown. (Dave Kennedy/Journal News file photo)
Sometimes great, sometimes (pick your own adjective). There hasn’t been much in between for Yorktown thus far in its marquee games this season. It’s a tough team to figure.
The fact that Yorktown lost wasn’t all that startling. Ward Melville, ranked 16th in the nation, is one of the best teams in the nation. The problem was the lack of energy, the lack of focus, the lack of hustle. Strange. Dave Marr said his team is typically very relaxed before games and that when the whistle blows, they often immediately get into it. Didn’t happen yesterday.
Let’s get to some issues from today’s game and their relative importance:
Was Yorktown out of control in getting three unsportsmanlike conduct penalties, two by Dave Marr, who was ejected?
Absolutely not. Other than Marr being forced to miss the next game because of a rule, this is a complete non-issue. Sorry blog posters who want to jump on him. You’re WAY off if you do. Marr was deserving of the first penalty for saying a magic word, but the second one, after simply saying “My kids are getting mugged,” was ridiculous. He didn’t even say it loudly, and it wasn’t said in an angry tone. It was more of a complaint than anything else.
The unsportsmanlike conduct penalty on assistant coach Adam Lodewick was a farce. He was a bit sarcastic in saying “it’s not automatically a slash if a kid falls down” but it was totally harmless. He didn’t curse, he barely even raised his voice.
In five years of covering lacrosse (and many other sports) I have seen coaches say things so much worse than what the Yorktown coaches said today and not even get a warning.
Personally, I hate when coaches and players yell at refs. They have a thankless job and most of them are trying their best. But the refs have a responsibility as well to recognize that coaches can get heated and frustrated. They shouldn’t be looking for an opportunity to flex their muscle with the whistle, but rather should be using it when it’s necessary to keep a coach in order.
Were Yorktown’s coaches getting on the officials’ nerves? Yes. But it was hardly excessive.
Can Yorktown play on natural grass?
Based on today, no. But you know what…it doesn’t matter. Yorktown won’t have to in the playoffs. The sectional finals are at John Jay, the intersectional round is at Dietz Stadium (aritificial surface) and the state semifinals and championship games are at Hofstra (artificial).
That said, Michael Bonitatibus, who has been very very good for most of the year, will definitely be tested on bounce shots after his difficulty today.
Should Yorktown take much positive out of only losing 1-0 in the second half?
I don’t think so. The players and coaches seemed to be drawing upon that after the game, but I don’t see the real impact. The game’s outcome was completely decided and Ward Melville slowed the pace down dramatically. It wasn’t like it was an intense 1-0 half with fantastic defense and hitting. It was really just the second half of a game that didn’t materialize into anything special.
So…to the readers…what does Yorktown need to do to rebound starting with Thursday’s game against sixth-ranked Darien? Which Yorktown is the real Yorktown? Should we just accept this team as one that is talented but totally unpredictable?
This entry was posted
on Saturday, April 19th, 2008 at 8:42 pm by Jeff Gold.
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The whole technology behind text messaging is fascinating. You can get news and all kinds of information instantly as long as you have someone trustworthy at a certain destination. I did today. Yard work is a pain in the ass but we all have to do it from time to time.
But never did I want to just walk away from doing something more than after I got a text today at halftime of Yorktown-Ward Melville. I really thought they had a better-than-usual shot to make some noise against the Patriots.
But like Mr. Gold said, you have to wonder a little about what Yorktown is this year. I'm pretty sure they are still finding themselves. In the interim, we're all just going to have to deal with their Jekyll and Hide persona.
Maybe, and I'm sure no Yorktown fan wants to hear this, they simply aren't elite. Maybe they are great for our region. Maybe Class A ball doesn't agree with them. The notion of having to go through the likes of WM, West Islip and West Genny to get to the promised land is just too daunting a task. There's a reason why it seems only those three schools win the Class A state championship every year.
Then again, I think many would agree Yorktown has all the talent in the world. Maybe they need one incident to bring it all together. Maybe Saturday's failures were embarrassing enough to kick-start them once and for all.
I think we all fully expect them to bounce back and play extremely well against Darien on Thursday.
And let's not make light of the fact that they still beat two other Long Island teams that no one really thought coming into this season they would beat. That counts for something. Saturday's loss doesn't mean those wins don't count. But Saturday's loss definitely shows how much a work in progress this team is.