This post could have had a different title. Really could have. Thought about using "What We Learned." But two things prevented that.
One, there's no way the initials "WWL" will make it into this space without some reference to the Official Dot Com Diva. And there's no way she will ever approve of anything connecting her with lacrosse. I probably already owe her a Yeungling just for making that slight an allusion.
Two, there's that pesky use of "we" to describe the work of a single person. If there's something that's downright ridiculous in sportswriting, it is the bizarre overuse of the word "we." When a writer opines "We think Georgetown will make the Final Four," it is always reasonable to ask (a) Do you have multiple personalities, (b) Do you have a mouse in your pocket and (c) In which sport?
Twain said it best with this pithy comment: "Only kings, presidents, editors, and people with tapeworms have the right to use the editorial 'we.'"
I promise I don't have tapeworms.
But I did watch two weekday lacrosse games (Maryland-Providence and Johns Hopkins-UMBC) and kept a close eye on a third (Virginia-VMI) via CSTV.com's Game Tracker. And there were some observations to be had.
* Johns Hopkins won't just breeze through the season. The Blue Jays looked absurdly good in the first half against Princeton on Saturday, then struggled to a lackluster 10-8 victory over UMBC last night at Homewood Field. The Hop is still the Hop --- they'll win close games, and lots of them. The Jays are 30-6 under Dave Pietramala in one-goal games, a total that speaks to excellent coaching and a proclivity to play tight contests year after year. This year won't be any different.
* Virginia just scored another goal.
* Much was made of Maryland losing starting defensemen Ray Megill and Steve Whittenberg, but Joe Cinosky has been as good as anyone I've seen early this season. The senior quietly plied his trade the last few seasons, but he will be as important as anyone for the Terrapins (3-1) this spring.
* Another defensive standout from the last two days was UMBC's Matt Kresse, who helped keep Hopkins' Kevin Huntley without a point last night. Kresse had some help --- a teammate usually joined him in swarming Huntley as soon as Huntley got possession --- but the defensive performance was encouraging for a Retrievers team that gave up 28 goals in two opening losses.
* Virginia just scored again.
* Maryland's freshmen on attack might not be ready to handle a defense like Duke's. But they're plenty capable of dealing with most teams. Grant Catalino (who is built much, much different than Joe Walters, the last No. 1 to start on attack for the Terps), Travis Reed and Ryan Young will give a lot of teams fits for a long time.
* The new faceoff rules are clearly helping teams that are willing to use an all-around player rather than a FOGO. When UMBC had a procedure violation late in the first half, Hopkins' Stephen Peyser simply stormed downfield on the restart and tied it at 5. The Retrievers never had a chance to get a replacement on the field to help protect their one-goal lead. That won't be the last time Hop takes advantage of that rule.
* I'm pretty sure Virginia just added another goal.
* Maryland's goalie situation bears monitoring. Brian Phipps and Jason Carter are splitting time, and coach Dave Cottle has given no indication that will change anytime soon. A case can be made that playing goalie games last year (with Phipps and senior Harry Alford, who returned from injury in the middle of the season) didn't do much good in the long run. It's far, far too early to tell in this case.
* A player who caught my eye last night was UMBC midfielder Maxx Davis, who scored two goals. I wondered where the heck he had come from; as it turns out, the sophomore barely played last year. Oh, and his cousin is former Hopkins star Kyle Harrison. With Davis and Terry Kimener, the Retrievers will have at the least a very dangerous first midfield line.
* CSTV has a minor problem with its Game Tracker. The gizmo can't show too many numbers larger than 19 on the scoreboard. So when Virginia scored its 20th goal, the scoreboard read VMI 4-2.
* That made it hard to keep up with Virginia scoring 24 goals, its most since a 24-3 thumping of Stony Brook in 1999. (The 24-5 margin was not as bad as last year's 20-0 blanking). In a completely unrelated note, the Cavaliers' football team failed to score 24 points on seven occasions last season. Lord Groh never seems to have such problems with a malfunctioning Game Tracker.
But chances are, he's probably used the editorial "we." Here's betting no one ever had him checked for tapeworms.
