Formerlaxdemon
02-04-2006, 10:01 PM
To All,
I attended the USNA vs. UVa scrimmage in Charlottesville this morning and it was a memorable time.
I drove up pretty early with a few of my students in tow to Charlottesville and encountered some horrible weather. As soon as we got there the heavens opened up and it rained almost non-stop throughout the scrimmage. It was cold, wet, and perfect pneumonia weather.
First off, I am a die-hard USNA fan and wanted the midshipman to come back from their defeat in fall ball, but it was not to happen. UVa "won" the scrimmage 13-11.
I may hate UVa, but they have a powerful trump card in Danny Glading. He was a starter for them and played both Attack and Mid. From my reckoning he scored 4 goals and had at least 1 assist in the scrimmage. He is the real deal and phenomenal wherever he plays. I may hate UVa, but I must give credit where credit is due.
Seeing Dingman back was a huge morale booster in my opinion. Size-wise he dominated the field and made his way through everything but the triple team that was thrown his way. There were a few other Dingman highlights that I want to share. At one point Dingman was closing in on the crease and was getting double-teamed pretty hard but he still managed to try a shot on goal. He whipped it out, but his shaft got tapped at the last second misdirecting his shot into one of UVa's "big man" defensemen, Mike Timms' foot. It really pounded him and he had a limp for more than a few minutes. Another great Dingman moment is when the ball came flying out in front of the crease and was picked up by one of UVa's poles. He tried to sprint out and would have made it out, but Dingman caught up to him and decapitated his pole. He knocked the head right off the pole. Head went one way, the ball the other. Pole went down with its owner. Great check.
Both the Looneys played mid perfectly in my opinion and a coach couldn't ask more hustle out of players, especially in that weather. The USNA LSM John Reichert was shivering it was so cold and damp, and he is from Port Jefferson, New York.
Matt Russell played well, but in his own words, "[he] didn't do much out there." He really is a pleasure to watch out there and although he stopped a great deal of shots, he has played better.
So why did Navy lose? Well in my opinion, Navy's defense really isn't what it was two years ago and didn't play their men either well enough or physically enough. The attacks and mids also didn't make that many attempts on goal. Finally, Gladding really did make a huge impact on UVa's game.
The weather really was terrible, but it was well worth the cold that I now have to see Navy play.
On a side note, the Navy players were some of the best sportsmen I have ever seen. At the end of the game I was with the other friends of Navy Lacrosse and some of my students wanted to get some signatures. The Midshipmen were cold, wet, tired, and not in the greatest of moods, but Matt Russell and others took the time to talk to some kids, and even signed some programs for my students and gave them some words of encouragement. They really showed themselves to be paragons of the lacrosse world in my opinion.
In closing, the only thing that detracted from the day was the bias of the Refs. At one point one of the Navy mids was just shoved in the back to the ground and out of bounds by a UVa player. The Ref was right there, saw it, and would not make any call. He awarded the ball to UVa!!! Coach Meade went off like a fireball on the Ref (#62) and we fans (already incensed) erupted in anger too. How Richie Meade did not whoop the Ref is testament to his great will. He is a Boxing and Martial Arts instructor.
I attended the USNA vs. UVa scrimmage in Charlottesville this morning and it was a memorable time.
I drove up pretty early with a few of my students in tow to Charlottesville and encountered some horrible weather. As soon as we got there the heavens opened up and it rained almost non-stop throughout the scrimmage. It was cold, wet, and perfect pneumonia weather.
First off, I am a die-hard USNA fan and wanted the midshipman to come back from their defeat in fall ball, but it was not to happen. UVa "won" the scrimmage 13-11.
I may hate UVa, but they have a powerful trump card in Danny Glading. He was a starter for them and played both Attack and Mid. From my reckoning he scored 4 goals and had at least 1 assist in the scrimmage. He is the real deal and phenomenal wherever he plays. I may hate UVa, but I must give credit where credit is due.
Seeing Dingman back was a huge morale booster in my opinion. Size-wise he dominated the field and made his way through everything but the triple team that was thrown his way. There were a few other Dingman highlights that I want to share. At one point Dingman was closing in on the crease and was getting double-teamed pretty hard but he still managed to try a shot on goal. He whipped it out, but his shaft got tapped at the last second misdirecting his shot into one of UVa's "big man" defensemen, Mike Timms' foot. It really pounded him and he had a limp for more than a few minutes. Another great Dingman moment is when the ball came flying out in front of the crease and was picked up by one of UVa's poles. He tried to sprint out and would have made it out, but Dingman caught up to him and decapitated his pole. He knocked the head right off the pole. Head went one way, the ball the other. Pole went down with its owner. Great check.
Both the Looneys played mid perfectly in my opinion and a coach couldn't ask more hustle out of players, especially in that weather. The USNA LSM John Reichert was shivering it was so cold and damp, and he is from Port Jefferson, New York.
Matt Russell played well, but in his own words, "[he] didn't do much out there." He really is a pleasure to watch out there and although he stopped a great deal of shots, he has played better.
So why did Navy lose? Well in my opinion, Navy's defense really isn't what it was two years ago and didn't play their men either well enough or physically enough. The attacks and mids also didn't make that many attempts on goal. Finally, Gladding really did make a huge impact on UVa's game.
The weather really was terrible, but it was well worth the cold that I now have to see Navy play.
On a side note, the Navy players were some of the best sportsmen I have ever seen. At the end of the game I was with the other friends of Navy Lacrosse and some of my students wanted to get some signatures. The Midshipmen were cold, wet, tired, and not in the greatest of moods, but Matt Russell and others took the time to talk to some kids, and even signed some programs for my students and gave them some words of encouragement. They really showed themselves to be paragons of the lacrosse world in my opinion.
In closing, the only thing that detracted from the day was the bias of the Refs. At one point one of the Navy mids was just shoved in the back to the ground and out of bounds by a UVa player. The Ref was right there, saw it, and would not make any call. He awarded the ball to UVa!!! Coach Meade went off like a fireball on the Ref (#62) and we fans (already incensed) erupted in anger too. How Richie Meade did not whoop the Ref is testament to his great will. He is a Boxing and Martial Arts instructor.