I spent all evening at the State Semi-Finals watching the Final Four. And although it was fun to be there and not have the pressure of playing such an important game, my mind went back over and over to our game on Wednesday night where we fell just one goal short of playing here. Carmel, the team who beat us was beaten handily by Culver in the first game. The second game was a real barn-burner and was won by Zionsville, who beat Park Tudor 13-12 in overtime.

Tomorrow morning I will be one of the coaches who will coach one of the Indiana Rising Stars teams. Then, I will just hang out and watch the other two final games….first the consolation game, then the State Final. We have awards after that, which some of my girls will be receiving, then it will be off to my office to write a sermon for Sunday. All things considered, I should be able to pack all that into one day as long as I do not take time to eat or talk to anyone. We will see.

But for now I need to call it a night. I am just happy to have made it through the day. Congratulations to Zionsville and Culver. Tomorrow is the big day!

Goodnight my friends and God bless!

Tommy+

I had already worked all day and was exhausted. My intention was to clean out all the lacrosse stuff from my car, and get some church work done too since this St. Patrick stuff has put me very far behind. But just suddenly I found myself needing to do work here at the house, and it was physical….and exhausting.

When Amanda got home she had Ben, and I was still not quite done. She reminded me that she was teaching Financial Peace University tonight and that Ben and I would be here alone. She also said to make sure I gave him a bath too.

Generally, this is no problem, because I usually have a lot of energy and enjoy laughing at him in the tub. But in truth, I was whooped! I made him dinner (macaroni and peas) and I sat in the chair barely able to move. AND, to show you how bad it was for me, I even sat through most of the episode of “Thomas the Train,” which is so bad that they show it to people in emergency rooms in place of Ipecac to induce illness.

But there we were, and as he finished I got up to give him his chocolate pudding…….but it was then that he finished me. As I looked over at him, he had decided to use that pudding (which he loves) as some sort of a face mask. And it that were not enough, when I said “NO” he panicked and wiped his hands into his hair, because we have told him not to wipe his hands on his shirt.

I have to confess, I really did plan on just sitting and resting tonight, watching whatever I had to in order to pass the time before the return of his mom. And in all honesty, I was intending to wait on the bath too, because I really didn’t have the energy. I am sure she would have understood, because I have been working so hard. But I doubt if she would have understood my waiting for her with pudding crusting all over his head……though I did weigh every option.

The blessing of all of this though, is not that he is clean and in my bed now watching that stupid train while I type, the blessing is that one day he will have children of his own. Ultimately it is all about payback, and as my dad would probably tell you, grandchildren work for their grandparents….particularly in the revenge business.

So I will patiently wait, not just for Amanda to come home, but for that right woman to walk into his life, the marriage, and then the bouncing baby paybacks….I mean grandchildren. I know it will be worth it, and I am not making a list, I have one. Stephanie and Scott’s are extensive…….but their little brother still has quite a bit of time!

Goodnight my friends and God Bless!

Tommy+

Our season, and our second consecutive run at an appearance in the Final Four came to and end tonight in a one goal overtime loss to the Carmel Greyhounds. So before I go any further, let me congratulate them on their win and title as Regional Champions. We will be rooting for them in the Final Four. And yes, I know the picture does not make sense, but it was a close as I could come to finding a picture about moving ahead!

Tonight was however, a disappointment to many of our girls. I know they wanted to win very badly. Oddly enough we kept it close the whole night, even leading at points, but it was a night that we never had our “A-game.” Had we been healthy and on, it might have been another story. But that’s just how sports are. You cannot cry over spilled milk. Sometimes you win, sometimes you don’t.

But what I want to share is how very proud I am of each and every one of them. To place this high in the state with the amount of adversity we have faced is a real tribute to the hard work and dedication of the team that we coach. In my entire life, I have never had to work around injuries and illness like I have this year. We had girls out with Mono, strep throat, and just about every kind of orthopedic injury imaginable. Yet despite that, they came to play. They are a tough group of girls…..and they will continue to be.

We however are losing 7 seniors, including my daughter. That worries me every year, but in truth there are always underclassmen who are inspired to fill the big shoes left behind. It will be different without Stephanie out there playing for me, but we will both have to make do. I am sure however that we will both continue successful lacrosse careers apart from each other! I just am hoping to get to a few of her games.

Anyway, there is no practice tomorrow…..but there is always work to do. Our banquet is June 9th and I am looking forward to it. Whatever the outcome of the night, I still coach the best team in the league and I am convinced of that thoroughly. What a blessing it has been and is.

Way to go Lady Millers!

Goodnight my friends and God Bless!

Tommy+

We had our last practice before the Regional Final tonight, and after we win tomorrow night, we will have just one more. (Yes, I expect to win…..I always do!) But as I stood there on the field watching the girls practice in the drizzle, it hit me that a week from now it will be but a memory. The high school lacrosse careers of 7 girls, including my daughter, will come to an end, and a new chapter will open. It is always so bittersweet for me, and this year more than ever.

Though I am at home with Ben, Amanda is at the board meeting giving our report. Our boy’s coach, who is also the Director of Coaching for the entire organization, is retiring this year. Rick is a top shelf coach and man, and he will be missed. Andy “Mac” steps in to take his place, and has served as Rick’s understudy for years. The program will continue to develop and grow, it just will feel different….for all of us. Rick is really the father of Noblesville Lacrosse, and for him we are all very thankful.

And as for me, I have agreed to continue on. As ANY of our coaches will tell you, we love what we do, and have great players and parents. Noblesville is a wonderful community too. I would love to do it forever, because I love the challenge and I love to develop athletes. I never intended nor wanted to coach lacrosse (I was a baseball and hockey guy and always BOYS) but circumstances led this to happen. Women’s sports is different, and female athletes are VERY different too. But I really have to say I respect each one of my players, and the only tense part of coaching is coaching your child….especially when she is an amazing player. I am very interested to see how I do when our relationship is not in play. I am sure she is too.

But what I want to say is that her development into one of the best players in the state has less to do with my coaching ability and everything to do with her drive and desire to be a top-notch player. My job has been to see the big picture and pull this team together. I am truly blessed to have such a dedicated and passionate player to coach….it is just a double blessing that that she is my daughter too.

Anyway….tomorrow is the Regional Final! Go Lady Millers! It all comes down to the next few days!

Goodnight and God Bless!

Tommy+

Just when life seems that it cannot get any weirder, I hear that I was arrested last Thursday night at our game……yep, it was a surprise to me too…..NOTHING could be FURTHER FROM THE TRUTH. The ref did threaten to call the police on parents from the other team, but my perfect record of not getting arrested FOR ANYTHING was never in jeopardy…..not even was it ever close. I behave pretty well! And to make matters worse, this was from people who should have known better. This story has more drama than Julliard. But in all honesty, as I shared it with my team yesterday, we had a good laugh about it. Our job however, is to not get distracted, it is to win three more games by Saturday.

But as a hypothetical renegade, my mind does wonder about a lot of things. I mean, should I be getting myself some temporary tattoos and maybe a tricked out scooter? Should my bishop be notified and should he temporarily suspend me as they sort this out and check deeper into my past for things that might reflect my true character…….like overdue library books or a history of pulling the “do not remove” tags off my mattresses after getting them home. Clearly I could be a priest on the edge and I am influencing high school players……this could be a great concern.

Drama drama drama….I hate it, but in anything competitive or where there are groups of people you often see it. It does bother me, but in the end it makes a pretty funny story. It reminds me of the boy approaching the K-9 officer and while looking at the dog in the back seat of the car asked the officer, “What did he do wrong?’ The answer for both of us is nothing…..and unlike the dog, I have never even sat in the back of a police car!

Goodnight my friends and God Bless!

Tommy+

Yee ha….St. Patrick’s opened at its new location and the people loved it…..THANK GOD! I am pleased that we can begin to move on from this big mess! I celebrated at 2 services there this morning, the first being our very first 8am service at ANY of our missions, with just me and a VISITOR! (Thanks Doug!) It was probably not as spectacular of a visit as he was expecting, but as I told him, it makes for a better story!

From there I ran up to Christ the King to preach and celebrate. We were not sure whether Father Michael was prepared to do the service without me this morning, because we talked about it on Thursday at the move, but never really confirmed it. So I headed up, just in case.

The big blessing was that Father Michael was not expecting me at all! He had a sermon and though I am the technical “big cheese” I decided to just help out and have him preach and celebrate with me there. It was a great time with a great group of people and a great blessing to me! I was able to end my day there and head home for a nap with a set of toddler feet jammed into my side.

But the big thing is that we have moved into a new era. With this issue behind us we are free to move on……and to where??? Well, Muncie, Bloomington, Indianapolis, and maybe even UPLAND come to mind…..and did I mention we are planting in Peoria, Illinois in July? Pretty cool huh?

Okay…enough of my rambling! Goodnight my friends and God Bless!

Tommy+

I swear, sometimes it seems as if we try to not win games. And though I know that was not the case tonight, to the casual observer it probably looked like we were throwing it. But in the end, we prevailed 13-11 and are heading to the Regional Final. Good thing too, since we are the number one seed. My hat (if I ever would wear one) goes off to the Hamilton Southeastern Bulldogs and their Head Coach Ashley Grant. They gave us a ride and it was quite impressive. Ashley is a fine coach of some great kids/players. It was a well fought battle. All and all it was a great night.

And though I never had my doubts (we were tied 6-6 at the half) I am certain our players did. As a former athlete, I know how hard it can be to see through chaotic play, especially when you are in the thick of it. Oh if I knew then what I do now. I would have trusted my coaches more. They have a vision that I didn’t. We will work on that Monday too!

But for now I am out on the porch typing away. I still have no sermon and have a lot still to move to the Church….it will probably take place in the morning. But it is a lot less cloudy in life at 10:17! I just hope and pray my players will put this behind them!

Goodnight my friends and God Bless!

Tommy+

If you were with me over the last 24 hours you would think that lacrosse, (and all things connected to it) were at the center of the universe and the ONLY thing on the Lord’s mind. I have not had this much stress coming into my life in years, yet in the midst of it all it is so important to be focused. We now play tomorrow in the rescheduled Regional Semi-Final and the Wednesday night in the Regional Final, though we have had to move that a few times too, in order to win a trip to the State Semis and Final next weekend in Indianapolis.

As stressful as it has been, it could have been much worse, because I could have been dealing with difficult people. Fortunately however, I have been dealing with friends. All the coaches, as I mentioned I think yesterday, are friends, and that’s who I have been working this all out with. These are very good people, who deserve a lot more credit than they get, and who do a great job in dealing with tons of issues. So without irate parents interjecting themselves, we were actually all able to get this handled like adults…..imagine that!

And with the events, particularly from last night, we were encouraged to allow the club to hire the police department to the remaining games to keep parents from acting irresponsibly and to keep the peace as well as promote safety. We agreed to allow them to be there too. I know it will make me feel better. Where i come from the expression “good fences make for good neighbors.” It applies here too. We need to encourage sportsmanship, adult-behavior, and protect the peace. And nothing says this is important to us more than a uniformed officer. Thanks to our former board president for arranging the security.

But as for me and my team, we will now just focus upon winning tomorrow’s game. I would say “re-win” but in all truth, that is not the case. We waited out the rain and lightening and fell 2:22 short. The game that we played and all that happened in it didn’t count. THOSE are the rules, and without pitching a fit about it (or threatening anyone) let me say that I accept that, and we will abide by it and all the rules like we always do. Our job is to play by the rules and win on the field. That is the mark of a good team and the pedigree of champions.

Four to go….the first tomorrow night. The girls we play are great sports and fine competitors and they and their coach we like very much. We will do all we can to beat them, and settle this by the rules of the game. In the meantime, I thank God for all my friends who stepped up today and have made all of this tolerable!

Goodnight my friends and God Bless!

Tommy+

Tonight we played in the Regional Semi-Final against Hamilton Southeastern High School. We were the second game, and the winner goes to play in the Regional Final against the Carmel Greyhounds on Saturday night. And we had a comfortable lead, 12-6 with 12:22 to go when the lightening came and we had to vacate to the locker rooms. We just needed to go the additional 2:22 to make it a legal game, but we have to wait 30 minutes after each sighting or thunder. Just before 11, the HSE Coach Ashley Grant and I agreed to call the game and reschedule it for tomorrow. Unfortunately, it will have to be played completely from the start.

One of the worst parts of being a coach is dealing with the parents, especially when they are being awful…..and that was the case tonight with some of the HSE parents. As the delay went on, and we were watching radar, I had a few of them in my face and they were not polite at all. It amazes me at what some people will say, and they not only humiliated their coach publicly, but they really put a poor light on their program. I felt so badly for her, and even called her on the way home. She is an outstanding coach and a friend (as most of the coaches are). We will meet up again tomorrow night too.

Anyway, in the world of sports, that is sometimes just how it goes. I am just thankful tonight for a great and honorable team of opponents (including their coach, no ESPECIALLY their coach), great refs, a great team, and wonderful parents. (Mine do not misbehave). When I was in seminary, the seminary chaplain once said, “Life is okay, if it weren’t for the people.” I am beginning to understand him more than I know!

Goodnight my friends and God Bless!

Tommy+

Oh I know, St. Patrick died some 1500+ years ago, but I am talking about moving his church, not him. He is among the Saints of God, singing great hymns, rooting for the Cubs and Bears, and watching Notre Dame football, like all the great Saints. AND, I am sure he is also rooting for the Noblesville Lady Millers as they defend their Regional Title this week and return to the Final Four too.

But I digress….tonight we moved the CONTENTS of his Church from my garage to our new facility in downtown Westfield. It is still a jumbled mess, but we have a bit of time yet. We will immediately go to TWO services there, one at 8am and one at 10am, and by that 8am service it will be a full and functioning Church!!

I will confess however, that my favorite part of the day was the Chinese restaurant that I went to with Deacon Dan at 11 am and then with the moving crew again a little after 6! Yes, the Lord blessed me double today although I am sure the scale will curse me tomorrow. But everyone was working HARD and they deserved the food….I was just along for the ride! Tomorrow there will be no such nonsense.

But tomorrow there will be work. The big things are in and the little things, of which there are many, need to be done. I will be doing most of them too.

So off to bed after a blessed day, and now I am talking about the move and not about the Chinese food. I am so glad things went well, and we will schedule me at this church for the next few weeks at least. It looks nice so far and I will get some pictures in my blog tomorrow.

Goodnight my friends and God Bless!

Tommy+