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Message: [QUOTE="sholokov2, post: 3863733, member: 6629"] All your diagnoses are descriptive of a team that broke down almost immediately at the beginning of the year and never recovered. I'd like to add my last two sense for this year. Nothing galled me more than the obvious lack of cohesion that I will try to document here. First, there were uncountable periods of obvious conflict between team members on the field. Take the defense in the RM game. RM scored an easy goal. Defensive players looked angrily at each other. The Goalie in gesture and posture seemed disgusted. Examples of half hearted efforts were plain to see in the veteran dms. Second, under pressure from behind by even one or two goals, the whole team seemed to surrender in many of the games. Adversity did not result in increased effort. Even the worst defensive units do not give up 8 or 9 straight goals without the cooperation of the whole team. Wing play is particularly dependent on extreme athletic efforts. I could not find the wings in many of the FOs. Third, the Scanlan matter was diagnostic. When the players turn against a single member, the incident has gone much too far. I have coached at many levels of more than one sport. Predictably, one or two guys who tried out for the team showed themselves to be narcissistic idiots. Of course, they were also among the better athletes and sometimes by far the best athletes on the team. At first, I tried to point out the problems to them, offering them a second or third chance. The other kids rightfully resented my tolerance. I learned quickly that this approach was toxic to team cohesion. So, I tossed them off the team after the first instead of the third incident. Probably did a disservice to some of them, but never to the team. Scanlan was a mistake from the beginning. For this last mistake, I hold the admin and the coaches responsible. This team had a bad attitude from the Army game to the deserved end of a lousy season. Even their celebrations after goals seemed tepid. I hated the 2007 season, just because I hated to lose. I never got the feeling that the players weren't determined to stick together and win. I do not think repairs among the various units can bring SU back to it's ferocious HHH of which we are all so proud. I offer no solutions... until next fall. [/QUOTE]

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