“Stick Tweak”  2008.  8×12 inches.  Pen & Ink on heavy drawing paper.

(Writer’s Note:  This post is almost a year late and I promised Connor Wilson this write-up considering his stringing expertise!  You should see his crazy strings…)

“Lacrosse is an expensive sport, but it’s cheaper than seeing a shrink.”

My parents told me during my early teen years that if I wanted to play lacrosse, most of the expenses would have to come out of my own pocket.  A lot of that came from multiple summer jobs.  Looking back, it taught me how to work very hard for the things I wanted in a material world and the value of hard earned money overall.  But that discipline introduced me to a very important skill in the sport of lacrosse – stringing a stick.

A few summers ago, a parent asked me a while back to explain why stringing a stick is so important?  My answer was “what will you do when your child’s pocket rips… buy him a new stick, each and every time?”  I don’t think he still got the idea.

“If life gives you Lemons, you make Lemonade.”

I remember that “cheesy” quote coming from my 5th grade reading teacher, but when you’re in a New England boarding school in the middle of nowhere, without the Internet (back then) and no lacrosse stores in sight – you just tend to pay more attention to your lacrosse sticks and equipment.  I just remember sitting in my dorm room/common area reading the directions from the stringing kit(s).  You know, that booklet/program stapled together?  They all come with them!

While referring to a “factory strung” stick, I would master the leathers one day, then the sidewalls the next.  Cross laces – a few weeks, or months.  Yes, we are talking about “traditional stringing” here.  Shooter strings depended on my release point and the amount of “whip”.  The same things went when stringing a mesh pocket.  It was VERY frustrating and annoying but eventually things started to form.  Each component took their amount of time and created a certain hardship until I got them right without referring to the manual(s).

“$15 and a can of Coke!”

I was known as a “Stick Doctor” on my team and the requests came to either string or fix a pocket in return for some money, cans of soda or cups of instant ramen noodles (which were considered GOLD in boarding school life).  I was happy not only to maintain my stringing skills but also to make the service into some sort of business.  And since it became some sort of “business” I had to meet the customer’s deadline while getting my homework done.  Mastering time management soon developed from that experience.  In retrospect, I can honestly admit to learning “the ropes” of understanding personal responsibility when starting AND running your own business, instead of working for one.  They are entirely polar opposites.

Developing a STYLE.

“Don’t look for a style.  Let if find you, again and again as it deepens and grows in richness, and as to your style, your friends will recognize it, you won’t, unless you stole someone else’s.  Style comes to you when it is ready and it comes as inevitably as sweat on a July day.” - Charles Goslin (Pratt Institute. Former professor of design. Feb 23, 1932 – May 16, 2007)

Looking back at those stringing manuals, the one thing they forget to mention is that there is NO RIGHT STYLE or ONE STYLE.  It’s all about developing a style that is RIGHT FOR YOU – THE PLAYER.  Stringing sticks for almost 20 years, I’m still open to learning different styles and techniques.  You never stop learning and finding good habits.  It’s also like the engineering components of a bridge or the different positions on the lacrosse field.  Whether it was a leather, nylon, shooter or mesh, they were all important in the development of a pocket.  They all count.

The parent in the beginning of this story still wasn’t convinced about the benefits of stringing your own stick.  I, on the other hand, am not convinced that always buying a new stick is the answer, no matter how much money one possesses.

“What’s so important about stringing a stick?” the parent asked.

My response was honest and direct.

“Stringing a stick, is the best thing you can do for your lacrosse game, while sitting on your @$$!”

Extra/Misc.

The following photos are my stringing techniques for an STX Eclipse with hard-mesh and “open sidewalls” for a channel when throwing.

1) Find and start in the middle, or the center point!  Yes, it can be done…

2) Work from the center point going out towards the left/right sides.  This helps with symmetry and balance.

3) Tie off the ends points once reached.

4) Building the “herringbone/truss pattern” a.k.a. “open sidewall”.

5) After reaching the top from bottom, pull through at one of the first sidewall/shooter holes.

6) The start of the “truss pattern”.

7) The finished side.

8) Go to the next sidewall and repeat process.

9) The finished “open sidewalls”.

10) Add some “shooters”.  Here, I like my standard two, hockey laces, three rows from the top and three rows separating the two.

10) This is what the final product looks like for me.  Keep in mind that this is my style and throws with the amount of “whip” that compliment my “release points” when throwing.

Good luck.

Learn to Earn.

It’s juvenile looking back, but it was an important issue, personally.  During my early years in boarding school, I was one of four goalies on the varsity lacrosse team.  I was young and needed a lot to learn – especially, off the field.  Due to my “rawness” of being a fourth string goalie, one of my responsibilities was to make sure the crate of lacrosse balls and water were at the field for each and every practice.  During practice, my time in goal was usually made to be “target practice” for our best shooters on offense or playing a different position such as close defense.  The end of practice had me collecting the loose balls and water bottles strewn all over the field.  Game time found me on the sideline, cheering and motivating my teammates.  Overall, I observed a lot in practice and games, but soon grew impatient and wanted to be involved.  I simply wanted a chance to play.

“Bite or be bitten.  Those that don’t bite, get eaten.”

The lacrosse team was very good, made up of multi-sport athletes in football, soccer, hockey and basketball.  The starting goalie was my roommate, who regularly asked me to look at his goalie sticks the night before games because he did not know how to string a stick.  Doing that and knowing I wouldn’t play the next day was frustrating.  Our coach was a man named David Reece, who was the Director of Admissions and an assistant hockey coach in his spare time.  Coach Reece also had an interesting background before going into education, as a back-up goalie for the Boston Bruins in the National Hockey League during the late-1970’s.  His being a professional athlete at one point always got our respect but he rarely discussed in detail his experience in the National Hockey League.

David Reece in the NHL (above).  David Reece as Admissions Director/Lacrosse Coach (below).

“Coach, I want to play.”

As the season went along, my role as a player didn’t change and I asked to sit down with Coach Reece in private.  I figured that I had the right to talk to him about my status.  We met in an empty locker room and I told him out right that, “I want to play.”  He responded if that was “the right thing to do, or if that’s what you want to do?”  I told him that it was a combination of both; considering I never missed or was late to a lacrosse practice.  I also added a bold statement of my being better skilled than the starting goalie, which surprised him, but it was my argument for a chance to show it.

Coach Reece decided to be honest and opened up his answer with a personal story.  He mentioned that “…back in February of 1976 he was in Toronto playing in goal for the Boston Bruins.  That night a player for the Toronto Maple Leafs named, Darryl Sittler, etched his name in hockey history to have the most points in a game (10 points).”  He followed by saying that his name was “etched in hockey history as the goalie who gave up the most goals in a game (11).”  I could tell he didn’t like to tell me that story but it was for a reason.

It turned out that that was his last game he played in the NHL and the reputation of that one night is something that he has to carry for the rest of his life.  I thought he was telling me the story because he didn’t want me to get “lit up in goal” and be disgusted.  He concluded that he realized my work ethic as a player, knew how I felt and promised that “you would get your chance”.

“In the middle of difficulty lies opportunity.” -Albert Einstein

A few weeks later we found ourselves in nearby Lakeville, CT playing the Hotchkiss School.  Our goalie got a 2-minute un-releasable penalty for not having his mouth guard in place and “mouthing off” to the referee.  I don’t think I even had my helmet on my head and Reece called a time-out.  The score being close, Coach Reece looked at me and gave me the nod in goal.  Excited and nervous, I strapped my helmet on and ran towards the crease.  I “hit the pipes” to check my angles only to let the first shot I faced go by me for a goal. I remember looking at Coach Reece in wonder of his reaction before raking the ball out of the net.  His response was a sign of his hand in the air as if it were “OK”.
In that 2-minute duration, I faced a total of 7 shots – saving 5.  Those 2-minutes in goal were the only minutes I registered in goal for that season and it was back to the normal routine.

Lesson Learned.

As a business owner, you want everything to be just right.  But there are things you can and cannot control in life.  Sometimes things don’t unfold the way you thought they would, even if you worked hard for it.  Sometimes it’s other people (merely strangers) who determine your outcomes, instead of yourself.  Coach Reece kept his promise of an opportunity to somebody very young and inexperienced.  He was right… there will be a right time for everything in life.

Extra./Misc.

David Reece in goal for the Boston Bruins.

Sittler  “lighting up” Reece.

Boston Bruins team picture.  David Reece, front row, far right.

The man who did the damage.

Lawrence Taylor.
Tie Domi.
Paul O’Neill.
Xavier McDaniels (and pretty much most of the New York Knicks in the early-90’s).

Every team has its version of an “enforcer” somewhere in the line-up.  I believe in displaying sportsmanship during competition.  I also believe in showing an opponent that you will not take anymore of their cr*p at a certain point.

My senior year in boarding school, I was among a handful of returning players from a team that won a New England Lacrosse Championship the year before.  I was also a fulltime starter in goal with new defensemen in front of me, and knew that this year was going to be VERY different – a rebuilding year.

Our coaches scouted for individuals to fill the vacant spots.  So when it came to my defense, it was made up of three, incredibly strong and talented football players with interesting backgrounds.  Steve Cuitillo, the school’s quarterback, who possessed a laid-back, surfer personality from Manasquan, New Jersey.  Angelo LiCausi, a hard-nosed, blue-collar type presence from Brooklyn, New York.  The third and final spot was, Gabor Tokes, a foreign exchange student from Budapest, Hungary, who was quiet yet intimidating.  None of them ever played the game of lacrosse before.  Coach gave them their “poles” and threw them “into the cold water” that was the game of lacrosse.  Needless to say, all on the defensive end of the field endured an everlasting hardship during games.

Midway of the season (and winless) and nothing to loose, we were going to play our version of  “street lacrosse” on defense.  We found ourselves playing at the Berkshire School in Massachusetts, when my defensemen unleashed their aggressions on our opponent.  Body checks almost looked like tackles.  Sticks were almost used as weapons.  Both were accompanied with a loud yell from each individual on defense.  Yellow flags went up, as did the tension and voices from both sides of coaches.  I think we played that team mostly on a man-down basis considering the style of play involved.  Regardless of changing our style of play, we still did not win that game.

Looking back, I couldn’t blame Steve, Angelo and Gabor for their lack of overall skill.  I don’t think that they even liked the game of lacrosse.  But they were doing the whole team a favor by doing something important without having any previous experience.  Jumping into something cold without some sort of experience, I admit, is something I rarely do to this day as a working professional.  That year will be remembered as the worst playing season of my lacrosse career… but I never had a startling line of complete enforcers in front of me since then.

This story compliments my newest piece added to The Art of Lax™ portfolio titled:
“The Enforcer”

“The Enforcer”
8.5×12 inches.
Pen & ink on heavy drawing paper.

www.TheArtofLax.com

Like on Facebook.

I needed another goalie piece in the mix and instead of making a save, posing in a stance, etc… I decided to illustrate the goalie running up the field with the ball, clearing it himself.  It’s a gutsy move for goalies considering they always feel safe in their “circle”.  However, there are times when they are called to take matters in their own hands and rush up the field, knowing that they are “marked targets” from their opposition.  The times I have done that, made me feel that I was taking a risk, stepping into the unknown, stepping “…once more, unto the breach dear friends, once more!”

“Unto the Breach” pen & ink. 8×12 inches.

Original and reproduction prints available for purchase at The Art of Lax.

Be a fan of The Art of Lax™ on Facebook.

Henry the V.

Another of my favorite quotes/scenes in the play – the Band of Brothers speech.

During my early years in boarding school, there was at one point 4 goalies on the varsity level (!!) – I was that 4th goalie.

The coaches noticed the amount of “extra players” and would at times ask the extra goalies to pick up either a “shorty” or a “pole” and get in a practice scenario.  Coach made me pick up a “pole” and get on a man-down unit or a wing play as an LSM.  It made me understand the defensive unit as a whole but on a personal level, it gave me the chance to display the “things” that I wanted my close-defensemen to do when I got the chance to step in the goal.  I kept the habits clean and very simple.  I never “chased the stick” as I realized that the “poke-check” was one of the MOST overlooked and annoying thing that got under my opponent’s skin.  Why try to get the “homerun” check when the gloves and forearms are actually part of the opponent’s stick?  If an opponent was good at “hiding their stick” then what was exposed was their body to take, esp. a few “jabs” at the opponents ribcage disguised as a forehand hold!

Coach used me on a regular basis as an LSM and/or close-defenseman on a man-down unit.  Like I said, I learned a lot, but I was more eager to get a chance in goal.  But that is another story to come.

Senior year in goal vs. The Salisbury School.  Sophmore year playing LSM/Close-D against The Hotchkiss School.

The following new artwork for the defensive theme:

“LSM” -pen & ink.

“On the Prowl” -pen & ink.

“Guardian 2″ -pen & ink.

I’ve been postponing arthroscopic surgery on my knee for so long that every year I debate it, due to my doctor telling me that I would be on crutches or walking with a cane for a quite a bit of time.  But who knows, if I do, maybe one day I’ll get out the STX Excalibur, on a titanium pole, that still sits in my parents place to this day!

www.TheArtofLax.com

www.Facebook.com/TheArtofLax

Misc:

The classic Bacharach helmet.  I think it was nicknamed “The Baltimore Classic”??

The “mud-flap” throat guard.

Yup, I was a “sticker for stickers!”  Kinda’ like a NASCAR look on the dome!

The South Kent School in South Kent, CT – home of the Cardinals!  Had to rep NYC somewhere, hence the Statue of Liberty decal.

The double-foam piece on the “grill”!  Before the days of “helmet-tilt” (now) this was for intimidation purposes!

To my surprise, one of my BEST finds up to date, they still kept my ORIGINAL STX Goalmaster!  Notice, the “dowel” throat/shaft and the red color before the sticks became standard factory colors of white/black.

My “glory days”.

“There is NO substitute for HARD WORK.”  -Thomas A. Edison

Growing up in NYC, I wanted to keep playing lacrosse not just for fun, rather in the interest of being the BEST during game time.  My problem was that, back then, there were hardly any lacrosse players in NYC to throw the ball around with – pretty much close to none. 

“I will find a way, or make one,” -Hannibal of Carthage (quoting his generals before crossing the Alps to invade Rome).

I realized that my answer to working on being the BEST was literally all around me in my hometown – concrete.  Whatever surface it was made out of; concrete, brick, etc., I made use of it doing “wall-ball”.  Whether it was a handball court in a park, a side of an indoor parking garage, or a concrete caisson of an elevated highway/subway system – as long as the ball would bounce back to me was good enough.  Whether it was having 5-10 minutes, or the whole day… repetition, repetition, repetition was/is key!

Be creative.  Think out of the box.  Get out of your comfort zone.

I can list many bits and pieces of wall-ball routines from lacrosse people all over, but the most important aspect was getting yourself to do it.  The best part of wall-ball, is that a wall does not criticize and/or judge you.  It just shows you who is responsible and in charge.

Below, is the finished piece “To Be Good Is Not Enough” (Wall-Ball).

Brooklyn Lacrosse colleagues; Alf Burger and Matt Ossola, et al, will be amongst the members of “Team Ol’ Skool“.  Find them and the rest wearing the Ol’ Skool image screend onto Navy Blue shooter shirts manufactured by Power-Tek Performance Wear:

Alf and Matt may have some extras this weekend?  )

*****

Old School tidbits:

That’s me directing the defense in goal against the Salisbury School.  1995.  Yes, we were heated rivals with the now, nationally-ranked, lacrosse powerhouse!

A present from my parents during boarding school.  Would watch before lacrosse games.

The opening scene from the video.  If you DO NOT know what this is, you are NOT OLD SCHOOl… GO BACK to school!

Starring these guys.

But we can’t forget about THIS GUY, below.

“One man’s trash is another man’s treasure.”

I was the assistant varsity coach of the Poly Prep School in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn and we were in Orlando, Florida for pre-season training in the early-March days.  Our hotel accommodation at The Disney Wide World of Sports complex, was one of many housing numerous high-school lacrosse programs in the country for the same reason, that the turnover of teams checking in and checking out was at a fast and steady pace.  Due to that circumstance our rooms were not ready for us to settle in, thus we had some time on our hands.  To make time pass, some kids “tossed the rock” in the parking lot, while others spent time listening to their iPods or did whatever their individual creativity opened up to.

A little over an hour went by and we received word that our rooms were finally ready to occupy.  The players, along with their roommates rushed into their designated rooms, some of them bumping into the housekeeping staff that just finished their work.  It was at that moment one of the staff got my fullest attention by asking me,

“Coach, does this belong to one of your players… I found it near the trash bins?”

Having no idea what she had found, she held in her hand an original, white, scuffed, scraped, unstrung, STX Excalibur head – one of the MOST popular and BEST lacrosse heads ever produced!

My response to her, “YES, it DOES!”

Who would’ve thrown such a thing away or leave it behind?

I decided to take it.  By doing just that I gave it a new life but keeping the traditional, old school characteristics that I remember.  The following series of photos portray the revival of the STX Excalibur “going old school”.

STX Excalibur.  Strung traditional, wide, 6-diamond, nylon shooter lace and two hockey laces on a wooden shaft.

*********************

Some more from my “Old School” experience:

My STX “Crooked Arrow” shaft.  This was used during practice sessions in high school.

“Player of the World–Brooks Sweet”

With Brooks Sweet (All-American, UMass ’80.  Member of Team USA 1982—“Player of the World”).  Currently, Head Coach of The Poly Prep School (Bay Ridge, Brooklyn).

“The Trio” (Jon Hess, Chris Massey, Jesse Hubbard).  Considered the BEST attack unit college lacrosse.

With Chris Massey (Princeton ’98) and his son Oliver, during the screening of the USA/Canada 2010 World Games Championship game at Brother Jimmy’s in Manhattan.

Winning the New England Championship title – May 1995.

Vicente Ricasio.

I think I can count in one hand the amount of times my Dad (Vicente Ricasio) saw me play lacrosse – Four.  He was not against playing and/or watching sports.  Rather,  he was always focused on working extremely hard to make sure his children had the opportunities for a better quality of life.  Better than what he and my Mom had before immigrating to the United States.  Those opportunities were to be hard earned with strict lessons learned.

Back in 8th grade, I was playing at a youth lacrosse festival in Long Island.  At the days end, I slung my gloves, pads and helmet on my goalie stick that rested on my shoulder, and headed with my Dad to the parking lot.  Passing the game fields, I saw in the far distance a bucket of lacrosse balls by the substitution box that was partially full, with nobody around.  I looked at my Dad, who was about 10 yards ahead of me, his attention grabbed by talking to some parents and yelled that I ‘would meet him at the car’.  I quickly dropped my equipment on the ground and ran towards the bucket of lacrosse balls in the interest of taking a few home.  I searched for unused or hardly used ones while the worn-out, “slick” or “glossy” ones didn’t grab my attention.  Regardless, I grabbed about six lacrosse balls in total.

I ran back to see my lacrosse equipment already taken from the ground and found my Dad waiting for me in the car.  I hopped in the passenger side, placed the lacrosse balls at my feet and buckled up.  On the return trip home, I noticed my lacrosse equipment wasn’t in the back seat, where it usually was.  I asked my Dad if he placed [it] in the trunk.  He shook his head, ‘NO’.  My false of stealing lacrosse balls gave way to my lacrosse equipment being stolen.

I argued why he did not take care of my equipment and he answered by telling me that, that was NOT his responsibility.  He eventually told me that there would come a time where people, or strangers, would not know or care what’s really important to you.  It was tough love he dished out but I eventually understood it.  I made sure that my equipment was always taken care of, always in my sight and under my fullest responsibility.

Hindsight is 20/20.  Lesson Learned.

Look, it’s pretty simple, now that I’m an adult.  If something is VERY important to you, you really need to be accountable for it.  My Dad set the self-reliance factor at a high-bar and at an early-age.  It might have been unconventional, but he was RIGHT.  In lacrosse, just like any sport, you have to be accountable for your actions.  Most importantly, that definitely goes correctly for your decisions and actions off-the-field.

When I started The Art of Lax™, I had no clear idea how the venture would start, but I knew NOBODY was going to do it for me.

Thanks, Dad!

(L-to-R: Vicente Ricasio & Vinnie Ricasio, family trip to Harbour Island-Bahamas.  Jan. 2011)