(This article was first posted in US Lacrosse Magazine on 8/8/17.  Coach Starsia's articles will regularly appear on the BTB Lax site going foward...)

After 10 years coaching college lacrosse and with two kids (Lil’ Dom and Luigi) in tow, my 34-year-old son is about to start law school at the University of Texas in September. His bold career choice reminds me that it seems like just yesterday when he began his undergraduate career at Lynchburg College. I would like to share...

The Duke/Denver game was last Friday...  

I checked the score during the game and saw Denver was ahead 12-8 early in the 4th Qtr.

I checked again later that same night and saw Duke won 15-12.

7 goal run to end the game.

Did Duke start winning every face-off?  

Nope.

Did Ethan Walker get hurt?

Nope.

Well then…  what happened?

I guarantee the Denver coaches were sayin’ that exact same thing.   

I finished watching the game on Tuesday night and proceeded to...

I’ve watched lots of lacrosse film over the years…

...but I’m realizing it’s not nearly enough.

One of my best buddies, Ben Bloom, is the linebacker coach for the Dallas Cowboys. During the season, he watches 40 to 60 hours of film a week!

(Talked to him last week about his “film watching” process... got some good tips.)

I bet Belichick is watching film right now…

Football coaches watch tons of film for a variety of reasons…

• to...

I first met Jake Deane in November, 2009 out in Chicago.

I remember the exact time cuz it’s when Tiger Woods crashed his car outside his Florida mansion…   I remember reading that on the back page of USA Today Sports and tellin’ Gabel this is gonna be a big story...

I was there to help work a True Lacrosse clinic and spend Thanksgiving with my boy, Mike Gabel.  Jake and Gabel started True Lacrosse in 2008...  they recognized an opportunity and pursued...

I think Justin Guterding might have been kinda motivated for the season opener.  After all, he was snubbed from the pre-season Player of the Year lists.

Duke opened up against Air Force… just like last year.  And it was obvious early on that Air Force wasn’t gonna pull off the upset this time around.  Duke cruised the whole game as it was a strong showing for the country’s top team.

It was Guteding’s birthday, and to celebrate he loaded up the stat...

I’m heading to watch Miami host Pittsburgh in college basketball tonight.  

Chris Lykes is a freshman point guard for the Canes.  I watched him play high school ball at Gonzaga the past four years.  The kid is incredible.  He’s a generous 5’7” but extremely athletic.  He can dunk… just think about that for a sec.

Gonzaga plays in the Washington Catholic Athletic Conference (WCAC).  There’s no question it’s one of the...

I went to my first US Lacrosse conference when I was 22 (back in early 2005).  I drove from Boston to Baltimore in a Tufts minivan with Coach Daly.  That was my first year as the graduate assistant coach at Tufts (having just finished playing there the prior spring.)

(Flashback:  Daly and I spent lots of hours in that minivan - recruiting, scouting, conferences…  Every successful college coach spend TONS of time on the road - actually one of the many reasons that I...

Final 4 weekend is to lacrosse like the Super Bowl is to football.  It’s the pinnacle weekend of the lacrosse year, and the teams get to play on it’s biggest stage.  

Most young lacrosse players dream of being there someday.

For that weekend, the players get pampered like professional athletes… they stay in nice hotels, have press conferences, get fancy new gear and sticks…  All while trying to remain focused on the ultimate prize. 

The players...

Last year’s championship game was played in a monsoon…  then Jerry Jones got involved.  This year it the game was played indoors the new Dallas Cowboys practice facility - capacity of 12,000.  Real nice spot.

Needless to say, weather wasn’t a factor.  Game attendance was a little over 7,000.

It took a while to watch this game.  Lots more commercials and in-game interviews cuz CBS Sports televised it…

It was a rematch from last...

I included my most recent YouTube video above.  

Sometimes it easier to show things rather than writing it all out.  I'll be doing these more often so stay tuned...

Anyway, the showdown was set last Saturday when Florida travelled up to Ohio for the semifinal playoff game.

Florida got off to a slow start earlier this season, but used the draft to really improve their roster.  They picked up two studs - Dylan Molloy (Brown) and Nick Mariano (Syracuse).  

I...