Followers of my columns know that I try to give a feel for the flow of play and the details of how goals are scored.  In order to do that I take large amounts of notes on how the goals are scored and keep detailed statistics of other facets of the game.  I almost always do this from the press box and if there is a drawback to what I do it is that the games become a clinical experience at times, and one game tends to blend into another.  I think I found the cure for that last night while going to cover the Belen Jesuit – American Heritage-Delray game last night. When I get to the game site the first thing I usually do is seek out the head coaches of both teams to catch up on the gossip; how’s the team doing, is anyone injured, who’s standing out and should be watched for, even what wrinkles they might have for me to watch for.  Then I always wish both of them good luck, go back to the booth and get ready to report. I picked last night’s game for a number of reasons. I wanted to see how Jeff Goldberg was progressing with his first year at AH-D since it was such an interesting story at a local level.  And I was able to get a bonus in that it also gave me a chance to report a similar situation with Alan Bellando, in his first season at Belen.  Two experienced coaching veterans given blank slates to fill in with very little pressure to perform in their first seasons.  Alan is a little bit ahead of Jeff in this in that he inherited a better program and a larger squad to work with (including JV).  They’ve known each other a long time, through good times and bad, and certainly will make their marks down the line.  And in this season of incredible competitiveness with 5 of the state’s Top 10 within 30 miles of the game, they’ve almost become afterthoughts for this season.  Belen is undefeated this year and I also wanted to see if they were good enough to start to be considered for potential top 10 ranking down the line should they continue to win.     As usual, I talked with both before the game and we caught up on where they were at that point.  Both felt they were making improvements.  Jeff felt that it was premature to think of his program as being where he wants to take it and Alan was a little more focused on his record, while Jeff was more focused on progress.  After listening to both I made the snap decision to not cover the game the same way I normally do.  Then I made my way to the press box and found no chairs available so I would have to sit in the bleachers and take notes there. And then it hit me; just watch the game for fun and write about it that way.     In a way that was a small mistake.  Frankly, after talking to each team and watching the warm-ups I thought Belen would probably win comfortably.  Not some blow out but maybe a 3-5 goal final margin. Wrong. Those who read my Jupiter-Barron Collier game review would remember my talking about how a game that was played sloppy could still be exciting.  Funny how I forgot that lesson. Belen needed to fight back in the fourth quarter and tied the game late, leading to an overtime that Belen finally put away 10-9 in the OT. And even though the game had a lot of turnovers it was REALLY EXCITING.  Jeff’s team really played their hearts out and overcame a deficit of talent to nearly take down Alan’s squad. That’s water under the bridge, not keeping the stats. But if I did I would not have had as much fun.     Sitting in the stands without the need to write let me partake in some of the things that fans take for granted, but which I miss out on.  Mostly the interaction with other fans.  And since this was not exactly a marquee match-up on paper, that meant mostly with parents.  And one very dedicated photographer. No, not Ernie.  He did his best Julius Caesar imitation last night for the pictures we used.  Veni, vidi, vici. And went home for dinner. No, my companions for last night were the McAdorey family and Larry Palumbo.  Neil, his wife Vicki, his son Ian and their son’s guest were at the game to watch the younger son Connor play for Jeff.  Neil and I had gotten to know each other from last year’s Macabi team coverage so it was fun to sit in the stands with them.  Vicki also knew her stuff since she is involved in the game too and Ian plays up at college in Vermont.  His girlfriend/date/BFF/significant other/just plain friend (Sorry, never asked!  These things were a lot easier when it was just Guys and Dolls – the musical, not the sexism PC police!) managed to go to college in Vermont after growing up in California, which is a pretty tough cultural adjustment to make until I remembered that those were probably the two biggest Grateful Dead pockets of fans.  So there must have been some synergy there. This was the first time I met Larry.  He’s a very interesting character.  A man who actually makes his living from photographing lacrosse.  I don’t try to make my living with my writings but it occurred to me that here was a kindred soul, someone who fell in love with the game and decided to see where it would lead him.  He lives in Canandaigua according to his web site (http://www.coyotemagicactionshots.com/), which is just about 7 miles down 5 and 20 in upstate NY from Geneva (one of the Heritage players was likely going to Hobart next year to play football, which was a nice thing to find out – best of luck and hope you enjoy it as much as I did!), so that made a connection right there.  I did forget to ask him if he had ever hung out at The Oaks before it was torn down, or even the Rongo, but I’m sure I’ll get another chance to do so one day. The McAdoreys and I had a lot of fun critiquing the game, the refs and pretty much the whole political scene too, something I never get to do when in the booth.  As fans.  And making those over-the-top observations you can make when it doesn’t count and no one is recording them.  Swapped stories of games seen past and experiences yet to come.  And probably embellished a little bit too.  A low key fun night.     And even noticed a few things.  As the game went on and Heritage was able to play with Belen we noticed the differences between how the coaches reacted.  Alan, being the favorite in the game (I wonder how long it’s been since that occurred; that Alan went into a game as a favorite over Jeff?), really had to work his team to get them over the top.  Jeff, whose first name should have been “The Intense”, with Jeff being the middle name, was mostly calm on the surface throughout the game.  Of course, under the surface he was most assuredly churning his stomach, as his competitive juices are rarely on ‘pause’.  But it was an interesting thing to witness given how many of Jeff’s games I attended over the years.  Almost like he was following his Reagan years with a ‘kinder and gentler’ Bush Sr . . . Okay, maybe that last one is one of those embellishments. Still, I get the feeling that for at least this season, Jeff is going to secretly enjoy it a little more before he kicks his program into higher gear over time and reverts to the median. Certainly the weather played a role in enjoying the night too.  A crisp evening it is usually called.  Reminded me of those late September nights in the northeast; those nights when you are starting to feel the summer slipping away and you need to remember to savor them before the winds start howling.  Ian was amazed that a few of the players were wearing stockings until I reminded him that this was a winter day here and that comparing it to northern Vermont was a stretch. The game itself was almost a backdrop for me, although the McAdoreys were more into it.  I got to watch a game, they got to watch a son.  They got the better of that.  We did witness some really nice individual efforts.  Both goalies played very well.  There were some pretty nice talents out there.  I could call out their names but I didn’t really write anything down.  Sorry kids, I know how that feels.  When I was very young I attended a summer camp and when my folks showed up on Parent’s Weekend they managed to film about 30 minutes of the visit without catching me doing anything well, even though I scored three goals in the soccer game, scored the only touchdown in the football game and basically had the peak of my athletic career that weekend. So I feel your pain. I promise to do better the next time. And thanks for the memories because it was exciting to watch. For Alan and Jeff, good luck with building the programs!  I’ll be following the progress this year and in the future.  And kids, keep playing hard and get better each day, for both teams. And a little suggestion for everyone; parents, kids, etc . . . Take in a game once in awhile that you have no rooting interest in. And just enjoy it. It cleansed me even better than a juicing regimen. One last thing for Alan and Matt:  Good luck in September!