Down The Alley
P-Mac, Ted, and Katie bring you "Down the Alley" podcast. We are thrilled to be able to talk Lacrosse with you each and every week. We will dive into specifically into Minnesota High School Lacrosse, Club Lacrosse (we run 36 Lacrosse and Team36) as well as sports business in general.
Down The Alley
Episode 118: NEW Prior Lake Head Coach Sam Kepner
Ever found yourself munching on Halloween candy when really, you should be preparing for a dentist visit? That's exactly what happened to me! Join us as I share my tales of tempting confectionery, my latest trip to the dentist, and a hearty welcome to our special guest, the newly appointed head coach of Prior Lake, Sam Kappner.
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And welcome to down the alley. This is P Mac and Ted T S Sparides. We got a big guest coming. I don't know if any of our other down the alley regulars are joining, why, you know, tbd, tbd, maybe a couple of late ads, but we're gonna. We're gonna play it out here. Big guests come in here shortly, but I don't know about you. I don't know if you have any rants or topics, but I blogged about this earlier. This week I went to the dentist. I Went to the dentist. Every time I walk into the dentist and by the time I walk I just feel like I disappoint my dentist. Yeah, I, I do go to the dentist. I know some people don't go to the dentist. I do?
Speaker 2:I do go to the dentist. I actually just had a dentist appointment, like I think it was last week.
Speaker 1:Oh, okay, so I'm the same schedule, schedule, okay. Okay, how'd yours go?
Speaker 2:It was good. Um no, no cavities or no major dental good. Ma the, the gal who is the hygienist, is a lacrosse parent, so we talk lacrosse in her someplace, lacrosse. Well, she has three kids. All three of them play lacrosse, so that that's kind of fun to like be able to talk shop a little bit. And when the actual like when the dentist came in and was like all right, you know, as Ted been flossing and she, she Really tried to help me out, she was like, yeah, you know, once a week and I'm like that's being generous, like I just threw myself under the bus. I'm like you don't have to to take the fall for me that I don't floss as much as I should, but the flossing thing I can't like.
Speaker 1:I want like I come out of the dentist and I want to buy into flossing. I can't buy, I don't buy into it.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I'm not a flosser. I mean it's not like. I mean I don't have like terrible oral hygiene but like definitely room for improvement could be better. But yeah, I know I feel you like going to the dentist. You're like man, like you're gonna get exposed here, like you, there's just no, you can't be like oh yeah, like, yeah, like I'm like I'm two times a day flosser because I'm gonna just see that you're not like oh, when they start going to town on my teeth, I start bleeding and they're like you haven't flossed in six months, so it's the last time you're here.
Speaker 2:Yeah, no, no doubt. So, yeah, that's um tough to have. Dental point Was this post Halloween?
Speaker 1:No, no it was day no, so it's pretty how it was last Friday. It was Friday, that's good.
Speaker 2:That's good having. Yeah, I have an, a dentist appointment, like right after Halloween. I mean, I know some people are better about like the discipline of like not eating candy, but I have two children and they go trick-or-treating and that we only went to like 30 houses, not around the block. I went with you yeah, what, what would you say? 20, 30 houses, maybe around the car? Yeah, I'm outside now and you know the inside and the outside loop, nothing crazy. And I was in my head. I, I was thinking there won't, there won't be that much candy because we don't do a huge run. There's so much candy, so much.
Speaker 1:Well, you got two kids too. So like double Average amount of candy, double it, you got a. You got a crap ton of candy.
Speaker 2:So the bowl just sits there all day and you walk by and you grab, like you're okay, I'm just gonna have one, and it's like one Twix. But then all of a sudden you've walked by it four times and you've had four Twix's and and now suddenly, like the last two days, I've had a lot more candy than I've usually had. It Just, it's just a bad setup. In general. I'm not an anti-Halloween guy or anything like that, but as a 37 year old person that probably shouldn't be eating a lot of candy. It's just a bad setup.
Speaker 1:All right, we can. We can talk about the dentist. We can talk about Halloween More later. I don't want to. I don't want to make our guests sit in the in the waiting room any longer. They're logging in there, they're. They're getting in now. If you're watching, you see the name Coach cap Sam Kappner. The new head coach, a prior like. I know people are getting sick of prior like, but the new head coach of prior Lake, a Tommy. If you look at, if you're watching the YouTube, you can tell you're just looking at this guy, tommy. I know, I know he's not. He's not a bad-looking guy. Former Jefferson assistant, he's been the D coordinator, he was an assistant coach at the Tommy's and now Recently hired head coach of prior Lake, the Lakers, sam Kappner. Welcome to down the alley.
Speaker 3:Wow, what an intro. Appreciate you you having me on. You're getting me fired up all already, p-mac, but yeah, super, super excited to be here, kind of very humbled and honored to be Selected as the next coach of of prior Lake. You know, been been a little bit of a whirlwind over the last couple weeks and acclimated to kind of a little bit of a different side of Of the program but one that's you know super excited about. But yeah, appreciate you have me on and Also want to make sure I don't forget, but appreciate everything that you guys are doing, you know lacrosse wise in the state of Minnesota, just to bring some awareness and visibility, you know, some encouragement To all the different players, the coaches, the programs, big or small, across the across the Minnesota st Landscape.
Speaker 1:Hey, I appreciate the tire pump. Not everyone feels the same way. I had something for you. Oh, is this your first podcast, or of you, or are you a podcaster?
Speaker 3:First podcast guest wise, a long time listener, first-time caller, but podcast not new to me. I'm a big podcast guy, especially, you know, in the car on the way to work. I'd rather, you know sort of listen to something interesting that's not riddled with commercials, you know, or potentially learn something. You know podcast can be a great resource for that. So definitely, definitely in the podcast game, but have not been a guest on any to date.
Speaker 1:So so lucky for you guys, I guess no, fire it up to be, you know a part of your first you know being a guest on a podcast. You're not jamming out to Taylor Swift on the way into op-dom every every morning, or anything like that, I mean.
Speaker 3:I'm a pro T Swift, I'm, you know, I'm on the T Swift bandwagon, for sure, you know. So you know, hopefully T Swift and Kelsey got some good stuff cooking. You know, this coming weekend for for a W, last weekend one, two, pretty so.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I have to ask for the most people listen to this on, you know, on just the audio. But for those that will see the video, you are looks to be a big sports serial Memorabilia guy in the back. We got some ease. Is that a Kirby Puckett weed ease or a Tory Hunter?
Speaker 3:Yeah, you got a great eye. So we've got a few different weed ease boxes in the background. So we got 87 Twins, we got 91 twins and then in them, I think in the middle, we've got a little Kirby. So and I think I've got a small one I don't know if you can see it in the corner, but a good old Adam feeling Vikings. We these box.
Speaker 2:So first down flakes like that. No, that's, that's cool. It's always interesting to see what people have in there in their background. We've had, you know, different guests. You know we just had Casey on, he had some art and so I guess, like a Bob Marley poster, we've had people having, like they're like who was it? The Iron Dale coach, I think had some like custom-made art and to, but I like the sports memorabilia and it's, it's a cool look. So welcome to welcome to down the alley.
Speaker 1:Yeah, talking about cap, I've been. I've been to his house, not a big deal. He invited me over a couple times. I've seen, um, I've seen some Different. What am I thinking of? Newspaper you get the paper, ted, you get the paper. No, you don't get the paper. Some different papers framed Maybe? Talk about that. And but I'm surprised, what I'm most surprised about is no shoes you, because I know you're a big shoe guy, you know. Maybe arguably I should. This should have been in the intro, I'm sorry. Arguably the best shoe game in as far as coaches, at least in the state of Minnesota.
Speaker 3:Yeah, well, to your first question, a little bit of newspaper kind of sticking with the baseball theme, with the twins. You know, I've got one thing kind of down here in the basement, you know, just back to their. You know, then one in the World Series, I think this one was back in, you know, 87, yeah, looking at it, 87. I've got another one with the Minneapolis miracle, kind of on one wall, a game that I was at with my, my extended family. So, total, I've been lucky to get to some pretty good sporting events, I would say, in my life so far, even though Unfortunately none of them are sort of a championship, you know, just yet, between the bikes, or you know, the twins, the wild right, etc. But yeah, we were definitely a pro, pro sports family, you know, especially, you know big homers here in the Twin Cities With a lot of your, your major sports.
Speaker 3:So yeah, you're gonna, you're not gonna, see a ton of, I would say, art on the wall unless it's Coming from the kids, you know, drawn on something Sometimes in places they shouldn't be. But yeah, a lot of sports stuff in general into your kind of your last question yeah, shoes I don't. I don't have any shoes on the wall. I'm not that guy I would say you know. Yet they're usually, you know, they're all in the closet, right in the upper shelf, out of reach. You know from everybody, you know, and then you know sometimes the kids run in there and they'll, you know, gawk at all the boxes up there and you know, Ask what's in that one or what's in what's in another one. So yeah, the shoe game is improving. You know pale's in comparison to some some guys. I know my brother-in-law especially, big sneaker head. You know I'm just trying to trying to catch up, so I Didn't know the rules.
Speaker 1:I, as people pointed out, I'm not a shoe guy. I'm. I apparently have some homework to do this offseason. I don't know.
Speaker 3:There's an improvement on your 2020, you know three performance review for a shoe game.
Speaker 1:Yeah, it was pointed out after, after last season. So you know, I'm it's in the back of my mind. I didn't know if it's on the wall is a thing or not a thing. Again, it's, it's, it's out of my realm. So, yeah, no cool, all good things. So yeah, let's bring it back to kind of La Crosse, because we've been kind of everything but La Crosse. We are a La Crosse podcast, are you? You're in about Ted's era? I would say give or take, I'm gonna guess maybe got started In, you know, maybe a similar situation. We're gonna find out. You know, outside, looking in, when I, when I first got to know you, you know, met you or you know you got into par, like I thought you were a Jefferson guy growing up. You weren't, you weren't. So how did you? You know, how do you get into La Crosse and you know what was kind of the beginning for you?
Speaker 3:Yeah, great question. I'm pretty sure Ted and I, or maybe plus or minus a couple couple years in there. But I, I, you know, growing up as a kid I had no idea you know what, what La Crosse was. Up until you know, probably about sixth grade, I had a couple of close friends that were, you know, starting to get into the sport, just messing around playing in the backyard. I was not committed to you know any specific spring board, spring sport at all. I mean, I dabbled in, you know, baseball for maybe a couple of years at best, but wasn't, wasn't necessarily in love with anything, but quickly got hooked.
Speaker 3:You know, on La Crosse, I wish I could remember what, what my first stickhead was. I can see it, but I've never had a great sort of memory with that stuff. But definitely your your old school, like traditional. You know kind of leather. You know pockets guys we're trying to, you know, die their sticks, die there, die their mesh, you know back then. But yeah, started playing in kind of junior high and you know kind of. The rest is sort of history a little bit, I think it's. You know it's one of those sports, especially back then, that I would have never guessed. You know sort of the impact that it's had, you know, on on my life and sort of shaped you know who I've become today and it's been really exciting, I'd say, to see kind of La Crosse as across the Minnesota landscape, you know, evolve.
Speaker 3:I mean, back when I was in, you know, high school, it wasn't a sanctioned sport. You know everything was MBS LA. You know you're playing rave. You know, down the road I'm a south of the river right Lakeville guy. You know you're practicing on elementary school. You know fields, junior high fields, etc. And yeah, I think since it became sanctioned in Minnesota and I think about like 2007, I want to say obviously it's gotten a ton, ton of support, you know from from your school districts, from the community. You know that was, you know, desperately needed to continue to grow the game super excited. I think Wisconsin maybe was last year. This year is also Officially sanctioned.
Speaker 3:I want to say you know so they've got, you know, a number of powerhouses. You know shout out to Hudson and some of the guys there that have been, you know, killing it for for a number of years now. But but yeah, I played, you know, throughout junior high, high school, as you mentioned. P Mac, you know, had an opportunity to participate, you know, at the University of St Thomas. As you know they were kind of laying down some of the bricks into kind of what's turned into a pretty, pretty incredible Dynasty with that program. You know, and really through you know me playing lacrosse, you know, particularly in college I started, you know, coaching. You know. So it's been, it's been quite, quite, quite quite the ride. You know been involved in a bunch of different programs through the years, you know, club circuit included. So, yeah, don't plan on stepping away anytime soon.
Speaker 1:Yeah, definitely want to talk about some of those details. You, being a defensive guy, you know, did you? And kind of going back to the beginning you started? You started in rave. Was that box across? I kind of yeah, I hear the war stories with Ted a little bit Did you start in box? When did you end up with the deep hole?
Speaker 3:being a D guy, yeah, I didn't, so didn't play in rave. I'm a Lakeville guy, so I grew up in Lakeville, kind of pre pre north and south. You know splitting up, you know. But I, you know rave is, you know they were the elite program right back in the day. You know they get that way when you can smush together a bunch of you know, you know big suburbs, you know. But I get it, you know. But I I didn't play box, I didn't officially start actually transitioning to More of the defensive side of the ball until I got to st Thomas in college. So it was one of those, you know. Hey, you're, you know, you know you're probably gonna be able to, you know, help out a little bit more on the defensive side. Right, here's.
Speaker 1:I've seen you. I've seen you shoot you. You lasted way longer with the shorty than me, though that's that's. I'm gonna go with that surprising, because I lasted about Not even a full season, not even the season the reality is probably should have made the transition before then again, you know I've got.
Speaker 3:You know phenomenal. You know 62 mile an hour. You know sidearm Shot that sometimes, you know, luckily hits the net. So yeah, it was overdue.
Speaker 1:So did so again going back. Did you and Ted play against each other at all?
Speaker 2:Yeah, I think, sam, I think you're two years younger than me. So I oh for Jefferson, so you're oh, six, lakeville, right? Yeah, I know we played Lakeville one year. I don't remember what year it was. You know, I think you probably put John on huckle. He was kind of the guy on Lakeville back then. That everybody I mean I, he must have started lacrosse in Lakeville. I feel like.
Speaker 3:I don't know yeah.
Speaker 2:Um, I don't know what he's doing now. I don't really know him personally, to be honest, but he was kind of. I know Lakeville had a team. At one point we went down and played Lakeville. You know, I think he says probably at Eastview elementary or something like that, we didn't get to play at the turf there. I mean there wasn't turf but at the stadium or anything. So we probably crossed paths at one point. But you know, I am two years older so I don't know if we necessarily played on the field together at any point, but pretty close yeah.
Speaker 3:Yeah, definitely, you know ships passing in the night, maybe almost. Yeah, johnny O was a stud, you know, at that time. You know probably the best lacrosse player outside of that, you know Andy Kirchner, you know to get out of Lakeville. So you know, obviously they've had some talented athletes since then. But yeah, a little bit different kind of way way back in the day.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and then you went on to play, to play at St Thomas and you mentioned this. This was the beginning of their heyday. I believe you were. You was your kind of group the beginning of it, because by the time I was in high school it was like, yeah, they're there, the there, they're the squad around Minnesota, there there went in championships. We had prior Lake guys go there and and go on and have great careers as well. Was your group kind of like the first? Was it already kind of starting? What was? What? Was your time at St Thomas like?
Speaker 3:You know, I mean St Thomas was, yeah, it was, you know, a great sort of experience and good journey in that you know, when we joined, which would have been, you know, sort of the fall of, oh, you know, oh, seven. You know St Thomas was, you know, much credit to the older Upper classmen, you know was just starting to shift into being, you know, I would say, you know, more of a casual, you know kind of beer league, you know type of a team Into. You know we're fully committed, you know, really all year around to, you know, trying to have some sustainable success right. So there's, you know, a lot of upper upperclassmen you know I think about. You know, you know the kind of cost, the Costello, you know family, I think about. You know Harris, you know certainly Brian, brian Gross right, peace Moob. You know Mooseburger had coaching wise right, jim Riley, you know a bunch of upper classmen, andy Lee, right had coach Eddie Dina. We're really starting to lay the foundation, you know, for what that program should really be.
Speaker 3:You know my first, you know, kind of freshman, sophomore year. You know we, you know certainly had some successes but we didn't quite get over the hump, particularly, you know, at nationals, until I think it was 2009, was the kind of St Thomas's first MCLA National Championship, and then kind of went back to back and kind of an undefeated year and, you know, in 2010. So you know, while you could say you know sort of the class that I was in, you know, which is more to my teammates credit than it is mine, you know, was a big part of turning it around. It was it was largely led by a lot of the upper classmen at the time. We were just the ones that benefited from it the most.
Speaker 1:And then we talked about this probably a week or two ago when we were together last. You know what was. What was that trends? I know this was the similar time you know into coaching. What was your start into coaching and making that transition from, you know, player to coach?
Speaker 3:Yeah, I started coaching. I think it was around you know my junior year of college. I want to say, you know I started coaching at St Thomas Academy. You know Joey Costello might be a familiar name to you know some of the you know sort of more tenured guys in the lacrosse community I think eventually, like John Hasbarga and Jesse Amar, a few folks when you know, scott Tappy out and I way back was the head coach of St Thomas Academy. You know, but I think after maybe the it might have been the first year or second year, you know Scott resigned and then John Barnes kind of stepped in to be the head coach at St Thomas Academy at the time, was pulled up to the varsity level to really help kind of lead the defense. You know, lead transition etc. You know I think Barnes would admittedly say it more, so way back then he wasn't an expert right in lacrosse. So we we largely led a lot of the X's and O's and strategy, you know, in sort of the day to day. You know practices and you know he was the glue, that kind of held, held much of it together. But you know they had a squad, you know, back then you know Sean Hickey, you know was there. You had, you know, Carter Kelly at Dylan Potasic. You know a couple of other guys. You know Luke Marks was the head coach for a little while that was playing during that time. You know James Riley, like there were. There were a number of guys that were really really good players that we had an opportunity to coach while they were at STA, which is great.
Speaker 3:You know, down the road, you know, at that point in time, you're probably coaching for a little bit of different reasons. Right, you're a college kid, you need a couple bucks, right, or two, and then it just happens to be great that you're also, you know, coaching. You know, not too far from from, you know, kind of the University of St Thomas is campus, you know, but eventually got pulled over, you know, through my best friend to this day, by Andrew Larson, kind of the. You know the Jefferson alum. That was the connection that kind of brought me over, you know, between him and you know the Hall of Fame head coach, scott Cater. So, you know, I think I probably jumped, you know, over to their ship. Might have been back in 2013, ish, somewhere around then.
Speaker 3:And, yeah, we had a great, great experience there, especially in, you know 2016, incredibly competitive. You know squads you know that actually were duking it out with prior lake. I remember the one year and fit I think it was 15, you know they were an undefeated one seed. We were an undefeated two seed in the state section or in the section final right. It was one of the most intense section final games I think I've ever. I've ever been to. The stands were packed. It was a unbelievable, you know environment. You know, but ended up, you know, kind of transitioning away from Jefferson, especially as I got more involved coaching at the University of St Thomas. It's a it's so hard to do, you know college high school club and trying like have a family, you know and and work right to pay your bills. So ended up stepping away from Jefferson. But Fleck ended up kind of pulling me right into, you know, the whole lake to help all back in. I think it was back in 2018 then so, and the rest is sort of history.
Speaker 2:I'm loving the name drops on this episode of just some like vintage lacrosse people that I forgot about like a Joey Costello name drop unbelievable, but I do. I'm really like into kind of the overview which we appreciate, and like the Jefferson thing. But I do want to bring up probably your greatest season, the 2012 14. You 14 be.
Speaker 2:Bloomington bear with yours truly and I don't know if you remember, I still think about this is the, the district playoffs where the top three teams got to go to state. We're playing. We lose in the semis to Edina, so it's a dino versus he dine up for the championship of the district. They both get to, so they both get to go to state, so it's just like kind of a bragging rights game. So then it's Bloomington bears 14 be versus Chaska Chan 14 be at at chat Chan. They get a home game. Like districts just happened to be just like state tournament. For all those years I put in their own backyard and we won three to two in overtime. Never been so excited in my life. This, the most unsung hero, a kid who had what like one goal the entire year gets jammed a force feed on the crease and I was like, oh my god, I don't know, if it's just an unbelievable season with those kids, with those kids.
Speaker 3:Oh gosh, yeah, that was a ton of fun. Yeah, coach, and the good old bears I probably still have some swag, you know, hanging around somewhere. But yeah, that was, you know, total blast of a summer. You know, you and I I'm trying to remember who are holy.
Speaker 2:Hendricks with us that year.
Speaker 3:Cody Hendricks was there. Who was that? Who was that Colby? For a while that was out of Bjorn Newton. Yeah, you know, I think, yeah, we had a couple, a couple guys. We had a great staff. You know, back then, yeah, coaching, coaching, 14, you know you be. But yeah, total blast and yeah, pulled through three to two, as you said.
Speaker 2:Um, no, that year I remember, you know, back then it was especially at like Bloomington youth. You know, given the leadership at the time and current leadership, it was kind of like you just got paired with another Duluth guy. And so they're like oh, ted, you're going to be coaching with Sam Keppner. He's a St Thomas guy and everybody's like yeah he's a Thomas.
Speaker 2:Like yeah, oh, my god, like can we believe it? Like a St Thomas guy is going to be coaching at Bloomington and that was. It was awesome coaching with you and that was such a fun year of you know. Like you'd think, like oh, it's be lacrosse, it's a lot, you know it's headaches and what it really was.
Speaker 3:It was super fun and yeah, we have last Right like it. You know, even when I joined, you know, prior lake, you know, with flak like I, they were all Duluth guys, right, I'm the only Tommy kind of coming in, you know, so it's. It's always fun, you know, between you know, especially for for me, right like we never back then we played Duluth right. They were in a little bit, they weren't, they were in MCLAD one right and you know, had some unbelievable squad. So there was always the battle of, well, you know who would beat who. You know from way back in the day, I think we, you know we had a lot of damage a few times but yeah, you got to. You got to get through the Duluth barrier that sometimes exists in Bloomington, a few other associations, because those guys stick together for sure.
Speaker 1:Moving on from Bloomington to Pryor Lake. You started to kind of kick it off, joining the staff in 2018. My brother was on the team, so you kind of joined in right when my all my attention was on the squad, not only just because I was on a long, but because my brother was still playing. You've quiet, I'm gonna say quietly. I feel like you've quietly been on the staff for five years. You know, I feel like prior Lake all eyes are on prior Lake all the time but quietly, you've kind of I feel like. I feel like and you may have a different opinion I feel like you've been on the staff quietly for five years. You know, what's your time been like? Do you feel like it's been quick? I feel like it was yesterday you joined. What's your time been like in the community? Now you live in Pryor Lake, you're involved in the youth and now you're taking it over.
Speaker 3:Obviously, you know, five years later, I mean I'm quietly been on the staff is something that is sort of music to my ears. I mean, the reality is it's not about me, right, it's about the kids, you know, and kind of the culture and the success that they've had. I've. You know I'm just a small puzzle piece, right, and that you know that picture, so they deserve all the attention. You know deservedly so, but it's been a wild ride. You know, joining back in, you know 2018, you know, with a heck of a staff between you know Flack and Casey, you know, you know Offerman, kloss, right, et cetera. You know we just had a ton of fun and you know, and you know, I think, had kids that you know just were incredibly, you know, committed and have been a, you know, sort of a consistent part of the community, especially friendship and relationship-wise, like since they were kids, right. So it was a ton of fun to be able to, you know, kind of hop on the Prior Lake bandwagon at that point in time and, you know, start to learn. You know just how other successful programs you know kind of run their shop. You know Prior Lake is pretty, you know, kind of laid back, I would say, pretty relaxed, pretty chill, especially, you know, practice-wise. You know not that things don't get competitive and aggressive, you know, and you grind, but there's, you know, there's maybe just a little bit of a different mentality and approach behind you know certain things, that Further Lakers has worked, you know, I think, incredibly well.
Speaker 3:You know 18 was a, you know, a crazy year. That was, I think, riddled with a lot of injuries and it was. It ended up working out really well because you had a lot of. You know maybe what would have been second or third line guys you know have to be first line, right or second line guys and get a ton of reps to a point where you know, when everybody was back healthy right at the end of the year, like that, that that you know engine was humming right along, you know, on really all sides of the ball at that particular time. So yeah, 18 was a blast, I think you know kind of. Was it? 19, you know proved to be, I feel, like what we all know now.
Speaker 3:Prior Lake Wise is like your typical season where you start slow, you know everybody forgets about you a little bit, you figure it out and then you know again you've got some stuff that you know puts you in a position to compete. You know, as you get closer to June I think we were one in maybe three to start that season too. So you know, first two years to go back to back. You know state champs was pretty, pretty ridiculous, obviously, you know, tough to beat. I think five years seems, you know. It seems, you know maybe not long enough in that like COVID sort of threw a wrench right and everything for you know kind of a couple, couple of years there. But yeah it's. You know, every year we've been in the state championship right since I've been around. So you know, luckily have one of you unfortunately have you know, lost a couple, particularly last minute. But you know, even to be there is an incredibly rewarding experience and you know one that you know we're definitely lucky to have.
Speaker 1:One question that kind of popped to my head as you, as you were speaking. You know you've coached with and on three different programs between St Thomas I guess you know you could say St Thomas College and the high school, and then between the, the Paralympic, lakers and Jefferson. You know what are some differences. You know on different staffs, you know that you've been a part of. You know not saying one's good or bad, but you know what are some differences that you've seen and experienced and you know taken away from the different programs. You know that you've been a part of.
Speaker 3:Well, I'll, you know, maybe pick on a couple of different programs. You know, maybe, starting with sort of some of my more recent experience at Bloomington Jefferson, I mean, you know Scott Cater, right, kate's, you know sort of the Silver Fox, as all joke. I'm sure he'll love that. You know he. You know he's a Hall of Fame coach. You know, for a reason. You know he's at, I think, over 200 wins. You know, at the high school level. You know, unmatched by you know anybody else, and you know he is a. You know he is a planner. You know he wants to ensure.
Speaker 3:You know, headed into the season, you know your entire staff, top to bottom, and I would extend that into your off-season coaches. You know, as well as some of your senior leadership. Right, like, you have an idea of what. You know, what we expect. You know over the course of the year, here's ideally what we're going to implement, right, here's when we're going to implement it, scheme-wise. You know what do we want to run and kind of why. You know, and then ensuring every day. Right, you've got a strategy, particularly through practice plans, film sessions, weight room, et cetera. You know, so you can put yourself in the best position to. You know, try and realize your goal. So you know there is, you know, an agenda and, I would say, a purpose behind. You know everything that. You know everything that that program does.
Speaker 3:You know I think one of the things that I've always appreciated about Cater especially as I was, you know, a younger coach at the time, you know, is that he empowers his staff, you know, to come up with ideas, to make recommendations, to run with a game plan. That doesn't mean that he's not going to try and poke holes in it, right, and he's not going to ask some questions and, you know, make sure that you know he understands why you're proposing, you know what you do, but he, you know he lets you, you know, to the extent you've earned it, right, and he can run that show on whatever side of the ball you know you're responsible for, which is great. And then he can, you know, especially on game day, right, he can be kind of that air traffic controller, right, making sure that you know all sides, you know, are doing what they need to, you know, kind of on and off the field. So you know, I think you know just the proactive, you know, kind of planning nature is definitely something that I, you know I took from Kate's, you know, and I think about, you know sort of St Thomas. You know I've had two different head coaches there when I was, you know, a defensive coordinator. You know Brian Gross who was a coach when I was kind of playing there, so he'd been kind of with the program a long time, you know. And now you know Jason King, you know has been there for several years, you know longtime Tommy guy played with him. You know one of my best friends, roommates, you know, in college, you know I think the thing about St Thomas is, you know, I think a lot of it starts with sort of your team, right, and your family, you know, and the brotherhood, you know I think usually they're kicking off ball ball for the, you know, probably a week or two weeks into school right, to get kids, especially younger kids, you know, freshmen, into school, you know, kind of acclimated into a community right, because you, you know, especially when you're in college, you know, particularly when you're coming from out of town, maybe a ways away, like you know, you're trying to build a whole new network right, so there's a lot that I think is done, you know, kind of culturally with that program, you know, starting in the fall, which ends up being oftentimes player led, because it's just part of the DNA.
Speaker 3:You know that takes place in September and October. You know they usually give all the kids November, december off, just to be kids and students and get good grades. You know, but I think that's where you know kind of, since I've been around, I think there's a huge component into, you know, just culture at St Thomas, right, family, that brotherhood, right, the alumni connection, you know, and then and then too, like I think, as a staff, you know, I would argue that you know there isn't an MCLA team that's more prepared than St Thomas on game day. That's what, that's why they win right, they win because of that and they win because they have great players right, and they've had great players for a long time in a good culture, you know.
Speaker 3:But I think they're, you know, between their game plans, their scouting report, you know sort of the grind of practice, particularly as you get into, you know, your conference tournament, eventually into nationals. You know I think there's not a ton of things that necessarily surprise them, right, and if they do, you know you'll see some significant adjustments made at halftime and they may not seem significant, you know, just little tweaks sometimes here and there that usually you know, usually help them, you know, gain some momentum in the second half if they, you know, dug a hole right at times. So you know, those are some of the things that I think about, probably St Thomas wise. Hopefully that helps.
Speaker 1:No, no, those were great breakdowns, you know. I think the next question you know for you is you know what you know going moving up from an assistant to head coach. You know again, not probably you know crazy huge tweaks or changes, but you know what are the Lakers going to look like under you. One word I heard you just say, probably a hundred times, was prepared, you know, and working next to you. I'm not surprised by that word and you know that's something, that that's a word that describes you well.
Speaker 3:You know what does that word mean for you and how are you going to be prepared and how are you going to make sure the Lakers are prepared, you know, under your tenure, yeah, I mean I think maybe before I sort of jump in with that answer, I mean it's you know part of my goal and sort of applying, you know, to be the head coach of prior Lake, you know was to try and ensure that. You know kind of the culture. You know the tradition, the success of prior Lake. You know Laker lacrosse continues. You know kind of dating back especially to. You know everything that that flack. You know the boosters, the community. You know your old. You know kind of YLM guys. You know everything that they started. You know years and years ago. I mean I've seen how you know everything has run. You know firsthand, you know for a number of years now and kind of we've already touched on that. So there's, there's some core elements that you know. I hope very much. Look the same Laker wise. You know year over year. You know. You know especially for. You know you know guys that have been in it, right, the alumni. You know the parents that have been close. You know some of the teams that they're competing against. You know, but to pick on, you know kind of the term of prepared.
Speaker 3:You know I don't know that that looks super different, right, I don't. I don't plan on making a ton of changes to the way prior Lake, you know, has done things. You know. That said, there are going to be some changes. You know I've been on a round robin tour over the last weeks, you know specifically. You know meeting with our AD a couple of times. You know meeting with our kind of senior captain leaders, our coaching staff, right Booster clubs meeting next week, you know, hoping to connect with. You know, heather, on the girls side, I've got some time with Laker performance, you know. So you know there are some things that I think more about in the off season that I'd love to find a way to do more, whether that's getting into the weight room as a team, whether that's, you know, maybe potentially finding ways to do.
Speaker 3:You know, kind of small sided box lacrosse. You know, kind of complimentary to the field stuff they typically do in Minnetonka. You know, just ensuring that as a program. You know, maybe we're connecting more consistently throughout the year or two, you know. But then I think, come, you know, in season, you know, I think ideally there's a lot of rinse and repeat, right. And so how we practice, why we practice the way we do, you know how we scout, how we watch film. You know as a team, how involved we are between 910 JV Varsity.
Speaker 3:You know there's a lot of things that I think have helped us be prepared. You know, and have, you know, sort of help us stay loaded right year over year that I hope continue to pay. You know, dividends for the school and maybe the one other thing that I'll mention and sorry for rambling is that you know I think there's an element of being prepared that also starts at the youth level and prior Lake. I don't know of youth sizes of different communities, but between boys and girls, like you've got a youth program. You know over 300 kids and you know, thankfully, a lot of our high school coaches are super involved in the youth program.
Speaker 3:You know a lot of other parents, other community members as well, and you know how are there things you know, what are the things that we can do at that level to make sure that it's fun for kids, right, you've got good retention, that kids are moving, you know, and that you keep kids coming back. And also you know you're competitive, right and you're growing, you know. So I think there are some things you know, especially with your older upper high school classmen that I want to start to do, you know, with the youth program and just promoting a little bit of extra involvement. We've had some kids that have been super involved, which is great, but that stuff, you know, goes a long way and certainly there's some other sports that you know I think have got some good best practices that we can learn from.
Speaker 1:Before my last two, I'll ask one then. Ted, if you got anything, you can feel free to jump in here. You talked about the youth program. A lot of people look to PL as the standard, both on the boys and girls side, for the youth program. You've I know you personally, again working alongside you you've dove into the youth program. You know, for other coaches and board members that are listening to this podcast, who are involved in the youth, who maybe want to help grow their youth program or make it better, you know what do you recommend, you know what can the coaches do and what can the people in the community do to help support their youth program and help it be sustainable. And you know, become, you know, really a machine, hopefully, where you can plug people in and you know it goes.
Speaker 3:Well, I think the you know you sort of answered the question, I feel like, in your question and that is you know, for you know people that want to get involved, whether they have a kid you know that's interested in playing, has been playing, or you know they're just looking to give back. You know the most important question they can ask is how can they help, and I can promise you that. You know there isn't a youth program across the state, prior Lake included, that you know wouldn't gladly accept more volunteers, whether you're, you know, in prior Lake's case, you know looking for help to run. You know kind of, one of the biggest Minnesota youth tournaments in the summer, right, which takes an army of volunteers, and you know different dibs hours that people are submitting to to actually help in. You know potentially even coach games, right. Or you know hand out equipment if you're doing a rental program. You know, I think, for you know, for prior Lake, I think we've always wanted to try and give kids options and try and offer options throughout the year. You know we're big on, as I think plenty of other programs are offering free trial across events, right, boys and girls, where you can, you know you come prepared with sticks and kind of some of the softer squishy balls because people aren't wearing helmets just to get, you know, new kids acclimated and immersed and exposed, you know, to the program you know I think about.
Speaker 3:You know, for us, you know it's not just a season that starts in you know kind of May and goes through the end of July. You know there are options in the fall, there are options in the winter. You know that we also provide because guess what, like kids are busy in the summer, mom and dad are busy right In the summer. You know they've got cabins, they've got work, they've got family trips, you know. So sometimes you might not be able to grab somebody, you know, when they're younger, the first few years of U6, right or U8, but maybe you can get them in the fall, maybe you can get them for a while in the winter and then eventually they decide yeah, I really like this, like I'm all in, I do want to sign up for the spring and they can make, you know, those types of commitments.
Speaker 3:So it can't just be a you know sort of spring. You know, take it or leave it, you know opportunity, and I think as part of that too, you know, youth associations also need to be, you know, supportive of kids playing different clubs. Right, there's a million of them that are out there. They all have their own, you know, advantages. But if, as long as the kids are playing and presumably they're getting better and they're having a great time, like you know, mission accomplished, right they're. You know you can't always put a big wall up right and do everything in-house within your own program and, you know, have the type of success that you want.
Speaker 2:What do you got? Yeah, I actually just I really like all that stuff about the youth program. I think you know just people getting involved in helping out is just massive because it leads to a better experience across the board for everybody, and you know, parents included too. You know, I think until a kid is 16 years old and gets their driver's license, a parent is just as committed to the sport as the kid is. You know they have to get them there, they have to volunteer, they have to help they and so you know, when things are more organized, when there's more opportunities, that can make the experience better for the parents too and essentially that gets the kid there more, and then you know they fall in love with the game. So I'm glad you touched on that.
Speaker 2:But I pulled up the Prior Lake 2024 schedule on the South Suburban website. I don't know how accurate this is. I know things change. I was more curious. You guys had a pretty beefy out of conference schedule. We know the South Suburban. You're going to get everybody's best game in the South Suburban every year, but you know it looks like you play a lot of the same teams again out of conference. Are there any new? Any new out of conference matchups. That might be that just interesting for you guys in 2024?.
Speaker 3:Our schedule is still a bit of a work in progress, right. So what you see posted, you know the final version may adjust a little bit. I think technically there's still kind of one open game on our schedule that we're looking to schedule, you know, to the extent somebody's interested in playing, whether we go there, you know they come to us, right. We can kind of work through some of those details. But I think the short story is, much of our schedule for 2024 is going to look pretty similar to what it looked like in 2023. I mean, we want to play the best programs in the state, right Iron Sharpen's Iron, you know but I think also want to make sure that we're, you know, kind of stretching ourselves outside of the little, you know, 15 minute radius that folks like to live within, you know. That's why I think getting up into Stillwater, you know, has been a great experience last year, right, getting up to Duluth was great, especially from a team bonding perspective. Would love to get, you know, kind of a longer away trip, not probably in 2024, I think ship, ship has sailed on that one but more 2025, who knows, maybe we get out to Moorhead, right, or something like that, you know, but I think you know you'll still see a lot of your same teams you know been nailed right in particular, you know, all of our conference teams, a good chunk of our section teams, you know I think we'll end up seeing.
Speaker 3:You know, can we get? You know, can we get up to Buffalo, you know again, or have them come our way. So I think there'll be a few you know repeats. I don't, you know I don't plan on shaking the Etch-a-Sketch up and sort of starting from scratch. You know, I think the you know the one sort of good thing in a way that's happened is that with some of these co-op teams, right, it's allowed a few extra you know kind of non-conference section games, as some of those teams have consolidated a little bit. So you know we're, you know we're willing to play anybody. You know I think geography isn't, you know, a huge, you know, barrier for us, necessarily. So you know we may see a few adjustments more headed into 2025, but, yeah, 2023, a lot of the same teams.
Speaker 1:You said the word started jumping here, ted. I know this is your section of questioning, but Kepner said the word and it's on the list of the listeners' questions. People have been asking our thoughts on section six and more big-time programs coming to section six and I assume I know your answer, because I know my answer and you know I. It is what it is right. But any thoughts on section six and a couple of big wigs coming in and joining the party.
Speaker 3:I mean section six. I don't even know what to say about it anymore because it's already been the toughest section in the state. You know, and you add, you know Shaco, and you add Eden Prairie and do it, and I think that's like what are we doing here, guys? Like it's. You know it's essentially a mini-state tournament. You know, before the state tournament is really what it's turned into. You know I'd love to see some adjustment at, you know some point, but that's not something that I can solve for I think you know section six has always been, you know, just a, you know just this grim reaper right of a section for really a long time now. It's not new news, you know, but I think you'll, you know you'll see a lot of the same teams, I estimate you know, look into, you know compete at the top and I think you'll. You know you've had.
Speaker 3:You know I would say, don't sleep on Eden Prairie. I think they've got some younger talent that's now getting older. You know they might not have had the win-loss record that they would have liked over the last year or two, but you know they've got some studs, you know, that are really high-level contributors, you know that are going to compete. I mean Chakape's, obviously you know been a powerhouse over the last, you know, several years. Sure, do they have some kids that are graduating? Yeah, but who doesn't you know? So I anticipate that they'll be back.
Speaker 3:I mean Rose Mount, you know you talk about a. You know a team that has been incredibly close from getting over the hump. You know for a long time that if you sleep on them for a minute right, or let alone a quarter, like they're going to eat you up too right. They always come prepared with Lansing teams. So you know Edina right is going to be a squad.
Speaker 3:I mean they've, I think, been in the section final for a number of years now too and have got some, you know, I think some, you know underclassmen that are finally going to be juniors or at least seniors. So you know, I mean I don't know like anybody could win. You know this section it's kind of a nightmare where when you look at it, like your quarterfinal game is probably more difficult than some of the first rounds of the state tournament, like literally. So I'll be curious to see how many you know top 10 ranked teams there are in this section, kind of throughout the course of the year. But I don't know, man, it's tough to predict. I just hope that the Lakers are the one you know victorious at the end of the day.
Speaker 2:I was thinking about that the other day, about there could be multiple top 10, like the final regular regular season pull multiple top 10 teams on the road in a section quarterfinal in section six. Multiple Not just like last year. I think maybe Jefferson went to Rosemount in the five for game. Jefferson maybe wasn't ranked but they were kind of in that top 10 ish and that was like kind of a big thing, like oh my gosh, like that's a tough quarterfinal. But now I don't even know what to say. Like I mean, there could be multiple teams, the eventual state championship champion could have a road game in a section quarter, which could happen any year. But this makes it a lot more realistic and it's probably bringing back memories that 2015 section three, I believe you guys were in with Rosemount and Pryor Lake.
Speaker 1:It was still section six back then and it was a we had four top 10 teams in the state.
Speaker 3:I think that year in our section it was not so maybe five, like if I think you might have been in. It was yeah, it's crazy.
Speaker 2:And so that will be something interesting. You know, it seems to happen every year that they, they realign everything and then it just moves a tough section to another tough section. But yeah, I mean the like you could literally be playing six of the top six teams in the state in a roll on your state final, whether that's prior lake or anyone in section six.
Speaker 3:Yeah, yeah, it's, it's. You know it's been crazy. You know as long as I've, you know, kind of been around coaching, you know kind of south of the river, right on on that side, so you know the craziness can be used, I think you know misery loves company, right like we'll take them all, you know, at some point. You know, you know bring bring banil, bring Chan, you know bring, you know bring, you know still water. Like just put them all in section six. You know we'll see what happens.
Speaker 2:So that was my main question. Just looking at the schedule, I think I did a write up on prior Lake a couple of weeks ago. You know, replacing a lot of holes on the defensive side of some. You know really big contributors that have been around, but you do get a lot of guys back, maybe less of a transition player wise this year than this past season, this upcoming season.
Speaker 2:So you know, I think I don't know personally, I think you know the Lakers aren't a really good spot. You know, coming off obviously as a state runner up to be a really good spot, to be really good again. I'm sure you guys will, you know, throw a few games early to make everybody think that you're not good and you know they're done, it's over, and then you turn it on late. But you know, I think, you know I think we're going to have to go back to the Lakers. I think it's a squad that has a lot of gamers that you know have some big game experience and, you know, do you have to replace some people but get a lot of guys back?
Speaker 3:Yeah, yeah, you're, you kind of hit it on the head. I think there's a lot of upperclassmen, I would say, almost on every side of the ball that we do. You know that we are getting back, you know, especially on offense, with our attack unit. You know it's going to be impossible to replace a player like you know, ben Mckitt. You know wish he could go like on a super senior year or something like that, you know. So I think there's some questions and some, I would say, opportunities on the midfield side in particular, defense right included, with some long pulls, I think, lucky to get some guys like CJ Sheffield and you know Toshi, who's been playing since he was a freshman, you know, you know back as well, you know, including you know, a couple of other younger classmen that have been playing up or at least bubble kids right, getting exposure and acclimated.
Speaker 3:So yeah, I think you know we're already looking forward to what the spring, you know, has in store. You know, but you got to go earn it right. So the road to success, it's under construction and you know injuries happen, you know weird stuff happens. So you know, kind of, we'll figure the depth chart out as the season progresses. It'll look totally different at the end of the year, you know, relative to the beginning. And you know, like I said, with sort of this grind of a section, you know, hopefully, hopefully, we're the ones standing at the end.
Speaker 1:All right, final two questions, Then we'll get you out of here. I know it's past your bedtime. It's the off season, middle of the off season. What are you into in the off season? What do you like to do? What are you watching? You know what is it? What's your off season? Look like.
Speaker 3:So I'm a you know my off season, I would say, is being a professional chauffeur for kids, you know. I think you know hockey has ramped up right, so you got you know Beckett and the might program. You got Declan doing rookie mites. You know soccer was overlapping for a while, right, and you know you. Just, you know school, there's just a million commitments where you know you've got an off season, maybe lacrosse wise, but like your kids don't get an off season, or at least if you're a parent right, there's never an off season.
Speaker 3:So I think you know a lot of. You know making sure that they're, you know they're to whatever they need to be right any given day, you know. So I think that's that's probably. You know responsibility, you know. Number one, you know. I think two is, you know, at this point, like just enjoying a lot of sports.
Speaker 3:You know in-laws have tickets to the. You know go for football games, you know. So we like to go to a lot of those, especially when it's a little bit warmer out. You know, a couple of weeks ago was, you know, a little chilly, you know, but we made the best of it, you know, still had some fun, you know. But then, you know, cheering on, you know kind of. You know a somber Viking squad, you know at the moment and you know some of the other Minnesota sports teams, is, you know, always a good time. You know, I think you know that's probably been it. And then just you know kind of what we talked about already, just trying to connect with a bunch of folks proactively to, you know, start to iron out some of the high school stuff, even iron out some of the U-stuff too, just head it into the spring. You know kind of keep keeps me busy, right, that's for sure. I felt like there's a second part to your question that I totally forgot.
Speaker 1:No, that answers the offseason. I got a second question for you, and you're a listener. You're a longtime listener, so you probably know what's coming. You know what is your alley. You know this could be. You know something you're maybe passionate about right now. Maybe it's this month thing, this year thing, maybe it's a lifelong thing. I don't know. You can kind of take it in any direction you want, but you know for the fans, you know what's your alley.
Speaker 3:Yeah, I'll make a, maybe a poor joke in that, you know Lakers don't want to get to the alley. We want the middle right, so we can. We can shoot at the full net, right, so we'll maybe tease and go that route. I think the maybe two things alley-wise and first of all, might be a little bit of a you know sort of cliche, but I'll say it anyway. And that you know, I think at the moment you know, with you know just a couple of family members that are, you know, sort of pretty sick. You know, I think the you know one thing that's top of mind is just making sure that you know you can live every day, every week, every month, right, like to your fullest right, enjoy the ride right Along the way. You know you can't wait until you're older or you're retired and play the what-if game right, to check stuff off you know on your bucket list, so you know whether they're little things right or big things, you know find a way to, you know, do whatever brings, you know, fulfillment, you know, to your life. You know personally, professionally, spiritually, right, you can describe that in a bunch of different dimensions, you know. So that's one maybe stoppy part of the answer. You know, I think the second part to me gets a little bit back to. You know, kind of some of what we've hit along the way today and that is, you know, I think the you know I've gotten a ton of fulfillment lately with, you know, sort of two worlds colliding in my life.
Speaker 3:You know La Crosse and my family used to always be separate, right, I had a La Crosse family, you know, whether it's club, whether it's high school, whether it's, you know, college stuff. You know that you know I was, you know, always spending time with right, depending on the time of year. You know, then I had my real family, right, and they didn't, you know, with my wife, right, my kids, and they didn't always overlap right. Don't take that to mean that you know my family isn't supportive. They're incredibly supportive. That's part of the reason why I continue to coach and I'm thankful to you know to have that support.
Speaker 3:But I think it's been super exciting over the last year in particular where you know I've gotten, you know, my kids they're involved in La Crosse and, I think, having a blast with it. It's been really interesting teaching kids how to cradle and throw, you know, which is a very humbling experience right, when you're used to coaching some older kids, but it's been super fun and I think you know those kids and I would also say that parents have developed some really, really good relationships. You know I just last week I'm walking into Dakota Ice Center, you know see a couple of dads that I coached with and had kids on the team. You know, dab them up. They say congrats right on the new gig.
Speaker 3:You know I'm at rookie mites practice with Declan right skating and I, you know I get, you know, one of the little youth guys coming up saying hey, coach, cap right, like I don't know to me just being more involved in the community. You know, and kind of. You know, building some of those relationships that hopefully continue right for a long, long time has been, you know, I think, a big part of my alley as of late.
Speaker 1:That's awesome. That's that's awesome. And, yeah, just want to say congrats on on the new gig, coach cap, and, you know, welcome to all you've been a part of it. But, you know, congrats on taking the lead of, you know, the Lake Irle Cross community and, you know, excited, excited for the community, excited for you.
Speaker 3:Appreciate you having me on again and, yeah, thanks for for everything you guys are doing and, yeah, looking forward to, you know, future rants, future blogs, future podcasts and, yeah, excited to see what 2024 has in store. Let's get it.
Speaker 1:Let's get it Awesome. Thanks for coming down the alley with us.
Speaker 3:Thanks, fellas, see ya.
Speaker 1:And thanks to coach cap for coming down the alley. Awesome interview, just so well spoken. Prepared, right prepared was the word of the night. You know he's going to bring kind of that energy right. Every, every head coach you know, from flock to casing out a cap, you know are going to bring a different thing right there. They're similar in some ways but each of them are different as well and just hearing him speak, I think the word prepared, you know he comes, prepared, he puts great game plans together, he's organized. You know it's going to be, it's going to be a different chapter and interesting chapter and I'm excited for him. And you know he's going to bring a different element, you know, to the Laker, laker, lacrosse. So I mean, I had what were your thoughts on, you know hearing him speak and you know talk about, you know, his experiences.
Speaker 2:You know it's interesting. I agree with you. I love Sam had a. Obviously it was a long time ago but when I got to coach with him that one season it was a great experience. You know we were both pretty young at the time but you could tell that. You know I'm a pretty passionate guy around coaching and I could tell he was too so as it was fun to coach with somebody else like that, like a like minded person. What's cool to me is that Sam could have probably been a head coach eight years ago somewhere. You know, obviously super knowledgeable, has the experience and, you know, really has adopted the time into being a decoordinator, being an assistant. When he got to prior Laker 18, was he the decoordinator? Was he just more kind of helping out?
Speaker 1:Kind of came in, as you know, a second assistant decoordinator. You know Fleck was kind of running the defense at that point, you know, for the last few years so but I think, yeah, he was handed the keys as a decoordinator at that point, yeah, and so, like I said, he probably didn't need to like earn his stripes through the prior Lake program, like he is very capable of.
Speaker 2:He could go up five miles away and probably be a head coach of a program, right, but he's taken his time through the prior Lake system and then even with his time at Jefferson and like really honed his skills and and like I couldn't think of a person that's like more ready to be a head coach of a big tradition, big time high school program than him. So, you know, I agree, I think I don't think the Lakers are going to be going anywhere anytime soon. I know you like to maybe say that maybe they're dead or that they're not going to. You know you ought to try to keep people on their toes, but I think if anybody listened tonight or they listened to this episode, you know they'll see that. You know he has been in the system long enough to really keep that train moving, and it should be. You know it's always fun to coach against the Lakers in the spring and I look forward to that again in 2024.
Speaker 1:Yeah, no, I think I, you know you, you, you talk about Going from flock to Casey Casey the cap. You know they, it's, it's, it's a machine. For a reason you know it's gonna be a seamless or as seamless as possible transition. You know, for the Lakers, you know I'm pretty, I, I'm pretty confident in that, you know you, from him. Just listen them speak on this podcast. You can just tell it's, he's prepared, he's prepared and he's gonna make sure the Lakers are prepared. And I'm gonna, I'm gonna transition here quickly.
Speaker 1:If you want to be prepared for Thanksgiving, old Southern barbecue can help you make sure you're prepared. They got a Thanksgiving deal going on. Ted you, you said this was a, this was a barn burning deal. You know they can. They can help you out, make sure your family's fed They've. Also, if you're, if you, if you just want some seasonings or maybe a couple of sauces, make sure you use down the DTA DTA 15 on their online store. Make sure you get that 15% off through the DTA discount down the alley. You got some awesome deals online. You don't even need our discount. Their prices are so low. But you know, use, use it, use the discount. It's a free 15% off. And think this Thanksgiving deal is a hell of a deal. A smoke Thanksgiving turkey 75 bucks, already cooked, ready to go, and then they got the whole dinner was sides for 130. So I don't know, this is a hell of a deal, if you ask me. I.
Speaker 2:Would agree, you know, especially if if you're not, you know you're not in a situation where you you can cook a huge meal, or you got things going on. Maybe your kid plays youth hockey and is in a hockey tournament and you got to prepare for that instead of dealing with Thanksgiving dinner. That's a good option. But yeah, no, I think it's. I Don't. I don't think you're gonna find a better price on the meal itself and if it stays cold, I know I was planning on cooking.
Speaker 1:If it's, if there's snow on the ground and it's cold and I don't want to go outside and cook, I might be going old Southern smoke house and just dialing up their Thanksgiving, their Thanksgiving meal. So I have to go outside and cook. I again, I'm not guaranteeing that, that's not a guarantee for y'all, but it's an. It's an option I'm looking into if there's gonna be snow on the ground in a couple of weeks.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and speaking of food, I know so we haven't really done like you know, I'm, I'm, I love shot not old Southern barbecue because you know delicious. But I did try a new restaurant, oh, you have my attention. So this past weekend, eight night Well date night action. Oh, this past weekend was the great pumpkin shootout.
Speaker 1:Oh, yes, yes, yeah, what? How do we? For? How have we spoken about this tournament yet? What a weekend. Okay, hold on, hold on, we will talk. Okay, great pumpkin shootout. I know we've been positive. We've been positive for over an hour now. Great pumpkin shootout, solid tournament. But if you want my feedback, they need to figure out how to schedule.
Speaker 1:Okay, who's there homegrown is going around the whole state saying they can schedule better than this, they can schedule better than that. We can help you with your scheduling. You don't even know how to run a block schedule. I go there for games. All right, I'm running the youth field. Ted's running the high school? Okay, I'm on the youth field. I got four games. I was there for nine hours. Okay, we need to figure this out, folks, we need to figure this out. Okay, the you 12s? Okay, we can go back to back. I, you will not hear a complaint if my team goes back to back. If we have two games a day, let's go back to back. Or a maximum one game. You know, a one hour, one game, one slot in between our games. I don't need to be there the whole day. Yeah, I don't need to be up in Maple Grove the whole day. Let's figure out how to block schedule homegrown.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I, um, I Love the guys at homegrown and gals there's gals that work there too, but I I connect and deal with. In this case it was two gentlemen that I talked to, mostly Awesome dudes, great tournament. They got all the clubs out together and they also were dealt a really crappy hand of having to move Move locations for their youth games because they were, it rained and the field was, all you know, messed up or whatever the grass, so they had to move half the teams to another place. But I will say I was with the high school guys mostly over the weekend and it was still. There were some massive, huge breaks in between games.
Speaker 1:I was we play at 9 am and the next games at 4. That's a problem. That's a problem.
Speaker 2:What I had. That same situation. I had a bunch of games From, you know, 9 am Till, I think, 2, and then the last game of the day, one left was at 6 10. So I had a four-hour break. So I went to lifetime and sat in the sauna for like 45 minutes because it was 20 degrees outside.
Speaker 1:I'm actually really jealous of you right now.
Speaker 2:That was a situation and then that I was like alright, I need something to eat, so I just put like food by lifetime, you know Just like where I'm at. And then New York pizza place popped up called Elmer's New York Pizza in Plymouth.
Speaker 1:You have my attention, Elmer. I'm gonna look this up Um keep talking.
Speaker 2:Oh what? There, I got a slice. They do buy the slice. There Got pepperoni? That's a little myth. I work in Plymouth, don't? Um, you know, I don't go too crazy with pizza. I can just deal with the pepperoni, right. Um, it was, it was good. It was good, not great.
Speaker 1:Um, awesome crust really, I work very near here. Keep talking. I'm gonna take your review up here. Keep keep talking. What do we got?
Speaker 2:The crust, great crisp, really had it. You know a nice kind of thin New York slice vibe to it. The flavor was not, didn't blow me away. I maybe was expecting too much. Um, so that was it. Was it terrible? No, was it the best pizza I ever had? No, I'd give it a high six, seven, and so I'd say it's worth a try.
Speaker 1:That looks like a six eight. You know, just based on their pictures it looks like a six eight.
Speaker 2:Um, so they have bagels, though.
Speaker 1:What are the bagels?
Speaker 2:Yeah that I did not have a bagel there, so that that could maybe. Maybe that's a secret here, but shouting them out just because I know you like pizza and we haven't done a restaurant shout out in a while, and so Would you recommend somebody to try it, like where?
Speaker 1:I think, if you're in the area.
Speaker 2:Yeah, is there's not a lot of places you can just go and get a slice of pizza and they, and they have slices. That's like they had a slice at four o'clock on a Saturday. How much is a slice? I Don't know. Five, six bucks, I something? Okay, yeah, the. I don't remember what it ended up being, but I wasn't like it wasn't cheap. It wasn't like two or three dollars, but I wasn't like, oh, my god, like this is outrageously priced. Um, maybe it's like eight bucks and I got a drink with it, so I don't know. Long story short, um, I would say, go and try it if you're in the area. Yeah, like, yeah, good option if you're like. Pizza sounds good, I want to get a slice. I don't want to order a whole pizza. It could be a good option of logistically Okay.
Speaker 1:I work, it doesn't. It looks like it's near my, my, my, my office here, so I might, I might go check it out and we might have a follow-up review. I'm on Elmer's, you know go. I might go get a slice, you know why not? Yep, I'm trying to think did I try? I don't think I tried anywhere new. I don't think I've tried anywhere new this week, so I don't think I've been. I don't think I've anything else food wise.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I, you know we've been doing our blogs, you know, once a week kind of going through the lax numbers, sort of final 2023 rankings. So I think we're on week six now. So go on the website, check that out if you want to. Yeah, the source is doing the girls, I'm doing the boys, just trying to Just kind of give like a quick inside look into some of the, the teams that might be potential favorites heading into 2024. And then, of course, coming up in a few months, we'll start the section deep dives, where we really get into all the teams in the section and a little bit It'll be a little bit more intense. This is quick overview. Maybe just some quick thoughts on teams as, as we head into the kind of into the winter here, I forgot to ask up.
Speaker 1:I'm Well, I am, and I and he better be Running in a 5k Tomorrow. As of the drop of this episode, saturday, so two days from now. Run in a little 5k, big fundraiser for a, for a teacher, one of the golf coaches. You know he has a health situation. So I'm gonna be running in a 5k. I'm gonna be pushing the players, boys and girls, lacrosse players specifically. If they lose to me, if they lose to me tomorrow, they're gonna hear about it. They're gonna. They're gonna, cuz we're going to brunch after, we're going to brunch after, so they're gonna be. If I, if I beat some of these players in a 5k, I'm gonna let them know at brunch how slow they are, because I haven't ran a One mile nonetheless 5k. I think that's like three miles, right? Yeah, if I beat them in a race, they're gonna hear about it, they're gonna hear all about it. Yeah, I don't remember how the last time I ran three miles nonetheless one, it's been years.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I don't know, I don't. I wouldn't want to be that guy. I would be that guy that would lose to you, but I wouldn't want to be that guy.
Speaker 1:Yeah, no, it's that's gonna be. It's gonna be tough. So, yeah, if you want to support the 5k Saturday morning 10 am Prior, like high school Highly recommend great cause you know it's for for a local teacher coach, yeah, come out, come out and support. I thought I had one more thing, but I don't know if I do.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I don't either. I know we have a couple interesting guests coming through the pipeline here. We, I know you, I've been seeing you. Yeah, I've been getting copied on emails, on group texts and getting everything scheduled. So you know, stay tuned for some interesting stuff coming up the Up through the pipeline here. But you know we're excited to start getting a little closer across season and and you know, when those winter leagues start and we get to kind of get that first look.
Speaker 1:So the rumor mill. Once winter league start, the rumor mill starts, starts pumping. You're right, I am working on a couple of guests. Yeah, I'm gonna leave it at that. A couple of interesting guests, interesting guests, hopefully a couple of great interviews here, you know, at different corners of the lacrosse world in Minnesota. I'm trying to hit them all, trying to line them up. So we're, you know, we're gonna keep them rolling here. You know, we're getting away from prior, like you know, the people there, oh, you got our prior like guy on. We're getting away from prior, like here, we got a couple of interviews, you know, outside of PL. So stay tuned, I don't know, that's all I got. We're rambling at this point. Thanks for tuning in. Yeah, happy Halloween. That's all I got.
