The Wheels
The wheels on the Bandits’ bus rolled smoothly last Friday into Denver’s dry, barren land, with a soothing sun and unusually warm temperatures that were a welcome reprieve from the cold and snow we are enduring here on the Niagara Frontier.
On Saturday, with Colorado’s blue skies and 55-degree temperatures at the mile-high elevation, the team felt confident and prepared to face their foes, the retooled Colorado Mammoth.
The Ball Arena was prepared for the game, spotless in presentation, following the changeover from a previous NHL Avalanche game.
While the Mammoth were the main tenants for the day, NBC Sports television trailers squeezed into the loading docks, and a massive crew hustled to prepare for an NBA national broadcast Sunday night featuring the Nuggets and the Oklahoma City Thunder.
Game Day
Even the Bandits’ game-day shootaround Saturday morning, coupled with intense video sessions, went off without a hitch, and the team seemed well-prepared. Comradery was at its best, with continued conversation, some light-hearted, some with cross-talk about game preparation.
But 30 seconds into the game, the wheels started to wobble, then completely fell off, and there was nothing to enjoy about the previous settings after a disgusting 20-9 loss.
“It’s been quite a long time (since a devastating loss like this), but it’s something we’re not unfamiliar with. We’ve sort of been through it all, and everybody has been through this at some point in their career, so we know what to do to claw our way out of it,” said Bandits captain Steve Priolo outside the Bandits dressing room during our radio halftime report.
“You don’t climb out of a hole; this is one game. You must keep grinding and do things right – play with your heart and leave everything on the floor. We must get back to keeping it simple and playing our style.”
Quick Farewell
As I prepared to leave the arena, I bid my farewell to the coaching staff, who were huddled with their captain in a secluded space adjacent to the Bandits’ dressing room. Nothing absorbed by me, other than a glance, but the setting is worth a thousand words.
“We are where we are because we lost those games, but the ship is not sinking like a lot of people are thinking. We need to get back to the basics, get back to playing like we can, start scoring at the level I know we are capable of, and we will be ok,” said Steve Dietrich, Bandits GM and defensive coordinator.
With the 20-9 loss, it’s the best thing that could happen to this team, putting them far from last season’s 7-0 start.
During the radio broadcast, with the score 17-5, I thought to myself, yeah, get it out of their system, let it all go, and regroup.
Ted Talk
Not to get mushy, but I think it’s worthy of Theodore Roosevelt’s “Man in the Arena,” from a 1910 speech in Paris that emphasizes those who try for worthy goals rather than those who constantly point out flaws and have never competed at a high level.
“It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better.
The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming;
but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause;
who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat.”
Native American Heritage Night
Saturday night, the Bandits host the Philadelphia Wings, with a 7 pm faceoff. Before what is expected to be a full house, the club will celebrate Native American Heritage Night, a return to the roots of the Creator’s game, lacrosse.
It’s perfect timing for the Bandits, as a team and organization, to return to form in reflection of the seven championship banners that hang from the rafters of KeyBank Center.
Every Child Matters
And to recognize, never forgetting the conversation and apology of “Every Child Matters,” the horrific and devastating era of the boarding schools that our country and Canada subjected Native American children to.
There will be Native American dances and special halftime activities. The Iroquois Post 1587, with its all-female color guard, precedes the singing of the Canadian and US National Anthems, sung by Layla Seneca.
Party
Following the game, Seneca Resorts and Casinos, the sponsor of Native American Heritage Night, will host a post-game party (over 21 age) at the Seneca Buffalo Creek Casino with the Bandits in attendance.
Broadcast Information
Saturday’s radio coverage will be carried by WGR Sports Radio 550, with the pregame show starting at 6:30 pm.
Television coverage of the 7 pm Bandits/Wings game will be on CW23, ESPN+, TSN+, NLL+, and Philly 57. Steve Bermel joins me in the Ted Darling Memorial booth, with Randy Mearns “Coach Mearns” segment during the halftime report. Dave Buchanan will be reporting with updates and notes between the benches.