Chris’ buds were battling it out on the lacrosse floor this weekend.
Of course they were! The first weekend of real summer weather and all the lacrosse guys are inside in a sweaty arena. As soon as the rain starts to fall, they’ll be back outside for field lacrosse. And that’s how it goes!
Langley has battled to become a member of the lacrosse elite and this weekend having their Intermediate A (ages 17-18) team challenging for a provincial medal was a very good thing.
Fast forward. After an excellent tournament, the Thunder are in the Bronze medal game. They lose, they get nothing. Near the beginning of the game the Richmond team calls for an equipment check on one of Langley’s top players, James Rahe. They toss him out of the game for illegal equipment. Guess what was illegal? He was wearing one of Chris’ memorial wristbands!!
I simply couldn’t write this blog yesterday.
The words would have been much sharper.
At this point I’m not going to spend too much time on the decision, who made it and what their motivation was. That call took a star player off the floor and ruined his chance to play in this Provincial bronze medal final.
That’s a Be The Worst moment.
Now…this story has a Be The Best moment too.
Langley was down by a goal with 30 seconds to go in the game.
A certain Mr. Danny Spady, a defensive specialist and one year younger than Chris, had the ball. Chris loved playing with Danny. He is a tenacious, aggressive, hard-working, never-quit kid….and he doesn’t score that much! As was relayed to me he drove down the floor with the passion and aggression that only comes from playing for a cause.
Yes…the decision by the opposing coaching staff and the officials gave the boys just the extra cause they needed yesterday.
You take a guy off the floor for wearing Chris’ wristband…look out…the motivation just got cranked.
Danny’s goal pushed the game into overtime and Brett Dobray displayed his amazing hands and touch with I believe both goals which pushed Langley into the overtime lead (2-1) and sealed the deal for the Bronze Medal.
What a story.
Now…for the boys on Richmond, it was obviously not their call. That responsibility lies directly with their coach and the officials and for the love of the game, I hope that kind of decision making is reviewed by the league. For the boys themselves, Richmond had a great season and I wish them all the best with their next steps in lacrosse and life.
In life we know we can’t change what happened. But what do we know? WE ARE IN CHARGE OF OUR NEXT DECISION!! We can be in charge of our next shift. Our next shot. Our next thought process.
As I texted one of Langley’s players when I heard this news, I’m sure Chris had a few things to say about the incident yesterday from his ‘season ticket cloud seats’ and I know that he is with you all….always!!
Great job Langley.
Way to turn a negative into an amazing BE THE BEST moment.
Be The Best. 
5 replies on “From Be The Worst, to Be The Best!”
Randy… you are bang on with your comments and my hat is off to you for applying the 24 hour rule. It took me a little bit to wrap my head around what happened yesterday and I didn’t know how I would approach the hand shake after the game – whether we had won or had lost. Thankfully, a voice inside said to just zip it, shake hands and show more class than the other guy. Like you said, the boys from Langley had a little extra motivation and Chris on their side yesterday.
Hey Kevin. Classy move as always. Some of these decisions are made in the heat of the moment and the heat of battle. That being said, I hope the league looks into this situation so that some common sense can prevail. ie, ‘Mr. Rahe, you must remove your rubber wrist band. Thank you’…..or words to that effect!! Great season for Langley. Congrats to you and rest of coaching staff. Super result.
Wow, that is unbelievable, actually hard to believe that there is such a rule. I’m so glad that Allison, my daughter, can wear her wristband in her competitions in track & field, it never comes off. She really is a “be the best” in the heat of that moment when she races. Congrats to Langley!
Yes, when you see some things they allow on the floor, the ‘no wristband and we’ll eject you without warning’ seems a little harsh!! Love to hear Allison is still wearing her band!
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