Seeing Doyle And Mike Again

TigerBlog walked into Klockner Stadium at the University of Virginia about two hours before the start of Saturday's men's lacrosse game.

He was with three Princeton players, who had with them the team video equipment. TigerBlog was carrying the radio stuff, as well as his laptop.

There were metal detectors outside the stadium, and TB and the three players were directed around them. It reminded TB of "Ocean's 11," when they walked through the casino without being questioned because they were wearing uniforms.

Anyway, TigerBlog and the players made their way to the elevator and then into the press box. It was empty, except for one security guard who was just getting there as well - and of course two old and dear friends of TigerBlog.

The door to the Klockner press box opens into the center of the booth. It's actually more of guest box, with the media set up outside on either side.

As TB turned to walk to the left, the first face he saw was that of Mike Colley. It wasn't until he walked back through the box and to the other side that he saw Doyle Smith.

They actually face each other, across the Klockner Stadium press box.

Who are Mike Colley and Doyle Smith? They were both the men's lacrosse contact at Virginia at various times, and they both passed away at early ages.

Doyle was the first person to write the rules of statkeeping for men's lacrosse, something that TigerBlog helped rewrite several years ago. Doyle was a Johns Hopkins grad, and he is one of two non-players in the US Lacrosse Hall of Fame.

He was already suffering from the effects of Parkinson's Disease when TigerBlog met him, back in the early 1990s. Princeton and Virginia renewed their rivalry around then, playing each year from 1992 through 2008 actually.

The teams met in the 1994 and 1996 NCAA championship games, and the Tigers won both in overtime. Doyle Smith was already a legendary figure in the sport by then, and he and TigerBlog were pretty good friends from the start. TB was very, very fond of Doyle; the best way TB can describe him is that he was gentle and a gentleman.

Eventually the disease took a terrible toll on Doyle's ability to speak and to move. He would pass away in 2004.

TigerBlog knew that his friend Doyle was in failing health at the time. He had no idea that Mike Colley was as well.

Colley was the next UVa men's lacrosse contact. He was a few months older than TigerBlog.

If Doyle was quiet and unassuming, even before the Parkinson's, Mike was a big, friendly, talkative guy with a bit of a drawl. He loved lacrosse, and he loved the University of Virginia.

About the worst thing TB could say about Mike Colley was that he was too lenient in awarding ground balls. He used to say that at UVa, they "gave away ground balls like they were Halloween candy."

Anyway, there was that stunning summer day in 2009, when TigerBlog received a text message that said that Colley, just 46 years old, had suffered a massive heart attack while on vacation. He had been dead before he ever fell to the ground. 

As for the game, both teams looked good for the early season. Virginia won, 18-15, moving up to the No. 4 spot in the national rankings.

Princeton, despite the loss, has a lot of promising signs, especially for a team that is so young, and one that is working with its sixth defensive coordinator in six years.

Freshman longstick midfielder Andrew Song had an incredible game, with a goal, three ground balls, two caused turnovers and two face-off wins, to earn Ivy Rookie of the Week honors. Fellow freshman Chris Brown followed up his five-point debut with four more points. Phillip Robertson had three goals, including an amazing one-timer from Brown, and now has six goals on six shots this season and nine goals on 10 shots in his career. Junior Emmet Cordrey had three goals, matching his previous career total.

And of course there's Michael Sowers. He had a goal and four assists.

TigerBlog is excited about the start of lacrosse season. He's looking forward to seeing how this team develops.

He was looking forward to the trip to Virginia as well. He just didn't expect to see the two faces in the press box, or to see Myron Ripley, the longtime statkeeper for the Cavs.

TB and Myron go way back, to the days of Doyle and Mike Colley. Myron gave TB a big hug when he saw him, and TB again was taken back to the days with Myron and his two other friends.

Doyle and Mike would have loved to have been at the game this past Saturday.

At least their pictures are hanging in the press box. It was good for TB to see them and think back to the good times they shared.

TigerBlog's office has nothing on the walls. It has three pictures - one each of TigerBlog Jr. and Miss TigerBlog and a long-ago one of MotherBlog.

There's a book case that has mostly binders of men's lacrosse seasons gone by. There's also a book - "A Prayer For Owen Meany."

And one plaque. It's the Doyle Smith Award, given by the USILA each year to honor someone who helps promote the sport of lacrosse.

TigerBlog won it in 2010. Mike Colley won it the year before, after his death. When TB accepted his award, he mentioned how much it meant to him to win an award named for his friend Doyle, after his friend Mike had won it a year earlier.

It was a bit emotional.

So, too, was seeing them Saturday.

Doyle Smith and Mike Colley. They were two great people, lost way too soon, but always to be  remembered.