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Player Spotlight highlights the finer details and elements while supplying insight to the fans on what a player's thought process may be pertaining to a certain play, game or situation. It brings the intensity, passion, and inner most thoughts of the individual player that otherwise may not be felt or heard. |
03/01/03 Gary Gait - Colorado Mammoth Chrissy Sadowski had the chance to meet up with Gary Gait after a "Mammoth" win against the Ravens at the Pepsi Center on Saturday night. In their 18-12 victory, Gary scored six goals and led the team to this crucial win keeping them at the top of their division. Because of his outstanding efforts he was named overall player of the week. Chrissy spoke to Gary about retirement, coaching changes and his role with the Colorado Mammoth. | ||
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The first question I have is what everyone wants to know, is retirement in your near future? | |
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Yes, it's there, it's coming, there's no question, but I have a contract for another year with this team but I think at the most only a couple more years of playing.
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After Paul retired did it give you more of a direction towards retiring yourself? | |
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I have a rule that when I don't feel that I am playing at a level that I am comfortable with then I will retire and when that happens, I'm done. | |
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Do you want one more championship? | |
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Yes, you always play for a championship; I am dying for another championship, that is what keeps you going.
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Do you feel that if you do retire you will always be involved somehow in the NLL? | |
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Yes, I will always be involved. Definitely, coaching or something behind the scenes. I love to coach and I am sure that it is in my future somewhere.
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How is it for you without Paul this year directly in the league because you are known as the Gait brothers? | |
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It would be nice to have him, there are plenty of times in the season when it's 5-5 and the question is where is Paul because he makes such a big difference and I think that has shown this year. In the team's play, our man up play, you see everything he brought to the table and it's definitely a big loss. But we are doing our best and we'll get there but it takes time.
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Are you pleased with the route the Mammoth has been going as compared to Washington? | |
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Obviously with the crowd and the fan support, its unbelievable and that's more than we could ever hope for, which makes me happy knowing that because I was involved in the struggling organization in Washington. It's just nice to have a place, a home, where it's going to work. It's just exceptional and that's great but the disappointing thing is our record right now and hopefully we can change that.
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What are your thoughts on the recent changes your team has made with the firing of head coach Rod Jensen? | |
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I think that ultimately Rod is a great coach and he will do well in the future but the job of a head coach is that he is in charge and it's his responsibility, the results and the record reflect the coach and its up to that guy to turn it around. Steve Govett just felt it was time for a change and I certainly respect Steve because I have worked with him a long time and support him on that.
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The Mammoth have had a lot of different trades lately, are you supportive of all that's been going on? | |
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Yes, Steve has done a wonderful job putting teams together in the past like Philadelphia. The last team he put together went on in 2000 and won a championship right after he left and he was the one who put the players on the field for that team. He's kept us competitive within the goal for the last two years, getting us to the championship game and he really does his job and it's just up to us to finish it.
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Because you're considered one of the best players or rather the best player in the league do you find it frustrating when your team loses continuously on the road? | |
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It's always frustrating. You are trying to find a way and do your job to turn it around and sometimes it just doesn't work out that way. You would like to win every game but you can't. It's sometimes fate and luck and skill and everything else but you just prepare and go out there and win some and lose some.
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Do you feel pressure because of this? | |
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Lots of pressure. Bringing the team to Denver, they're expecting a divisional champion here, same as we were last year and they're expecting us to host a playoff game, and that's the pressure that the ownership group and the organization has put on the team.
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Do you feel some responsibility because your team hasn't been performing on the road? | |
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Yeah, there's no question. I think it starts with the head coach and then goes to the captain and then to the players. You have to prepare and ultimately you can only be responsible for yourself and if the team is not successful then I am not doing my job to the best of my ability.
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What are your thoughts on the direction of the league, with some of the eastern teams in financial trouble but with the expansion of the west coast, with talks of San Jose coming in? | |
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I would like to see San Jose come in. I think that could be a very strong organization and I know they are striving for that. I had a long conversation with one of the partners in the organization the other day and they feel pretty good about where they stand. I think the league does have some difficulties but we've been around a long time now so we just have to work through the tough economy and things will move on. Teams will move and I think we will build our strength down the road and we can find homes that are successful within strong franchises.
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Last night you scored six goals against Vancouver in an 18-12 victory, do you feel that your team has finally stepped it up? | |
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I think we have made a step in the right direction. We have proven we can win at home but we haven't made the step we need to take to win on the road. When we can win on the road that's when we've taken a step in the right direction. We expect ourselves to win every game and we put ourselves in the position to win every game at home. It's a great crowd support and everything but now we just have to win on the road and if we do that I think we are stepping in the right direction towards the playoffs.
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Because B.C. is your native home and a lot of the guys live there right now do you think you will get a lot of fan support when you play there and that might lead to a win on the road? | |
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I know a lot of guys from British Columbia are on the team and we'll have that whole extra push and enthusiasm from family and friends there at the game and I always want to make sure you're fired up to play when you play in front of your family. That's going to help and it's going to be an overall team effort and operations are going to be key and with a new coach we'll see.
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Click here to read Bill Greer's player spotlight. | ||
| PLPA Correspondent Chrissy Sadowski has a degree in Communications and is currently studying broadcasting. |
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