UPDATE: After this story ran, Coach Greg Crow checked in to give us an update: “I went in today for my pre-op work and they concluded that the emergency they saw on Wednesday might actually be able to wait a few days. After some begging, I was able to get them to allow me to coach our next two district games next week unless things slip more. I am now scheduled to have my operation on May 2. My return to the sidelines will be dictated by pain and complications.”
By Jay Jenkins / Scrimmageplaycva.com contributor
Greg Crow was given every direction – and perhaps should have had every intention – from shying away from being just inches away from a West Central District lacrosse match Thursday.
The Albemarle boys’ lacrosse coach, however, blew off the orders of medical personnel, coped with obvious pain and witnessed the Patriots rally for an 11-7 home win over Monticello.
AHS sits 2-0 in the district and 3-3 overall, but the results that occurred in the second stanza against the Mustangs (4-3, 0-2 West Central District) could be the last of which Crow will witness for an extended period of time.
“My Doc forbid me to come and coach this game tonight,” Crow said after meeting at great length with his senior captains. “I have a disc that’s completely out and is 45-degree wedged up against the spinal cord. If I got bumped tonight, like a guy coming out of bounds, he said I could have been paralyzed from about C5, C6 down.”
The players, many of which have played under Crow for almost a decade, understood the magnitude of the evening and the message their leader sent.
“We wanted to do it for Coach,” AHS goalkeeper Jake Huber said. “Coach Crow is so inspirational in what he is going through right now. We’re going to be fired up these next few weeks as he going into surgery.
“A lot of us have played with Crow forever and it is a real loss and we are super upset about it. I have played with Crow for 10 years.”
Crow was adamant that the program would not skip a beat with Dave King, a former standout at Penn State, leading the charge and with a steady stable of assistants. But Crow is counting the days and hoping for his surgical procedure to come as soon as possible.
Every minute, as he pointed out, matters to his return to the sidelines at AHS.
“They are probably admitting me for emergency surgery [Friday] night … and operating on me Saturday. If they don’t operate Saturday, then they are going to have to operate Wednesday,” Crow said. “I am pushing for Saturday. That’s two more games. But like I said, they are going to be fine.”
