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THE SCOOP] lifestyles continued from page 23
In December of 2008, McKemey, then in the eighth grade, was flipping logs in his family’s outdoor fireplace when a flurry of sparks popped and spewed and the fireplace exploded. Engulfed in flames, he suffered mostly third-degree burns on 90 percent of his body and nearly died. The burns left thick scars. They made his bones brittle. McKemey wished he had never been in his yard flipping logs. He said he used to wish he could go back in time somehow and change everything. Instead, he changed his perspective on life. He accepted the scars. Despite his brittle bones, he picked up a stick again. Seven months after his injury, McKemey returned to the lacrosse field. He led his junior varsity lacrosse team in goals and assists, then spent the next three years playing defense for the Fort Mill varsity team.
In a March 2011 cover story for Lacrosse Magazine, McKemey said he hoped to attend High Point. Panthers coach Jon Torpey read that, reached out to McKemey and eventually asked him to join the Panthers as a team manger. “I just fell in love with the kid,” Torpey said. “He has an awesome mentality — a mentality I want all my guys to have.” A few days after McKemey moved onto campus, he met the team. He told them about the scars. They responded at first with curiosity. He was a marvel. But now they see him not as the guy who had survived an inferno, but as a member of the High Point Panthers. “It’s kind of an escape,” McKemey said. McKemey now considers the accident a blessing, giving him opportunities he otherwise would not have had. He hopes to get into coaching. During practices, he provides some of the Panthers with insights and instructions.
From his position way up in the stands, McKemey sees games the way few others can. After High Point’s season- opening loss to Delaware, McKemey told Torpey he thought the team was timid. Torpey said he was spot on. McKemey also hopes to get into public speaking. In March, he will deliver a 35-minute speech at the Joseph M. Still Burn Center, the hospital where he resided as a patient.
“I have an incredible opportunity,” McKemey said. “Unfortunately, I had to go through what I had to go through. But now I wouldn’t change it. All the adversity I went through, it’s such a short amount of time in a long life.” LM
24 LACROSSE MAGAZINE March 2014 >>
A healthy John Tavares sparked Buffalo to a 5-1 start, erasing any doubts he may have had about coming back for his 23rd season.
ONE OF A KIND
John Tavares, 45, pads his NLL legacy as an impact player for the Bandits
John Tavares charged forcefully forward into Colin Doyle, his stick high enough that referees had no qualms slapping him with a five- minute penalty — and the Buffalo Bandits did not even have the ball.
After the game, a 12-10 Bandits win Feb. 1 at First Niagara Center, Tavares stood and glared at the Toronto Rock captain so menacingly that a brawl seemed more likely than handshakes. There are many intense athletes in the National Lacrosse League. But intense is too mild a word to define Tavares, which probably best explains why he continues to add to his surefire Hall of Fame legacy as an impact player at age 45. You would forgive Tavares, who only committed to playing his 23rd season with Buffalo in November, if he retreated to the green carpet’s periphery and submitted his body to fewer physical beatings. But as the NLL’s all-time leading scorer neared the 800-goal and 1,700-point milestones in February, he kept dodging traffic and diving into creases as if his spot on the team were in jeopardy. When Tavares, who stood at 791 career goals after notching two in the Feb. 1 win over the Rock, does retire, he will own a record that never will be broken.
Everybody has asked
Tavares how long he will play. He gets tired of the question. Gordie Howe played in the NHL until he was 52. Could Tavares see himself playing in the NLL when he’s that old? “I’m not trying to beat Gordie Howe’s record,” he said. “No way. I have to run. I’m not wearing skates out there.” Tavares determines his status each fall, when his personal fan club has a stake in his decision to play another season or not.
“I still love playing,” he said. “I’ll concentrate on this season and then reassess later in the year. My kids are always telling me, `Daddy, one more year, one more year.’” Justin, 7, plays on a novice lacrosse team coached by Tavares. Breanne, 6, also plays lacrosse. Tavares also started
young, at age 5, in an outdoor bowl in Alexander Park in downtown Toronto. It’s still there. So is Tavares. He has been more effective in 2014 — with 12 goals in his first five games — than he was during an injury-plagued 2013 in when he scored just 14 goals all season. For him, that was a failed season. The team failed, too, finishing 6-10 and missing the playoffs for the first time since 2002. “When you’re 44 and playing injured, you’re not
going to get very far,” said Tavares, who had a leg injury. “I’ve been a lot healthier this year. I’m also stronger mentally. Last year, I kind of felt I shouldn’t be playing anymore. I was hurt. I was down physically and mentally, and that definitely plays a huge role in how you approach the game.”
After Buffalo lost its season opener to Philadelphia, Tavares questioned his decision to return. But the Bandits reeled off five straight wins to surge into first place in the East Division at press time. “I was stressing myself out, asking myself if I should still be playing,” he said. “Sometimes the ball goes in, and sometimes it doesn’t. It’s a long season.” Tavares said NLL players are bigger, faster and in better condition than they were when he broke into the league in 1992. A high school math teacher in Mississauga, Ontario, Tavares trains with other faculty members. “Before the season, I do a lot of workouts,” he said. “During the season, I’ll cut back to a couple of times a week plus the stretching and shooting on game days.” Forty years in organized lacrosse and Tavares just keeps on going. He is relentless. He is one of a kind. — Neil Stevens
A Publication of US Lacrosse
©BANDITS
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