http://www.rutlandherald.com/article/20100117/SPORTS/1170341
Rite of winter keeps junkies on road
Rutland Herald
BY Tom Haley STAFF WRITER - Published: January 17, 2010
Four or five nights a week Springfield's John Lavoie and Don Lloyd get in a car and negotiate serpentine, slushy roads and long, black stretches of highway. Their destination is a 1,000-point milestone, a buzzer-beater or just a good girls basketball game.
They are two 60-something guys, but the vehicle is filled with a 5-year-old's Christmas morning anticipation.
They love girls basketball and they have been engaged in this ritual for about 15 years.
You are apt to see them anywhere. They might be at one of the big Division I schools like Brattleboro or South Burlington or one of the tiniest Division IV schools like Rochester or Concord.
You will pick them out easily because they are not just sitting there watching the game like most of the fans in the gym. They are diligently charting statistics, noting not only points and rebounds, but also blocked shots, assists, steals and turnovers.
Their passion for the game can be found in their homes as well as the gyms. Newspapers with varying mastheads are in Lavoie's kitchen. During basketball season he subscribes to the Caledonian Record, Rutland Herald, Burlington Free Press, Randolph Herald, Valley News, Eagle Times and Bennington Banner.
He and Lloyd have numerous scrapbooks full of newspaper clippings as well as the stat sheets they have used to dutifully chronicle all the games they have attended.
Counting all of the AAU basketball games in the summer they go to, that adds up to 180 to 200 games a year. They once watched nine games in one day at an AAU event.
But it is basketball season where the excitement mounts, from the early games right through the semifinals and finals at Patrick Gym and Barre Auditorium in March, the time when they make the drive to those hoop shrines all week long.
"We start out in November with the college games and then the high schools kind of take over a lot of it," Lloyd said.
"We also watch the jayvee game," Lavoie said. "We want to know who is coming up."
Sometimes they will go to different games, but often they will ride together to the same one.
It is there they can help one another when it comes to charting stats.
"He sees things I don't see and, hopefully, I can see some things he doesn't see," Lloyd said.
There are some gyms they haven't been in, but they have been in the majority of them.
Lloyd said it is his goal to see a game in every high school in the state eventually. Canaan is one neither has been to yet.
Their business card says "Vermont High School Girls Basketball. Scouting-Stats-Info."
But 'business' is a misnomer. They don't make a penny on their hobby. Statistics and information is available from coaches or parents who request it, but there is no charge.
They might even give a packet of stats and clippings to a senior as a graduation gift.
They had real jobs all their lives and Lavoie still works some as a semi-retired carpenter. Basketball is strictly for fun.
"We don't charge anything. If we had to make a living at it, we'd probably starve," Lavoie said.
"We don't do any scouting for anyone and stats are for anyone who wants them. We want to stay as neutral as we can," Lavoie said.
Probably they are as qualified as anyone to be the authorities on girls basketball in the state. There might be people as well versed in a certain division, but when it comes to the entire landscape of girls hoops, Lavoie and Lloyd likely stand alone.
"We have interest in all four divisions," Lavoie said.
They follow the small schools as ardently as they do the big ones. A recent trip took them to a game at out-of-the-way Concord, out there on Route 2 beyond St. Johnsbury. Concord has 230 students from pre-kindergarten through 12th grade.
"They have a nice little gym. I was surprised," Lloyd said.
Lavoie has maps of Vermont, New Hampshire, Massachusetts and New York with all the schools and roads to them highlighted. AAU basketball takes them to trips in the other states.
"John is good with directions," Lloyd said.
GPS? Computers? Neither. They like having the piles of scrapbooks and stat sheets. Technology be damned.
"It's going to stay that way," Lavoie said.
He's makes the short trip from his house to Red House Press to make copies. Lloyd does his copying at the local library.
Coaches have been known to tap into their storehouse of knowledge and player evaluations.
"Jen Heath (the Green Mountain College women's coach) will ask us about players as well as Keith Boucher at Keene State," Lavoie said.
They have made lists of what they felt were the top high school seniors and submitted them to coaches who piloted the Vermont team that takes on New Hampshire in the annual all-star game each summer. They have found many of the coaches to be receptive.
They have had their favorite players to watch through the year.
Lavoie was a big fan of Candice Holiday, the star player who moved to Windsor from Tennessee before her senior year and wowed Yellow Jacket fans with 22 points in the Windsor gym in her home finale, leading the South to a 76-71 overtime victory in the March all-star game.
"I couldn't wait to get to the gym to watch her play," he said.
Lloyd names former Wilmington-Twin Valley star Corey Rusin as one of his favorites.
"The kid right now is Jenna Hoffman at Burr and Burton," Lloyd said. "She doesn't say 'boo.' She lets her athleticism do the talking."
They also mentioned sisters Jade and Jazz Huntington from Oxbow Union.
Lavoie said he also admired Black River's Courtney Rohrig who eclipsed the 1,000-mark for both points and rebounds. He said she was not very artistic, but her hustle and determination enabled her to pile up those numbers.
They get much more out of their hobby than the enjoyment of watching basketball.
There is the social aspect.
"You meet a lot of great players, coaches and players. You develop great relationships," Lavoie said. "You meet some really cool people and we get some good treatment."
And there is another benefit.
"When you get older, it keeps your mind sharp," Lavoie said.
Lavoie's children give him vouchers for Christmas. They are agreements to travel to a basketball game with him someplace and buy his meal.
"It can't be in Springfield," he said. "It has to be away so that they get to spend more time with me. That's the only present I want."
His wife is also in the equation. Ida never complains about his excursions and time away from home.
"She's an understanding wife," Lavoie said.
Lloyd's family also figures in this venture. He has a daughter living near Swanton and he will sometimes stay there, enabling him to get to a gym in the northernmost reaches of the state.
Maybe, just maybe, that goal of finally seeing a game in Canaan is in the immediate future.
why do they do this ?
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