The Secret Sauce to Legible Lacrosse Scorekeeping

Putting pen to scorebook can be daunting - until you give these pens a go.

The first time I kept the scorebook, my chest pounded with anxiety - why can't my pencil keep up with my heart rate? Was I capturing every stat and why didn't I realize that one needed advanced math skills.

OK. It's simple addition and subtraction. But at fast break speeds. Since when does two minutes seem like 20 seconds. And why can't this time warp work for the microwave?

To that that I don't have an answer. But I do have an answer to the pencil-to-paper math problem. And I'm talking about solving for X.

The A-Ha Moment - Living in Color

The standard #2 pencil just wasn't cutting it for me. Adding tick marks in tiny rectangles on the sheet was hard enough. Sure the pencil could be erased if a mistake was made (seriously sometimes who has time for erasing?) And as mentioned tallying stats by quarter involved too much math.

To get past the second quarter tallying, I needed a way to differentiate the tick marks by quarters. AND I still wanted the ability to erase.

First few games, I opted to keep my scoresheets tidy and make quadrants in those tiny rectangles. Left side - odd quarters. Right side - even quarters. That worked only when the games were "slow" and stats few.

From TV to newspapers to computers, each one moved from B&W to color! I needed color. I wanted color.

Hello Crayola! A entire box of colored pencils should solve the want. Theoretically.

I used a different color each quarter and could tally freaky fast! BUT the points didn't remain sharp; the strokes were thick and clunky by five minutes into the first quarter. Add a pencil sharpener to the Table Toolkit.

Erasing created nightmares. Crayola pencils don't have an eraser; that required another "tool." And a simple tick mark resulted in a smudge of mud on the page. Illegible.

Again, I was left wanting.

Pencils to the Point

Body check me sideways, I found mechanical colored pencils. I truly thought I died and went to heaven. I showed up on Tuesday afternoon, with a giddy smile and a pencil purse full of gold.

I found mechanical colored pencils. I truly thought I died and went to heaven.

Five mechanical pencils with colored lead, with erasers made for colored lead - ON THE PENCIL. Hot Damn - hello 2011! (Why five, you ask? One's bound to break. I'm the lacrosse fan with the extra head screw, the scissors and the insta-ice bag in my bag at all times. Likely find a loose lacrosse ball fly forward to the front floor board during a quick braking scenario too.)

Sharing the discovery with the Table Crew, they nodded and smiled politely. The alternate scorer did smile a little broader. He was in - and ready to give it a go.

That game, I spotted and he kept the book. The color system proved itself worthwhile. The tools improved. Until, the game got exciting. Exciting at the Table means, significant turn-overs, change of possession, scoring, penalties. Basically the statisticians conundrum - great to be busy keeping lacrosse statistics, yet terrifying that you might miss something.

The lead points started to snap. Click-click to reload worked well. As the game intensified, the click-click started to sound like a pony cart on an Irish street. As the season progressed, I realized it wasn't just the number of stats, it was the scorer's pressure on the paper.

Then it rained. And rain doesn't stop lacrosse games. The damp, wet paper couldn't hold up to the pencils and the lead snapping.

We went through all the colored refill leads that year. And the next.

We were all left wanting.

Got Ink?

One day while surfing the web, I landed on a Pilot Dr. Grip 4+1 Multi Pen - the holy grail of writing instruments for colored ink seekers. One pen with four colors of .05mm ballpoint ink, plus a .05mm pencil with an eraser. Move over MegaMillions, this gal just won the jackpot.

This pen had everything. Almost. The pencil worked great for entering rosters. The pen points were fine and the colors bright. The Table Crew each ordered one - in bright colors for identification. Knowing which pen is yours during those "May I borrow your pen" moments ensures you get it back.

We had the moon & the stars until a mistake was made. So while the pens worked great for the veteran crew (fewer mistake makers); they didn't work so great for rookies. This pen remained our go-to standard.

Now You See It. Now You Don't.

Having veterans on our books wasn't ideal. For our program to continue to grow, we need to grow and instill confidence in our Table Crew. Rookies' #1 fear is that they will make a mistake. Well, newsflash - we all do.

How we handle it is what makes us better. We learn from the mistakes and keep ticking.

Enter "erasable ink." Well, it wasn't new. In 1979, Paper Mate introduced the Erasermate. Like something out of a sci-fi flick, its ink could be erased, paper not torn, and it eliminated white-out. This got me searching again.

Hello Pilot! If the Multi Pens were made by Pilot, I thought maybe they could be leading edge. Not disappointed, I found Pilot FriXion pens - full bodied, colored ball gel pens WITH erasers.

Mmmm mmmm. Any color under the sun - differentiating blue from black on cloudy days can be tough on anyone's eyes. Plus ink that hits the page like butter on warm toast AND an eraser on every pen that fully erases and quickly.

In heaven know that I will clutch a cyan FriXion pen in my right hand and the other three colors in my left.

Got Heat?

With erasible ink technology comes one small caveat. Heat also erases the ink. If you opt to use FriXion pens at your Table, don't let the book's keeper leave the book in the car. You'll find blank pages where beautiful art collections of stats used to bloom. Some say you can freeze the books and bring back the color.

Word to the wise: Don't leave the lacrosse scorebook in your hot car if you use FriXions.

Buy & Curse Me

You'll hate me if you're a pen lover, so will your spouse. JetPens.com for years has been my go-to source for writing instruments. As the Pilot pens hit the US market many years ago, you can find these pens at Amazon or Walmart or your favorite office supply store.