Steve Govett's Mammoth task.

• Author: Schley, Stewart
• Position: SPORTS [biz] - National Lacrosse League - Column

Stewart Schley writes about sports, media and technology from Englewood. Read this and Schley's past columns on the Web at cobizmag.com and e-mail him at ss_edit@comcast.net

[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

It's just like the song says. A National Lacrosse League executive's work is never done.

Wait, that was about cowboys, come to think.

Still. Steve Govett, Colorado Mammoth president and general manager, might be the busiest guy in Denver professional sports.

Govett is a tall, burly jock with an athlete's physique. He scored 23 goals and knocked around opponents during a four-year career with lacrosse's Philadelphia Wings from 1994 to 1998. Govett now handles GM duties for the Mammoth with the sort of range that would make any goalie smug with pride.

By necessity, Govett's a multi-tasker. Wheeling and dealing? Sure. A few months ago he traded the rights to a player-get this-who retired four years ago. The player is lacrosse legend and former league MVP Gary Gait, who wants to get back on the field this season for the Rochester Knighthawks.

Govett retained claim to Gait through a bizarre clause in NLL player contracts that preserves certain rights even after a guy calls it quits. The impressive part wasn't so much that Govett dealt dibs to a retiree, but that he had the nerve to demand-and snag-two first-round picks and a player for it. "For a guy I had no expectation to ever play again, it was a wind-fall," Govett says, a telling grin creasing his face.

Stocking the Mammoth with talent is a big part of the job. The team that arrived at Pepsi Center in 2003 has made the playoffs each of its six seasons and won the championship in 2006. Winning is expected. Govett's trying to keep the mojo alive by replenishing an aging roster with newcomers like third-year forward Dan Carey, an NLL all-star who led the Mammoth in scoring last year. In September, Govett plucked from the NLL entry draft Matt Danowski, Duke University's all-time leading scorer.

Meantime, Govett is the guy who's supposed to make the cash registers ring, too. And that he has done. The Mammoth have ranked as the No. 1 or No. 2 NLL team for attendance since arriving in Denver, ritually topping 17,000 fans for home games that seem equally composed of a lacrosse game and a rock concert...