Mon-4/9-6:30 AM: Practice this morning at 8:00...we will NOT have access to the school, so make sure you DON'T have to use the bathroom (go at home!); also, bring in a lacrosse ball if you have one (our balls also locked in school).  Get psyched for our first game -- TOMORROW!

Thurs-4/5/07-6:30AM: The weather forecast is for drier (than yesterday) but still somewhat cold, so make sure to dress appropriately...sweats and long sleeves under your shoulder pads (maybe two layers of long sleeves?)...practice will still be held...last one this week...last one until Monday, the day before our 1st game...so let's have a good, spirited practice. -- BR

Fri-3/16/07-12:00PM:We obviously can't practice today, and with the snow we're getting, we won't be able to practice tomorrow. You can, however, workout on your own. If you have a treadmill, or can get to a Gym that has one, you can work to expand and extend your cardiovascular stamina by running long and hard; you can lift weights, or even just do many pushups and situps; and lastly, you can work on your lacrosse skills by following the instructions I gave below (in Wednesday's post). I'm cursing this snow for two reasons: it screws up our practice schedule, and if we hadn't had this snowday, we would have gotten an extra day on Memorial Day weekend.

Wed-3/14/07-9:00PM: Good practice today...NO 7:00 AM PRACTICE TOMORROW; whomever reads this first, spread the word by e-mail, phone, or IM that it is posted...from this point onward, you should make sure you check this website at least once a day; every time you have a stick in your hand, you should imagine a game situation, with your opponent trying to D you up (Attack & Middies), or trying to beat you to the cage (D-men); Things that you can practice alone, inside, with a tennis or a lacrosse ball: 1. horizontal cradle 2. vertical cradle 3. stick/cradle fakes 4. split dodge from left to right 5. split dodge from right to left 6. roll dodge from left to right 7. roll dodge from right to left; 8. face dodge from left to right and 9. face dodge from right to left...you need to master these skills...see you at practice tomorrow...as Pete Townshend would say, "Keep On Working"

3/10/07-4:00PM: Cornell 7, Army 4...cold day, but a good game...remember: "keep" = pick, "give" = flip, & "go" = backdoor; on flips, BOTH players' crosses (heads of their sticks) should be faced AWAY from the goal (and the defense), and the ball should travel across the body of the flip receiver; when a player comes across a pick that his teammate is setting, he should try to change his arc to the goal...ultimately, he should drive directly towards the pipe, shoot, and score...if he causes the defenders to switch, he should look for the picker, who should be rolling toward the goal.

3/4/07: One week until the season starts…a week from tomorrow is the first day of practice…will you be ready?
1^st Question: Are you bureaucratically ready? Are you cleared by the Nurse’s Office, and listed as a player who is cleared to play?
2^nd Question: Are you physically ready? Have you been running? Have you been lifting? Have you been doing lots of sit-ups, push-ups, and pull-ups?
3^rd Question: Are you lacrosse ready? How are your stickhandling skills? How is your weak hand? Have you been playing wall-ball? How are your dodges? Can you do an adequate split dodge? face dodge? roll dodge? Can you throw – on the run – a line-drive pass and hit your teammate’s stick when he’s on the run? I hope that you watched some good lacrosse this weekend. I went to two college games…if it’s warm out this week, I hope to see you out there on the turf, working on all the things I’ve been talking about…you can leave your sticks in my classroom during the day.
2/27/07: We are having a short meeting after school in my classroom on Thursday, March 1^st . Make sure to spread the word. I don’t want ANYONE to miss this meeting. If you are unaware of whether or not you've been cleared by the nurse's office, stop by and check tomorrow or Thursday with the nurse BEFORE coming to the meeting.

2/26/07: It's been a quick ten days since my last post on this site…I wonder if you guys have been working on your stick skills like I’ve instructed…did anyone watch Army beat (#2 ranked) Syracuse on SNY on Friday night? Not only should we know the schedules of colleges located near Eastchester, so we can catch their games, but we should also know when good lacrosse is going to be on TV…I caught an hour-long show called Inside Lacrosse on ESPN2 last week, which was really good; it previewed the college season and had several stories featuring different lacrosse people…one story was on the Powell brothers, which was great…Mike (I think) was talking about the importance of playing “wallball,” which is what I’ve been harping on for years…just throwing the ball off of a concrete or brick wall to work on your stick skills; each time you catch the ball (off the wall or from your teammate), you should change hands and make a stick fake before you throw it back (off the wall or to your teammate)…make sure that all of you guys have all of your paperwork filed with the nurse’s office…not being able to practice due to not having paperwork filed is putting yourself at a disadvantage and lets down your teammates, not to mention all of the extra sprints you’re going to have to run…So…we’ve got a couple of weeks left before the season…you should be running hard, lifting weights, doing pushups, sit-ups and pull-ups, and working on your stick skills…watch good lacrosse