Weekend of Lax

I was able to get up to Revere on Sunday to check out the Blazers practice, their 3rd one within a 24 hour period....you talk about working hard! Seriously.....offensively they look unbelievable! It was my 1st time seeing Josh Sanderson in person....and I couldn't believe how small he is. BUT at the same time.....I couldn't believe how freaking good he is! He caught everything they threw him and finished just about everything he caught. Now you know why he was brought in here. Put him with Dan Dawson and Casey Powell and that is quite some offensive fire power for the Blazers. Should be a great season, I'm looking forward to the home opener....FIRED UP!

The MLL supplemental draft is tomorrow, can't believe it's here already. I spent the past few days on the phone talking to prospects about coming into training camp and what they can bring to the table. We have 12 picks and out of those 12 we hope 2-3 players can make an impact....we shall see. Did you hear the news? The MLL collegiate draft has moved up to January 21st....for the 1st time in MLL history we will draft seniors before they graduate college! Not sure how I feel about that, more to come on that at a later date.....

Who do you think we should draft tomorrow? Shoot me an email, bd@lax-school.com

What are you doing to get game ready?

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Nice

Great weekend down in Baltimore for the IMCLA convention. I was a guest of Nike's at the IMCLA Awards banquet sponsored by Nike. Great ceremony honoring coaches at the D1, D2 & D3 level and I mean EVERYONE in coaching was there. I sat with Carl Runk (former Towson great), Richie Moran, Sid Jamieson, Bill Tierney and Richie Meade. Good times.

Got a chance to see Inside Lacrosse's offices right on the Inner Harbor.....you talk about phat digs! Man, I would love to go to work there everyday and sit in one of those plush corner offices that Carp and Jiloty have!

Pictures are posted on the facebook page, check them out.

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Lax Season is Near...

Can you believe it? Lax Season is close!! You're probably wondering what I mean...right? Thanksgiving was last week which kicked off the holiday season. The NFL is in it's last 6 weeks of the regular season before the playoffs start and we crown a new Superbowl champ! So what's this chatter all about you ask? The IMCLA convention is this weekend in Baltimore at the Waterfront Marriott. Over 700+ coaches at all levels will convene in crab land and talk the talk, see some new products, share a few beverages and start thinking about the spring!

I'm headed down on Friday for a day to walk the show, sit in on a few meetings and see some old friends......it should be a good time.

It's too late to register online but you can register at the event, for more info go to: http://lacrossecoaches.stcnetsite.com

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Holidays

I can't believe Thanksgiving is in two weeks! The holidays are basically here and it's very easy to get thrown off track from all of the hard work you've been putting in. Make sure you continue working out and push yourself even harder during these times as we all know there is a tendency to put on a little extra lb's during this time of the year.

Have you set your goals for the season yet? It'll be here before you know it. Do you want to work on improving your quickness? Do you need to get stronger? Or do you need to work on your lateral agility? Time to figure it out, make a plan on how you're going to get there. If you need some help hit me up at bd@lax-school.com

Will you be game ready?

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NIKE CHROME

Well, I've been told the new Nike chrome heads will hit all Lacrosse Unlimited stores by 11/1.....that's right you heard it here 1st. Colors that will be available are royal (like the one I got my hands on....in the picture), silver, gold, red, orange, kelly green and Ice. These heads are pretty sweet especially if you want some bling!!!

Big weekend for a lot of the top players as the annual Hawaii tournament is here. I was hoping to come out of retirement and get out there but it ain't happening this year unfortunately. Maybe next year?

November is already here.....I know the season seems far away but it in reality it isn't. Keep working on your game.....strength, conditioning and your stick!

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LU

Sitting on the train heading back to Boston from NYC. The Lacrosse Unlimited Team (GM's, retail managers, Team sales, warehouse & front office staff) had a product tech session with STX & Nike @ Local Bar & Restaurant on West 33rd (owned by former Cornell lax player John Hile). It was a great time, we got a chance to see all of the new product from STX & Nike and learned about the different technologies and enhancements of each product. Sean Morris, Pat Heim, Matt Schomburg (sales reps for STX/Nike) along with Mike Murphy (sales manager) and Jason Goger (General Manager of STX) were giving us small tech sessions on various products. Max Siebald and Kristen Kjellman from Nike were also there to assist. Check out some of the new gear online.....those chrome heads are pretty sweet....can't wait to get mine (yes that's directed @ you Sean Morris!)

Last night was also cool because I (and everyone else) got a chance to meet people in the company that I've never met before. With 20+ stores we have a lot of managers and a lot of other folks in the company that you see on email lists and that's it. Lax Unlimited has been successful because of the quality people that work for the company, so it was good to finally put faces to the names. It was a real good team building exercise to be honest, people were psyched. Things like this are important not only on the lacrosse field but also in business!

Make sure you find a wall and get your touches in this weekend.......


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Gamecocks!

Did you see that the Alabama/South Carolina game yesterday? What an upset huh? I'm at the Harvard/Team USA game right now and Harvard is giving USA their moneys worth that's for sure. Both of these games remind me of our loss to the Chesapeake Bayhawks in the semifinals. In a nutshell on any given day any team can beat another, no matter what team is "supposed to be" the better team. The team that shows up and does their jobs, works the hardest and plays within themselves is the team that comes out on top no matter what........keep that in mind the next time someone tells you that your team has no chance to win!

Make sure you're game ready, be in the best shape possible and make sure your stick is ready to go at all times.....you never know when you may get the call.


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Lax in Beantown

If you're around Boston this weekend there's some serious lacrosse being played. On Saturday the 3rd annual Catamount classic is being played @ Thayer academy. Each year the field has gotten better and more competitive. This has become one of the premiere fall ball tourneys in the country as well as in New England. Check out www.catamountclassic.com to see whose playing in it this year!

Sunday the US Men's team (well some of them) will be playing Harvard at Harvard Stadium on Sunday @ noon. I know there will be a few US Team members from the Manchester gold medal team playing (Rabil, Seibald, Striebel, Dougherty, McClay amongst a few others). It should be a good event and some great lacrosse. Make sure you pop in and check it out.....look for me and the Lax-School film crew!

Speaking of Paul Rabil, did anyone see "The Body Edition" in the new edition of ESPN the magazine? Lax getting a huge presence with #99....congrats Rabes that's awesome!


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BOOM!

Did anyone see the Nike Boom commercial that played for the 1st time last Sunday night during the Jets/Dolphins game? It's been played several times since then. Even though lacrosse had a small presence in the overall sports packed Nike ad, it's pretty sweet that lax (& Max Seibald) are both getting some love with all the other big time sports and professional athletes.

If you haven't seen the Nike full length lacrosse commercial yet, go to my facebook page and check it out.
www.facebook.com/laxschool

Also look at the chrome Lakota head Max is using! I heard they'll be in stores soon.....

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TopJLax

Hey what's up? Hopefully a lot of you laxers (male & female) are playing another sport this fall, if so I hope the season is going well. If not, no biggie.... perfect time to be working on your game that's all. The off-season is a great time to go out and work on the fundamentals, your off hand, shooting, etc. so take advantage of this great weather and get some work in!

I was contacted by Duncan Trenholme who runs the UK based Lax Website, TopJLax for an interview. It should be online by the end of the week. Make sure you check it out, they have some pretty cool stuff up there right now. It's great to see other countries showing the sport of lacrosse as much love as we do here in the States. http://www.topjlax.com/

Stay tuned, we have some really cool stuff coming on lax-school.com! Anything in particular you want to see? Email me at bd@lax-school.com

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MetroLacrosse

Now that the Cannons season is over I've officially started working on my golf game......Lord knows I need it! Yesterday I played in the inaugural MetroLacrosse golf tournament out at Hopkinton Country Club. It was great event, a lot of Cannon's representation between ownership, front office staff and players. There were also some Blazers out there on the course as well supporting a great cause. Our team did pretty well, finished 2 under and Mark Kastrud and I were carried early by our teammates (Chris Clark from Gentle Giant moving company and Adriano Varano from Coldwell Banker). Some of their shot shaping rubbed off on Mark and I and we made some putts to keep us in contention. Overall it was a fun day and I was glad to be out their supporting Metro. For more info on how you can help MetroLacrosse, go to MetroLacrosse.org.


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88MB Download for Madden 11??

Adison is at a birthday party, Ollie is down for a nap, Ali is out shopping. I got the hedges in front of the house done and over with this morning. Yeah it's a beautiful day and I probably should continue down the side of the house...right? WRONG!!! Free time = Madden baby!! There's an update for the game, wonder what enhancements they did for the game? Guess I'll find out.....if it's anything good I'll let you know!

Time to get my swerve on....

Go Irish!
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Asta la Vista Summer......

Well, I hope you had a great Labor day weekend as I did! The weather was fantastic after Earl made his way through New England. Saturday I had the pulled pork party and it was a HUGE success I must say....stay tuned for the video! I know it's sort of a bummer that the summer is over BUT now it's time for some football!!! Big opening weekend of college football hopefully you had a chance to check out a game or two (or three, four...). With that said I wanted to give a shout out to my boys down in Chapel Hill. No one gave them a chance on Saturday night vs. LSU with so many players missing because of suspension. It came down to the last play of the game and they almost pulled it off. LSU fans were silent even though they won and the Tarheel fans were making noise, letting their team know they appreciated that effort they gave on the big stage. It's going to be a great season for the Heels! Great game last night between Boise State and V Tech.....and Thursday night the NFL kicks off @ 7:30 with the Vikings taking on the New Orleans Saints....BOY IT'S GREAT THAT FOOTBALL IS BACK!!

There's a lot of exciting stuff happening behind the scenes with Lax-School.com, so stay tuned and I'll fill you in shortly. As for the MLL, we have our 23 man protected roster due in on the 24th of this month. I'll be meeting with the ownership and my VP in the next week to discuss the roster and in what direction we go in for 2011.

Still killing it in Madden BTW and I went up a level so the game is not as easy but still a lot of fun. I'm still looking for some online challengers out there, send me a friend request...my screen name is WCD2.

Oh yeah....how about the Jets signing Revis over the weekend??? Look out AFC.....

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Checking In

Hey....What's up? I've been pretty busy (like everyone else of course!) since I shared my Madden 2011 experience with you. Speaking of Madden....I officially declared time to move up one level after a 31-14 drubbing of the Pats. Yeah.....I know BUT I enjoyed it thoroughly I must say.

This has been a good week. Got back into my full time job which entails reaching out to my college coaches to see what they need for the upcoming season. All the new gear out there is creating the buzz. Take a look at some of the pics I posted on Facebook.com/laxschool. As my stuff comes in I'll keep putting the pics up.

Yesterday I met with Blazer coaches Tom Ryan and Randy Fraser for a little lunch over at the Stadium in Southie. It was good to catch up and we chatted about personnel they're looking at for next week's NLL draft. American players who play indoor become better field players, it's the truth. They learn how to operate in small space (keep in mind at full speed) so when they get out to the field it's like night & day with their stick skills and ability to finish. Sooooo, I'm all about some of the boys playing indoor if you know what I mean? The only downside is....it's a long season so they have to be in the best shape possible.

Anyone catch Hard Knocks last night?

Labor day weekend is here, make sure you enjoy the last "official weekend of the summer". The coaching staff, Mark Kastrud (GM/VP)and Bill Millman (the man behind the videos @Lax-school) are coming over for some southern style food....Carolina that is.....pulled pork, ribs, mac n cheese and more. Yep, we're talking about calories galore but that's ok.....have to do it everyone once in awhile ya know? Just means more workouts next week @Catz! Plus I'm going to film the pulled pork preparation from start to finish so you can also hook it up!

Stay tuned.........

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Madden 2011

Ok so I finally pulled the trigger on this since I took the past 2 years off with Madden. With not really having the time to sit and play my PS3 and the fact that I focus mainly on the EA Sports NHL series, Madden had to take a back seat. Well, not this year....I heard so much about it I had to get it and give it a shot. My wife was out to dinner and the girls fell asleep early last night so I got some serious PS3 time to myself and took full advantage of it.

I usually press the "x" button and skip through all of the preliminary stuff, you know the hype they do for every video game. However I watched the Drew Brees soliloquy and it was pretty sweet....got the chills to be honest. Onto the game....had to select my favorite team (you should know this) and then get on with my franchise mode. I got right into it, didn't practice or anything, I figured it would be like riding a bike and it was. The main thing I missed was the "speed" button but honestly I got used to it and in actuality found it easier to hit the hole on a run play, make a juke and then break it open. LT is the man BTW....as is Greene. Like any video game now, the graphics were amazing, especially on the instant replays, it's soooooo real! Game play was very similar to what I recall from 2009 (think that was the last season I played) but I did find it more realistic. Also, you have an option of calling your own plays or using the "GameFlow" which basically let's the offensive and defensive coordinators call the play and then you execute them. I used this last night and really got into it, it was a cool addition to the game for the 1st time in 20 years.

Probably the funniest thing is that Old Spice is a big time sponsor this year (trying to sell OS to a younger generation???) and they had some real funny lines during the breaks in the action. The Old Spice whistle (if you've seen the commercial on TV you know what this is) and some of the lines used were, "Thank you for smelling great man!", "Old Spice body wash, greatest smell in the NFL", "Wham, bam, thank you for smelling great man!" Come on, are you serious? Had me in hysterics during the game though.....

Lastly, I heard it was easy and I started on a setting that was way too easy...blew out the Giants 34-7 and the Panthers 28-12 so I need to adjust that as I move forward in my franchise. Can't wait to carve out some time though and get after it!

What do you think about Madden 2011? Email me your thoughts....or better yet email me your online (PS3) name and maybe we can get after it one night??? bd@lax-school.com ....let's see what you got!

Game Day

Well it's here.....game day, pretty excited. When I looked in the eyes of all my players this morning @ breakfast I could see that every single one of them are ready to compete and......ready to win!

We're going to throw some different things at Chesapeake right from the get go, try to get them off balance and get them thinking.......mind games.

I've never felt the confidence like I have with this group, it's a special team and I'm excited to begin our quest in 3 hours to be MLL champs!

Tune in 12:00 on ESPN2....

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Sitting at the airport waiting to board the plane for Annapolis, so pumped for the weekend. Over the past 24 hours emails and text messages have been coming in from friends, family & fans wishing us luck for the weekend. It's definitely appreciated as the Cannons faithful love their boys and everyone realizes that this team has what it takes to get it done. It's going to take our best there's no doubt about it but I believe this is the best team in the league WHEN we play like we're capable of playing.

Heading now to board the plane, once we get down there we check in, practice and then have our team dinner tonight. Should be fun, looking forward to it!

FTM!

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IMG00022-20100811-0901.jpg

Wow, what a whirlwind 4-5 weeks. I've been on the lax camp tour since the 2nd week of July. Cannons camp in Cape Elizabeth Maine to Nike camp @ Curry College to Cannons Camp in Narragansett RI then back to Curry College, Cannons camp in Milton Mass and then finally a camp up in New Hampshire. I'll be loading pictures up on the facebook page.......as soon as I charge my camera! The last camp I was at is Camp Techumseh. It's an all boys summer sports camp that over looks Lake Winnapasakee (the picture I took is what the boys look out to every morning). It's a pretty sweet view eh? This camp's alumni lacrosse list is pretty deep and impressive. Guys like Brian Dougherty, John Christmas, Matt Ogelsby, Billy Miller and a lot more top D1 lax players. It's a pretty down to earth set up. Kids stay in cabins and tents, there's no electricity except in the main buildings (cafeteria, infirmary, main office, etc.). I enjoyed my time up there, met some new people and I'm looking forward to next summer!

Speaking of next summer can you believe this summer is almost over? I was following my boy KH's tweets this weekend down in Ocean City, his team Jack Lingo won the tournament......congrats Harry! OC is a good time, haven't been in quite sometime though.....those were the days, MR Ducks used to rule the beach. What's your favorite lax tournament out there? Shoot me a note let me know.

Big week, MLL championship weekend is here. Can't wait, lots to do and so little time to do it. Hopefully you've gotten your tickets. If not go to majorleaguelacrosse.com/tickets and follow the link to purchase tickets. After you choose your seat location, enter the promo code "MLLPFF" and you'll get hooked up with the BD friends and family discount. $24 for the 3 game weekend package!

What are you going to do this offseason to take your game to the next level?


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Now that's what we're talking about....

Wait until you see the game today @ 4:00 on Comcast Sports New England. We saw what this team is capable of last night here in Denver. A truly great performance across the board; in the goal, at the face off X, offensively and defensively. As a coach this is how you envision your team playing when you begin putting all of the pieces together. We put a great effort together to clinch the #1 seed in the playoffs and it was something special to watch.

Getting ready to fly back to Boston and prepare for our last home game of the season vs. the Chesapeake Bayhawks Saturday night in front of the Cannon's faithful. It's a special night because we not only have a chance to finish 6-0 at home for the season with a win but we're also honoring the Cannon's alums from 2001-2009 and to top it off we have our team awards presentation after the game. So if you haven't gotten your tickets yet for Saturday night call 617.746.9933 and get it done!

Tomorrow I have the Nike Camp at Curry College through Wednesday and then Cannon's Camp at Milton Academy starts on Thursday. There's still room so if you want to meet and learn from some of the best players in the game go to bostoncannons.com and register.

Hope to see you on Saturday night and down in Annapolis for Championship weekend. Get your tix online....majorleaguelacrosse.com

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Saturday

Big one on Saturday night, chance to clinch vs. Toronto can't wait. Psyched we're playing at home, hopefully we can get the faithful to show up in full force and be LOUD! You may see some new faces this weekend, opportunities for players to show us what they can do......we'll see. bostoncannons.com for tix or walk up to the gate and buy them!

Finishing up the Nike camp tomorrow over at Curry College, week 2 of 4. This is my 1st week though, Todd Francis (ex-Blazer & Cornell grad) has weeks 1 & 3 and I have the other two. If you're looking for a camp sign up....www.ussportscamps.com

I was very frustrated because it seems younger kids are not taking their stick skills serious enough....no matter how many times you drill it into their heads! WALL BALL!!!....SERIOUSLY!

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Game Day

Sitting in the Irish Embassy in Toronto about to have a pregame meal with the coaches.......wish I could have a pint!

Big one tonight (aren't they all?) as we have a chance to extend our winning streak to four games. Toronto despite their record is a very talented team that is on a 2 game winning streak their selves. Discipline is the key for us tonight. We need to continue executing on both halves of the field where we are at our best in the 6v6 sets. Decision making is where we need to get better at. In that 2nd quarter last week vs LI we didn't make good decisions and it hurt us and made for a pretty big deficit for us to make up. The best thing about that win last week was the resolve this team showed being down by 8 in the 3rd quarter. Our 2nd halves in the past four wins have been incredible and its a positive being such a strong 2nd half team. At least we know for a team to beat us they're going to have to give a four quarter, 60 minute effort......it ain't easy!

Make sure you check out the game tonight on Comcast Sports Net or ESPN3 tonight @ 7:00. You'll be in for a surprise, something we haven't done yet this year........

Happy 4th!


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Game Day

Just finished a great pre game meal at the Green Briar (our post game spot), thanks again Joe for comping the meal! Great steak and cheese by the way if you're ever in the area looking for a good meal. This morning we had a film session and a good walk through. Guys seem pretty loose but they understand the importance of tonight's game. Got Long Island in town tonight, with a win we take sole possession of 1st place. The opportunity is there, now we have to want it and go get it.

Huge recruiting tournament going on at Harvard right now, kids everywhere laxn it out. Teams from Mass, NH, Upstate NY, Long Island, CT......you name it. Everyone trying to impress the many college coaches that are here scouting talent. We shot some footage for our lax wall video and used some of the kids that were chilling in-between games. Props to the guys who helped us out, much appreciated fellas.

Time to go finish watching the US Soccer game, US was down 1-0 when we left the Briar.....boys need to hunker down and get it done. Next time I check in, hope to be celebrating a big win!

Check out the site for camps I'll be at this summer or go to bostoncannons.com or nikelacrossecamps.com.

Make sure you're hitting the wall, getting ready for camp!


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Great Win

Wow, what a 2nd half effort.....3 goals given up in the 2nd half and 10 scored.... Got to love it when the guys step up and play like they should.

4-2 and have Long Island next weekend @ home, need a HUGE crowd so if you don't have plans next weekend guess what.......come on down to Harvard and cheer the boys on. Let's break 11,000 next weekend huh? See you there!

Until then, camp season is here. Make sure you're getting ready for it. If you're still looking for a camp, I'll be @ the Nike camp at Curry college for 2 weeks and we have 4 Cannon's camps this summer (Narragansett RI, Cape Elizabeth ME, Amesbury MA & Milton MA). Check out bostoncannons.com.

If you want to take your game to the next level then I'll see you at one of the camps

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Happy Father's Day

Happy father's day to my dad and to my god father who we lost back in April as well as all the dads out there.

Sitting in my hotel room, just finished a good breakfast and watched a video that my wife sent to me of the girls singing Happy Father's day! That was awesome and made my day for sure. Now the only thing that can put the icing on the cake is a win on the road today vs. Chicago. It's a hot one, already up in the 80's @ 10:00 in the morning. It'll be crucial that we play smart today as I'm sure both teams will be affected by the heat. Game time temp is expected to be 96 degrees and add 10-12 degrees at field level on the turf.

I like our chances today, team is well rested (something we hadn't been on our previous 2 road games) and they're confident after last weeks victory vs Denver. Yes that game is in the past but the reason we had the success we had is not. The bottom line is if we move the rock on offense, communicate and play team defense and limit our mental mistakes we are a hard team to beat. I know a lot of coaches say this about their teams.....but I really believe this with this group. Today marks the 1/2 way point of the season. If we can get the W and go to 4-2 we'll be in a good position after 6 games. Chesapeake and Denver are both 4-2, Long Island 2-4 and Toronto is 1-5. The winner of today's game goes to 4-2, the loser goes to 3-3.

Crazy week for me, so I apologize for not blogging sooner. Last Saturday between our film session and reporting to the game my car got broken into when I stopped to get a coffee. Totally bummed me out, they stole a couple pair of sunglasses, my Cannon's bag full of clothes (and a pair of Warrior shooter shoes that Chris Davis sent me) and most importantly my computer bag which.....yes.....had my laptop in there!!! I also had my Espor key (film break down software), a watch and my external hard drive. So yes.....it was a tough day/week to say the least as I've been struggling and basically starting from scratch.

Everything is better now, as they say life goes on and at the end of the day those are material things. I have my health, my wonderful family and my love of lacrosse......time to go get a W against Chicago!!

Make sure you check out the game @ 2:30 on Comcast Sports New England or ESPN3.com

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Game Day!

What a practice last night! I love when this time of the season hits, the rookies just drafted on Sunday night attend practice and we have numbers!!! We had 35 guys at practice last night, reminded me of training camp. When we have those numbers, we're able to get a great run in. The energy was buzzing last night in the blue/white West Genny Drill (3v2's, shooter out - great drill for handling in traffic and finishing in tight...."small ball"), the GB transition drill (roll GB's into 2 v 1's on both wings that turn into either a uneven or even situation @ both ends, you decide which) and the 6v6 1/2 field drills. Every single one of the rookies looked good last night, we were impressed with the way they fit right in....just another reinforcement that we made good decisions last Sunday at the draft. Make sure you check out pictures of last night's practice @ facebook.com/laxschool.

Another early morning in the Daye household.....5:05 a.m. to be exact, after going to bed @ 1:30 a.m. Whenever I get home from a Friday night practice (midnight), it takes a while to settle down the brain as all I'm thinking about is the game. Surprisingly I don't feel that bad right now...I'm sure it'll catch up with me post game though. I have to finish up the scouting report for our 10:00 a.m. film session at the hotel and put the final touches on our game plan for today. It's going to be a good game, Denver is coming off of 3 consecutive wins after losing the season opener here in our house. Now we have them back and it's a big game for us as we need to stop this 2 game losing streak we have going. It's always nice to get back home in front of the Cannon's faithful when you need a W. The energy in the stadium should be buzzing and the guys feed off of that. If you haven't gotten your tickets yet no fear, they sell tix right up to game time. Our last home game we had 10,700 a new franchise record....I would love to break that today! This game is also live on ESPN2 @ 3:00 so set your DVR (as you'll be at the game)!

We're dressing two rookies today, Max Quinzani (attack) and Nick Tsouris (D-Mid), I'm sure they're both pretty pumped. It'll be interesting to see how they both do in the 1st 5-8 minutes of the game. That's usually when the nerves are at their best and it takes a big play, hit or scrum to settle things down. As I explained in my previous blog, having Max down low at the LH attack position makes us a better offensive unit overall. Buck goes up top where he's very dangerous whether vs. a SS or LS match up. With Nick on the other hand, we're looking for some consistent play from the D-Mid role. We have a good group this year led by Matt Casey, Greg Downing and Mitch Belisle. That fourth spot we've used a few guys to see what we can get out of each. It's still early enough in the season where you can rotate a few guys to see who gives you the most at that position. All four of them need to be better and we're expecting that to happen tonight. Nick brings speed (as did Matt Smalley) and he has the ability to play shut down D on a offensive midfielder. Tonight is his night to shine....overall it's a big night for the rooks, welcome to the league boys.

The guys are feeling good, they're loose (finished up last night's practice with rookie intro's...it was pretty funny) and they're ready to play. Can't wait to face off @ 3:00.

If you want more on those drills we ran last night, email me at bd@lax-school.com

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Welcome Aboard!

Did you catch any of the draft on Sunday night? In case you weren't aware, we took Max Quinzani at #3 after much speculation that we would. Honestly it was a no brainer for us. Even though our attack has been clicking and has put up 27 goals and 19 assists for us in 4 games, picking up Max now allows Buck (Kevin Buchanan) to play midfield. Max will fit in just fine back there, RB & Poskay will bring him along and he'll do exactly what he's done at Duke....ride hard, pick up GB's and put the ball in the back of the net. Buck on the other hand will now join Rabes, Heimer and Smitty to form a pretty lethal 1st midfield line. Having Kevin potentially dodge vs. a short stick will draw a lot of attention and should create opportunities for his line mates. I'm expecting a pole to bump up to Buck in certain situations but as we've seen in the 1st four games Buck has no problem dodging and beating a pole. I know #99 is pretty pumped to have KB up top, looking forward to this weekend and seeing what this line can do vs. Denver.

We were originally looking midfielder at the #12 spot but the two guys we had our eyes on got nabbed up with prior picks (Delaney #8 and Cahill @ #9) so we moved up our plan to get Boyle @ #14 and took him @ the #12 spot. Steven is everything you want in an attackman and more. He's got the size, the speed and can create off the dodge, be a feeder and a scorer. Expect to see S. Boyle in a Cannon's uniform soon. At #14 we took Jimmy Connolly.....although many people see him as an attackman what caught our eye for a player who hasn't played competitively for a year was his ability to dodge no matter where he is on the field. We compare him to a Kevin Buchanan, a type of player that can fill multiple roles and help at attack or midfield if need be. With our depth at both positions, we definitely have time to develop Jimmy but look for him to play some midfield for the Cannons.

The next four spots we went defense, long stick defenseman Chris Nixon, short stick d-midi Nick Tsouris (pronounced Souris), close defenseman Ryan Nizolek and midfielder Jason Duboe. All four players are phenomenal athletes and played multiple sports in high school (Nixon, Nizolek and Duboe excelling in football, Tsouris in football, basketball & track). These moves were made to add depth and as I mentioned above athleticism on the defensive side of the ball. There's a chance you may see Tsouris soon, the other three possibly later in the season. Duboe known mainly as an offensive player at Harvard, we see developing into a good transition midi for us (T-Mids play both defense & offense). We completed the draft by selecting Kevin Gould an attackman and Grant Krebs a midfielder. Gould will add some more depth at attack and honestly we didn't expect Krebs to be available that late but were happy to get the leading scorer for Notre Dame this past season added into our already deep draft.

As you can see the goal for us was getting athletic players who can help at multiple positions. When you can only dress 19 players on game day and carry 23 players on an active roster, maximizing these positions is essential and can make a difference. What type of player are you? Can you play midi and attack?? Can you play offense and defense?? Long stick and short stick defense?? The more you can do on the field, the better chance you'll have of taking your game to the next level.

Big one Saturday vs. Denver, time for us to get back on track and get a W. I'll check in on game day so stay tuned for more on that. Just make sure you're either at Harvard to cheer us on or on the couch at 3:00 to watch it live on ESPN2...should be a great game.

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Draft Day

Well, it's almost that time. Just finished watching the college all-stars vs Team USA game. The game was suspended due to weather but the college all-stars were up 12-11with 9 minutes and change left in the 4th. Very impressive showing for the college grads who strapped them up together for the 1st time vs Team USA.

A lot if chatter going around whose taking who. A couple of trade rumors are also being floated around by some of the GM's. We've pretty much solidified who were taking at #3, we just need him to be there. The word on the street is he will be.

About to grab a quick bite before we head over to the Lanman house where the draft is being held to shower up and get all dolled up for the cameras. The draft is at 7:00 on Universal sports, if you have direct TV you won't get it but you can log on to ESPN3 to see it.

Make sure you tune in to see who the Cannon's take at #3.

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Game Day

Boy it's a hot one out down here in Annapolis Maryland. We had an early flight out of Boston and got down to our waterfront hotel around 10:00 this morning. The walk through although light with #'s went very well, guys are focused and ready to go to work tonight. We just had a great pregame meal at the Turner's house, Mrs. T prepared an unbelievable spread......can you say stuffed? Shrimp, grilled chicken, steak kabobs, salad, asparagus and these phenomenal ginger bread/raisin muffins!

Now we're back in the hotel, time to catch a quick snooze before my 4:30 coaches meeting (been up for 11 hours already) so I'm ready to roll......definitely going to need a 5 hour energy before tonight's game! Big one tonight, winner goes to 3-1 and guarantees a tie for 1st place after the weekend. There's so much parity in the league this year that games literally go down to the last few minutes. Chesapeake is good, extremely good offensively and in the goal. We have a battle tonight there's no doubt but I'm confident the boys are ready to go. We were embarrassed with our play last week....no disrespect to Long Island but we did not play the way we were capable of playing and tonight is redemption time.

Time to roll....make sure you check out the game on Comcast Sports New England or ESPN3.com tonight @ 7:30.

Busy weekend, fly back tomorrow then head down to Yale for the College draft. Who do you think we should take? Email me @ bd@lax-school.com with your choice!

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Congrats!

I need to congratulate a few people although it may kill me.....Lol! First and foremost is my man John Danowski. I've known Coach Dino since my junior year in HS when he was recruiting me to come play at Hofstra. We stayed tight throughout the years. Love that man, seriously...you don't find too many men like him in this world today. I shot him a note on Sunday telling him to bring it home on Monday.... and followed up by saying, "I'm not necessarily rooting for Duke per say but I'm rooting for John Danowski to win the National Championship." He got a kick out out of it for sure. Nice work Coach, couldn't have happened to a better man.

Secondly is the man behind Lax-school.com, the main reason my site is kick ass....Kurt Griffin. KG and I have had our battles throughout the year with hoops. He got his kicks out of NC being down this year in b-ball and Duke mopping up on them on a consistent basis. BUT this is your moment, Duke's 1st National Championship in lacrosse. It's all good, seriously....it's good for the game. Now they only have three more to go to catch up to the Heels. In this world today it's what have you done for me lately though that people remember so both the hoops and lax teams need to step it up next year! Enjoy it why you can KG.....Cheers!

Lastly is to all of those Dookie's out there I played against or played with post collegiality as well as Brad Ross who I presently coach. Gentlemen, congrats.......every squirrel finds a nut once in a while!
Can't wait for 2011 lax season!!

Great games though this past weekend don't you think? Tufts (closest thing to Carolina w/their colors.....NOT THE BROWN!) pulled off a huge upset over Salisbury. Congrats to Coach Daly and his staff for making the magic happen this season. Also a shout out to Coach Jez from CW Post getting his 2nd Championship of his career in only 4 seasons as head coach.....that's amazing!!! Lastly, we can't forget Cathy Reese of Maryland (Outlaws Coach Brian Reese's wife) for knocking off the mighty Northwestern Wildcats and ending their streak of consecutive championships at 5. What a weekend of lax!!! Can't wait till next year as it's back in Foxboro!!

Chesapeake this Friday night, big one. 4 teams currently @ 2-1 and tied for 1st place; this is our chance to separate from the pack a little. I'm excited for this one and can't wait to see how the guys respond to last week's loss.....I'm feeling pretty good about it. More on that later in the week.....

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Happy Memorial Day Weekend

Well, can you believe the end of the college lacrosse season is here? Memorial day weekend, when everyone whose a fan of college lacrosse convenes in one place to watch the last teams standing in D1, D2, D3 and women's D1 (the 1st time this year) square off for the national championship and to be crowned the best for 2010.

Two big games today, Cornell vs Notre Dame & UVA vs Duke. How about the NCAA moving the start times back of these games after 30+ years? They usually kick off at 12:30 and 3:00 respectively but this year the D1 semis start @ 4:00 & 6:30. I personally think was a great move by the NCAA committee. Not only do fans get a lot more time tailgate, it will probably help with attendance knowing that if you're not a big tailgater (don't know why you wouldn't be) you could have most of the day to take care of your buiz & then show up at 3:30 and catch the 1st game @ 4. Likewise if you don't plan on attending (like me), then you can take care of what needs to be done and then hunker down on the couch and watch it on TV. This should definitely help with TV ratings as well. Lastly, the athletes aren't playing during the hottest part of the day which at times can take its toll on the players with heat exhaustion and fatigue. Once again, great job NCAA......at least you got something right with this year's tourney.

My prediction, Cornell vs Virginia in the championship game. Notre Dame is riding a wave emotion after pulling off the upset last weekend vs #3 Maryland (should they have been #3??). For them to knock off a Cornell team that's been in familiar territory (last year advanced to finals) then Scotty Rodgers needs to put the team on his back and carry them to Monday's final. It can definitely happen as goalies have done it in the past (Brian Dougherty, Tillman Johnson) but I just don't see it happening this year for the Irish. In the 2nd match up it's game 3 for these two teams. Duke won the 1st match up convincingly and then one week later the Wahoos got revenge in the semis of the ACC tourney before capturing the ACC crown. These two teams are evenly matched BUT if the Cavaliers get the play out of the midfield as they're capable of then I think UVA takes this one. Crotty and Quinzani need to have a game for Duke to stay in this one. We shall see what happens but I believe UVA gets it for their coach whose been through a lot over the past month!

I'm excited for the weekend to hang w/the family. The Cannon's are off after playing on Thursday night. Not sure if you caught that debacle but we played horribly. No disrespect to the Lizards but we didn't deserve to win that game with all of the unforced TO's and mental mistakes we made and it showed on that last play where we had a chance to clear the ball, get a timeout and set up a play to tie. What happened? We threw the ball away.....another unforced turnover......the story of the game! A good basketball player who wore #23 (45 for a little) once said, "You must fail before you can succeed". That was our game of failure, now it's time to turn it around for a big one vs Chesapeake next Friday night!

Make sure you tune in to ESPN2 and check out the games today!

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Long Island

On the bus headed down to Long Island, stuck in a little rush hour traffic here on 95 in Connecticut. Traffic stinks but honestly, it gives me more time to watch film and plan any last details for tonight's game at Long Island. This is a big one (as they all are) but with a win tonight we go to 3-0 and finish the 1st quarter of the season in the position we wanted to be in. I'm feeling pretty good about where we are as a team right now. The past two games we were able to play consistently on the offensive end of the field and put up numbers in all four quarters, most importantly the 4th. Defensively I have liked our effort in both games, especially the 1st and 3rd quarters against Chicago when we held them to 2 goals in 30 minutes of play. We need to be better in the closing quarter of the game and I've challenged my defensive unit to get it done tonight.

Long Island is a good team that is in need of a win as they sit 0-2. So there's no doubt they will come out ready to play and play with a sense of urgency. For us, it's all about us and what we need to do on both ends of the field to be successful. Offensively it's no secret that if we share the rock and get multiple players on the scoreboard then we are deadly and a hard team to slow down (9 vs. Denver, 8 scorers vs. Chicago). Defensively, we need to neutralize a very dangerous midfield group and control Matt Danowski......that will be Chris Passavia's task with the help of the entire defensive unit. Long Island likes to foul (10 first game, 8 last game) so when we have EMO opportunities it's important that we cash them in tonight...if we do it'll be hard for LI to keep up with us.

Excited to say the least, we have a 12:30 walk through at Stonybrook and then the Passavia's are hosting us for lunch. Cindy and Gary always take care of us when we're on LI so, can't wait to see what sort of spread they have planned. After that back to the hotel for a little R&R (who am I kidding, I'll probably watch more film) and then back to SB for a 7:30 face off. The game is shown live on Comcast Sports New England and ESPN3.com, make sure you check it out or set the DVR....it's sure to be a good one.

I'll check back in before the weekend as we have some interesting match ups down in Baltimore for Championship weekend!

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#2

Early morning once again in the Daye household as my 20 month old decided to get dad up at 4:45. What else does one do when up so early? Study some more film, finalize the scouting report and get ready for our 10:00 team meeting before our walk through.......plus have a few cups of coffee! Another big one today...... honestly though, every game in the MLL is a big one! Each team in this league is stacked with talent, there's no such thing as a "soft" game so to speak. The key to success is having the right chemistry in place so you can compete in all 12 games. If as a team you can accomplish this then you have a chance to get some W's and make a run at this thing; the team that usually figures this out the quickest is the one who has success. Chicago is in town tonight, two good friends are on the opposite sideline; BJ O'Hara formerly of the Rochester Rattlers and Ted Garber a former Cannon's assistant coach. Two very respective coaches in the game, so I'm sure Chicago will be very well prepared to face off against us tonight. For us, it's simple....we need to build on last week's victory and continue sharing the rock and getting everyone involved on the offensive end of the field. It's nice that we have #99 back in the line up as I'm sure Rabes is excited to be back out on the field after 6-7 months of playing indoor. With the success we had last week with nine players on the scoreboard, Paul is another threat Chicago has to prepare for (and a big one at that!). Defensively our veteran presence needs to step up tonight and control that end of the field. Chicago is loaded on the offensive end; Kevin Leveille, Mike Leveiile, Chazz Woodson, Matt Striebel, Terry Kimener, Bill McGlone, Chris Rotelli, Brett Garber. All players who are dangerous and can find the back of the net when given the opportunity. When you play against an offensive unit like this, TEAM defense is huge. Lots of communication and making sure we are helping each other will be a very important piece to the puzzle. It should be a great game tonight so if you haven't gotten your tix yet you can call the office (617.746.9933) or walk up and purchase them at our ticket office at Harvard. Hope to see you there, it's going to be a great night and we would love to have 10,000 loud screaming Cannon's fans!!

Big weekend of college lacrosse, best match up of the weekend is today at 2:30.....Carolina vs. Duke....what else can you ask for? Brad Ross and I have a dinner bet on the game. Should be a good one, winner advances to the semifinals in Baltimore next weekend. GO HEELS!

What's your favorite video on lax-school.com? Post a comment on our facebook page or shoot me an email (bd@lax-school.com). You want to see something specific in a video? Let us know!

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Week 1

THANK YOU to the 9,841 fans that came out to support us on Saturday night and cheered us to victory! I can't tell you how much it means to have a crowd like we have, they're basically our 11th man. It's a great to get the "W" for the home opener and start 1-0. Saturday night was the unveiling (so to speak) of the team we worked so hard to put together in the off season and we were pretty happy with the results. We had nine different players score goals and when your team is capable of doing that without the services of the reigning MLL MVP and Offensive player of the year.......that's good stuff. We have a lot of work to do as we were sloppy at times but we'll take the "W" and get back to work this Friday as Chicago comes to town on Saturday. If you haven't gotten your tickets yet, call 617.746.9933 as we would love to get to 10,000 for this game! The goal is to take one game at a time and not look to far ahead, because in this league you can't afford to do that as every team is capable of winning on game day. There was a first for me this past weekend as I couldn't believe Brian Reese got ejected from the game. I wasn't out there at the time so I don't know what occurred but when I turned around and saw Roy Condon (the head official) give the "you're out of here" arm wave, I thought we were at Fenway park for a second!

How about some of the upsets over the weekend in the opening rounds of the NCAA lax tourney? Army knocks off the 2-time defending champs Syracuse, congrats Coach Joe Alberici, great victory! Notre Dame lead by Senior goalie Scottie Rodgers knocked off Princeton and Delaware came very close to upsetting my boys down in Chapel Hill. This is what the NCAA tournament is all about........parity in college lacrosse. Unfortunately some of the teams we're on the outside looking in as they didn't get a chance to show what they were capable of doing. I know the selection committee has a difficult job but I think it was evident that a couple of the teams (or one in particular) who received at large bids didn't deserve to be there. That's why I honestly believe the tournament should be expanded to 24 teams (2 more games in each bracket). This way more teams (Drexel, Georgetown for example) get into the tourney and get an opportunity to show what they can do. Thoughts??? Down to eight teams and this weekend's games should be great; Duke-Carolina rematch, Maryland-Notre Dame, Cornell-Army and Virgina-Stonybrook. All playing for an opportunity to get to the big dance! Make sure you tune into ESPNU, check your local listings.

Congrats to Foxboro HS and Coach Matt Noone for beating their arch rival Franklin last week and capturing the Hockomock League Championship. 6-4 nail biter, Foxboro's goalie had 17 saves to get the W. Best of luck in the tournament boys!

Wondering how you can take your game to the next level? Email me at bd@lax-school.com

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Friday.....

Wow, Friday is here already.....it's going to be a busy day for me, still finalizing some last minute details in our game plan for Denver. I have to head into the Cannon's office this afternoon for staff meetings and then finish breaking down film for our film session tomorrow morning before practice tonight at Harvard. All in a day's work as the MLL season opener is upon us! Very excited, that's for sure....the season is here. With the season here means there's always interviews; Boston Herald, the Boston Globe, Lax United and Inside Lacrosse over the past few days.....we're ready to get the ball rolling on Saturday.

Our 19 man game day roster still needs to be finalized, this will be done after practice tonight. Everyone is itching to get on the field but we need to see who fits into our game plan and the roles we've identified for us to have success tomorrow night. I'm excited (did I mention that already) as the 2010 Boston Cannon's are ready to take the field. It should be a great game tomorrow night, weather is looking good, now we need a big crowd to fire up the boys. Tickets are still available so give the office a call (617.746.9933).

I was down at Foxboro HS's practice yesterday afternoon, hanging out with head coach and good buddy Matt Noone as they were preparing for Franklin HS today. The winner will be the eventual Hockomock League Champ. They had a good practice, intense and focused on what they need to do to win and be successful today.....good luck boys!

I also helped out a good friend Paul Mazur yesterday before heading down to Foxboro. Paul is the director of Lexington Youth Lacrosse, a very good team customer of mine. His son is looking at schools and he asked if I would help review the recruiting film he put together and give some feedback. I tell you these days that is the way to go. If you have the capabilities of putting together some shots of you in action to get into coaches hands, it's the next best thing to a coach being at your game. Make sure you show as much as you can, coaches want to see this. Not just goals, but assists, ground balls, riding, anything showing you hustling to make plays! If you play multiple positions, make sure you get all of that on film as well as coaches love to see versatility in players. If you need any help with stuff like this shoot me an email, bd@lax-school.com

Did you see the Celts game last night? Congrats to Doc and the guys as they move onto the conference championship! Now the boys in Black & Gold need to refocus and set their goal on winning one game.... so they too can advance into the conference championship....Good Luck B's!

Make sure you set your DVR this weekend....lot's of College Lacrosse on ESPNU Saturday and Sunday as the opening round of the NCAA tournament gets underway....GO HEELS! Check out the brackets: http://espn.go.com/ncaa/news/story?id=5175947

Well, have to run...been up since 5:00, early morning in the Daye household!

I want to leave you with one thing......

What are you doing to take your game to the next level?

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Training Camp is Over!

Another competitive and intense day of practice yesterday to close out training camp for 2010. We ended with a little "pow wow" after practice yesterday morning as I spoke to the team first. Captains Passavia and Poskay said a few words and then our owner Matt Dwyer ended it by speaking to the team, all of us echoing the same thing....... Training camp this year was full of competition and it's only going to make us a better team as we strive for our goal of winning the MLL Championship.

The coaching staff and I met for a few hours yesterday after practice with our owner and Vice President to discuss the last round of cuts that need to be submitted the league office today. There were some difficult decisions that were made and we went back and forth with each other until we were all convinced this was the direction we wanted to go with the roster for 2010. We had a very athletic group this year and possibly the most talented group we've had since I've been coaching. Our goals coming into camp were to add depth and more athleticism at the midfield, get younger while at the same time maintaining our veteran presence at the key positions so we could remain competitive. I believe we've not only attained these goals but we've surpassed them. We shall see, starting this Saturday at home vs. Denver. To see our 23 man roster once it's announced make sure you check out www.bostoncannons.com If you haven't gotten your tickets yet for the home opener, go online or call the office and get that taken care of ASAP, this is not a game you're going to want to miss! (617.746.9933).

I think we all knew Virgina was going to get the #1 seed last night but honestly I was a little surprised Maryland got the #3 seed. Matt Poksay and I were texting back and forth during the show saying the same thing. Despite the fact that Maryland beat Carolina in the ACC tournament, the regular season win and overall record should account for more. Even Duke had significant beef to say they should have been a #3 or #4 seed over Maryland. How about the committee giving Hopkins the nod and keeping the longest tournament streak alive in NCAA Lacrosse! If I'm a Georgetown fan, I would feel disrespected BUT the RPI is all about strength of schedule and Hopkins does play the toughest schedule in college lacrosse. Nevertheless it should be a great tournament with some exciting match ups in the 1st round.....Duke/Hopkins; can't believe one of those teams are going home early! Make sure you check out ESPNU next weekend (Saturday and Sunday) or at least set the DVR as it's going to be a great weekend of lacrosse. Check your local listings or espnu.com for the schedule in your area. Go HEELS!!!!

Busy week for me, it's the middle of the month so I need to ramp up some sales for LU team and at the same time start preparing for Denver. We need to break down film, prepare a game plan, scouting report and get ready for practice on Friday night. The 1st few games of the season are always a little bit harder to prepare for a team when they've changed personnel and you don't have film on some of the new players you may see. That's part of the job though and it's what I enjoy the most. Time to go to work!

Have a question? Email me at bd@lax-school.com I've been answering a lot of questions on my facebook page, so feel free to email me there as well.

Have a good week and make sure you're working hard to take Your Game to the Next Level!

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Last Weekend of camp

Sitting here watching the Bruins, Recci just tied it up with 31.5 seconds left....SICK! That's what playoff hockey is all about! I know, why am I typing right now? Well, it's the intermission between the end of the 3rd and OT and I'm pretty beat so need to get it done. My man Joe Beninati is doing the game, he is the man. I love listening to he and Q when I'm watching an MLL game, they make a great team. It's pretty cool to hear Joe's voice on a Bruin's game, Yeah Boston sports!

So..... last weekend of training camp. We brought back a few extra guys to take one last look before we finalize our 23 man active roster. Competition is the name of the game so far this year and it's what we as coaches want to see. When top athletes compete, it brings out their best. There are a few rookies that may push for a spot on the active roster, so this weekend will be an important one for a handful of players. What we are looking for is consistency; the ability to play at the highest level on a consistent basis. This is what separates players in the MLL. A lot is on the line this weekend that's for sure, it'll be a good one. Catz is back in the house to condition the guys on Saturday prior to practice. Then we'll get out and start putting in offensive and defensive calls, different O & D sets, and mix up the personnel, etc. It'll be good to get the guys all on the same page in terms of communication. We'll get after it a little bit with some GB transition drills and then finish up with some shooting. I'm a big advocate of shooting, all of our drills mimic game like situation dodges and are at full speed. After practice Saturday night, we're headed up to the Green Brian in Allston for a little team bonding exercise and then back on the field bright and early Sunday morning.

I just wanted to reiterate how that scrimmage last week vs LI really turned out to be a good thing for us. It gave us a good indication of where players are a lot earlier than in the past. It's the 1st time we've had a preseason since 2001 & 2002......the early years, back when I was out there between the pipes.

Sunday, 9:00 tune into ESPNU to see what seed your favorite team gets.....or if they get in. Go HEELS!

Did you get a chance to check out Holla Back w/Matt Casey a.k.a. Sizzle on Lax-School.com? Who else on the Cannons do you think we should follow on Cannon's weekly? Email me your favorite Cannon's player you want to see featured: bd@lax-school.com

Check back on Monday to see who made the 23 and why.....

Next week....Denver. Boy, I can't wait.

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2nd Weekend in the books....

I got back yesterday from Wilton, what a great weekend. The scrimmage went well for us, we got exactly what we were looking for out of it. It was an opportunity to see how the younger players would adjust and react to the speed of the MLL game and most importantly how would they perform. I definitely saw some really good things from a few players on Saturday vs Long Island. Unlike in year's past, Coach Mule from Long Island didn't really bring that many guys into camp so we were facing a very good LI team and the rookies and guys trying out for us performed well. Tomorrow we have a staff conference call to discuss cutting down to our 23 man active roster for the upcoming weekend. It's our last weekend of training camp and I want to use it to prepare for our home opener vs. Denver. These types of meetings/calls can get a little crazy sometimes because we have to look at the big picture which not only entails how a player performed but also looking at the business side; travel expenses, salary cap issues, etc. Should be fun, always hard but it's not a bad thing having to make these hard decisions as this was one of the most competitive training camps we've had in a long time!

Saturday night was pretty sweet as well. We went to the JDRF fundraiser gala in Old Greenwich and supported our teammate Chris Eck and his family as they were honored for all of their hard work and support of the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation. You talk about high rollers, everyone was dressed to the nine and looking good....check out the picture online at www.facebook.com/laxschool of the Cannons all "cleaned up" as we like to say. Chris did a great job with his speech as well, it's not easy speaking in front of 500+ people and he nailed it. Thanks again to the Eck's for having us there as their guests!

Did you catch any college lax over the weekend? Some conference tourneys were played and two automatic qualifiers made the big dance. Congrats to Coach Alberici at Army for capturing the Patriot league championship and getting an AQ as well as my man Coach T for getting it done in his 1st year at DU after dismantling Loyola to advance to the NCAA tourney. There are a few more tourneys this upcoming weekend which will decide who goes to the tournament. Sunday the NCAA Lacrosse selection show will be on ESPNU @ 9:00. Make sure you tune in and see if your squad makes the dance.....I'll be checking it out for sure to see where the Tarheels end up and who they'll be facing in the 1st round! What's going to happen with the Hop??? Johns Hopkins could be in jeopardy of not making the NCAA tournament, what's up with that? A little fact, The 'Jays have played in every tournament except 1971.

Our interview with Chris Bates is up on lax-school.com so make sure you check it out, especially if you're interested in going Ivy after you graduate from HS!

Keep checking the site as we'll have our next version of Boston Cannon's weekly up shortly and a little surprise with our main man Matt Casey from the Cannon's.

Have a question, email me at bd@lax-school.com.

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2nd Weekend is Here........

Sitting in my living room on the couch, chilling....it's been a loooooong day. I'm on the couch putting the final touches to the the line up for tomorrow's scrimmage vs. the Lizards in Wilton, CT. I'm actually pretty excited for the scrimmage. It's the 1st time we've actually done this against another MLL team so it should be fun. We're evaluating our players against another group trying to do the same thing....make an MLL roster. Plus it's against a rival so to speak so I'm sure it'll be a good run for everyone, including the coaching staff. Big weekend as we're cutting down after Sunday's practice to 30-31.

Tomorrow will be another long day, Mark Kastrud (our VP) is picking me up at 6:15 for a 7:00 bus out of Harvard. Boy, can't believe bus rides are here already (ugh..) maybe I don't like this preseason scrimmaging thing after all! Once we're there it'll be ok, probably no more than 2:45-3 on a bus. It shaping up to be a good day; after our scrimmage there's an autograph signing for all of the youth kids, then Wilton plays Westville HS and after we freshen up back at the hotel we're heading to the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation fund-raising event as Chris Eck and his family are being honored. That should be fun, put on the suit and enjoy an evening poking fun at Eck because he has to give speech! Just kidding Chris! Seriously, we're looking forward to it!

We're still missing a few guys in training camp because of the NLL playoffs. The one good thing is Boston plays Orlando tomorrow night so we'll either get Ryan Boyle in camp next weekend or Mitch Belisle, Jack Reid and Greg Downing. That should be a great game, best of luck fellas! With next weekend being the last before we open up against Denver on the 15th, the more veterans we can get back in camp the better.

I tell you, we have a good group in camp this year, it's been a very competitive camp thus far. Tomorrow will be good test for some of the guys on the bubble of making the 23 man active roster. The speed will be a little bit faster than last weekend, guys are going to have to step up their game tomorrow. I'm pumped to see who rises to the challenge, see if we have any "Diamonds in the Rough" as coaches like to say in this league. Everyone is always looking for that one player that catches you off guard and shows that he can play at this level even though he didn't play D1 or at a big name school. I think we're due for one, it's been awhile.....

Make sure you take a peak at our new video on facebook.com/laxschool. It's our 1st Cannon's weekly of the season and it focuses on our preseason training test with Catz last Saturday at camp. If you have any questions email me (bd@lax-school.com) or check out catzsports.com

Next weekend the final regular season games are played and then the selection show will be on Sunday.....can't wait!

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1st Weekend of Camp in the Book

It was great to get back on Harvard's campus and get the season underway. This past weekend was pretty sweet; the weather, Harvard getting a big win vs Princeton, the season ticket holder event and of course.......training camp getting underway!

You couldn't have asked for a better day on Saturday; sunny and 70 degrees, the buzz was in the air as Princeton was in town for a big Ivy league match up. The season ticket holder event was great, we had over 100+ die hard fans out in the courtyard in front of the Murr Center. We lead the team over to the area and I said a few words about the upcoming season to the Cannon's faithful. I broke it down to them that we're working our tails off for one reason; the opportunity to play for the MLL Championship in Annapolis. It was funny, I got a little fired up as I was speaking to the fans and you could see it in a few of their eyes that they too were getting jacked up and excited for opening day.

After the event was over, the coaching staff and I headed in to the game to watch it at field level. Whenever you watch a game at field level (no matter what sport), you get a feel of the speed of the game which is important when you're looking at potential collegiate draft picks. I tell you what, Harvard played one of their best games of the year and got the "W". The win puts them within striking distance of earning a bid in the inaugural Ivy League tournament. Princeton is still in 1st place, then there are five teams that with either a win or a loss have the possibility of making the tournament. It should be an exciting week of lacrosse in the Ivy league to see who ends up where.

CATZ came in and worked out the team before we took the field on Saturday night. This was the 1st year we took the players through a conditioning test prior to taking the field to play. It was a good barometer as we need to see how players will react when being both physically and mentally tired. As athlete's this is when we need to be at our best; the 4th quarter, late in a game when you need to possess the ball the most. As a team we can't afford a bad turnover because you were too tired to make a good decision. It was a great test for us because after CATZ finished with the players we took the field for a scrimmage against the CROART All-stars. Honestly, I was impressed with the way we handled ourselves for 3 quarters. The 4th quarter things got a little sloppy but for the 1st time out, it wasn't bad at all. A few individuals stood out this weekend amongst others. Next weekend however will be a little more of a test and we'll get a good chance to see if these players can consistently play at a high level. We're in Wilton, CT next Saturday scrimmaging the Long Island before the Wilton HS game. This will definitely give us a good indication of where players are as we move closer to making final cuts before the last weekend of camp.

Congrats to Coach Starsia and the Virginia Cavaliers for capturing their 6th ACC Tournament championship. What a performance by tourney MVP Adam Ghitelman. Perfect example of not losing it mentally as a goalie when the opposing team takes 3 shots and gets 3 goals to start the game. As a goalie that is when you need to be mentally strong, shake it off and focus on the next shot. The good ones have a short memory.....the quicker you can shake it off and forget about a goal the better you're going to be. Once a goal gets by you, figure out what you did wrong, make a mental note of it and then move on! That's exactly what the junior from Cold Spring Harbor did on Sunday as he led his team to the 2010 ACC Crown. UVA is the favorite to garner the #1 seed in the tournament when the seedings are announced two Sundays from now (5/9)....can't wait to see where the Heels end up!

What's up with your game? What are you having success with? What are you struggling with? Need any advice? Email me at bd@lax-school.com, I would love to help anyway I can!

A shout out to Francisco from Portugal! He emailed me about the 2-3-1 offensive set as he needed some help. I had no idea there was lacrosse in Portugal, he started up a team in 2008 and they've been playing ever since!

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Training Camp is Here!!

Well, it's here....opening day of training camp; I've looked forward to this day for quite sometime now. Lots on my mind, I'm excited to see all the guys that will be in camp from last year's team. Unfortunately because of the NLL season we don't get all of the veterans in camp in week 1 but there are some guys like Ryan McClay, Chris Eck, Matt Casey, Bobby Horsey that will be in today amongst others. I'm also pumped to meet the new guys we've brought onto the team and most importantly see what they can do on the field. At the end of last season the staff met and we determined we needed to be better at specific areas on the field. Well today (actually tonight) we get to see what these players we've brought in can do and it's the 1st step to building what we hope to be a Championship team. Our goal every season is to be playing on Championship weekend, it's why we play this game, it's why we make the sacrifices we do. Let's face it, it's great to be a professional lacrosse player & coach but the bottom line is we do this because we want to win. We'll see how the boys do tonight, can't wait! If you're around today, pop on by Harvard and say hello!

Can't believe the score of the Maryland/North Carolina game! The Terps (yes gave them some respect LB) shellacked my boys 13-5. Not sure what happened, didn't see the game unfortunately because for some reason they don't cover the semifinal games on TV. One would think when you have four teams in the top six playing that you would at least have some sort of TV coverage huh? Anyway, hats off to Maryland sounds like they played a great game. In the other game the Wahoos avenged their loss last week against Duke, sounds like another great game that we didn't get a chance to see on TV! Good luck to the Wahoos and the Terps on Sunday for the ACC Championship. The funny thing is there's always a chance these teams can meet again when it comes time for the NCAA playoffs which is only 2 weeks away.....would love to see the Twerps again!

I've fielded a lot of questions on facebook.com/laxschool......keep them coming! You can also email me at bd@lax-school.com with a question. Or if it's something you specifically want to see on Lax-School.

Well, getting ready to head out of here shortly and head into the city for a long day. Season ticket holder event at noon but before that we have an interview with Chris Bates from Princeton. Also going to try and catch up with John Tillman from Harvard if time permits. Stay tuned.......

Remember, only you can control how good of a lax player you want to be.....

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Opening Weekend

Well, this is it....the week of training camp is finally here as we get the 2010 season underway this Saturday at Harvard. The time off was great but I can't wait to get back to work and start this journey together as a team. Saturday is always a great day, the season ticket holders come in for a catered lunch by our sponsors and meet the all of the players on the roster in for camp. I always look forward to mingling with the season ticket holders; shaking hands, taking pictures and saying thank you for all of their support.

Saturday is a big day for the players trying to make the 23 man active roster as practice will begin with a series of conditioning tests. This is a great indication of where players are with their conditioning and will be something the coaching staff pays close attention to. With only three weekends of training camp we don't have the time to get player's in shape, we expect them to come into camp ready to go and we'll have a good idea of this right from the start. There's a lot of competition at the midfield this year, this was one of our goals coming into camp. We identified we needed to be stronger and deeper at this position for 2010 and that shows by the number of midis we've brought into camp. We're looking for players who can play both ends of the field, the more versatile the player the better.

The main goal for training camp is to find the best 23 players that we can. This doesn't necessarily mean the 23 most talented lacrosse players but the most athletic, skilled players that fit into the roles the coaching staff identifies. This league is filled with great players but the players that can adapt to the specific roles or positions teams are looking for have the best chance to succeed and make the team.

This weekend is also the ACC tournament down in College Park, MD. Did you watch any lax over the past weekend? Maryland beat Hopkins, Duke handed Virginia it's 1st loss of the season and Carolina beat Robert Morris. Every ACC team is talented and it's sure to be an unbelievable tournament; UVA will face Duke back to back weekends and Maryland will play Carolina. As a coach preparing to face a team you've played before (just last weekend) is always a challenge. Game plans will change so you need to determine what you had success with and what you didn't and then create a game plan that gives you the best shot at winning. In a tournament scenario you and your staff need to prepare for not only one team but all three teams anticipating winning your game and not knowing who will win the other one. As a player you need to take care of your body all week knowing that there's a good chance you'll be playing 2 games in 2 days. It should be a great tournament, can't wait to see it and hopefully the Heels can capture the crown!

How's your high school season going so far? What do you need help with? Identify something you need to be better at. Focus on working on that each day at practice, before practice and even after practice. The only way you're going to get better at it is by working hard to be better. It's up to you, do you want to take your game to the next level?

Need help? Have a question? Email me at bd@lax-school.com

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College Regular Season almost over....

Wow, this week has flown by I can't believe it's Wednesday already. I feel the same way about the college lacrosse season to be honest. I was just online checking out North Carolina's remaining games and there's only 3 weeks left before the NCAA tourney begins. Where does the time go???

Great weekend down in New Jersey at the new Meadowlands stadium. It would have been a better weekend if my Tarheels would have won but that's ok. It's hard to get back in a game when you spot the #1 team in the country a 5-0 lead. Although the boys almost did it, they could never get the equalizer before Virginia built that 2 goal lead. A few injuries here, a couple of pipes there, etc. and I think it's a different game if Carolina was healthy and if they didn't dig themselves such a hole to begin with. I have a feeling those two teams will meet again, if not a couple of times more.....we shall see. Back to the stadium, it was the 1st official event in the new stadium and it was pretty impressive. We took a tour underneath the concourse and checked out the playing surface which was plush.....very nice. Can't wait to watch the boys in green play a home game there, we'll have some video up on lax-school.com very shortly.

We got a chance to interview Joe Breschi and Dom Starsia prior to the game on Saturday, it will be up soon online so stay tuned. I haven't seen Bresch (Coach Breschi) in a long time so it was really great to catch up with him prior to the interview. Joe was a senior when I was a freshman and he coached me for two years prior to getting the assistant job at Brown, so we go way back. He spoke a lot about the culture he's creating down in Chapel Hill and it's something I've definitely felt as an alum since Bresch has arrived. It's the first time in many years I've felt a connection to the university and the lacrosse program that I spent four years with and it's something special he's created. As we waited for the team lunch to finish up prior to interviewing Joe it was a pretty neat listening to the pregame chatter and then saying hello to the current players on the squad as they left the room. It was an overwhelming feeling of pride and it's something that was missing before Bresch came back to Blue Heaven. The Heels have Bellarmine this weekend, then the ACC tourney, then Ohio State as the regular last season game. Good luck the rest of the way boys!

Training camp for the Boston Cannons is officially two weeks away, I'm looking forward to it as the season is right around the corner. We have one spot remaining on the roster to fill prior to next weekend. The coaching staff and I are meeting this week to discuss what we'll need to fill that spot, if you think you have what it takes let me know!! Yesterday we spent an hour on a conference call with ESpor, a company that produces software that breaks down and analyzes game film. It's something we're looking to pick up for the season as another way of game preparation for the guys. Now I have to convince our VP that it's a necessity.......and that we have to find room in the budget! Make sure you come out to opening day next week @ Harvard; season ticket holder event from 12-1 and then Princeton vs. Harvard @ 1:00......can't wait!

If you're in high school you've probably played 4-5 games already, if you're a youth player probably more like 1-2 games. Now's the time to take your game to the next level, you've had a few games under your belt to see what you need to fine tune. Hit the wall, get a bucket of balls and go shoot, work on your conditioning or your agility's.....whatever it may be now's the time to work....and work hard! How good do you want to be? Every time I speak at a clinic or to a client of mine I always ask that question. The answer is simple, you control your own destiny. How good you want to be is all about how hard you want to work to become a better player.

Have a question? Email me at bd@lax-school.com

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Big City Classic

I'm looking forward to the weekend down in New Jersey as the top four ranked teams will all be playing on Saturday at the brand spanking new Meadowlands stadium. You can't ask for more at this point in the college lacrosse season with a little over a month left in the regular season. No matter what there's sure to be some shaking up in the rankings after this weekend's games. Plus.....being a Jets fan, I can't wait to see where the boys in green will be playing all of their future home games at.....we'll have to get some behind the scenes footage to show you on lax-school.com.

There are three college games on Saturday, the first game pits conference rivals vs. each other as #10 Hofstra faces Delaware. The 2nd game is the match up that I'm most eager to see as #1 Virginia plays #2 North Carolina. Both teams are 10-0 and honestly I can't wait to see this game. Last year UVA squeaked out a 1 goal victory against the Heels at the Big City Classic. It was a great game and what I remember most about it was the fact that Billy Bitter broke Ken Clausen's ankles not once but twice going to the cage for two big goals (the highlights made ESPN!). I'm sure Clausen remembers this as well which will make this match up one for the ages. The last game of the day has #3 Syracuse vs. #4 Princeton, which should also be another great match up. Chris Bates has Princeton playing a run and gun style of lacrosse similar to what you're accustomed to seeing with the 'Cuse so there should be some excitement in this high scoring affair. Inside Lacrosse has to be happy with the match ups as any lacrosse fan would be insane to miss this event. This year's Big City Classic has final four "flare" to it and could possibly be a preview of this year's big dance down in Baltimore......we shall see. You can still get tickets at www.bigcityclassic.com

Last night Jack Reid and I were over at Lexington Youth running a practice for the U13/U15 programs to help select their in-house all-star team. Every player there gave it 100% which as a coach you can definitely appreciate. Whenever you're trying out for a select or all-star team the most important thing you can do is hustle and give it everything you have in the drills. You may not have the best stick or be the fastest player or have the best "lacrosse IQ" but coaches look for players who work hard and show that they want to be on that team and fit in a specific role. There are always a few spots for players like this on every team.....keep that in mind.

Speaking of Reider, the Blazers have their last home game this weekend vs. the Minnesota swarm. If you're in town make it down there and give the hometown boys some support! Jack was telling me they have to basically win out (last 3 games) to clinch a playoff spot and a possible 1st round home playoff game. They still have a shot if they win two of their last three but they can control their own destiny with three wins. Go to www.blazerslacrosse.com and get your tickets.

Three weeks left until training camp opens up for the Boston Cannons, I can't wait and get more and more excited each day. Opening weekend at camp is our season ticket holder appreciation event. This is where the season ticket holders get a chance to mingle with players and cheerleaders and it's our way of saying thank you. After that Princeton plays Harvard and then we officially open up training camp. Hope to see you there!

Coaches, make sure you're spending enough time in practice on stick work. If you're pressed for time try combining your conditioning and stick work together. Players need to get used to handling the rock while they're tired, no better way to do this then with running. Need some tips or some drills? Email me at bd@lax-school.com

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Enjoy the Holiday Weekend

What a great day I had yesterday. The clinic Casey Powell and I put on at Waltham HS(with the help of Brett Queener and a few volunteer youth coaches) was awesome! We had over 90 kids who were all enthusiastic, very attentive and worked hard!! When you have a group who wants to learn and works their tails off during all of the drills, it makes the clinic that more enjoyable. Prior to the clinic we were able to catch up with CP and get his thoughts on what it takes to get your game to the next level, we'll have that up on the site soon so stay tuned. I also want to say thanks to all the coaches who helped out, thanks to my assistant coach Duff and the coach at Waltham, Mike Luccetti for providing us with a great facility to use.

Last night my staff and I went and scouted the Duke-Harvard game over at Harvard. Before that though we joined the tailgate the Cannon's front office put on and had a couple of adult beverages. There's nothing better than nice weather, lacrosse and tailgating.... the three just seem to go together so well. That's why Cannon's games are so much fun.....which I'm told by our fans. Back to the game, Duke looked pretty impressive last night, they were a lot faster than Harvard, unfortunately it looked like men against boys. I believe Duke has hit their midseason stride with their 3rd win in a row.

Two huge games today in Division one; my beloved Tarheels are at Johns Hopkins to take on the Blue Jays. With the Heels playing so well, there's a chance there could be easily 10-12,000 at Homewood field today. Despite Hopkins record, this will still be a great game. These two teams always seem to have battles and I'm sure today won't be different. It'll be interesting to see if both Billy Bitter and Sean Dulaney play or if they're both still nursing their injuries. Obvioulsy with them in the line up, the Heels are a stronger team but with the way the other players have been stepping up this year it's hard to tell on the scoreboard. It's funny, the Tarheels were definitely a big topic of conversation last night while coaches stopped by the Cannon's tent. When asked, I explained how this year's team reminds me so much of the 1991 team that I was on as a sophomore and went undefeated (16-0). The reason I say this is when you're able to play three midfields, five attackman and five longpoles you have depth. At the end of the year that is important and when it comes to crunch time in the playoffs all of these players have had the experience and are ready to step up. Hopefully this is the case with this year's team....we shall see.

The other big game is the Cavaliers vs. the Twerps from Maryland (Yes LB that's right!). Maryland is coming off of a heat breaking lost last week at the hands of North Carolina and Virginia is another team on a serious roll. Virginia is another team right now that has a lot of depth and is filtering through a lot of players. Although I do believe Maryland is very talented, I don't think they're as deep and cannot afford to get into an up an down game with UVA....if they do they will lose for sure. If both Carolina and Virginia win today it will set the tone for next weekend's match up with #1 & #2 at the Konica Minolta Big City Classic in the Meadowlands.....THAT would be sweet. Tickets are still available at www.bigcityclassic.com

Time to get the day going, lots to do before I head into the city and watch another great lacrosse game at the Boston Garden as the Blazers take on the Titans for 1st place in the Eastern Conference. Should be a battle, Casey and Brett Queener were talking smack at yesterday's clinic so it's on! Hope to see you there.

Need a little help with shooting, or playing defense or just trying to find your role? Shoot me an email, bd@lax-school.com

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