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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