Saturday, March 29, 2008

Dolphins



Dolphins! Yesterday I took the morning to go bike riding up and down the beach and saw a bunch of dolphins. That was pretty sweet. Actually, we've all been spending a lot of time on the beach lately and its starting to show in the form of tans and sunburns. The weather has been fantastic so I can't complain at all. We got some frisbee, bacci ball, marco polo games, sand castle building, and beach lacrosse going today. The water was kind of cold but I don't think anyone cared.

Yesterday we had our last practice of the trip (today we had a day off). Practice went alright, but I was happy to be back out there playing. I had been too sick to play the day before so it felt good to run around a little. It seems a little hard for us to maintain focus with the beautiful surroundings but I think we did a pretty good job. Plus coach bought us all ice cream afterwards.

Tonight we had our annual spring break dinner at Steamer's Restaurant. Donn Jacobs was nice enough to fund the event this year and trust me when I say we are all grateful to him for doing so. Unfortunately I'm not a big fan of seafood so instead I ordered a 14 oz ribeye steak and it was delicious. A lot of the guys got the famous 'seafood platter' with Alaskan King Crab Legs, Oysters, Mussels, Crawfish, Clams, Snow Crab Legs, Shrimp and a ear of corn. Basically just a huge mound of shellfish.

We have a tradition on the Men's Lacrosse team: Whenever we go out to dinner as a team, one of the upperclassmen will order a desert with a candle in it for one of the freshmen and we'll all sing 'happy birthday' regardless of whether its his birthday or not. Rob Bond was the lucky candidate tonight with some key lime pie. I've got some more targets in mind for tomorrow night and the next so watch out!

We head back up the east coast tomorrow for our game against Vassar College. We'll be on the bus all day which will probably will be uneventful, spend the night in Fredricksburg, Virginia then continue to New York the next day.

Tuesday, March 25, 2008

Sick and All ...

Today my cough and cold got the best of me and i was unable to participate in practice, so I just watched. It's amazing how much better a team we are than last year, although our record has yet to reflect that. Just in shooting drills today, we actually put the shots on cage so much more than we have in years past. Props to Coach Walz and his recruiting efforts to put together a good squad, it makes me feel good as a graduating senior to know that the progress and momentum of the men's program at Oberlin will be sustained.

Today is super senior Matt Markman's 23rd birthday. That makes me feel so old! I guess compared to some of these youngin's on the team I am, but maybe not in the grand scheme of things. Anyway, Markman got a joyful 'Happy Birthday' song from our team after practice and Matt Hollenbeck dumped the entire water jug on him. That was actually hilarious and fufilling to watch and he was absolutely soaked from head to toe. Happy Birthday indeed.

I have to give congrats to the other O.C. teams on spring break in their recent successes; specifically the Baseball team going 4-3 thus far on their trip and big 'ups' to the women's lacrosse team winning their first game yesterday against Pacific. One of their reshman had TEN goals. I guess their trip to Oregon hasn't been so bad afterall. Now its our turn to keep it rolling when we travel up to Poughkeepsie to play Vassar on Sunday. I really feel like we are starting to build some great chemistry on the field so sunday should be a good day for us.

I did get a little bit of time to explore the area around our practice field today and came back with this picture just so you all can get an idea of the natural beauty of the area down here. I'll try and get some more up here soon...

Monday, March 24, 2008

Eating Good in the Neighborhood …


Spring Break is in full swing now and funky mustaches and jokes are plentiful. Freshman Nick Engleheart told me today that he was really digging the vibe on the team right now and I completely agree. We are getting to spend a lot of time together just hanging out, playing lacrosse in the beautiful weather and cooking some delicious food.

Speaking of food, last night we had a huge spaghetti pasta dinner and it was delicious. Even though it took a total of 6 of us to cook for 8 ( the rest of the team had dinner in the other team condos) it turned out great and I was stuffed by the end. Tonight my condo is again combining with Drew Zambelli's to have another family style dinner but tonight we are having grilled chicken, burgers, baked beans, asparagus parmesan melt and tater tots.

After dinner Coach Walz is hosting his annual game of Risk. I'm pretty sure he'll end up losing but we'll see what happens.

Tomorrow either after or before practice, depending on when I wake up, I'm planning on going to rent a bike and check out some of the scenery and wildlife in the area. That should be a lot of fun considering we've gotten a bit unlucky weather wise back in Oberlin thus far this year, and have not had a great deal of opportunities to enjoy the great outdoors. I really want to find some of the indigenous alligators as I have yet to see one this year.

You know, the weird thing is about the effect of our trip... I'm feeling a bit under the weather but it almost doesn't even matter down here. The weather is great, guys on the team are having a great time and positivity is spread throughout the team.

Sunday, March 23, 2008

Setting Up Shop In Hilton Head ...

Whether you play D1, D2 or D3, I'm pretty sure it doesn't get nicer than this. We arrived here in Hilton Head, South Carolina late last night after a tough loss to The University of the South - Sewannee in Tennessee. Although we lost 17-15, it was the best first game of the season that I've been a part of in my four years with the Yeomen. We definitely have a lot of kinks to work out, but I'd say that things look very promising for the remainder of the season and years to come. A lot of different guys got chance to contribute which was also very cool.

The entire team is staying split into 7 condos in a beautiful housing division right on the beach. I'm staying with sophomore Joey Pope and freshman Harry Israelson, and our condo is beyond gorgeous. I'm super pumped about it because as a senior, I have a king sized bed with a bathroom thats about the size of my bedroom in Oberlin all to myself.

We had our first practice down here today and even our practice field was a treat. It's always interesting to see the different areas of the country that we get to through the course of the season. Although a lot of us were banged up and tired from our game yesterday, it was nice to run around for a while and work out the soreness.

I spent the rest of the day grocery shopping for our condo, taking a much needed nap and watching a little of the NCAA basketball tournament. Tonight our condo is joining forces with senior Drew Zamebelli's to cook a delicious pasta meal and enjoy ourselves for a while. We really haven't gotten much time to bond as a team yet so nights like tonight and the rest of this week should be really good for our growth.