Thursday, February 23, 2012

Finally Some Publicity...

Exciting news everyone! I have been working hard for about two weeks with the men and women at LacrossePlayground trying to get our new equipment, gear, and this program some national publicity. LacrossePlayground is a very well known website amongst all "laxers". After seeing SUNY Potsdam's new helmets getting some glamor on the website, I quickly emailed the writers over there and they were more then willing to do an article on us. Well here it is...

http://www.lacrosseplayground.com/plattsburgh-state-lacrosse-gear/

Those who follow @Platts_Lax on Twitter have already seen this news but I do understand that we have some old school fans so I rushed here to blog about it.

Lets see... The weeks feel pretty repetitive, and I think I speak for the whole team when I say we are just ready and anxious to finally play. The guys have been battling through injuries, sorenesses, and mental breakdowns. We are continuing to fight threw it so we can get the results we want next weekend down in Long Island in front of MOST of our fans. Being on the team for three years, I think it is funny when games in Long Island, (5 hours away), feel more like home games then games up here. It is all because of you guys, our wonderful fans and family. Even the parents from homes upstate or western New York come and support always and it is just motivation for us to play harder.

Today before practice we are taking our roster photos. This year unlike previous years before, we will be in shirt and ties. I assure you that there will be another annual selection for the goofiest photo on the team. Stay tuned to our website to check them out. I believe last year was Dan Field's but I could be wrong.

I really cannot update on anything else besides the fact that the weather has been decent until last night's snow fall of about 1-2 inches. I must get ready for my class and practice. It never stops!

I want to also give a shout out to the NY RANGERS and the NY KNICKS! Henrik Lundqvist and Jeremy Lin keep going baby!! We as a team really cannot wait for the first tailgate as well as the dinner Saturday night in Lindenhurst. Just being on ZZ Island will be great for all of us! Should be great!

FOLLOW @Platts_Lax, it is not too late!

-Mike Santi

-would not mind this every time we scored!





Sunday, February 5, 2012

A Promise is a Promise

Hello fans, friends, and family! I am happy to be writing on this gorgeous sunny Super Bowl Sunday. In this Super Bowl game, the world will be watching two teams who have done nothing but amaze their fans in spectacular fashion during this decade. I can easily say I am a not a big fan of either team, especially the Giants. The sound in my mouth makes me want to vomit, but hey, I give credit where and when credit is due and I tip my hat to them. For another year, with their backs against the wall, the Giants have endured one of the toughest playoff journeys in NFL history. It should be a good one.

In my last post I promised that I would blog after the first week of practice, giving you guys kind of an idea of how things have been going. Well I have one word and one word only, COLD. On the first Monday practice we were thrown into a gauntlet battle with the baseball team inside the field house. The list of challenges included the mile run (very happy I was not chosen for that), tug of war, Indian wrestling, monkey suicides, and shuttle runs. By a dominating score of 150 - 45 (rounded) we sure proved why lacrosse players are that much better than baseball players, would you say so? Tuesday practice took place inside the field house. I know for all the alumni that are reading this, you guys all remember how much it just sucks in there. Hot dry stagnant air that lingers with the smell of pepper that just fills your lungs in the most unpleasant of ways. Yeah well that was Tuesday. In the past years, this regimen would be the same every day for the next 4 weeks depending on weather. Not this year people!

This year, Coach Cavanagh has invested a lot of faith in the material cotton. Some of you may have heard about it before, most sweatshirts and sweatpants are made out of it... Intended to keep one warm in cold weather elements right? Wrongg. From Wednesday on, we have been outside in temperatures of no higher than 35 degrees. This cotton material that I was explaining to you before, well yeahhh, it just does not do the job. The lovely turf field has been blanketed by a sheet of ice, blanketed by a sheet of snow. Coach Pedrick says, "Hey this is lax in north country baby," and hell yeah I am on board. It really has been something else. Weather aside, the team has been getting a lot accomplished and we are slowly developing and coming together. It really is appreciated when you can get those pre-season practices outside and the issue of space inside is no longer, well, an issue. Saturday was our first team scrimmage, and boy it was a good one. Up 3-1 for most of the time, the white team just needed to fend off the offensive threats of the red team. With a couple of costly turnovers, the game of lacrosse can change almost instantly. Tied 3-3, freshman Brendan Cefalu put one in for the white to go up 4-3. Mind you that game is 5. With the white defense getting a lot of action and playing real good, junior Nick Travers was still able to rip a nice shot off stick side of the goalie. Even with a face-off infraction that gave white the ball, the red team proved too resilient and junior Tommy Kilderry finished the game with a tough dodge and shot.

The guys have just been working on keeping their bodies healthy and as strong as possible. Ice baths, gym sessions, rehab, stim, and heating pads, have all become the daily routines for most of us. It really is a long pre-season, and guys like me who have done it before, understand and value you the rest we get on days like today and the equipment we have which helps in that effort as well.

Alright, well tomorrow is Monday and that means work and classes for most of us. I really appreciate all the recent followers I have accumulated on Twitter (@platts_lax). It is so good to see the parents keeping trendy with today's social networking and giving it a try. I will soon be "tweeting" a picture of the helmets with the new decals. I hope you understand that the Twitter aspect is great because it allows me to post new updates fast and easy. I do not have to write a blog just about helmet stickers, bags, or sticks. Enjoy the week everybody.

-Mike Santisteban


Haha how can I not? What a great Super Bowl that truly was, although I was 2! Good luck Madonna. Try to top this..