PotD - I got a disease and the only prescription is more Neon.

Easily the loudest lax stick out there. the Neon Hofstra Special redefining style on LI since 2009.

Week review, Weekend Preview all in one!

UNC, Notre Dame and Georgetown all won this week. Bucknell put up a decent fight against ND after getting dominated by Hobart. The Statesmen clearly have some talent but will need to keep winning for their stock to improve further. Vermont rebounded to beat Bellarmine after losing to UVA and they didn't even have to change their mascot's name!

Mel McKee and Assumption picked up their first win of their career and season respectively over Division 3 MIT. MIT offers more varsity NCAA sports than any other college in the country which is an interesting tidbit considering their top flight academic standing. The brains at MIT put NESCAC, Centennial and ODAC brains to shame.

Ithaca lost to MCLA Chapman, barely beat Whittier and now barely beat Drew. I expect the Bombers to get BLOWN OUT by Cortland when they meet. It could get ugly in this rivalry game.

Bates stuck with Middlebury last weekend til the end and then went on to lose to WNEC 6-4 this week. They won't win the NESCAC; heck, they might not even win a game in the NESCAC but it shows that the talent from top to bottom in that conference is very even and no win comes easy.

Colorado State beat Florida handily in MCLA action without Coach Flip Naumberg who has taken what is believed to be a temporary leave from the team. Are the Rams getting back to their top level form? The easy home win over UF leads me to believe they are.

Some games to look out for this weekend are: Kenyon v. Stevens and Conn College v. McDaniel. Both of these games will be played at neutral sites. Dickinson v. Noke could be a good game, as could Cabrini v. Hampden-Sydney. Cortland Clarkson could be good although I bet Cortland wins by at least 6. Wesleyan v. Middlebury should be a GREAT NESCAC match-up. The birds really need this one even though it is early. W&L plays F&M in the ampersand tilt of the week. If the Generals win big, they could be a top 10 team.

On the Division 1/2 side of things: Hobart v. Georgetown will be huge for whoever takes that one. My gut says Georgetown but it seems like that program is always ready to lose just when you start to believe in them. Princeton looks to keep rolling against Hofstra, Umass takes on Brown for a public-private, Mass-RI brawl. UMD v. UMBC should be a great intrastate-school game with both teams looking to impress. Another match-up within the same state is UNC-Duke. Any game between these two NC schools is guaranteed to get heated and UNC is clearly on the upswing as Duke tries to find some stability and direction. UNC has not done well in the ACC for the past couple of years and you just know they would love to get a win over the Dukies to prove they have arrived back on the contender scene.

weekend review II

Maryland won. Catalino scored 4 goals but I still think he slows down their offense and the game and is a pretty boring player to watch. He also made some questionable hits, of course he is also just bigger than everyone else so I could just be feeling bad for them.

Cornell lost as I thought they would but were competitive. UVA is just too deep this year for many to run with.

Hopkins impressed with their win over Hofstra. Defensively they looked comfortable and were playing like a team. Hofstra just didn't bring it to the same level. Both Gvozden brothers looked pretty good in goal for both teams. Older Brother, Michael, was a difference maker.

Umass took out Harvard. Lynchburg knocked of Cabrini in a surprise win. Lburg could be the class of the ODAC although W&L looks to be a challenger this year and Roanoke is off to a quick start. The top of this conference and the top of the CAC is looking even better than the Centennial or the NESCAC.

Cortland proved they are the real deal with a big win on LI against Gburg. the Bullets keep slipping and although I believe they are a top 20 team, they have a lot to prove. Bowdoin took the one goal win over Wesleyan with less than 30 seconds left in a 4-3 barn burner.

MCLA Chapman bested D3 Ithaca by a score of 14-11. I think this score pretty much proves Chapman could easily play at the top of Division 3 lacrosse. I would go out there and play lax in Cali if I could!

BYU topped FSU... I wish both of these schools would add men's lacrosse to their NCAA offered sports. When that happens, lacrosse will be unstoppable but in the meantime, it is great to see the club guys balling at a really high level and filling the gap until those schools take up the mantle of lacrosse themselves.

Cornell-UVA

The Cornell-UVA match-up is probably the premier game of the weekend, at least according to the rankings. Max Seibald is a monster out on the field and is my early pick for player of the year. He just does things others can't, elevates his teammates and provides that spark when his team needs it. He plays at 100% all the time but is aided by less heralded players like John Glynn. Glynn does a great job on face offs and is a threat to score as well. He is more than just a FOGO. Do I think this will be enough for CU to knock off UVA? No. UVA is loaded on offense and defense with athletes and blue chip players all over the place. They place well together and along with Cuse are the heavy favorites to win the NC this year.

http://cornellsun.com/section/sports/content/2009/03/06/men%E2%80%99s-lacrosse-against-top-ranked-virginia

Hofstra-Hopkins looks like a good game to see which of these teams is for real and which is just pretending. I like the LI crew in this one. I also think the "Spirit of Massachusetts is the Spirit of America" Bowl featuring UMass and Harvard will be a telling game between two top 20 teams.

On the D3 side of things Cabrini-Lburg should be a good game. I don't think Lynchburg is as bad as some people thought they were after they destroyed Colorado College. I do think Cabrini is the real deal and will win by 3-5 goals. Gburg-Cortland on LI should be a great game in warm weather. Gburg has a lot to prove after getting destroyed by Stevenson. I like Cortland by a few. Wesleyan-Bowdoin should be a good game as well up in Maine. If it were 20 degrees colder the edge would go to Bowdoin but with the warm temps predicted I have to give Wesleyan a one-goal edge in this early, but important NESCAC tilt.

Neon Green & Hofstra: A Love Affair.

I love that Division 1, 2, and 3 Men's Lacrosse teams have been wearing ugly neon green shoe laces in honor of Nick Colleluori and the Headstrong Foundation. I love that Hofstra rocked the full neon green ugly look for the 2nd annual Nick Colleluori Headstrong Tournament at Ridley HS in PA[http://www.lax.com/bimages.phtml?story=2165&iid=28]. I loved it all so much, in fact, that I think Hofstra should make it a permanent part of their uniform.

I know that the Pride has a traditional set of colors and they have worn the blue, gold and white forever but then again they did change their name from the Flying Dutchmen so it is obvious that the school does not object to change or feel overly rooted in tradition. If they were willing to downgrade their mascot [it was a downgrade in my opinion anyway!], why wouldn't they be willing to UPgrade their colors for a great cause?

While Neon Green is a trendy color and it would certainly be something to set the school apart, neither of those issues are what truly matter. What truly matters is that Hofstra is doing what it does everyday but by wearing Neon Green they are helping others, setting a good example of service and giving all while making the world a better place. Now, I am sure that there is a rule where all of the teams at a school have to wear the same colors but the either the NCAA should grant Hofstra an exemption [and Hofstra should apply for it!] or Hofstra University as a whole should include Neon Green in ALL of their uniforms. This would not be a move made for good looks or a competitive edge, it would be a change made from the heart and for the benefit of many who struggle against Lymphoma.

Who knew Style and Substance could be the same thing?