Thanksgiving Break

Sorry I didn't get a blog in last week, I had a lot going on in preparing for my Physics test on Friday and totally forgot. 

Anyways, today I'm going to write about Thanksgiving break and how fantastic of a time it really is.  It's a very close second in my favorite breaks (out of three...) behind Winter break.  It's just so perfect getting away for a week right when the academic grind starts to get really tough.  Obviously, the food on Thanksgiving can't be beat either, it's just superb.  Hanging around the extended family, with drinks, food and football is just something that can't be beat. I'm especially excited for this Thanksgiving to just talk to all of my family members and brag and boast and tell stories about Virginia Tech. My conversations last year were mostly along the lines of, "OH, Andrew how's RPI?" "It's okay, really tough." "Yeah I bet, and it's cold up there too, how's lacrosse?" "It's hard too, we've had a lot of snow and sub twenty degree weather". Something like that. I wasn't completely set on transferring at that point but it was a thought, so I wasn't extremely enthusiastic about it all. But this year's going to be different and I can't wait.  And because of Summer classes it's been a while since I've gotten to spend time at home or with my friends so that's exciting as well.  I'm even leaving early on Thursday with a friend of mine to spend some time visiting friends at UVA, so that'll be fun as well.  Hope you all have a great Thanksgiving break!

Side note: Here's the Men's Lacrosse schedule for the Spring in case you guys want to make a game.

Sat.	3/1	1:00 PM	South Carolina	Salem, VA
Sun.	3/2	1:00 PM	Wake Forest	Winston Salem, NC
Sun.	3/9	1:00 PM	Cal Poly	San Luis Obispo, CA
Tues.	3/11	7:00 PM	UCSB	Santa Barbara, CA
Fri.	3/14	2:00 PM	Loyola Marymount	Los Angeles, CA
Sat.	3/22	2:00 PM	Pittsburgh	Blacksburg, VA
Sun.	3/23	12:00 PM	Georgia	Blacksburg, VA
Fri.	3/28	7:00 PM	Clemson	Baltimore, MD
Sun.	3/30	12:00 PM	Connecticut	Baltimore, MD
Sat.	4/5	3:00 PM	Kentucky	Lexington, KY
Sun.	4/6	1:00 PM	West Virginia	Knoxville, TN
Fri.	4/11	8:00 PM	Tennessee	Blacksburg, VA
Sun.	4/13	3:00 PM	George Washington	Blacksburg, VA
Fri.	4/18	8:00 PM	Liberty	Lynchburg, VA
Fri. – Sun.	4/25 - 27		SELC Tournament	Duluth, GA

Bus Rides

So today our lacrosse team leaves for Clemson and I decided to write about my experiences with away trips during my just more than one year long collegiate career to this point.

All of the trips, up until this coming spring break, have been taken on coach busses.  Very comfortable but, when taken for long periods of time just get outright boring.  Of course there are always movies, phone games, sleep and whatever else you can think of to entertain yourself.  The longest of which came last spring break when my team made the trek from Troy, New York to Myrtle Beach, South Carolina.  A total of 27 hours, just about 13 hours each way was absolutely brutal.  The year prior, when they’d gone to Florida, the team all went out the night before and in turn everyone got their fair share of sleep on the short plane ride.  But our coach wasn’t too keen about the cost of flying so he chose a bus last year.  We ended up playing a game that Friday, leaving that night and driving all through it.  It was brutal to say the least.  On the trip there, the kids who were already sick got everyone else sick. We lived in four houses, so those who weren’t sick by then got sick. And on the way back, when all the formerly sick kids felt better, they caught the cold again. So that was unpleasant.  But more or less it was a fun trip and I enjoyed being out of New York for the week.

Another notable trip we took last year was up to “North Country” as referred to by locals as the area above “Upstate” New York. We were on our way to play Saint Lawrence University and on the way we stopped in Lake Placid, New York and visited the Olympic facilities there and even got to see the hockey rink where the Miracle on Ice happened, that was really awesome. Here’s a 120 foot ski jump we saw that was used in the 1980 Olympics:

Our trip to Rochester to play Rochester Institute of Technology was pretty strange. The hotel we stayed at that night had 3 groups staying in it: The RPI men’s lacrosse team, the Philadelphia Wings (professional indoor team) and the Erotic Arts Convention of New York… So that last one included people of all shapes and sizes and to say the least, I saw some strange, disturbing outfits and people that I’d rather not remember.

This Spring the Virginia Tech Men’s Lacrosse team is heading to beautiful, sunny California! I can’t wait. We’re going to visit the Santa Monica pier and have the opportunity to play some very competitive MCLA teams in UC Santa Barbara and Cal Poly. It should be a great time, but right now I know everyone on this bus has their minds set on this weekend in Clemson.  Should be a big statement tournament for our team and program as a whole. I’ll be sure to write next week about how it all goes down.

Have a good weekend!

Relief

So for the last half hour I've been sitting with my laptop in front of the television with absolutely no idea what to write about.  I could write about Halloween last night but I'm not sure there would be a ton of substance in that. I could write about how stressful all the studying and work have been in the last two weeks but I'm sure you all are completely aware of that struggle.  So I'm going to write about the bright side of hell weeks, when they're over.

In the last two weeks I had tests in Physics II and Multivariable Calculus. I know two tests in two weeks doesn't sound bad compared to what some have scheduled but these last two weeks were crucial.  My first tests in both classes did not go as planned to say the least. Because of that, the two tests that I just had are going to be very important when it comes to grades.  Just a little cherry on top of the stress sundae I was eating. Luckily I did well on my Physics exam, scoring 28% better than my first one. Thankfully the two weeks are over and I have this weekend and next to unwind. I can't wait. Having less to worry about when it comes to school is the greatest feeling, absolutely divine.

On top of being done with tests for a few days, the end of the week brought Halloween weekend which is always a great time and a laugh.  It also brought us a week closer to the VT Men's Lacrosse teams 2014 season debut in our tournament at Clemson next weekend. With a revamped program and a lot of returning and new talent, we should send a serious message with our games this coming weekend. I'll absolutely be back to blog about those games once they've happened, and ideally pictures will be included.

So that's my thoughts for the week. hope everybody has an exciting and safe Halloween weekend. Enjoy it. Don't take the weekends for granted because all of us need a breath of fresh air among the stress that comes with going to college. Sit back and relax, even if you don't think you have the time to.

Procrastinating as We Speak

The title is a little bit misleading... Yes, I am procrastinating, but I've also already done a lot of studying and put a lot of focused time into preparing for my impending doom that will come in the form of a Physics II exam at 5:30.  I'm extremely worried because after my last exam, which I thought went fantastically, I was disappointed to find out that I got a 48%. Woohoo! Yeah! Sweet! Not.

These exams are formatted in a seemingly simple fashion, but I suppose I must've been simpler than the test that day in order to get just less than half the questions correct... The teachers create and solve a set of sixty physics problems that have to do with the chapters that we've been "studying" and distribute their solutions via scholar.  Twenty-five questions "virtually identical" to twenty-five of the sixty solved problems will be seen again on the exam, AND, here's the kicker, we can make a formula sheet! Ah it seems so simple how could I have possibly screwed up so badly?

The night prior, a Thursday night, was the men's lacrosse teams first social of the year with the women of delta delta delta.  I had a grand ole time and at the end of the night I found myself sleeping on a sofa in the lacrosse house.  Thinking back on it, we had designated drivers... Why didn't anybody tell me that they were leaving before I fell asleep? Anyways, I woke up the next day around 8 AM on the day of the test.  Not too worried, I walked home with a little help from the Blacksburg Transit in the rain.  Once I got back to my apartment I crashed on my bed, planning on a two or three hour nap before my physics class at 12:20. But what do I do?? I overslept it! I overslept a class that started at noon! Way to go Andrew, that was just awesome.  Now it's one o' clock and I've got a test in four and a half hours and a hangover the size of an elephant.  I'd never been so out of it before.  So I texted my friend and hustled my way to Torgerson to get some studying done before my exam. Like today, I had my formula sheet finished with equations to every problem from the sixty problem set and I thought, what could go wrong? (not that things hadn't already) So i studied continuously in a haze for the next four hours and once I got out of my test I was confident. I'd never felt so good about a physics test in my life. Clearly it was false confidence as almost all the questions I missed were off by .1 or had the wrong sign in front of it. I didn't put enough information on my formula sheet to pick out the changes and make the necessary adjustments in my calculations.

But what's passed is past, I've got a much more in depth formula sheet today, got a little bit of sleep between studying until 2 AM and a workout this morning at 6:30 AM, and I'm totally sober and ready to take on exam two. Well, at least I think I am. I might be hyping myself up a little bit but I guess that's what I need since I've got to make this grade significantly better than my last one.

Better Ingredients, Better Pizza

Last Winter, and the beginning of this Summer found me working at Papa Johns Pizza. Yes, yes it is true. Better ingredients, better pizza is actually quite factual.  I've come to realize that after working at Papa Johns for around three months.  It really doesn't even compare, just look at the commercials of the competitors.  Pizza hut has their "Big Dinner Deal" which includes a square pizza, some breadsticks and something else for a very low price.  First off, you just can't toss dough into a square. That shit is pre-made and it's oh so obvious to the trained eye. Second, if they were to put out that many breadsticks and square pizzas all around dinner time for such a cheap price, they probably get bombarded.  And, as I've come to learn, when you get loaded with orders they take longer and longer to make and put through the oven. I'm sure they wouldn't keep the prices so low if they knew it'd slow their service so significantly.  But it only takes half the time to make because all they have to do is sauce a pre-made dough template and top the pizza, pull the frozen breadsticks out of the freezer and throw them in the oven. Easy. At Papa Johns we would've had to grab dough out of the tray, still in a lump mass, aerate the dough with spiked rollers and flatten it, toss the dough, stretch the dough and then sauce and top the pizza.  All before putting it in the oven.  The process of tossing dough can take anywhere from 1-3 minutes depending on experience.  This may seem insignificant, but when you're working a dinner rush or a big pre-order it can set you back a very significant amount as opposed to doing the same work with a pre-made dough.  Breadsticks are another story... Well, not really, it's much the same. Making breadsticks involves aerating the dough, just as before, much more stretching, and then cutting before topping them with Italian season and then putting them in the oven.  Bottom line, I dislike Pizza Hut and the way they go about pizza. Oh, and stuffed crust is a very complicated concept if you actually make the dough. It'd actually require tossing the dough, which in some of their deals it seems that Pizza Hut does not, then finding a string of cheese that could span the circumference of the pizza which would have dough rolled over it.  It can be done with legitimacy, but again it would slow production in a very significant way that I cannot believe would be practical to a businessman. If anyone has worked at Pizza Hut and can disprove my claims I'd love to hear it. But for now and until I hear otherwise, I'm siding with Papa Johns and their real tossed dough and fresh ingredients when it comes to pizza.

On another note, Papa Johns is not my favorite type of pizza, just my favorite fast food version.  My favorite pizza comes from a small, family owned pizza parlor in Troy, New York where my old school was located.  This parlor was named "Big Apple Pizzeria", but we called it "Pizza Bella".  I'm not totally sure why. Anyways, this place had an excellent sauce to dough to toppings ratio and had the greatest combinations of ingredients in their pizza. My favorite being a nice slice of chicken, bacon, ranch. Also, they're open until two in the morning so that was always a great late night snack. It's not as big as a Benny's slice but I assure you, the taste for just $3 is absolutely superb.

The Stereotypes of a Lacrosse Player

****Disclaimer: I don't enjoy when people stereotype lacrosse players with negative connotations, I just happen to fit the part.****

Today I'm going to write to you all about the stereotypes, both false and true that accompany playing lacrosse.  First, if you're not familiar, watch this video and you'll feel like you know everything.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nqg01Nk3SYI

This is known to the viewing audience as the most stereotypical lax bro to ever grace the Earth.  Although the video is clearly satirical, it holds many truths and I will show you how they apply to me and my life.

I do name my sticks. Judge me. If you don't care for your sticks they won't care for you when you're on the field. It sounds superstitious and strange but an ignored stick won't play how you want it to.  My closet is full of pastel button downs, bow ties and boat shoes.  Most of the Summer you can find me wearing a lacrosse pinnie of some sort, whether it's from a camp or a former team.  My choices for pants over the Summer and spring include exclusively pastel shorts and athletic shorts. Except on game day; dressing nice is a must on game day. Most of the time when I hang out with my friends on breaks it involves ripping a little bit of cheddar (heading to the nearest turf field/backyard and having a shoot around on an empty net). This is all purely coincidence, by the way. I'm not a huge fan of being called a lax bro at all.

Now, I'll go over a little vocabulary:

Flow: The hair the shows out of the back of a players helmet.
Snipe/Cheddar/Top Cheese: A high shot
GB: Ground ball
BTB: Behind the back (pass/shot)
Sauce: To win a 1 on 1 match-up effortlessly
Bag: A deep and undefined pocket in the stick head
Fish/scrub: A bad lacrosse player
Rip: A hard shot
Yard sale: When a defenseman knocks the offensive players stick out of his hands with a check


But I'll go back to the video.

Believe it or not, dodging through the hallways of a house, and to a lesser extent a school, is a lot of fun. As in the party scene, I don't believe I've ever tried to show off stick tricks to break the ice but I won't say it's a bad idea either. I do grow my hair out every year for the Spring season. I'm a firm believer in the mantra "Look good, play good" so how you look on the field does affect how good of a player I think you'll be. There are exceptions to the rule but as a whole it is fairly accurate.

So that's my insight on the stereotypes of a lacrosse player. And, although I hate to admit it I am in accordance with a fair amount of them.

Side note: my old school actually played the actor in the video in lacrosse a few years before I got there and they would all give him shit over this every year. It wouldn't be that cool because he's just in a viral video but he's kind of a celebrity in the lacrosse community.

And for comic relief, one more  vocab word.

Hospital/Buddy Pass: A high arching pass that leaves a player vulnerable to devastating hits... Like I was given in the video below! Haha those are never fun.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uMY1wNMGmUE

A Shorter and More Light-Hearted Post

"As I exchanged weight from my left foot to my right, quantities of brown liquid seeped out of my shoes".
Normally, that would seem like a miserable way to end a story. In this case, however, it was quite the opposite.  In the most exciting football game that I've seen from the stands at any level (which isn't many given that I played in high school) Virginia Tech emerged victorious with a triple overtime win over a Marshall University team with a very potent offense. But a lot happened before the approximately three hour game ended.

The first quarter came and went, and so did my roommate because he forgot to eat breakfast. BeamerBall was finally back and our offense was really clicking, too. Fourteen quick points and some thought we had the game in the bag.  Well, at least until Marshall's receivers refused to drop the deep ball and the Thundering Herd lived up to their name, storming their way down the field for a quick seven.  It hadn't begun raining yet but we all knew that the impending monsoon would soon be upon us.  The clouds were as gray as the spur the moment jerseys our boys wore against Alabama and the forecast called for rain, rain, and more rain.



The second quarter was a dull one.  The drizzle had started, and as that got going, it seemed like the Hokies were falling apart.  Our consistently stingy, lunch pail defense was allowing third down conversions like it was their job and it seemed like Marshall could take first downs at will.  Because of this, the team allowed two touchdowns during this span and went into the half down 21-14.  Normally this wouldn't be a worrisome score, but it is when you're a Tech fan playing against a theoretically weaker Marshall team.  With that in mind, more people left the game for fear of an embarrassing loss.

As the rain intensified, so did the game.  The third and fourth quarters were absolute madness and we were gasping for breath every chance we had. During the fourth we managed to put one more score on the board and tie the game up.  At this point the remaining fans were glued to the stands of Lane Stadium and overtime was upon us.

Defensive stand after defensive stand ensued as a suspenseful game only became more so.  The rain was coming down hard and even my so called "waterproof" jackets was soaked.  Dripping from head to toe we continued to bellow out the occasional "Let's go!" chant.  Finally, we punched it in and had a successful 2-point conversion.  All waiting on a defensive stop to clinch the victory, our boys came up big.  But to be fair there may have been some defensive pass interference that was left uncalled on the final play but a win is a win!

By the end of the game the dark brown Sperry's I was wearing were as heavy as logs and wet all the way through. As I exchanged weight from my left foot to my right, quantities of brown liquid seeped out of my shoes.  The leather was so damp that the dye was basically pouring out of my shoes. The walk to the bus and from the bus stop home were extremely cold and I was shivering the whole way, but being able to be a part of the fans who stuck around for the entire game was truly something special.  Maybe the goosebumps I got were from the wet and cold.  Or maybe I was still just that excited.

Go Hokies.

As You Can Tell, I Don't Like the NCAAs Rules

As times goes on, advancements in technology and culture are made.  Another thing that has noticeably changed in the last couple decades is the extent to which athletes from high school to professionals are training.  I won’t try to say that the all-stars of yesterday were not completely dedicated to their respective sports and that’s why they’ve achieved success.  What I will say, however, is that the athletes of today are coming into the college and professional ranks as physical freaks and specimen.  This can be attributed to the fact that children today see athletes put on a much higher pedestal today than in the past due to the prevalence of the media around sports.  Because of this, people are spending absurd amounts of time dedicating themselves to the field, weight room, rink and what have you.  In addition to scholarship money, I don’t think that universities should be allowed to pay their athletes.  But what I do think is that college athletes should be able to receive money for small things they can do that are forbidden by the NCAA today.

            The entire sports community has been put on notice of every single step in the career of Heisman award winner and Texas A&M quarterback Johnathan Manziel, also known as “Johnny Football”.  In the saga that is Johnny’s collegiate experience was one major story that blew up in early August of 2013.  Johnny Manziel was being investigated just before the season began for allegedly selling his autograph to an eBay dealer who would then sell autographed memorabilia for a profit.  The uninformed may see nothing wrong with this situation, but the NCAA defines amateurism by not allowing “contracts with professional teams, salary for participating in athletics, play with professionals, benefits from an agent or prospective agent” and other similar rules.  Essentially the NCAA does not want their student athletes receiving benefits (money) due to any success or notoriety they may experience on the field of play.

 Prior to this year, the NCAA could sell shirts and jerseys with the names of student athletes on them for profit, certainly near $100 for an authentic jersey.  In past years, the NCAA has subtly said that it is okay for them to make enormous profits off of their NCAA athletes but that a player cannot sign a picture of himself and receive even a penny for it.  Accordingly, after the Manziel investigation the NCAA removed licensed apparel of member schools from their official fan shop, so to avoid the hypocrisy that seems to linger with them in many cases.  As an NCAA Division III athlete last year, I could’ve signed a hat for a fan and if I even received something as insignificant as a piece of chocolate soon after from the same person, I could technically be investigated by the NCAA.  Student athletes barely even own their own signatures. They only own them to the extent that they can sign an honor code statement before a test.  The fact that athletes like Johnny Manziel cannot benefit in any way from having the kind of outbreak season that he had is ridiculous. 

Students should be able to make all the money that they can as athletes.  Not necessarily through agents and the like, but rather through selling autographs and memorabilia.  It’s only fair when they worked to earn every bit of fame and popularity that they have.  Babe Ruth made his ascent to fame on a diet of beer and hot dogs, that wouldn’t fly in the ultra-competitive environment that we see in college athletics today.  Student athletes devote most of their days to their sport and deserve to be recognized and rewarded as such.  The NCAA needs to maintain amateurism as part of their corporation but the least that they could do is loosen the restrictions on student athletes receiving benefits.

I Don't Like Title IX

Title IX, a portion of the Education Amendments of 1972, is a Civil Rights act that attempts to create gender equality among high school and collegiate athletics.  While this may seem like a fantastic idea, it has a heavy dose of downsides that cause it to be viewed otherwise. 

            For decades, women have fought to gain equal opportunity and equal rights to that of men.  I have no problem with the idea of women having equal rights, in fact, I’m all for it.  But Title IX has taken this concept and, when applied in its current state, is reducing the growth of America’s fastest growing sport on the youth, high school, and collegiate levels.  America’s first sport, created by the Native Americans hundreds of years ago, is being held back from expanding at the Division I level because of  the tic-for-tac gender quotas set forth by Title IX.  In the most recent season, US Lacrosse reported that the NCAA’s Division III fielded 189, while NCAA Division I fielded a mere 61. The numbers of their counterpart, in NCAA Women’s Lacrosse, read 216 Division III teams and 92 Division I teams.  ESPN The Magazine’s Peter Keating said “A lot of the battles that seem to be about Title IX are actually not about men versus women”, and that is where my argument begins.

            In Title IX’s current form, many collegiate institutions are left with the hard decision of what to do to meet the standing ratio that 43% of school’s student athletes are women.  While adding more women’s sports to their athletic departments is all well and good, the problem begins when revenue earning men’s sports like soccer and baseball are being cut in order to meet the standard set by Title IX.  Another issue arises when potential revenue earning sports, namely men’s lacrosse, cannot sprout from institutions that could profit and would yield interest because the school would not be conforming to the predetermined guidelines. 

There are currently 213 Men’s Collegiate Lacrosse Association (MCLA) teams.  This league is made up of club teams at schools that do not have varsity lacrosse programs.  Many of these schools are in discussion, whether serious or not, of making the leap to become NCAA programs.  To make a short-list, schools like Southern Methodist University, Georgia Tech, University of Minnesota, University of Southern California, Virginia Tech, Colorado State, and the University of Colorado have all been rumored to look at the potential jump to varsity status.  These schools, all larger institutions with plenty of funding, can only explore this opportunity that may never come to realization strictly because of numbers.  Each of these school would also be able to bring in very decent crowds as lacrosse expands across the country as opposed to being a New England/Maryland based sport as it was 20 years ago.  Virginia Tech, as an example that we can all relate to, has had tons of success in the MCLA Division I ranks and yet cannot become an NCAA program because of the school’s very balanced 10:10 ratio of men’s teams to women’s teams.  If the men were to have more teams than the women, Title IX would shut down the idea and some would see the move as sexist and unfair.  Therein lies the problem.  With the way that Title IX is currently being implemented, it is preventing expansion that would bring profit (which we all know the NCAA loves) at the expense of seeming “fair”.

            

From Troy to Blacksburg

As the Fall semester begins, many of the students on college campuses around the country begin a transitional phase of their lives.  This change could involve the move from home to school, school to school, even country to country. As a sophomore transfer student, my transition was more significant than some may perceive. Last Fall I kicked off my college career in Troy, New York at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, a small engineering school just outside of Albany.  Life was great and times were good as I found my first semester away from home to be something new and exciting compared to my years in high school.  My lacrosse teams fall season, what we referred to as "Fall ball", came and went as my teammates and I adjusted to the speed of the college game. But come mid-October as the leaves began to turn and the weather cooled down I started to take note of the experiences of all my friends from back home.  Pictures of football games, tailgates, student-run events, and the like flooded my means of social media. Posts cluttered with "I love my school!" and "My school > your school!" were abundant. While reading through all the spirit-filled notes, jealousy crept its way into my thoughts. I knew that in choosing RPI I had the opportunity to pursue a world renowned degree in engineering and play the sport that I loved at a very high level. But, to me, the cons seemed to outweigh the pros.  Very often I found that my teammates and I spent most of our downtime either doing homework or creating new jokes about the nerd-infested population of our school.  Once those jokes led to realization and the lack of school spirit slapped me in the face I felt the need to take action.  Over Winter break I began filling out applications to a couple schools closer to home that had more of a community feel than I felt during my time in Troy.  The winter months in Upstate New York were harsh and having practices outside made me much more aware of the seemingly sub-polar conditions.  Lacrosse season was eventful, albeit cold, and I enjoyed all the time that  I spent with my teammates, but I knew that what I was looking for in a college was a little more than I had seen thus far.  As the spring came to an end I regretted leaving the good friends I'd made at RPI but I knew that better roads lie ahead.  What I've experienced of Blacksburg so far this fall and during the Summer semester I spent taking classes has me overjoyed and filled with anticipation of what is to come. The sense of pride that pumps through the veins of Blacksburg is absolutely breathtaking, and it seems that every corner of the town oozes orange and maroon. Given all of the differences between what I had come to know at Rensselaer and what I will come to know at Virginia Tech, I could not be more excited to work my way into Hokie Nation.

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