We are past the halfway point of the first PLL season. People still remain curious and ask the same questions they asked at the onset. What is it like? I honestly didn’t know what to expect when it started but deep down I believed it was going to be something special, something different that would be a groundbreaking experience for players and fans alike. Six games into the season I can say it has been all of the above and more. The level of play, fan engagement, stadiums and on field product are at a place our sport has never experienced. Personally, every game feels like I am coaching in an NCAA tournament game which before this season were the most intense games I had ever coached. The PLL has a Final Four feel to it every weekend.

Now, I am sitting in a Marriott Courtyard in Santa Monica contemplating what the PLL All-Star Game experience is going to be like, which is challenging considering how great an experience the regular season has been thus far.

First question is how did I get here? I am here only because I coach an amazing group of men. Guys who make it fun every day. Great players who are even better people which makes for a great locker room and enough wins at this point in the season to get me the invite to coach my “boi” and Whipsnakes on Team Rambo. I can tell you from a personal standpoint it’s been a great build up to the game as I came in to Santa Monica, one of my favorite places, a few days early to mix some work and pleasure; bonus that my daughter Ali came along from NYC to work in LA for a few days.  She gets some pretty great perks from her job which has only added to the experience. I am also very interested in her take on her first-ever PLL experience. She has been around lacrosse all her life as a coach’s daughter and is in the media entertainment business so her perspective will be interesting.

My initial thoughts on the day before I move over to the All-Star Game hotel are as follows: I can’t imagine what a game with 42 of the elite players in the world will be like when the games made up of the top 120 each weekend are so amazing. I am excited to experience it. My sense is that the games are so competitive and hard fought each week that this will be more about entertainment and showing off skill than it will be about winning and losing. And finally, I can’t imagine Coach Bates and I will do a lot of coaching, but we will have the best seats in the house. What I do know is that it will be great to spend two days with all these talented players and people in this type of relaxed atmosphere. Lacrosse is a small community and it’s an opportunity for the players and coaches to interact and play together after banging heads for six weeks. I look forward to finishing this piece with my actual experience following ASG weekend. Thanks to the Whipsnakes and my assistants Brian Grady and Mike Murphy for giving me the opportunity to play a part in this the first-ever PLL All-Star Game. I believe it’s going to be another ground breaking event for the Premier Lacrosse League!

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It was a whirlwind 48 hours starting with the All-Star players cocktail party on Saturday night. This may have been my favorite part of the weekend. I enjoyed spending time with the players we compete with every week, as well as, spending time socially with my Whipsnakes. As a college coach for all those years and now as a professional coach I believe your true measure of success is in the relationships you form. It was great to see the players interact in a fun atmosphere and for me to hang with guys I now coach, have coached in the past or simply have watched throughout their careers. The Players Party was a highlight for me. It made for a truly fun evening for everyone involved and was a home run for the PLL. It was also nice to interact with the PLL staff and for them to have an opportunity to hear how much we all appreciate the time and tireless effort they have put in to make this work. Much like the player relationships I have long standing relationships with Chris Bates, Andy Towers and Nat St. Laurent. The opportunity to spend quality time with this particular group of coaches was a blast, although I have bruises on my chest from every time AT greeted me with a forearm! I see the quality of play and amazing skill of these players every weekend, so I don’t mean to minimize the game experience, but for me the personal interaction this weekend provided for players and coaches was amazing and again highlighted a truly unique aspect of our sport.

I took the players bus early on game day to take in the red carpet experience which again was unique, groundbreaking and something the guys embraced and showed out for. Some of the most conservative players took it to a different level with the media and were made comfortable in doing so. Another credit to the relationships that exist between the players.

Like every week in the PLL the facility, crowd and level of play was terrific. It was not played like any other professional All-Star Game I’ve seen. Groundballs were contested, physical play and defense was not frowned upon and Team Rambo and Team Baptiste played to win. Having coached All-Star Games before, Chris Bates and I understood and embraced our roles. Line them up, organize the sub-game and remind them to have fun then sit back and be comfortable knowing we had little control over what was going to transpire over the next four quarters ( Not easy for coaches). As I said early on we had the best seats in the house and watched an amazing display of athleticism and skill. In closing it wasn’t the game, it wasn’t the coaching, it was the people, interactions and relationships that made the weekend for me. The fact that this was the most enjoyable aspect of my All-Star experience provides insight as to why the PLL has been able to make such an impact to the lacrosse landscape in short time. It’s about the people.

Now back to the regular season and off to Denver! Lets Go Whipsss.