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Player Spotlight highlights the finer details and elements while supplying insight to the fans on what a player's thought process may be pertaining to a certain play, game or situation. It brings the intensity, passion, and inner most thoughts of the individual player that otherwise may not be felt or heard. |
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PLPA correspondent, Kevin M. Neibauer chats with second year NLL player, John Christmas of the Philadelphia Wings. Christmas, who won an NCAA Championship while playing for the University of Virginia, is a local Philadelphia product who has just entered his second season with the Philadelphia Wings. | |
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Describe what its like playing in front of the Philadelphia crowd. |
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It's really hard to describe, the fans here in Philly are by far the best in the league, they really get into the game, and they know the game. |
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What is your biggest Lacrosse thrill? |
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Without a doubt, it was winning the NCAA Championship with Virginia. Hopefully, I can be part of winning one here in Philadelphia. But, they tell me that the NLL Championship is by far the hardest to win. So many teams and every team has great rosters from top to bottom. That would eclipse the Virginia win, for sure.
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How are the guys as teammates? |
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More like friends actually, we are a really tight group. Everyone gets along really well, that is something that makes the league so special, everyone knows each other, but the bond among teammates is very good.
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You grew up in the area, did you go to many Wings games as a youngster? |
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Oh yeah, it was great, I remember at the Spectrum, watching the Gait Brothers, Kevin Finneran, Dallas Eliuk. Every game was better than the next. We tried to make as many as we could. |
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Your speed is definitely an asset, are the Wings going to get you the ball more and let you use that speed? |
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I hope so, but Lindsay (Sanderson), Gregg (MacDonald), Chris (Sanderson) and Terry (Sanderson) have a plan, I am just glad to be on the floor, as long as I can contribute, that's the important thing.
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How is the coaching staff? |
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Lindsay is great, Terry has been really good with us. He is a very nice addition. He tells us that we can't be beat five on five or even one on one, so, we need to stay out of the box. He yells at us when we need it, but, he tells us we did a nice job when we do. |
| PLPA Correspondent Kevin M. Neibauer has been contributing articles to several on-line sites in the Philadelphia, Pa. area. Currently acts as the Philadelphia Correspondent for InTheCrease.com and also Just Hockey. Kevin has been writing for Just Hockey for three seasons and for InTheCrease for two. Currently being published each month, Neibauer covers both the Philadelphia Phantoms and the Houston Aeros of the American Hockey League for Just Hockey. Kevin also contributes feature stories and interviews for that site. Besides those two sites, Neibauer has contributed to several Lacrosse sites, as well as writing for three Philadelphia based, All-Sports sites. Kevin was introduced to the indoor game of Lacrosse in the 1970's, when as a child, he would attend games in the old Eagle Pro Box League. Other Lacrosse background: Served as a referee in the Philadelphia Box Lacrosse Association. Neibauer, by day, is a Union Sheet Metal Worker out of Local 19 in the Philadelphia Pennsylvania area and is married and lives in Philadelphia with his family. Kevin can be reached at KJIEN@aol.com |
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