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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. |
03/20/04 Michael Law - Anaheim Storm Michael Lawof the Anaheim Storm had a few words recently with PLPA Correspondent David W. Unkle. | |
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You had the opportunity to pursue a career in business following graduation; instead you chose lacrosse. What factors led to that decision? |
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Well, I'm actually beginning law school in August. I graduated with a Finance degree and then got drafted. I wanted to play lacrosse for a few years and then go to law school. I worked with my family's business in Vancouver for awhile when I was playing with the Ravens.
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Will you be able to continue playing lacrosse while going to law school? |
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I applied to go to law school at the University of Denver and got accepted. Going to law school and playing lacrosse is definitely going to be a challenge; I plan to feel out the first year (of school) and see how it goes. If it comes down to it, I probably won't be playing lacrosse…if they were paying a little more, maybe I wouldn't be going to law school. |
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Is it true that you didn't pick up a lacrosse stick until you were in high school? |
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Yeah, I didn't start playing until I was a sophomore in high school; I picked up a stick in freshman year but it wasn't until a year later that I made the team. It was a quick three years and I really didn't get recruited out of high school.
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You played tennis when you were in high school; did you find that your tennis skills helped you in lacrosse? |
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Good foot work is required in both sports along with good eye-hand coordination.
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What was the biggest challenge for you making the transition from field lacrosse to box lacrosse? |
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The biggest challenge still is the tight space and having the confidence to shoot when I can't see the net; my stick may "see it" but I can't see the net. In field lacrosse you see everything, in indoor (box) lacrosse, you just know you can score in a certain area and just shoot it. For me, shooting in tight spaces has been the greatest challenge.
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Can you explain what you mean by "your stick seeing the net"? |
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A lot of guys are used to shooting indoors and their stick can see what's around them. Guys like (Philadelphia's) Tom Marechek can just shoot because he knows it's open and I'm not yet comfortable getting in there and shooting around the smaller cage.
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So is that a skill then that you can develop over time? |
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Yeah, the Canadian guys grow up shooting at the smaller cages so they've got a real good "cage sense". For me, this is only the third year that I'm playing box lacrosse. It's pretty common with the American players; a guy like Casey Powell will score 30-40 goals in the outdoor game and then get stuck between 15-20 goals in the indoor game.
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Is the pace of the game significantly different between field and box lacrosse? |
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The pace is definitely faster indoors but I also played basketball growing up so I love this up and down game, the pick and roll game.
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Was playing on the U.S. National Team one of the most significant events of your lacrosse career? |
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Absolutely, especially with the fact that I played west of the Mississippi. I was able to break out of a 200 player tryout and make the team. The University of Denver is a school that no one on the east coast really heard of but now their lacrosse game is picking up. I coach there now and we just beat top-ranked Virginia.
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You have a younger brother who plays lacrosse; did he become interested because of you? |
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He plays at Princeton; I just watched his game today against Hofstra. He's a goalie and he's playing well. Growing up, I used to put him in the cage and started shooting at him; he's never left the cage. He's a real leader and he likes to quarterback the defense.
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| PLPA Correspondent David W. Unkle is the host of The Topcat Sports Show, airing on Philadelphia's Renaissance Radio Station, WNJC 1360-AM every Tuesday from 4:30-6:00PM (Eastern Time). The Topcat Sports Show provides listeners in the Philadelphia market an appealing alternative to traditional sports talk radio. While you won't hear antagonist callers on The Topcat Sports Show, you will hear some of the greatest names in professional sports and entertainment. You can now listen live at www.wnjc1360.com. David is a Staff Writer for South Jersey Sports On-Line (www.SJSports.com) and Our Sports Central (www.oursportscentral.com). A former semi-professional football player and ice-hockey enthusiast, and covers the Philadelphia Wings (NLL), Philadelphia Flyers (NHL), Philadelphia Phantoms (AHL), Philadelphia Eagles (NFL), and Philadelphia KiXX (MISL). You can write to David via his website: www.topcatsports.org. |
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