Vinny Butrico - New York Atlas

SPEAKER_00 0:33

Welcome, welcome, welcome to another special edition of In the Crease with Danny and Kevin, a coast-to-coast discussion of D2 Men's Across. I'm your co-host, Kevin Stenstrom, and with me as always is the man who always rides in style, metaphorically and now physically, Danny Moran. Hey, Danny.

Intro

SPEAKER_01 0:54

Kevin, my man, how are you? I have missed you, my friend. I have missed you. This summer has gone by at warp speed. It has. And we are starting our seventh season with this crazy podcast of ours. And I am excited for another season. I really am. I couldn't wait to see you this morning.

SPEAKER_00 1:14

Yeah, it's crazy. We've we've been away for a little bit. We had a little bit of a special edition with uh with uh podcast with Kyle Lewis. We have another one was phenomenal, right?

SPEAKER_01 1:24

Did you see him last week with his hat trick? He's unbelievable. So happy for the young man. So happy for him.

SPEAKER_00 1:32

He represents D2 very, very well. And as we go forward, Danny, this kind of episode and the several coming up really kind of help us get ready for the seventh season, which I can't believe we're doing. But it's time to warm up those vocal cords. But let me ask you, how's your summer going? How's it going out there in northern Virginia, Kev? It's like you said, Danny, it's been fast and furious. I can't even tell you. I don't even know what I did. I don't even know what I did. Have you played any golf? I have played some golf. I have to admit that.

SPEAKER_01 2:05

I have to say that I have not swung one club all summer. I have been trying to get my thousand hours in so I could retire, which is now in the books. I will be officially retired on the 22nd of this month. The papers are in. Congratulations. Thank you so much. I spent a lot of time working this year. Like I didn't think I would be doing it at this stage of the game, but I spent a lot of hours working just trying to get those thousand hours in. So I retire at the end of the month, and I'm looking forward to the next chapter of my life. And I get to spend more time with the lacrosse, man.

SPEAKER_00 2:44

Yeah. Well, I'll tell you what, I think you probably spent your time more wisely than me because my game hasn't improved over the times of playing golf.

SPEAKER_01 2:50

So but I got some music to get us through this. Oh, well, let's let's hear it. Here we go.

SPEAKER_02 2:56

Take this job and shove. I ain't working no more.

SPEAKER_01 3:01

That's right. I ain't working no more. I like it. Little Johnny Paycheck. Nothing like country music on a Saturday morning. That's right. Take this job and shove it. I ain't working here no more. All right, had to get that in there.

SPEAKER_00 3:26

I love it. I love it. That's a great tribute. And if people don't realize what I meant by metaphorically and now physically, you treated yourself to a little bit of a retirement gift. Yes, I'm well deserved with a new ride.

SPEAKER_01 3:42

Thank you so much for that. Yeah, bought myself a new truck uh with all the bells and whistles. Kevin, it's my very first new car. Could you imagine being in your 60s before you bought your first new car? I've I've bought used all my good used cars. I've had nice used cars, but they've been used. So this was the first time I went to a car dealer and actually bought a new car, haggled with the guy. He was he was laughing at me.

SPEAKER_00 4:11

Oh you uh we talked about this. You and my wife would get along great because she's a pro at haggling. We spent when we bought our Nissan Armada back in 2012, brand new, she spent about six hours haggling with the dealer.

SPEAKER_01 4:28

It doesn't surprise me.

SPEAKER_00 4:30

I could I was I was extremely tired by the end of the day, and I didn't really say much during the whole thing.

SPEAKER_01 4:35

I to be honest, it was funny. I it was it was Labor Day. So I had the day off from work. It was a beautiful beach day. I could have been on the beach. Yeah. I called the dealer in the morning. He says, Yes, sir, we got the truck. Here, come on in. So I go in. They ain't got the truck, they got the souped up model.

SPEAKER_00 4:53

Yeah, they they wanted to uh upgrade you immediately.

SPEAKER_01 4:55

I told him I said, dude, you're wasting my time. I should really go like right now. Like you wasted my time. So like I gave him that, like right out of the gate. And he was like, Well, what can we do to get you in there? It's like, like, oh, you need to come way down. And we just kept, I was there, like you said, Kendall was there for six hours. I was there for four and a half hours. And finally, I got a good deal. You know, I got what I wanted, and it's in my price range. So I'm all happy. Brand new brand new truck, four four by four, off-road, got all the bells and whistles.

SPEAKER_00 5:28

It does. It looks beautiful. I saw pictures of it. I saw pictures of it. I appreciate that, man. Appreciate it. Okay, but now it is time to warm up our vocal cords as we get ready for their seventh season, like I said. And to help us out, we have a really special guest. We have wanted to get him on the show for a month, over a month now. As you remember, we talked about this at the beginning.

Vinny Butrico

SPEAKER_00 5:54

Back in June, we interviewed Kyle Lewis, a D2 player from the North region who made it in the PL. Well, then a second D2 player, this time from the South region, and a team that we know pretty darn well, made it to the PLL. So let's just welcome them in, Vinny Batrico of the New York Atlas. Hey Vinny. How are you guys doing? Thanks for having me.

SPEAKER_01 6:20

Vinny, good to see you, my man. How's everything going?

SPEAKER_04 6:25

It's good to be back in North Carolina. The heat's finally starting to cool down a little bit. We got football starting up. It's best time of year.

SPEAKER_01 6:31

Yeah, my son said it was still pretty, pretty hot down there.

SPEAKER_04 6:34

Yeah, it's taking it's taking its days, but it's starting to cool down. I'm hoping it cools down quicker than it did last year, but the heat's unbearable.

SPEAKER_01 6:42

So wow, what a what's what a what a year you've had this past year. Your your last senior season at Wingate University was just a remarkable season for you personally. Um you did something that I've never seen a Division II player do this year, and I've been around the Division II for quite a while, and I've seen some great players. I I could name some of the players that stood out, but what you did that afternoon against the Anderson Trojans with 11 goals was something I have never witnessed in my life. Tell us what that day was like a little bit. Let's start off with that day at the scene setter.

SPEAKER_04 7:28

Uh unironically, it was probably like the least structured preparation I've ever had before a game. I'm usually very big on like making sure that like my morning before night game super cleared out, and my time management that week was terrible. I had to write like half a paper that morning when I woke up. I had two assignments to get done. I had a meeting with my advisor, and what I the conclusion I came to is that it indirectly helped me, and I wasn't thinking about the game at all because I showed up to the stadium and I was kind of rattled. I was like, wow, the day went quick. Like this game came up on me fast. So I was just trying to find a way to calm myself down. And I unironically, kind of ironically, put on uh Troy the movie. And um I fell asleep on the bus, missed probably half of it, and I woke up like 30 minutes of Anderson, and it was coincidentally right when they were sliding out of the Trojan horse to attack everybody inside the stadium. And I screen recorded it and I sent it to my whole team, and I just kind of had as much as I can say, I felt something was different. I think everybody on my team kind of felt something was a little bit off that day. And um, when we went out there, I actually like had probably the worst start to a game I've I've ever had. I think I missed a creased dunk like wide completely, threw it to the end line, and then tried to like dodge and transition, got yard sailed, had Coach Boyle yelling in my ear. I just remember all of these things like being thrown my way. But the one thing Boyle said was, You don't look like yourself right now, dude. Like, you you don't look like us at all. Yeah, a minute into the game, and I just remember that moment being like, okay, like I must just look really uncomfortable right now. Like, let's just try and be comfortable. And then I made a few plays and at halftime. I think that what they were doing with matchups and like the few switches they tried to make because teams were trying to junk things up to mess with Kyle and all the success we had the year prior. Right. Um, our coaches and all of our teammates, like Joey, Jackson, they're all looking at me like, dude, like you have the hot hand right now. And I I didn't even believe in it yet. I was like, okay. You want me to dodge every time? Like it's usually Kyle. Um, but they were confident in it, so I was like, all right, sure. And slowly enough, the third quarter just kind of snowballed because I was very confident in the plays that were happening. And I think every time I scored, my teammates were running into the huddle, like, dude, like you have seven, or like you have eleven, or however many I had at the time.

SPEAKER_01 9:55

Right, right.

SPEAKER_04 9:56

And I just remember I do so much work in the mental game and stuff, and I remember realizing that I was in like a a blacked-out state. And then whenever my teammates were saying this stuff, I was like, uh uh, I don't want to talk about it yet. Like the game's still going on. Right, right. And um yeah, the game just progressed, and it was like one of the more storybook games I've ever played in terms of the way it played out. Like we were losing to what last minute.

SPEAKER_01 10:20

Yeah, that was amazing.

SPEAKER_04 10:23

Like despite the runs that were going on, like we were trailing major. I thought we were still gonna lose at a point. I was like, oh my god, this is this is insane. But that day was just in terms of preparation, it was out of the ordinary because I was very distracted. But in terms of me, it was very ordinary, very mindless, very childlike. It was the most loose I've ever played a game by far.

SPEAKER_01 10:46

Well, it was a remarkable day, which I was like, oh my god. And I'm saying to myself, boy, I just hope those guys just keep feeding them. Keep feeding them. Yeah, yeah. Just keep feeding them. Because when you got the hot hand like that, you just keep feeding them, you know. That that was probably the most remarkable single performance I've ever seen by a Division II lacrosse player. So my my hat, I tip my.

SPEAKER_00 11:10

I don't think I've seen uh D1 players really doing that. I don't remember one scoring 11. I'm sure there have maybe there has been, but look at this, isn't like Anderson is a phenomenal team. Well, that's what I was gonna get at, Kevin. And to do it against right. And the thing that just shocks me in a way is the fact that you said you would think, or I would think, then he was locked in all day getting ready for that game. Locked in. And when Coach Boyle says you, you don't look right, man, that you weren't even locked in for the first few minutes. It just I mean it it it it it snowballed for you during that game. That's just it was amazing.

SPEAKER_04 11:51

It was one of those things that it was like, you know, and you tell a pitcher that he's about to throw a perfect game in the middle of a perfect game and it's like against the rules. Right. Yeah, that's how it's don't tell me what I'm doing. Yes, I don't want to think about the state I was in five minutes ago. I'd rather think about it after the game, and it definitely helped. That was a wild day.

SPEAKER_01 12:09

That was a great day. Uh let me ask you this. You came from Division I Marist uh to Wingate. Tell us about what Wingate meant to you and your personal in your lacrosse experience.

SPEAKER_04 12:22

Um, it's it's a lot. It's very deep for me because when I was leaving Marist, I was having a lot of like personal battles, whether it was self-confidence, just mental health issues, a lot of things going on in my relationship with me and lacrosse, and whether I had attributed to my coaches, the place I was at, I was just pretty down on my on my luck in my own head. So I really needed a change of pace. And for me, when I was thinking about making that decision, I had played high school with Matt and played club with Joey and Matt, Maggie Arsenal. I knew all these guys that had a rapport with Boyle, and I asked them, like, why did why do you play for this guy? Why do you guys stay here for four years? What separates them from Lenora and our Adelphi up the road? And the first thing they said was, Boyle is the closest thing I've had to like a father when I'm at school. And that was the first time I had heard that trait thrown around outside of people just talking about how good their coach is, how tactically sound they are. And I was like, well, that's the first time I've ever heard a somebody just such so impactful in who they are as a person that that's how they're being spoken about. So I was confident making my decision, and then when I got there, the struggles that I encountered, the family that I had around me, and the things that rang true about the people on the place between the coaches and my teammates, like I'm forever indebted to that place. It is in the middle of nowhere, North Carolina, and all people talk about when you take your first visit is how beautiful the campus is and how there's nothing to do and you leave it. And I couldn't be more untrue when you get to meet the quality of the people you're surrounded by. I had trouble finding downtime. I had trouble finding time to myself. We were always in each other's faces, but it turned into us always trying to figure out problems that we had on the field and off the field. It really, it really just bred something in me that that taught me how to be a part of a family. You know what I mean? Holding each other accountable, making sure everybody's head's in the right space. It's something that I'm gonna miss very dearly. And I know that amongst my entire, I had a large senior class, 20 guys, everybody's feeling that above any of the the lacrosse stuff is just not being around each other, not being with each other all day, not messing with each other, having each other to kind of fall back on. I think I wear my my my bulldog gear with a lot of pride, and especially being being given the opportunity to compete at the next level and being kind of one of the first wing geek guys to do it. I I hold my head very high on representing Boyle and the program that he's built.

SPEAKER_00 14:50

So well said. That's amazing. So well said. Let's so let's talk about that. Let's talk about that transition to the next level. I'm a huge PLL fan, so is Danny. A lot of people watching the PL, they're watching how the New York Atlas are going. They have trouble. You know, Jeff Teat's out for the year, they're looking for a lefty. They they bring in Matt Rambo. Matt Rambo doesn't work out. Next thing we hear is Vinny Batrico. Now, Vinny, from our perspective, the right choice, but who knew your name outside of Wingate and and the sack, right? And so how did that transpire? How did you get to being called up and given a contract with New York Atlas?

SPEAKER_04 15:38

It's actually very funny. I've had guys on my own team ask the same question because they didn't know who I was, so they they were quite serious themselves.

SPEAKER_03 15:46

That's crazy.

SPEAKER_04 15:48

So yeah, as soon as school had ended, I kind of had that same like buffer period that every kid has when they end college sports. I was just freaking out because I was home all day and my friends weren't in the next room. So I wasn't super focused on anything but losing lacrosse and losing my friends. So I was like, I really just want to play in the PLO. Like I've wanted to play professional lacrosse since I was a kid, and now I'm feeling the separation from it tenfold. Like nobody's playing. My career is on paper over. So I would say probably like five days after I had gotten home, I reached back out to all my coaches that I had played for when I was in college. I reached out to Coach Boyle and then my coaches at Maris pretty much I did things that I didn't even expect myself to do. I reached out to coaches I never played for, coaches that had recruited me just to kind of hope that I had been nice enough and respectful enough to at least earn their help if they thought that I fit the mold for what I was trying to do. And um, I didn't get much feedback. I got a ton of I will help every way I can, but not a lot of real knowledge on who they were speaking to, what they were doing for me. So I was like, all right, I gotta take this into my own hands. Like, there's no way I can be sure that these people are taking time out of their own day to help me get into the PLL. So I just went on the website and I looked at all of the lists, and every team has a list of their coaching fellows, their GM, and their head coach. And I was just Googling them. So I paid for, specifically with the Atlas guys, I paid for my head coach's number on white pages. I found my GM's number through like his school page because he coaches college across. I in total ended up buying like 10 phone numbers on white pages, like sending 50 LinkedIn emails. I was DMing coaches on Instagram, on Twitter. I DMed Dan Arestia to try and just get his help to talk to him, whether he thought I was even in the right realm of thinking I belong there. And um, I was just getting positive feedback for a while, but I was doing that like since May. So it was a long process. You know, the pro day happened and I wasn't officially a part of the player pool because I hadn't figured out how to do that yet. So I wasn't invited. And that was like that like blew my casket. I was like, what? Like that would have been the perfect opportunity for me to go prove myself, to go do everything I wanted to do.

SPEAKER_03 18:05

Right.

SPEAKER_04 18:05

But it turned out to benefit me. Um, I continued and I stayed steadfast, like I was talking about. I think with the Atlas coaches specifically, because I saw the hole that you guys were speaking about. I watched them pick up Matt Rambo. I was frustrated that I wasn't getting an opportunity, but I kind of just kept messaging them and I started building a um a mental performance coaching business. I was training guys and I was trying to find my way in the door by any means necessary. So I actually like the last four messages I had sent to the people from the Atlas were all about like me offering like a free, like, let me just come talk to the locker room and see if I can help the guys out from a mental standpoint. I just want to be in a PLL locker room.

SPEAKER_02 18:46

Right, right.

SPEAKER_04 18:47

I will help even if I'm not playing. Like I'm too positive, I read too many books, and I do too much mental work. As long as I'm around the guys, my impact will kind of flow. And I had turned my attention to box come mid-July. I was like, the deadline's coming up, I might as well like work my way into the NLL and prove myself there. And as funny enough, I actually on a Sunday morning, I was about to go play a bunch of box games in Virginia, and it was too much for me at the time. And I didn't go, but found out I would have played a lot, and I freaked out. Like I was so upset. I was like, that's how I would have been like getting filmed for the NLL. Like I'm missing opportunities. And I just remember sitting down, I prayed for like an hour on a Sunday. I had sent another message to the Atlas about doing mental performance stuff probably three, four days before. And I woke up the next morning to uh just a text from my GM that said, Do you have a minute to speak? And he just added me to the roster right then and there.

SPEAKER_01 19:43

Wow. Wow. So that perseverance and it it just paid off. Yeah. And never seen you. Like they probably had to go look at some video of you somewhere, right?

SPEAKER_04 19:56

So yeah, I had highlight tape that I made that I was emailing everybody. I had a ton of film that I was personally sending, so that they had like any type of who is this guy? What does he play like? Um, and then they had told me from there, like okay, because I got signed the week that we were playing in Denver. Right.

SPEAKER_00 20:15

So it was you got signed midweek, right? And then they had a game that you weren't in, you weren't activated, correct?

SPEAKER_04 20:21

Yeah, I wasn't even in Denver. I didn't even. So yeah. So they you don't even if if you're not activated, you practice uh in case it's an interesting way that you have to like if you're not activated, you can practice, you have to travel yourself. So like I had to go. They basically tell told me, like, we're adding you, and like it seemed from my message, like the way they had spoken to me at first, I was just like, oh, like we just want to get a look at me for the future, maybe see if I can come out to a few practices. I'm probably not gonna play at all this year. Um, but that's what they had told me. They were like, we just want to get a look at you. So like try and get to the practices that you can. And they were going based off of my original like living situation, which was Long Island. So they were like, aim for Philly in Boston. And I'm a knucklehead, so I was like, okay, they gave me the opportunity. If they told me I can pay and show up to practice, I'm gonna go to every one that I can. Right. So they expected me, they were like, we expect you to be in Philly and Boston, don't worry about the other ones, it's they're pretty far. So then I like, and talking to my mom, I was about to go to Denver just to get practice in. I was looking at next morning lights. Um that was kind of crazy. So I was like, all right, I'll just give myself the week and I'm gonna go to Columbus. It's only an eight-hour drive and it's through the mountains. And to me, that was like it's a no-brainer. It's the same thing as going to the other places, but I don't think they really even expected me to be there for practice. Because I told them I was coming, and then we went and we were preparing for the game, and I was like playing like faceoff guy and D mid at practice. Okay. I didn't do like any offensive. Of work before I played my first game.

SPEAKER_02 22:02

Okay. Wow.

SPEAKER_04 22:03

We went through an entire practice where I was taking face-offs against Trevor Baptiste guarding from Kelleher. And I'm like dying. I have no gas tank because I'm an attackman in the middle of a summer that he took off. And um at the end of the practice, the stuff obviously happened, and I didn't know anything for sure. My teammate was supposed to supposed to be healthy enough the next morning. And I was just like laying in my bed the next morning and found out like three hours, four hours before the game that I was getting my number called.

SPEAKER_00 22:37

That's that is that is what a great story. You're you're facing off against Trevor Baptiste the day before the game, and then you know three hours before. That was one of my questions. What was that like in the game? You joining them mid-season like that, really no chemistry on the field. I was watching you during the game. I'm watching, you know, it do you have to just roll back to some rudimentary skill sets to just like look for that gap? Like when you're your goal, like there was a good gap. You had a sweet cut, but that was exactly where you needed to be.

SPEAKER_04 23:16

Yeah, I think um the speed of the game and like the shortened shot clock, the shortened field, like it changes the schematic way that that everybody does everything. It's a lot more instinct and relying on your guys' ability to make plays in that gray area because that's how teams kind of like bury another one earlier, gain a lot of momentum. So going in, I was so nervous. Like I was like, oh my God, I don't even know the offense. I haven't dodged against anybody in the PL. What's my game? I haven't put a shot past the goalie yet. Like the first one I put past the goalie was in the game.

unknown 23:49

Right.

SPEAKER_04 23:49

And I was just like, all right, like thinking, all right, like what can I, like what do I know for sure makes me a kid lacrosse player? I had an hour to think about it, and I was like, honestly, like moving the ball, making quick decisions, and just running everywhere. And that was kind of my motto for the first game. But to your point, um, yes, I think having more schematic just experience with the team in like a training camp or something when I got to go out there and attack was something that hindered my thought process a little bit, my my mental game a little bit, because I was almost trying to play to a scheme that didn't exist. One that I didn't understand well enough to play to yet. So yes, it definitely provided it provided both both sides of that. But that's why I'm so grateful that that happened in my rookie year is I kind of learned the balance of both sides without it having to be like a championship losing thing or a championship winning thing. I got to experience some success that came from instinctual fundamental playing, but then I also got to experience some adversity when you try and step away from that, but also when you lean into that as well. So yeah, I think just commitment to yourself and how you play the game and like why you're a good player is very important. Um the long, like from my observation, the oldest guys in the league are all the guys that are formless. You got your Zach Courier's, your Eli Gobricks, these guys that could show up and play LSM one week, D MIDI the next, or O Midi the third. Right. Um just being a really good lacrosse player, and that's why I had mentioned that when I was thinking too much about schematics, I struggled. When I thought about fundamentals and playing the game at a high level, I succeeded. And that's kind of just what I've drawn from this the overly fast-paced nature of the game and the ton of skill out there, as I think that's what makes guys successful is the commitment to the things that they know makes them a good player.

SPEAKER_01 25:38

Well, you know, Vinny, you grew up on Long Island and you started at a very young age. And, you know, on Long Island here, we produce the best lacrosse players in the world. I don't give a shit about the Maryland people. But you know what? We we play a different style of game than the Maryland kids, you know. And I say we because I'm from Long Island, but you know, when you come from Long Island and you play such a high level, and you start high level at an early age in Long Island, you know, like like I've been to tournament games with sixth and seventh graders that these kids could ball.

SPEAKER_04 26:15

They're running offenses in depth.

SPEAKER_01 26:18

These kids were talented, some kids could go both ways, they were dogs on ground balls, they were, you know, checking and poke checking and doing all the fundamentals that you don't even see in some high schools, you know, and and some some smaller colleges. Yeah. So like the the level of lacrosse is so good, like your IQ is already there. So now, like you said, you used your instinct, and that's that IQ, and that's that background from from Long Island and and everything. Let's talk about the mental game because I've seen some of your Instagram, I follow you, and I find it so interesting that how how did you kind of get into the mental game and what made you get that and and and what are you looking to do going forward with that?

SPEAKER_04 27:08

Absolutely. Yeah, so it kind of goes back to my journey between Marist and Wingate, because I had a great freshman year at Marist. I like only played man up, but I led the country in man-up goals. If we were going climbing a ladder, the next step was for me to be a starting attackman and kind of take a bigger role in the offense. And I was so focused on that that when I got back to school, I was playing to standards that I didn't even know how to yet. And I was just playing to funky notions that I had never played to before. So I struggled and then did not know how to get out of my own head. I thought the only reason I wasn't playing was the coaches I had. That was it. And that just wasn't the truth. You know what I mean? I was young, I was immature, and I went into the meeting at the end of the year looking for answers that weren't said. So no matter what, we didn't see eye to eye, even though those coaches I played for at Marist were some of the most tactically sound coaches I've ever played for, and some of the best coaches I've ever played for, I was too immature to hear what they were saying for what it was. So I thought going to a school where I was in better shoes and kind of could experience that adversity in a game would change that, and it didn't. We ended up, I you you probably remember it very well. It was my first year at Wingate. We lost to Lenore Ryan, who I had heard of, and then we were playing Newberry on a Wednesday night, who I had never heard of. And I'd asked all my teammates, who are these guys? Are they very good? And I made the mistake of asking the stud veterans who didn't want to give the other team any credit. And they were like, Yeah, like we we always give those guys a lump. It's a good game, but like, whatever. So I wasn't expecting much, and then we went out and lost. And then we went out and lost to Anderson, and we just kept losing games. I was like, oh my god, like the problem is not where my feet were. Like, I'm not playing great, I'm not shooting great, my team's not succeeding. And I always thought one of my best qualities of, like I had said, with the locker room stuff was just my ability to uplift the people around me. So at that point, I knew we were in a different, I was fighting a battle that I didn't even know yet. So I called my mom. I was like, Whoa, what do we do? Like, why do I feel like this? She went looking through the internet and found this dude, Drake Davis, through Brian Cain's performance company. And the guy got on the phone with me and he said a few things, and I quickly just cut him off. I was like, I work so hard, I have a system for everything I do, and I am not producing and I'm not helping my team. It has to be my head. And he immediately was like, All right, sick. Like, you're one of the most well-spoken kids I've ever encountered pre-mental game. Like, when you get all this figured out, give me a call if you want to coach. So I did my two years, I started figuring all this stuff out for myself. And then during that limbo period where I was reaching out to coaches, not getting much feedback from the PLL, just kind of looking for something to sink my teeth into. My mom was like, hey, like, have you ever reached out to the guy that was helping you get into the coaching in the mental game? And I was like, no. So I like looked him back up. I'd been following, but I didn't realize that he had stepped away, started his own brand, started his own company. He works with NFL quarterbacks, MLB pitchers. Michael Sowers is his only lacrosse client. Wow. So he's very, very high level. He's got a couple, I think he's got like almost a hundred thousand on Instagram. He's very well respected. It's very high level at this point. So when I had reached out and he immediately was like, I remember you. Yes, like you're coming on. My life changed, dude. It was, I think the only reason I was even able to succeed in the PLL when I was given an opportunity was the fact that I had been helping other people kind of understand their problems as an athlete for two months straight. So when I'm helping other people do this, and I'm doing it because I love these people, I like these people, and I want to help them, I'm in turn helping myself.

SPEAKER_02 30:56

Oh, yeah.

SPEAKER_04 30:57

Because we all have the same problems. We're all convincing ourselves that our situation is unwinnable. But when I unravel seven people's positions, it's it would be hypocritical of me to not hear my own solution. So that has just really changed the way I look at everything. And to your point, with the instincts versus skill, everybody has that IQ, everybody has that skill. I think that's the only thing that separates people at this level is how well you're consistently focused and not susceptible to outside noise or circumstance. You see a guy like I think of the kid Finn Thompson, who he is the simplest game I've ever seen. He just happens to be near the crease the entire game, but he doesn't miss.

SPEAKER_03 31:38

Yeah. Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 31:39

Because he's focused every time that ball comes on finishing his opportunity. So that's just a point I like to make to kind of what it does for guys, but then also why I do it in terms of you have to be a good person and a consistent person to show up in the two hours of the day that mean the most to you, which is lacrosse if you want to expect consistency there.

SPEAKER_00 32:00

Uh, can you help a 63-year-old?

SPEAKER_02 32:03

Absolutely.

SPEAKER_01 32:05

So well said, Vinny. Really well said. Um, I'm sure you had to talk to my own son after a while because he's he lived in his own head a lot of time. He was his own worst enemy. Absolutely.

SPEAKER_04 32:15

We would go back and forth. He would help me too.

SPEAKER_01 32:17

I tell you, I there's been times I used to tell him, like, dude, just you gotta learn to have a you know a short memory, let it go, and move on to the next play, you know. I was able to do that as a player. I didn't play lacrosse, I was a football basketball kid. But if I made a bad play, I'd be like, all right, on to the next one, you know. Everybody makes a bad play here and there, you know, and sometimes the defense makes great plays or a good call, you know. Nobody rides for free. Right. And you know, there's athletes all over the field. Like all you guys were great athletes in high school. Now you're in college and you're playing in college, and players are gonna make plays. You know what I mean? Players are going to make plays. So I always told Joe, yo, get that short memory, you know. Learn to forget quick, because if you get in your own head, you you get horrible. Like his senior day, he had his family there, and he was letting shit rip all day, and he wasn't able to sink any, and he was really upset with himself, you know. So I know how the head game can be, especially with a young player. Like you said, you were young at Maris, you were immature, and I understand that. And the fact that you came and you know, you've read books and got into that shows a lot of the character of the person that you are, Vinny. You know, that speaks volumes of the person that you are, and that I I you know, it comes from mom and dad too, you know. That's part of that tree that works its way down. And and what you were able to accomplish in the two years you were at Wingate was just nothing short of remarkable, if you ask me. That 11-goal game was just it was a great game against a great team. And I think Anderson was a really good team this past year. I think that kid Raiden Badron is just a dog. He's just so good. He's really good.

SPEAKER_04 34:05

Absolute monster.

SPEAKER_01 34:06

And and then, you know, next thing you know, I'm hearing, hey, Treek, Treek's going to the PLL. Yeah. And we were like, what? And I I I messaged Kevin, he's like, What? This is going on. I was like, Yeah, apparently this is happening, you know. And then I see you on the field. I was like, holy crap, there he is, man. And like literally, I couldn't take my eyes off of you. Wherever the ball was, I didn't care. You're trying to find out where Vinny is on the field. I was like, is Jake on the field? There he is on his in the corner. He's like, he's all right, he's you know, it was so much fun. And then you scored your goal. Dude, I jumped up off my couch.

SPEAKER_00 34:42

I was like, Yes! How did that feel, Vinny? What did that like was it surreal? Like, did like what was that like?

SPEAKER_04 34:51

Yeah, honestly, it was uh if you look at like the video of me trying to celebrate, my hands just like move in inconceivable motions. I didn't know what to do, I didn't know how to react. I just remember feeling like just kind of like a weight lifted off my shoulders. I remember feeling like the first thing in college, like you just know that you need to hit your first one, yes, to kind of step into that.

SPEAKER_00 35:14

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 35:15

And it just was talk about a weight being lifted off your shoulders, it flew off, and I just kind of felt like on top of the world. But we also that day, that's what nobody that's ever asked me about and has asked about is the fact that we were knocked out of playoff contention that day.

SPEAKER_00 35:29

I know, I know, yeah, yeah, and we lost that game. We don't we don't want to talk about that, exactly.

SPEAKER_04 35:34

But it just kind of got a like it put put a lot of things into perspective for me as a mental performance coach, and I hold myself to a high standard as an athlete. It was quickly like, okay, like at the end of the day, it was just the goal and we lost the team.

SPEAKER_00 35:48

Right, yeah.

SPEAKER_04 35:49

But no, nothing short of like a dream come true. I'm sure you heard my voice in the interview. I was beside myself. It was great.

SPEAKER_00 35:55

It was great. I have to ask this question because you kind of mentioned it when I was talking about, you know, people knew you in the sack, but notch my being said, some of your teammates in the Atlas didn't even know who you were. What was the locker room like? You coming in there, yeah. Not they don't know you, they they probably never seen you play, right? Yep, you know, they probably you know pronounced your name incorrectly. What was that like? And then what was it like game day when they knew you were suiting up? Well, how did they did they help you out at all? Did they kind of like just say, okay, no, don't worry, Vinny? We got you.

SPEAKER_04 36:28

Yeah, it was honestly, dude. It was like kind of like movie, like these guys are like professional in every aspect of what you're being told they're professionals at. So I showed up and I sit down in a team meal right before my first practice, and I'm shaking hands, and all these dudes are just like, all right, so like what do you do for work? And I was like, uh, I don't have a job yet. Like, this is my only job. So immediately, like, the angst and the nerves I had for these dudes being larger than life was just immediately off off off target. And quickly, we, as we were going to practice and stuff, and I was meeting guys, I spent some time with, I think the first like 20 minutes I spent before the bus, I was with Will Mark, who's our backup goalie. And casually, he's just like, Yeah, like I came from Syracuse. My roommate was playing at Notre Dame in college, but we were buddies, like, where'd you play? I'm like, Wingy. You ever heard of it? And he was like, Yeah, I have. But um, to your point, those dudes were all super welcoming, regardless of the fact that we might not have much to talk about. Every one of them went out of their way to be like, Welcome, dude. Like, we're pumped to have you. And given the situation we were in, we had just seen a ton of adversity all year. You know, the ball wasn't kind of rolling our way. It wasn't just Teat. We had Michael Grace, who's like the next LSM and our team, go down. We had a ton of things, ton of things just kind of and that weekend Shelly goes down. Like it just wasn't a good situation for the guys. But that's the thing that I think is most surprising is that Atlas locker room has to be the most like resilient, ego-less, professional locker room I've ever been around. Those guys had every reason to be like they pulled some random D2 kid off his couch when we just needed to win a game to be happy at the end of the year. And they didn't, you know, we kept losing games, and they still like Danny Logan went out of his way after the first game to come give me my first game ball. It was quiet after the whole meeting had happened, but that moment in itself, I just immediately realized, like, wow, these dudes are people. And they immediately, immediately welcome you into the pack once you're a part of the team. So just beside myself with how well those guys treated me, outside of Danny and guys like Trevor, Liam Entiman, they were already just super welcoming. And I sat down with them my first day and we talked about pretty much anything but lacrosse. They're all well-educated dudes.

SPEAKER_03 38:55

Right, right.

SPEAKER_04 38:56

And like I had said, ego less and just very welcoming. They're all willing to help and they put their their differences aside when lacrosse is on the table.

SPEAKER_01 39:04

One thing about the the game of lacrosse in college, they all graduate. It's not like football or basketball where they're one and done or two, or they leave after three, or they can't graduate, or their eligibility's up and they never finish school. That the the lacrosse players are all graduates, man. They're all smart kids, you know?

SPEAKER_04 39:24

Yeah, some of them like speaking of Liam Entamin, I was like, my boy is well educated. You can just hear it in the way he talks. I'm like, this guy an Ivy League student.

SPEAKER_03 39:34

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 39:34

Notre Dame grads, nothing short of it. But it was just still very, very like eye-opening to see the complete people in that locker room. You know what I mean? And then come game day when, like you had said, I was kind of thrown into the mix. I leaned on, I walked up to Connor Schellenberger and Danner Dixon and verbatim said, What do you guys want me to do? Right. And they verbatim said, just play lacrosse. So that kind of puts things into a nutshell for you as to what was going on. I had guys like Costabil and whoever, like maybe draw me up what our set was, but they really just like as I was warming up, as the game was going on, they kind of each just took their own moment as they saw it to like say a quick piece. Whether it was Matt Trainer came by me, it was like, don't think too much, make sure you're breathing. They all gave me selfies that slowly just whether it was a tip, it was them showing their confidence in my subconscious, slot like slowly. They were making me feel more comfortable by welcoming me. So that's why I mentioned just the master class of athletes in that locker room. Given all the adversity they faced, they still were super tight-knit. They're a positive working relationship, still achieving goals regardless of adversity. That team, no matter who's out there, is gonna be in a good position.

SPEAKER_01 40:49

That's amazing. That's great. That's great. Now, trying to get into the box league. Yes. What's going on with that now? Like you're trying to, you I dude, I give you a lot of credit. So let's go on.

SPEAKER_04 41:02

So it's a lot easier with the the PLL. I was whitepaging numbers of people. I weren't even sure that it was them, but the NOL was very helpful. When I reached out to their front office, they gave me a list of contacts with GMs, head coaches. And to I don't want to say to your surprise, they know all the Canadians that I played with in college because they were actual junior A, senior A prospects. You know what I mean? They were on their radar.

SPEAKER_03 41:30

Right.

SPEAKER_04 41:30

So I, you know, we obviously played a little bit of box at Wing Gate. I don't have a too in-depth experience, but I definitely have A, the skill set and the hands to move indoors and play at that speed. But the work ethic and the mindset to kind of adapt is something I know I obtained. So when I reach out to all these teams, I had kind of been saying, I played with Sean Clark or Hale Dot. And they all are like, yes, I know them. Like that's awesome. Like I hope they're filling you in on the things that change when you step indoors. So they were they're happy with that. Um, and yeah, I'm just kind of doing the same, the same process that I did for the PL. I was lucky enough to actually start the P the NLL uh recruiting process before I was picked up for the PL. So a lot of those teams had kind of seen what happened with the PLL, had the chance to watch me play a professional field game, which I think really helps when it comes to earning a draft spot or something. You know, there's a ton of guys that haven't played box that go. But if you played professionally and somebody else has an idea of who you are, it helps you out a lot. So yeah, whether it's the draft or free agency, I'm expecting an opportunity to come because I'm gonna continue working for it and reaching out and just hoping it all goes well. You know, do the same thing, help out a team any way I can.

SPEAKER_01 42:41

When is the draft?

SPEAKER_04 42:42

So it was September 10th, but there's some issues with teams on their ownership, so they pushed it to the 24th.

SPEAKER_00 42:49

Okay. Well, we'll be watching for that then. Without doubt. And then you like you said, there's probably you I I guarantee I'd be shocked if you didn't get at least a free agency spot to go into a training camp, right? I mean, I just doesn't based on what you've done not only in college, but like you said, what you were able to do a little bit in the PL to get a little show them that you can you belong in the professional league, right? I think that makes a huge thing. So but besides NLL, your what I read on the on the Atlas page is that your contract was only for 2026. Is there something like have they talked to you? What's the next steps for you? They talked to you about like maybe coming to training camp.

SPEAKER_04 43:31

Do you think we've just kind of yeah, we've been in like an off-season buffer period. I'm gonna speak to them soon and we'll see. But I assume that I'm gonna get an invite to somebody's training camp next year. I would hope it's the Atlas, and we'll fit we'll find that out soon. But yeah, um my end of the year was good with them. I actually got to be there for the final game that I didn't play, but I was there when the season ended. So I think um it was good for me to be there, and I hope I'm a part of that locker room. But yeah, like you said, it's technically through the 2026 season. We've been taking some time off because the season's still wrapping up. But I'll find out in the coming weeks, see whether they plan to bring me back for training camp or whether I'm fighting for a spot on another team. But regardless, I think that now that I'll have an actual training camp to kind of like settle my feet in, I'll be a lot more of uh a presence for whatever team. Hopefully it is the Alice because I love those guys in the locker room, but whatever team gives me a shot.

SPEAKER_00 44:26

Wow. Well, that's that's amazing. Like every professional athlete, right? Especially when you see it in the NFL all the time. Players continue to play to put film out for other teams, right? And I know you weren't thinking that when you were on the Atlas, but I also knew that you only had a contract for 2026. And with the attack they've got there, you know, you're a you're a fourth, fourth man kind of, which they need. They would definitely need. So I I I would love to see you back at the Atlas. I would love to see you in the PLL. You prove to me and everyone else that you belong in the professional league. And I also want to say, Vinny, we've never talked before, right? My son graduated from one gate in 2022. So you got there after he had already graduated. I want to tell you, this has been an amazing time speaking to you. You, like Danny said, you are extremely well spoken. You have your head on straight, and I'm really, really happy for you. And I and I hope that your success continues. Because I think it will, both in the the mental coaching and in the professional leagues.

SPEAKER_04 45:35

I appreciate it. It means a lot. I wish I was there when your kid was on the team. It would have been cool to see uh tailgates.

SPEAKER_01 45:42

Oh, yeah. Kevin was the tailgate, he had the RV in those days.

SPEAKER_00 45:46

That's unreal. No way. Yeah, oh yeah. Bought it when my son was a freshman. Kept it until after he graduated.

SPEAKER_01 45:53

That's sweet. And that's how Kevin and I started this. You know, we would be going back and forth with each other. And then if it was like an away game, we'd be you know blowing up Facebook with what's going on. And Kevin's wife said, You guys should just start a podcast and stop blowing up the Facebook page. We looked at each other and said, All right, let's give it a shot, you know? And we gave it a shot.

SPEAKER_00 46:14

And now we get to talk to professionals like you.

SPEAKER_01 46:17

Yeah. Oh yeah. And we've had Connor Farrell on, and we've had some you know, pros on. We've had uh Andrew Q. Who would I we had Charlie Bertrand come on?

SPEAKER_04 46:28

EJ Verdi, hammer.

SPEAKER_01 46:30

Yeah, we we had some, we've had some we've had quite some success with this stupid little crazy little podcast. But Kevin, you know what time it is, right? Oh yeah, we forgot. Yeah, we're gonna take you through the fire round treat. Are you ready? Ten questions. Give us your best answer. Let's go question number one. Mom's best meal.

SPEAKER_04 46:54

Mom's best meal, uh, chicken cachetore.

SPEAKER_01 46:59

Oh, that sounds good. You tell your mother. Mr. Moran would love a play to that chicken catchatory.

SPEAKER_04 47:06

Oh well.

SPEAKER_01 47:07

Question number two, Xbox or PlayStation?

SPEAKER_04 47:10

Xbox. Not even close.

SPEAKER_01 47:12

I know you've got to say that. Number three, Netflix or ESPN?

SPEAKER_04 47:17

ESPN.

SPEAKER_01 47:18

Okay. Favorite type of music.

SPEAKER_04 47:23

I'd be lying if I didn't say house music.

SPEAKER_01 47:26

House. All right, cool, man. I'm into that. Uh what was your favorite sports movie?

SPEAKER_04 47:32

Favorite sports movie? Either Vision Quest or any given Sunday.

SPEAKER_01 47:38

Oh, wow. Okay, great. Excellent. Both good movies, actually. Favorite athlete when you were a kid? Who was one kid that you just when you were a kid like looked up to like, I want to be like that guy?

SPEAKER_04 47:50

When I was a kid, Rob Pennell.

SPEAKER_01 47:55

That's a great somebody to look up to, man. I have a picture of Joey when Joey was like, I don't know, 12. Uh, Pennell put on a clinic up in Yorktown. And it had snowed like a bastard the night before. And Yorktown gets pretty icy and it's hilly.

SPEAKER_03 48:12

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 48:13

And we I said to Joe, you know, it's kind of like crappy out these days. I want to go, Dad. So we drive from Long Island up to Yorktown, and there was only about 15 kids at this clinic.

SPEAKER_04 48:24

That's unreal.

SPEAKER_01 48:25

Yeah, because the weather, you know? And I'm telling you, Rob Pinnell took each kid and took them and through, and he showed Joey so much stuff that day. Like he said, he was like 12 or 13, but I got a picture of him with Pennell, so that's pretty cool. That's unreal. What was the best moment of your life so far? Since you're a deep guy, and and and I'm sure that you've kind of compli you know, thought about it. What's been the best moment of your life? One one moment that just sticks out and says, man, this was like, yes.

SPEAKER_04 49:06

It's hard for me not to go sports, but when I think about sports, it just doesn't encapsulate like my life enough. And it oddly enough, it's just the day my brother got engaged. He and his fiance were together for 10 years. They had two kids already, and they had the house. And it was our first Christmas in North Carolina, my first Christmas ever being outside of New York. And it was just like I can't explain to you how that day felt like Christmas time 6,000. Like it was just the best day of my family's life. So right now, I think that's probably the most remarkable feeling I've had outside of sports.

SPEAKER_01 49:46

That's quite the thing to say. The best moment of your life was watching your brother get, you know, engaged. That's pretty cool, man. Um give us one item on your bucket list. On my bucket list? Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 50:00

Oh. To catch a Miko shark in the Gulf. Alright.

SPEAKER_01 50:08

There you go. That's doable. That's definitely doable.

SPEAKER_04 50:12

Absolutely.

SPEAKER_01 50:12

Do you have any game day superstitions or traditions or yeah, um, it actually developed with my attackman at Wingate.

SPEAKER_04 50:22

Um, it was two things. I wore the same Nike Elite socks for every game, and then me, Sean Clark, and Kyle Spence would all have our Red Bulls like perfectly in a line, and they were all the same three different colors. So I drink the same sugar-free Red Bull, the same timing, and to the same emptiness before every game.

SPEAKER_01 50:43

Okay, that's a little OCD. We'll move on. If you could have dinner with anyone on earth, who would it be and why? On earth? Anybody and any type of thing, any, you know, you know, Benjamin Franklin, you know what I'm saying? Like all time? If you could be anybody, who would you sit down and have dinner with and why?

SPEAKER_04 51:12

Probably Marcus Aurelius, just because he lives the stoic teachings that I find every day. So I think speaking to that dude would would teach me how far I am from really, really achieving that stage.

SPEAKER_01 51:26

He's sitting at the table eating chicken bones, like you know, like they did the pirate days with the big bone the big legs and stuff. He looks like a toy. And big canisters of red wine and and you know, those huge copper goblets that they used to have. Yeah. That's interesting. That's really cool. What is your favorite sports moment personally to you? This your favorite sports moment. Personally.

SPEAKER_04 51:58

Honestly, probably still, probably still winning the sack. Just because that was the most in-depth I've ever been a part of a team that really did something unfathomable like that. Um I think growing up a wrestler and understanding how easy it is, I don't want to say easy, but how incontrollable it is for somebody to kind of make their own situation in an individual sport like that. They have control over everything that they're doing. You don't when you're part of a team. So for not only me to have flipped my own season around, like I just said, when I started doing the mental performance and all that, but for the family I was a part of and the people outside of the actual team that were family, like you guys, the parents, that was just probably the moment was a week and a half long. Like you can't tell me that that Friday night before that SAC championship, that you didn't know we were gonna win the next day. You know what I mean? There was just something in the water about seeing Dave Arnold outside of my practice every day because the dude didn't leave Wingate for a month. That was my favorite sports, I think, month of my life, outside of the one moment that was very big.

SPEAKER_01 53:15

But yeah. Dave Arnold's the best. I found him outside of my hotel room one night. I was like, all right, I got a party. He's a legend. Oh, he's great. Hey, you know what? Uh, one last question. Um, where do you see yourself 10 years from now?

SPEAKER_04 53:31

Realistically, um, if I was to take a trajectory that I'm continuing to take, hopefully, either in my last season or retired from professional lacrosse with a I think my goal is to own a rec lacrosse organization in North Carolina because my nephew is youth like lacrosse age, and when he started, there was no rec. It was just straight to clubs. So you show up and you're immediately on 4K camera competing for Instagram clicks, which is supposed to learn how to catch and throw and play PAL like we did. So I think in 10 years I see myself still doing the mental coaching, being an outlet for kids that way, having whatever job I choose to pursue. And then, yes, hopefully owning the the first like big wreck lacrosse league in North Carolina.

SPEAKER_01 54:20

That's great. Well, that's about all the time we got for in uh the firing round.

SPEAKER_00 54:27

Kevin, what do you say about this young man? I this has been an hour well spent. That's what I say.

SPEAKER_01 54:35

Holy mackerel, it is an hour. Let's jump out. Oh my lord. We don't usually do more than 10 or 15 minutes with a player. But you know, well, I talk so much, so it's definitely my fault. It was more the best interview we've had with a player by far, hands down.

SPEAKER_04 54:52

Thank you. I appreciate it. I appreciate you guys having me on.

SPEAKER_01 54:55

Oh, it was it was our pleasure to have you on, and we wish you nothing but success in the future. You know, we'll be watching.

SPEAKER_04 55:01

Absolutely.

SPEAKER_01 55:02

My best to mom and dad, such nice people. I had a lot of fun with your dad the last couple of years since he came to Maris. Oh, yeah. They miss you since you came to Maris. He was my he was my halftime buddy, your dad.

SPEAKER_04 55:14

I know. Me and Joey would see you guys walking around every time.

SPEAKER_01 55:17

Yeah, yeah. He's a really good guy. I really enjoyed him, and I really enjoyed watching you come to Wingate and just be part of that special group. I think it was a special group. And to watch you do what you're doing, just I'm proud of you. I'm happy for you, you know. Like I'm I'm like that. That kid was my son's roommate. You know, he came in here cold and really made a name for himself. So I wish you nothing but the best, young man. Uh, and I hope to see you real soon.

SPEAKER_04 55:44

Absolutely. I'll be up soon, no

Final THoughts

SPEAKER_04 55:46

doubt.

SPEAKER_00 55:46

So great to have Vinny on, the second D2 player to make it to the PLL this year, and what a one well-spoken young man he is. I was really, really impressed.

SPEAKER_01 55:57

I'm completely blown away by this young man. Um, he was my son's roommate for a year. And, you know, we've talked. Hey, Vin, good game, blah, blah, blah. Hey, thanks, Mr. Moran, you know, and that was like the extent of the conversation, you know. We just, you know, that kind of stuff. Typical thing at Helgate. Right, right, right. And I had no idea that uh young Mr. Patrico was such an intense young man, very well spoken. Um seems to be very focused and what he wants to do, and the mental health game part of it is something I didn't know about that he was into. And you know, his story was fantastic, you know, and he he owned up to his uh immaturity. Not too many young fellows would do that, Kev.

SPEAKER_00 56:46

And then when and then when you look at it from here, the way he really took the bull by the horns and did his own marketing with any way he could to get into a PLL team. Right? I mean, that shows you you've got to have that kind of perseverance if you really want to get to where you want to be.

SPEAKER_01 57:12

Just think about what he had to do just to get the phone numbers he was paying pages just to get numbers. I mean, that's what it took for him to do what he wanted to do, you know, what he felt in his heart was right. And he got there and he got to play. You know, Schellenberger was hurt, and he got to get on the field, and he scored a goal. I mean, what I was so excited for him when he scored that goal. I really like Vinny's playing. He's a really good player, sharp shooter, um, just an all-around great kid, man. He's got the whole package, you know what I mean? He's got good looks, he's got he's got athleticism, and he's got the smarts. He's gonna do very well for himself, I believe.

SPEAKER_00 57:55

Yeah, I agree. I think this is a great episode to kind of start off the season, our seventh season. We called it a special edition, I called the beginning, but this is really we we kind of bookended it, right? We ended season six with Kyle Lewis. Now we can start season seven with with Vinny and move on. And we've got a few other warm-up sessions before we get into the meat of it and the conference previews and going on. We're going to have a discussion on the new NCAA rule, five for five. So people and how it affects the D2 lacrosse programs. So everyone should stay tuned for that. And we've got plenty of other things kind of lined up as we get ready for the conference previews. And you know how much we love the conference previews, Danny, because that is the scene setter for the season starting in January, February.

SPEAKER_01 58:42

Yeah, and those coaches actually listen to us to see where we put them and how we discuss them. And you know what? It's going to be a new, different kind of year because Kev, a lot of the kids that were really, really good this year across the country are leaving. They're gone. They're seniors, you know. Um, a lot of the Adelphi crew, Mick McDermott and Delisandro and Lewis. Yeah, Kyle Lewis, they're gone. Uh the Fab Four from Wingate is gone. Uh, let's talk about uh Matty Rogers and Raiden Badron at the Anderson, you know, like these guys are gone, you know, and it's gonna be a whole new group of all-stars this year that we'll get to talk about. So I'm excited for the season and to see where where D2 goes.

SPEAKER_00 59:28

Yeah, I agree. And it if everyone wants to stay in touch with us, you can always go to our website, in the crease lacrossepod.com, check that out, buy us a cup of coffee, go there, get some merch. And uh, and with that, Danny, I think for this first episode, that's a wrap.

SPEAKER_01 59:48

That's a wrap, Kev. We had a great first episode with Vinny, and I'm looking forward to the rest of the episodes and uh talking about the five for five and and then getting on with the conference previews. I'm excited for it.

SPEAKER_02 1:00:03

Now 15 years. All this time I watch my ball down a new pool of tears.

SPEAKER_01 1:00:13

I've seen a love Johnny Paycheck, huh?

SPEAKER_02 1:00:20

I give the jerk by open back. I had a good stay. Take this job, and shit. I ain't worth you no more.

SPEAKER_01 1:00:33

That's a rap death.

SPEAKER_02 1:00:34

Oh my god.