T minus 48 hours until the first blood is drawn at Cantiauge Park. Thirteen year old lacrosse rock stars will be pulling up their Under Armor in order to brave the driving snow of central Long Island. Bottle tans will run down the face of legendary coaches, leaving strains of orange and tan. Pale skin red headed coaches will be driving their legions into battle against inferior foes. The greatest Midfielder in Long Island history will try to prove his mettle as a u13 coach. The Manhasset/Rockville Center kids will have to leave their Vineyard Vines behind, hoping beyond hope that their Dads do not drink ALL of the hot cocoa. Second teams from the top programs are wishing for a miracle, which can only happen in blizzard conditions. South Shore Daddy's with their tattooed extremities will simply be wearing their usual tank tops and cut-off jeans, as if 35 degree weather was just like a July day at Field 6. Teams from upstate NY will feel like they are at home, destroying any home field advantage the Long Island teams could have hoped for. One could cut the tension with a knife.
Play on young men. Prove everyone wrong. Make sure that all of your team practice, private lessons and wall ball pay off. May the best 4 or is it 6 teams qualify. Fair thee well, my youngsters. It is only snow, rain, sleet, hail, freezing rain, gale force winds. Remember what your PAL coaches told you, "if you don't like the rain, play baseball!"
