Reasons I love NY, part 2

....autumn, fall foliage, pumpkin patches, pumpkin picking, piles o' pumpkins, orchards, bushels of apples at roadside farm stands, fresh apple cider, leaves crunching under your feet, crisp clear days and cool nights, argyle sweater weather, front lawns adorned with corn stalks and bales of hay, the smell of fireplaces at night......

-k.

UCD Lacrosse goes to Karlsruhe, Germany

The Bock Auf Lacrosse Tournament in Karlsruhe was a big success for UCD. Both Men's and Women's teams took first place and took home the trophy !

Karlsruhe is a beautiful city tucked away into the Southwest corner of Germany. It is the warmest area of Germany and rarely receives significant snowfall. The city was planned before being built so it is well organized and has a famously easy to use and efficient system of public transportation.

The kids had a great time nursing their hangovers by exploring Karlsruhe and being goofy as usual.

While some of the kids climbed to the tower of the castle, Moffet & Flopsy decided to take a nap in the fountain out front. They had purchased reflective vests and Christmas ear muffs earlier in the day just so we wouldnt lose them.

One by one the kids left for Dublin via 3 different airports until only Springer (above) and I were left. We spent the last day touring the castle and its gardens as well as the Botanical Gardens where the Dahlias were in full bloom.
Considering I started this trip by stepping in baby poop at the airport, it ended up being a great trip and a great first leg in my 19 day European Lacrosse tour of Germany, Switzerland and Austria....next stop, Zurich !

-Chris

Rage Against the Dying of the Light

This weekend Daylight Savings Time ended
and Seasonal Affective Disorder Time started.

Looking out my office window at 4:30 I wondered if some freak storm was rolling in, it was so dark outside. Then I realized it was just DARK out. And it's still October!! What the hell is December gonna be like?

I guess I am spoiled from several years in Florida, where an October day has about 11.2 hours of sunlight. Today there was like 8 hours of daylight in Dublin (notice I left the word sun out that equation.) Eight!!! EIGHT!?!?! Count 'em, people, count 'em!!!

Eight measly little hours of weak, cold, gray light.

Eight paltry hours parceled out like dried fruit from a miser's hand

Eight meager hours of.......okay, okay, you get the point.
I'd just like to point out that, like most of you poor schlepps, I work eight hours a day.
Are ya doing the math??

I need my 3.2 hours of sunshine back.

I realize I won't get much sympathy from you New Yorkers out there. Though you're still getting at least an hour more daylight than Dublin so you can keep your wisecracks to yourself.

But thanks for letting me vent and never fear, your intrepid heroine will not let this defeat her.
I will not go gentle into that good night.

-k.

Reasons I love NY, part 1

Coming over the Williamsburg Bridge, into Manhattan, barely got my camera out in time. Click the picture if you can't read the sign.

-k.

Big Boy comes to town

For the past week I have had the privilege of hosting a guest in town, Joe Smith from Buffalo, NY. Joe is a professional lacrosse player who plays for the MLL Rochester Rattlers and the NLL Buffalo Bandits. We had exchanged e-mails over the last few months after he contacted me looking for somewhere overseas for a lacrosse/tourist vacation. (as with most lacrosse players, the emphasis is on the lacrosse part)

Joe behind the bar at the Brazen Head, the oldest pub in Dublin.

After we got talking we realized that we have actually met before as Joe has played in the Tampa Jam the last two years and has been Defensive MVP both years..which means I actually handed him the trophy two years ago when I was still president of the Tampa BayThunder. Small world huh ?

Joe's timing was perfect since my UCD teams are preparing for our first road trip of the season to Germany on Thursday.

Joe coached the defense at practice giving them great tips on how to improve their skills.

As part of his welcome to Ireland, Michael K. had arranged for the 3 of us to go to the Ireland vs. Cyprus world cup qualifier soccer match at Croke Park on Wednesday Night.

Joe also had ample opportunity to sample the local cuisine. We both had delicious stews and even comtemplated on going on a Stew Crawl.

Joe had also never had a deep fried Mars bar.

All in all a great trip. The UCD kids were very happy to meet Joe, especially since he works for Atlantic Sportswear and he hand delivered our new team uniforms.

The kids not only looked sharp for Fridays game, but played the best game in the history of the club narrowly losing to Dublin 11-9...which certainly was affected by Joe's presence on the Dublin defense.

Thanks Joe !

Happy Birthday Kelly !

Countdown to the Big Trip

by Chris

Well having been back in Dublin for over a month, its about time for another trip. This one is, of course, lacrosse related, but still special. It is the Mother of all Lacrosse trips.

19 days

I had several trips planned so I just made them into one long trip. During this trip I'll be traveling through Germany, Switzerland & Austria.

First stop : Karlsruhe, Germany. I'm taking my college club team, men's & women's, on our first road trip of the season. We're playing games against teams from Karlsruhe, Heidelberg & Frankfurt. We'll be in Karlsruhe for 5 days with the one sidetrip to Heidelberg.

After the kids all head back to Dublin, I'm going on a 9 day sales trip by train for work. I'll be stopping at lacrosse clubs in Stuttgart & Freiburg, Germany before crossing the border into Switzerland.


Using Zurich has my home base I will make day trips to St. Gallen, Wettingen and Bern and visit with cousin Michael and his family in Zurich.


I will then hit the rails again and strike out for Salzburg, Austria, then visit lacrosse friends in Vienna...before heading back to Germany to Gottingen where I will be coaching for 5 days.

whew...i'm tired just thinking about it.

I'm not leaving for another 2 weeks and there a bunch of stuff going on this week as well, so stay tuned !

I will not zip up at the ankles...

Can someone please tell me if skinny jeans are here to stay?
Cause I really do NOT want to go back there.

What's next? High waisted Bongos pegging into white Reebok high tops with an oversized ID shirt tucked in then billowed out?

NO NO NO NO NO!!

I think I am old enough to ignore trends, or at least pick and choose which ones I want to adopt, and still look cool.
Or am I too old to worry about looking cool? Oh jeez, have I just horribly dated myself by talking about 'looking cool?'

Ya know what? I am too old for all that shit. The jeans, the concern...all of it.

I'll stick with the jeans I have.

-k.

The Florida Hate Amendment

For all of you in Florida, here is the preamble of your State Constitution

"We, the people of the State of Florida, being grateful to Almighty God for our constitutional liberty, in order to secure its benefits, perfect our government, insure domestic tranquility, maintain public order, and guarantee equal civil and political rights to all, do ordain and establish this constitution."

Also notice that you'll be asked to vote on the "Florida Marriage Protection Amendment" in November, which is trying to define marriage as the legal union between a man and a woman...but more importantly bans any other sort of legal union, gay or otherwise.

So if you want legal protection, you must get married....unless you don't want to or are gay...then you are shit out of luck.

Amendment 2 does nothing to protect marriage. But it does take away important family protections, health care insurance, hospital visitation and medical decision-making authority, from all unmarried couples, gay and straight. It permanently bans civil unions and dismantles domestic partner benefits that seniors, teachers, police officers and firefighters rely on across the state. While the rest of world moves towards acceptance, Florida moves towards prejudice...great job. Here's an idea...if you want to protect marriage do something about the 80,000+ DIVORCES FILED EVERY YEAR IN THE STATE OF FLORIDA BETWEEN MEN & WOMEN !

Vote NO on Amendment #2...just more cleverly worded, gay bashing propoganda to get the conservative base out to vote to prevent an Islamic fundamentalist with a weird name from becoming President. Shame on you if you vote yes on two.

-C