Today I would like to take this opportunity to recognize all the mothers in the world as well as one in particular: MY MOM LINDA O'BRANSKI!!!!!!!!

In order to do this I have compiled a list of things that we as sons appreciate:

1.) Mom carried us for 9 months

2.) Mom always listens and tries to contribute to our pre- and post-game analysis regardless of whether or not she understands

3.) Mom has more knowledge of the game than any self-acclaimed fan

4.) Mom is our #1 fan

5.) Mom is ready to gouge anyone's eyes out for crossing us

6.) Mom makes the best food

7.) Mom encouraged us to move faaaaar away so we could follow our dreams despite her personal opinion

8.) Mom reminds us to go to the library and that we go to college for an education

9.) Mom helps with all of our administrative issues

10.) Mom has read "Letting Go" enough times to cite it verbatim

11.) Mom reminds us not to plagiarize

12.) Mom automatically cheers for whatever team we want to win

13.) Mom is extremely passionate in everything she does

14.) Mom has taught us the aspects of good character

15.) Mom showed us crazy stick tricks with her baton

16.) Mom reinforces Coach Berkman's Laws

17.) Mom was assertive and addressed our thoughts when we were afraid to talk

18.) Mom realized that she was going to have to start going to the gym to spend more time with us

19.) Mom reacts more to a card or a poem than to something material

20.) Mom allowed Dad to put us on a battlefield of our peers armed with only a couple pounds of armor and a stick

I'm sure that my mother will read this and ask for me to take her name off because "it's embarrassing," but, even though it's Mother's Day, I'm going to disobey her. 

I LOVE YOU AND HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY MOM BRANSK!!!!!!!!

Updates In Progress...Stay Tuned!

Predictions:

Key Upsets - Cornell over Missouri, Binghamton over Duke

Final Four - Louisville, Washington, Xavier, and UNC

National Championship - North Carolina 88 Louisville 73

This morning I rose at 8:00 AM for our energetic wake up call by Coach Fiorentino.  There certainly is no better way to start the day than with his pleasant, high-pitched yell.  I immediately tied up my running shoes and hit the beach.  This morning's run was a total of 4 miles.  On soft sand, I would run to a point about 2 miles down the beach and return on the hard sand.  Running on the beach early in the morning is one of my favorite activities to partake in during our Spring Break trips.  Although there are handfuls of other people who are on the beach, it is very peaceful and serene.  After my run, I ate a quick breakfast before loading the bus for practice at 9:30 AM.  

Today's practice was to be held at a local park.  The field, unfortunately, was a choppy, moist version of the bermuda grass I am used to.  As we began line drills, it was apparent that our sticks had not yet become acclimated to the weather of the Orange state.  Balls were hitting the ground every other pass and players dropped out of the line one by one to adjust their strings.  By the time we started shooting drills, most of these problems were under control.  On one shot, there was a grand roar coming from the offensive end of the field as the net was completely torn.  At the end of practice, we ran around the field two times jogging the sidelines and sprinting the endlines while the coaches and goalies collected the balls.  We ended practice with a post-stretch by a lake which was located about 20 yards directly behind the endline of the field.

As the bus approached the hotel, groups of players were making their plans for the remainder of the day including napping, shower, food, and beach arrangements.  Freshman midfielder David Borcik, sophomore attackman Mike Yetter, and I ventured down the road to the sub shop in Publix grocery store for lunch.  I bought a footlong wheat sub containing roast beef, ham, turkey, prosciutto, and white american cheese.  I washed the sub down with a large bottle of Poland Spring water.

At the beach, we relaxed in the sun, played some football, and swam.  One nice surprise was the cameo appearance of former Sea Gull BJ Neller.  BJ came in 2007 for his freshman year as an attackman from Winter Park, Florida and had recently transferred to Rollins College to play for the Tars.

At 6:00 PM, we were to meet at a park adjacent to our hotel for a picnic dinner.  Dinner was early today because we were privileged enough to bare witness to an evening NASA Space Shuttle Launch.  The food was catered by a local Bar BQ restaurant.  It was a plentiful buffet of pulled pork and beef, salad, macaroni and cheese, rolls, a variety of chips, and lemonade.  We ate this meal fairly quick in order to see the NCAA March Madness brackets.  

During the walk back, I received a text message from Coach Fiorentino alerting me that the space shuttle launch had been pushed up to 7:00 PM from its original 7:37 PM lift off.  Since I have the team sorted into groups organized by position on my cell phone, I text messaged everyone to get to the beach as soon as possible.  To no avail, the launch was postponed to its original time and I received a fair share of rumblings from my teammates throughout the wait.  Our videographer, Justin Kelleher, was positioned on a dune designated by Coach Berkman which provided him the best angle to catch the spectacle on film.  This was certainly a once in a lifetime opportunity. 

There is some raw footage floating around of pre and post lift off interviews of select players and coaches.  If, someday in the near future, this material leaks out from the cutting room floor to the internet, I will be sure to alert you.

Please feel free to leave me comments, thoughts, protests, suggestions, and questions after each blog and I will do my best to incorporate these into my entries. 

        This morning, I awoke to a great breakfast of eggs with cheese, bacon, an english muffin, and orange juice prepared by Mrs. Breeding.  I met up with my parents and my sister around 11:00 AM.  My family and the Breedings arrived at the airport early at 1:47 PM.  When Coach Berkman and Coach Dobbins arrived, we entered the terminal.  Thankfully, nobody was randomly searched, nor did anyone fail to pass through the security gates.  Some of my teammates and I stopped to purchase reading material for the trip.  I bought Yoga Magazine and Foreign Affairs journal.  Many players went to the restaurants in order to get a meal to last them until dinner at the hotel.  After waiting out a half hour delay in our flight, we departed from BWI Airport at 3:30 PM.  

Meanwhile, the bus had arrived in Florida around 8:00 AM Saturday morning.  The players emerged from the bus deprived of a comfortable night of sleep and excited to be able to stretch their legs out.  The players quickly put on their board shorts and hit the beach for the remainder of the day.  A few of them, however, fell asleep on the beach before having the opportunity to apply sun tan lotion.

We touched down in Orlando, Florida around 5:30 PM and had an Estimated Time of Arrival at Cocoa Beach of 6:30 PM.  At this time, the charter bus pulled up to the hotel.  Mo welcomed us with our lunch money for the week, breakfast passes to the hotel's breakfast buffet, and our room keys ($20.00).  At 7:00 PM, our pizza dinner had arrived (1.5 boxes per 3 players), and we were set for a team meeting within the half hour.  At the meeting, Coach Berkman went over the itinerary for the week and reiterated the concept that we are in Florida to form a greater sense of team camaraderie and play a lacrosse game.  Following a few more comments about the questionable applications of sun screen, we relaxed until bed checks at 10:30 PM.

Please feel free to leave me comments, thoughts, protests, suggestions, and questions after each blog and I will do my best to incorporate these into my entries.     

        After weeks of hard work, Salisbury University has officially declared the recess which is Spring Break 2009.  This Spring Break will prove very relaxing as well as enjoyable because we will be traveling to Florida in order to play Colorado College.  This afternoon, we received a team text message from Coach Berkman.  The text message alerted us that our "Spring Break apparel" was in and that we could pick it up from our Equipment Specialist Tim Smith, also known as Timmy.  This package would consist of a maroon under armour t-shirt with Salisbury Lacrosse in gold lettering, gold Fit2Win shorts with the Sammy The Sea Gull Salisbury Lacrosse logo on them, and a pair of maroon Adrenaline socks with two gold stripes on them.  All of the free clothing came courtesy of our extremely generous alumni who we appreciate immensely.  After a productive practice, the team took showers and picked up some food before returning at 7:30 PM to load the bus.  

The trip is separated into two groups: those taking the plane and those taking the bus.  Coach Berkman and Assistant Coach Dobbins accompanied approximately 20 players on the plane, which was set to depart from Baltimore at 3:00 PM on Saturday.  Graduate Assistant Coaches Ben Sandlin and Nick Fiorentino, and our Head Athletic Trainer Maureen "Mo" Thompson supervised the rest of the team and the student trainers, who were also partaking in our Spring Break trip, on the bus.

When the bus was loaded with everyone's equipment bags, the bus departed for Florida.  I ventured toward Baltimore, Maryland with junior close defenseman Jeff Breeding.  Since I am from New York, I decided to spend the night at the Breedings' household in Hunt Valley.  Jeff and I ate some food and watched the NCAA Men's Basketball conference tournaments with his parents.  Now we are going to bed in order to prepare ourselves for the official start of Spring Break 2009.

Please feel free to leave me comments, thoughts, protests, suggestions, and questions after each blog and I will do my best to incorporate these into my entries.     

        On Wednesday morning, I attended my classes as usual.  During my 10:00 AM class, however, I was in for quite the surprise.  At the beginning of class, a professor from the Modern Language department began to speak.  I recognized her speech because I had been a witness to this ritual two times at Salisbury University.  She was describing the distinguishable characteristics and qualifications that are searched for in a student when "tapping" him or her for membership to Omicron Delta Kappa.  Omicron Delta Kappa is an honor society which rewards a grade point average in the upper 35% of the institution and leadership through any one,or combination of the following: 

    1.Scholarship

2.Athletics

3.Campus or Community Service, Social and Religious Activities and Campus Government

4.Journalism, Speech, and the mass media

5.Creative and Performing Arts  

At the end of the presentation, Dr. Arlene White announced that I was the individual who was being "tapped" for membership.  Following a generous round of applause from my classmates, my professor asked if I had any words and I declined.  For this society, the presentors believe that the award should be given while the student is actively participating in the campus community.  

4:00 PM brought the face-off at Sea Gull Stadium vs. Marymount University.  The Saints traveled from Arlington, Virginia for the Capital Athletic Conference contest.  The Sea Gulls played particularly well offensively, posting 3 goals in 31 seconds at one point in the first quarter.  The final was 27-7 in favor of Salisbury and we improved our record to 7-0 (3-0 in the CAC) in front of a crowd of 370 supporters.

During the tailgate, Assistant Coach Nick Fiorentino, who is currently enrolled in Salisbury University's Post-Secondary Education MAT program, was also "tapped" for ODK.  After the tailgate, I stopped by Gull's Nest, our on campus restaurant, to check out the Open Mic Night.  One large hobby of mine is music, however, I seldom have the opportunity to practice, or present my craft due to my ever-busy schedule and hint timidness.  I had prepared a song Tuesday night for the event, but I had no voice to perform it.  

Please feel free to leave me comments, thoughts, protests, suggestions, and questions after each blog and I will do my best to incorporate these into my entries. 

This Sunday brought on a challenge from afar.  The Sea Gulls were set to play Ohio Wesleyan University of Delaware, Ohio.  Throughout the history of this game, the Battling Bishops and our lacrosse team have garnered a rivalry in which no love has been lost.  During the practices leading up to our contest, Coach Berkman told anecdotes of past games that have been chronicled in the historical annals of what we refer to as Sea Gull Lore.  His intention was to educate some of our less experienced players about those who have bled Maroon and Gold prior to their arrival.  By the 1:00 PM face-off, the weather was a perfect 70 degrees and sunny.  In a heated (no pun intended) match-up that saw 27 penalties (which added up to 23 minutes of uneven play) and tense emotions, Salisbury came out victorious by a score of 15-8 in front of a crowd of 760 fans.

Please feel free to leave me comments, thoughts, protests, suggestions, and questions after each blog and I will do my best to incorporate these into my entries.