NLL Insider

We’ve touched on every team in the NLL this season when it comes to rookie Q&As (if you have specific questions for a rookie, please let me know via email and we’ll try to get it answered for you). So this week I thought I’d switch it up and offer a rookie an opportunity to blog.

There was lots of great feedback on the quotes from Mitch Belisle on his first two career goals last month, and with New York making an ‘awesome’ push to make playoffs this season, I thought it’d be nice to get his feedback heading into the final two weeks.

Mitch: “I’m just finally sitting down, watching some playoff hockey after a tough go at the gym and a delicious steak dinner courtesy of my George Foreman grill. Every Tuesday I have been going to a spinning class at the NY Sports Club right after work, and I think it has really been a great training tool. The fatigue in your legs you have to fight through and interval training really mimics the wear and tear we go through on a weekend on the floor, and it is more fun than running sprints, especially in NYC. Not to mention the scenery in a spinning class is usually not a bad motivator - I would say it is about 50% attractive ladies and 30% ladies trying to become attractive. Getting in the best shape possible is huge this time of year as every game means so much.

We are right in the thick of things, fighting for that 4th playoff spot with Toronto and Rochester and two more weekends to go. As of now, we determine our own fate with a double header coming up against Chicago and Philly this weekend and what could end up being a “play-in” game the following Saturday against the Knighthawks. It’s amazing how much more intense our practices, pre-game warm ups and every facet of our team has become these last few weeks. You can really see our group coming together in the locker room and after games as we mesh and learn each other’s tendencies and start playing with confidence. E-mails firing up the team are flying around (with the occasional funny youtube video making the cut to keep things loose), people are watching more film and working out harder during the week and the team has an edge that wasn’t as obvious only a few months ago.

The preparation for big games has been a big change for me coming from the college ranks. This week I was always getting ready for one of our biggest rivalry games as we took on the Princeton Tigers for what turned out to be the Ivy League Championship game every year I was at Cornell. With practice every day, film sessions in between classes and extra work with the coaching staff early in the morning, you didn’t really have a choice of whether or not to be prepared. Now, it is up to each of us to make sure we are ready to go as the Titans take the floor for three of its most important games in franchise history. I know I have been trying to do my part and am confident my teammates are doing the same. I look forward to battling through these next three games and hope to experience my first indoor playoffs once May comes. Because as any sports fan knows, once you punch that ticket to The Dance, anything can happen.”

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