ZACK GREER

We have a bunch of camps coming up in the near future! Check it out at www.edge88.com

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Wanted to give a shout out to the boys after an unreal Memorial Day weekend down in Baltimore. We had a beauty of a time, got to hang out with the fellas from Reebok Lacrosse, working over at Rock the Box. Also got to get back together with some of my great friends from Duke. Obviously it made the weekend that much more special when the Devils pulled it out in the end. We were also fortunate enough to get down on the field, post celebration, which was a cool experience and we were very thankful to the players and coaches for letting us, as alumni, be a part of things. Congrats to Ned Crotty who was a very deserving winner of the Tewaaraton Trophy in 2010.

First of all I want to say thanks to the Can-Do-Canines organization and the Frasier School for helping me get the word out to families in the Twin Cities area. We had a good turn out the past two weeks as the Zack Greer Foundation for children with Autism brought a number of families out to our final two homes games. It was a pretty cool experience and a thanks goes out to everyone involved.

As for the Swarm, obviously not the result we were looking for to finish up the regular season but we were able to sneak in the playoffs, still giving us a shot at a championship. This past weekend we lost another tough overtime game to the Orlando Titans. There was a highlight for me getting to play against my older brother for the first time. We’ve spent hours playing together in the backyard over the years, but this was the first time we actually went head to head. I guess he won the first battle, but hopefully it was only the first of many. It seems that any team in this league can win on any night and we feel that we have a legitimate shot at putting a few W’s together and it only take three to get it done. In our first playoff game we are heading back to Washington to play the Stealth, a team we split with in the two games played this year. They are a solid team, with a record of 11-5 but we have beat them once already and will be going in confident.

The biggest problem we have had this season is putting a full 60 minutes together. In order to come out on top this Saturday we are going to have to come out flying, and battle the whole night. Being the underdog, we need to do the little things right and take care of the ball limiting the possessions of their high powered offense. Like I said it has been a rough year in the W column but is isn’t how you start it is how you finish that counts.

Also, check out these links to our new RBK REELAX commercials.

http://video.insidelacrosse.com/video/view/13185860/reelax-commercial—1-minute

http://video.insidelacrosse.com/video/view/13185956/reelax—watermelon-shooting

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Take a look at the flyer below, we are looking to bring families who have children with Autism out to one of our four remaining home games. Please contact me at the office and we will take care of the details.

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Thanks to a good friend of mine from Duke, the Foundation will be getting help from his firm in order to help speed up the process in becoming a registered 501 C3 Not-for-profit organization. This is big news and is going to help us immensely in the near future. Obviously there is a substantial amount of work that goes into this process and we are extremely grateful for this help.

It’s been too long. Let’s take a look back on everything that has been going on lately. The Swarm are sitting in fourth place in the West right now, only ahead of Colorado. The league is pretty crazy right now as there has been a ton of different teams beating each other. No one looks unstoppable and no one is out of the playoff race yet. We are 3-4 after 7 games and have one two in a row right now. We head back to Colorado this weekend for a big game against the Mammoth that will decide the three game season series.

Personally I am playing pretty well so far. There have been a few ups and downs which is to be expected after such a long time out of box lacrosse. The point have been tough to come by but I am trying to keep working hard, and doing the little things. Eventually with hard work, the ball will start to drop.

We are still having a great time living in Minny. Cino, Watty and I are get used to it all and sort of finding our grove. I have been fortunate enough to grab an assistant coaching job with Aime Caines (our Swarm assistant) for a high school nearby. We are in the works of putting things together as it is the programs first official season on their own. This is something I have wanted to do for a while, as I really enjoy the coaching aspect of the game.

More to come, going to keep this thing updated as the season continues to heat up.

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A lot has gone on since I last logged in here. About to hit the new year and hopefully start off with a bang.  As a team we have cut the roster to 23 as have all the other teams in the NLL and we are excited for the season to get going.  We had the initial weekend in 6 Nations and have since travelled to Denver on back-to-back weekends for more ore-season action. You can catch our 6 Nations travelling issues and some footage from camp over on www.mnswarm.com on the segment “Joe Knows: Episode 2″.   The first weekend out in Denver was an action packed three days with a total of five sessions. On the Saturday night we played a closed door scrimmage against the Mammoth, and came out on top looking pretty good. Both teams played a real big roster rotating players each of the six frames.  The next Friday we went back to play an Exhi game in the Pepsi Center and fell shot by a score of 10-7.

Overall I think out team looks good. On the second weekend it looked like the Mammoth had pretty much solidified their squad, and we were missing a few key guys.  No excuses, there is definitely still plenty of room for improvement. Personally, I thought I played ok, but I am still trying to figure things out a little bit. The game is much faster than it was in junior when I last played any box lacrosse.

Campwise: Both Edge Lacrosse and Lakeshore Lacrosse are making big time power moves in 2010. EDGE88 camps will be making there official debut in the near future, and Lakeshore has a ton going on in Minnesota for the 2010 season. Be sure to check out www.edgelacrosse.com and www.lakeshorelacrosse.com for all the info.

Wish all the best to everyone in the new year , and look forward to seeing many of you out at a few Swarm games this season.

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Last weekend was our first weekend of camp for the upcoming season. We all headed down to Six Nations, Ontario into the Iroquois Lacrosse facility for three days. Unfortunately for the four local guys, myself, Joe Cinoski, Colin Achenbach and Sean Pollock missed our flight Friday due to a communication mishap. So we get in late Friday night/Saturday morning and get things going right away.  The sessions got progressively better as we went along, both for the team in general and for myself.  Not playing box for a few years it is going to take a little while before I’m fully back on track.  There was about forty guys out there and the competition was pretty good. It definitely makes things tougher when you are playing with guys that you aren’t used to playing with and everyone is trying to make an impression.  All in all, I thought camp went well, guys were working real hard and I can’t wait to get back out there next weekend in Denver.  Being back on the floor and in the locker room with the fellas is a a special privilege that only true athletes understand and it is something I have missed the past few years.

A few things I need to work on: Putting the ball on net, its not the same as turning and firing on a six by six net that’s for sure. You can never be in good enough shape especially in this league, something we are all working hard at here in the twin cities. And last but definitely not least, I need to find myself out on the floor. By that I mean in terms of setting picks, and getting organized out there. It’ll take time to find the openings on the floor, and the proper timing, allowing myself to get open in the tighter spaces.

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Arrived in Minny a few days ago after a long haul out here.  It’ s been real fun, I got into the Swarm offices today to meet everybody and discuss a few things.  These people are on the ball and working hard, it’s going to be fun to be a part of for sure.  Cinoski and Achenbach are out here as well getting ready for the season, Achenbach lives out here. Some cool stuff going on, we have a pumpkin carving gig tomorrow at the Mall of America at 11:00am with some of the other teams as well.  Still looking for a place and getting accustomed. Big week.

So huge week here. Found out last Thursday that I was selected for the Team Canada roster.  I’m real jacked up about that, being able to represent your country is an honor every athlete looks forward too.  So they cut it down to 30 guys, and need to cut 7 more before tournament time.  From what I gather there was 20 guys who were guaranteed spots and others are battling it out.  So much talent on the list it is going to be fun playing with this group of guys.

Wednesday I began the trek out to St. Paul.  I ended up leaving at 5:30am, stopping twice and making it to Chicago by 5:30pm.  Long day but I had a good buddy I grew up with there and we hit the town for a real good time, especially for a Wednesday.  Continued on the next day, and arrived at around dinner time.  Exhausted, didn’t do much last night knowing that today was going to be a busy day.  We went looking around for a place to live, a couple nice spots but I think we are going to keep searching for a spot with a better location.  I’ll be livin with a couple guys on the team, not sure who yet as they haven’t moved out yet.  Staying with Coach Caines and the gang for a few days having a good time.  I’m also shopping for a new ride as we speak, a real exciting time right now.

The city seems great and the people have been more than welcoming, not that I expected anything different.  Of course there’s a huge blizzard on my first day here, but it turned to rain after a while.  I’m definitely going to have to get used to the weather again.  Pumped to be out here though, looking forward to meeting everybody and gettin more of the boys here.

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