Lacrosse on the Brain: It's About the Endorphins that Competition Produces

 Me covering Umass midfielder Stephen Moreland Jr. North Andover, Mass at Umass, Amherst in 1985

To show just how much I had lacrosse on the brain, I suspended my Spanish immersion program in Guadalajara, Mexico to catch a flight back to New York to play in a non-revenue club lacrosse championship for Maryland Lacrosse Club. Folks, understand we are not talking about a major league lacrosse game like today where teams fly a San Diego based player in to play for the Long Island Lizards. No, dropped what I was doing to play for free in a club championship game at Hofstra University. That was typical then and even now. I’ve seen summer tournaments in which pro-players in the off season come and play against amateurs because the love the sport but more importantly they love the competition. That was my motivation in 1992, I loved the competition it produced endorphins that made you want to come back for more even at your own expense. It’s the high every athlete who has experienced it craves for more. It’s the high that Michael Jordan tried to obtain when he came out of retirement to play for the Wizards and what keeps him on gulf greens all over the world. More tomorrow