July 24, 2008

by Corey McLaughlin, Special to Lacrosse Magazine Online

Rookie life in the MLL isn't glamorous. Just ask around.

Even Paul Rabil, the No. 1 overall pick in this year's collegiate draft, has been forced to clear balls from the net during Boston Cannons practices this summer.

All newbies must adjust to the pro game, with its 60-second shot clock and up-and-down pace - even the most talented, like former Syracuse stud and Chicago Machine midfielder Steve Brooks, who leads all first-year players with 30 points this season.

The schedule is different than college, too. Gone are structured weeks at school with daily practices, team meals and video sessions. They're replaced with weekly plane flights and the struggle to balance real-world responsibilities with part-time MLL play. It's an adjustment Los Angeles Riptide attackman Mike McDonald from Division II Le Moyne knows all too well.

LMO caught up with Rabil, Brooks (the No.6 overall pick) and McDonald (No. 24) for a rookie roundtable, of sorts. (They weren't actually at the same table, but they were each asked the same questions individually.)

Check out their answers below.

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What's been the biggest adjustment to the MLL game for you?

Rabil: "Probably the endurance. There are only 18 guys on the roster who suit up, so you play a lot, which is a lot of fun. But you talk about the transition game and how you get a lot of shots, at the same time, the goalie is making a ton of saves and you're going the other way to play defense, running up and down. That's probably the biggest part, keep yourself in shape."

Brooks: "Getting used to the shot clock and the fast pace. The game is up and down, completely different from college. There, you can throw the ball down and work on possessions. You come out here, it's up and down, more like you just go out there and play. You basically just go out there and play with the best of the best.

McDonald: "Everything happens a lot quicker. Obviously with the shot clock, you have to make the possessions quicker. Also, getting used to play with such good players, you can't try to do too much individually. Sometimes the less you try to do individually, the better for the team."

What was your "Welcome to the MLL" moment?

Rabil: "Matt Alrich. He's huge, first of all, just gigantic. But he's great. I really like him. He's always reminding me that I'm a `rook' and he will make me do stuff to let me know that. Nothing big, taking the balls out of the net. All the rookie stuff."

Brooks: "Scoring my first goal and having Kevin Leveille come up to me and tell me to grab the ball out of the net. He came down after I scored and he asked, `Is that your first goal?' I said yeah and he said, `Grab the ball.' Then he grabbed it and tossed it to me. Actually, the ref went to catch it and Kevin threw it over the ref's head to me, and I ran off the field with the ball."

McDonald: "The first check that someone landed on me. I went out there [to L.A.] twice, and didn't play the first two times, but I practiced with them. Nothing too crazy, not too aggressive, no one was really hitting. But the first time I came across the middle and tried to turn the corner - you know, guys are a lot faster than they are in college, coming across for the slide. That would be one moment when I realized this a lot faster than it was in college. It might have been D.J. Driscoll who hit me the first time. We were doing 5-on-4. He was rotating to the ball, and he had a long slide across the crease, and he got there a lot faster than I thought he would. He laid a check right across both my hands."

How have you settled into your on-field role so far?

Rabil: "When I'm in there, I have the opportunity to initiate the offense and to dodge freely, try to beat my defender. In that regard, it's pretty similar in Boston to what I did at Hopkins.

Brooks: "As of now, I'm trying to be that guy who contributes. There's a couple of times where I can take the ball and do what I can to get momentum going and get some points, create as much offense as I can, and make the team better."

McDonald: "They're giving me a shot to play, mostly attack but a little bit of midfield if they need me, depending on the match-ups. I've been asked to handle the ball. On attack, look for cutters and that type of thing, but we're feeding off of our middies dodging. Mostly, I've been asked to control the ball and not try to do too much, create space and hopefully draw a slide and move the ball along to someone with an open shot."

What's the team atmosphere like compared to what you experienced in college?

Rabil: "It's cool, because I'm traveling now, from working camps to games. Plus, the guys on the team are great. The team chemistry is there. It's not the way I thought it would be in that you only practice once a week, that type of thing.

Brooks: "It's awesome. They've greeted me with open arms, which is a good thing. Playing in my hometown is a blast, but I was nervous at first thinking these guys would make me do rookie stuff and hassle me all the time. But these guys have treated me like I've been playing for a while. I'm playing with Kevin Leveille and Mike Leveille, who I played with the last four years at Syracuse. It's huge playing with him."

McDonald: "It's been great. In college, you're with the team every day, between practice and traveling every week, but playing on the Riptide has been great. The guys have been unbelievable. You come in so quick in the middle of the season off that draft and you're asked to be put in a position to play, and it can get a little crazy. But all the guys have been really supportive. With Jesse Hubbard, obviously, he's been around for a while and knows this game inside and out. He's always been there to help me for that transition, because there are some rules in the MLL that I just forget. I'm thinking about college rules. I forget to look back and check to see how much time is left on the shot clock and realize I have to shoot. Some of them say, 'Don't be nervous. You're here for a reason.' They've taken all the rookies in."

Did you expect to make the all-star game in your first season?

Rabil: "That was something I didn't expect. The league is so competitive. I just wanted to have fun and play hard. The league is a lot more open than the college game. It gives you the opportunity to score more and show off your skills. I was able to have a decent first part of the year and make the all-star game."

Brooks: "Not at all. There are a lot of good players in this league. When I heard I made the all-star team, it was a tremendous honor. It's a huge honor to have."

What were your expectations for the MLL?

McDonald: "The MLL, for me, was a possibility, but I wasn't really sure about it. I wasn't sure if I was going to go in the collegiate draft or in the supplemental draft. It came at me fast. I wasn't expecting much at all. I knew I was coming into very talented league."

What are you doing now besides playing?

Rabil: "I'm working with Under Armour, getting started with them, making appearances and working on the development on their lacrosse products and lacrosse wear. Hopefully, in the future, I'll get to run my own camps and do some stuff with lacrosse as much as I can. I have a job in commercial real estate starting in September, though, so I have this summer off, trying to figure out what I want to do."

Brooks: "Just hanging out. I've been traveling these last couple months, going out finding places to work camps. I'm trying to find a job and be involved with the lacrosse community as much as I can."

McDonald: "I work as an intern at The Bank of New York Mellon. I've been working there for about a year and hoping that I can work fulltime soon. I'm waiting for a position in my department. I work there usually Monday through Thursday, and then fly out Friday for games, and have to take off. With my schedule, I really don't have any time to relax. The days I have to relax are basically the days that I'm traveling, when I'm in the air flying between California and New York."

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Corey McLaughlin covers Major League Lacrosse for Lacrosse Magazine Online. Check back to LMO each Thursday and over the weekends for more MLL coverage, or send feedback to Corey at corey.mclaughlin@gmail.com.