Jacket
At long last, here are the pics of my new Valley Lacrosse jacket courtesy of Harrow:
I've been wearing the jacket for about two weeks now - just after the Snowpocalypse wrapped up. With temps hitting over 40 degrees consistently, I felt comfortable putting away the heavy Columbia for the season. As part of the spousal bargaining process, I had to agree to wear the jacket as my regular spring coat; since I needed a new one anyway I was not really put out. Plus it is a great way to advertise the team and sport in Des Moines. I did not wear it when I went down to a bar in BFI on Friday night however.
My overall reaction is positive. The jacket is warm, but not hot and is very lightweight. I cannot wait to see how it fairs on the windy Midwest sidelines (March 27). Expect a brief write up at some point after our first weekend.Gloves
Valley also ordered custom gloves through Harrow (Torrent). Like the jacket, we used a stock design/color scheme and just added our logo. Since our colors are black, white, and orange it was not a huge issue for us. It kept costs and production time down, which is important since our players buy their own gear. I did not order the gloves because 1. I am not on the team and 2. I was broke right after Christmas. Hopefully I'll get a close up at some point to put on the Valley site; when/if that happens they'll appear here too.
Even though I did not order the Torrents, I needed new gloves. Once we got our tax money back, I convinced my wife to let me get a better pair. She gave me a limit of $100. Having tried on several gloves over the last year, I knew I wanted to go with Reebok. Their fit and comfort is unbelievable and I know that I'll want that extra protection when box rolls around this fall.
Originally I planned to grab a pair of 7ks from Great Atlantic
Having worn them to a few practices and a box scrimmage, I give these gloves a 10. They are snug but not too tight. The protection is ungodly. The flexibility is unreal - straight from the package. The grip is perfect. Most importantly, my hands are dry when I pull them off. I can feel dampness as I wear them, but the Play Dry lining does its job when handshake time comes around. No prune fingers is always a good thing...
Other
When I ordered my gloves, I convinced my wife that I needed some more lax apparel. Since I was ordering from Lacrosse Monkey anyway and they are an official NLL merchant, I decided on a long sleeve Swarm shirt. It's a high quality Reebok shirt; nuff said.
Poll Results
Pretty straight forward - 2/3 believe that Valley will win the Nebraska High School Lacrosse League this year. Considering where we are, I'm not surprised. The remaining 1/3 picked Creighton. Since we are in the same division, we won't be facing each other in the league final. Basically it's the Capitals vs Penguins in the Nebraska High School Lacrosse League...Regardless, I'm fairly confident that the winner of our division will face defending champion Millard West for the league championship. May it be Valley, the upstart team from Central Iowa.
