via Inside Lacrosse   It’s Monday, and Chris Cotter and I are calling the early game. It’s Israel and Philippines at 2:30 p.m., which means live on ESPNU at 7:30 a.m. Both nations are relatively new to lacrosse, and each national team as become the growth seed for the game. Not only do these young men represent their country, but they also are pushing the game to new users at the youth and high school levels in cities like Manila, Ashkelon and Tel Aviv. The Internet service here is best before 8 a.m., so grinding on bios —the unseen prep work— is most efficiently accomplished in the early morning. Breakfast is at 7 a.m. The fruit here is abundant. They serve tons of cheese and vegetables for breakfast, which really confuses me. I’m not quite sure what the tan cubes are. One bite is enough. At 8 a.m., I work out for an hour. Today is upper-body weights. Part of my preparation is meeting with the Philippines team and coaches at 9:30 a.m. in their hotel up the street. Kirk Ventriquattro is the head coach. The longtime leader of the Carthage Comets has surrounded himself with quality folks. Ron Garcia is their president. We run through the 23-man roster; they’ve got a handful of former college contributors like Dan Morris (Maryland), Alex Hurdle (Notre Dame), Max Rosner (Bowdoin), John Tornabene (UMBC), Mario Ventiquattro (Ohio State) and Justin Hussey (Le Moyne).   Read the rest HERE