Well, the weekend definitely didn't go how I envisioned it. It's weird how you can train as hard as you possibly can, work as hard as you can as a team for 3 weeks, and when you get out on the field it just doesn't come together, and that's exactly what happened to us last Saturday in Denver.

We got off to an ok start, but in the second corner, Denver went on a run and we were never able to recover from it. The thing about this league is that every team is good, and at some point, everyone's going to go on a run, it's all about learning to deal with it, and recover from it. Because of the 60 second shot clock, your always going to get another opportunity to get back in the game. But, we just couldn't put it together on Saturday. Their goalie, Jesse (former teammate of mine at Hopkins) played very well. He's a good goalie and once he gets going and into a rhythm, he's tough to score on. I snuck one in on him early, but he had my number the rest of the game.

Personally, I definitely need to play better for us to be successful, and I will. I need to be A LOT more aggressive, which will start this Sunday at Chicago. I only took a few shots, and I need to have a bigger impact on the game.

Clearly, you never want to lose a game, but if you've got to, it's good to lose early in the season and pick it up for the rest of the season. We've got 2 more opportunities to play against Denver this year, and their both at home, so I'm looking forward to getting after against those guys again.

As I mentioned earlier, we've got Chicago this weekend at home, and it's time to get this thing heading back in the right direction.

I'll check in mid week and see what's good with the NBA playoffs.

KH

What's good everybody? Just wanted to drop in and write one more time before the weekend. The week has been pretty productive. Me and my boy Brett were up in Portland doing some work for STX and Nike for a few days, and I got back late last night.

I couldn't be more excited about this weekend man, been waiting for this for such a long time. It's going to be a great atmosphere in Denver, they always have a great crowd, and the excitement of opening game is going to have both teams fired up. Not making any guarantees one way or the other, but I can promise I'm going to play as hard as I possibly can and do as much as I can for my team to come out of this thing with a W.

I was in a meeting earlier this week, and I got asked the question, why do you still do it? Why do you work out with a trainer, why do you take the sport so seriously? What motivates you? In a sport where actually playing isn't the way to earn your income, how do you put so much into it? It was a great question, and I figured I'd share my answer with you all. Well, for starters, I'm no different then any other competitor, just the simple fact that we still get to play the sport we love and compete at a high level is definitely a driving force behind me playing. I absolutely love this sport, and any day I get to wake up and play it, I'm thankful for. Whether that's in a summer league, a fall tournament or in the professional season, I love to play. Secondly, I'm no where near where I want to be as a player. I'm learning everyday. So what motivates me to work out everyday, shoot everyday, watch film and continue to improve? I'm not there yet. In my opinion I'm not even close. I'm working towards it though, and I will continue to do so. Lastly, I play to win. We all want to win a championship, no matter what level we're playing. Whether it's a youth league, middle school, high school, college or at the pro level. I won a National Championship in college, and the last thing to check off is an MLL (Major League Lacrosse) championship ring. So that's what continues to drive me (and most lacrosse players) to pursue a sport where the rewards aren't like some other big time sports.

Here's a link to my favorite Youtube video. I watched it every Friday night before playing Saturdays in college. Gets me a bit fired up.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W0sZ_oPBFr8

Well, time for me to go for a little jog and pack up to head to Denver.

I'll catch up with you all early next week.

KH

Get'um Hop.

What's good everybody? As always, I hope you guys had great weekends and got to spend some time with your families on Mothers Day. It was my first Mothers Day in a very long time not being around my mother, not too sure I liked it too much! I miss my family a lot, but they are all flying out this weekend to Denver for the first game!

We had a little scrimmage in Denver last weekend, just to get up and down the field against another team before starting the season this weekend. Last Saturday after the scrimmage, Mr. Anschutz was nice enough to let us stay at his Eagles Nest Ranch in Denver as a team and we had a great time. Played a little golf, had some GREAT food, played some cards, watched some basketball and just relaxed and kicked it together. The following morning a lot of guys got up and went fishing, skeet shooting, and all that good stuff, but I had to head to the airport to hop a plane to Portland (where I am now). It was a great weekend, and a great way to end training camp.

Well, this Saturday is a day I've been waiting for, for a very long time. It's our opening game against the Denver Outlaws at Invesco field. In our short 3 weeks of training camp, I do believe we've developed great chemistry, and are playing at a very high level together. Clearly, there's always room for improvement, especially this early in the season, but we're heading the right direction.

One of my best friend in the world, Benson Erwin plays for Denver, so it will be nice to get back out on the field and compete against him. We went grade school, middle school, high school, and eventually off to Hopkins together, so it's nice for this whole thing to come full circle and us to be back out on the field again at the professional level. In our league, Denver draws the largest crowds, so it will be an incredible atmosphere.

I shot a few video's at the ranch that are being edited now, so I'll toss those up in a day or two. You can see how TERRIBLE my golf swing is. I think my boy mentioned it in the video, but I've gotten an award before for the worst golfer to ever play at this course in Southern California. Now, in my opinion, that's not even right, how are you even going to have an award like that? Messed up.

Anyway, that's all I got for now. Need to get up and get a work out in and get the day started.

Oh yeah, got a question, who's going to have the song of the summer? What artist? Every summer somebody comes out with a catchy song that more or less defines the summer and is played over and over and over again. Who's coming out with it? I've got my vote, but I'm holding on to it for now.

Have a GREAT Monday,

KH

Oh yeah, and watch out for my boys at Hopkins, looks like they may be peaking at the right time...

Well, week 2 of training camp down! It was another good one! We got up and down the field and the chemistry is really starting to come with this team. We made a trade for Jesse Hubbard, one of my idols and one of the best to ever play this sport, so it was exciting being on the field with him again (played with him in Jersey).

Since we play at the Home Depot center, after practice on Saturday night, we went to the Oscar Delahoya which was definitely crazy to see. I'm not a huge boxing fan, but it was an exciting atmosphere for sure. The amount of concentration that those cats have to have every second of every round is incredible. Also, I saw Oscar hit that cat once in his side and I'm pretty sure that would have been the end of the fight if I were participating. Not sure how they take those punches to the stomach and side and keep going. After the boxing match we went to dinner and started talking, and this questions popped up. Is there any amount of money that you'd take to hop in the ring with Mike Tyson in his prime for one round? It's a tough question man. There's a few different ways to look at it. Do you cover up your face, hop in there and let that cat crack you once in the ribs and put you out of commission for a few months with broken ribs? Or, do you roll in and run the risk of him catching you in the face and causing all kinds of problems. I'm pretty sure my neck isn't strong enough to take one of Iron Mikes right hooks. Either way, I decided that it would depend on where I am in my life. If I'm young and in shape, I'd do it for a few mill. Actually, let me rephrase that, I'd consider it. But if I'm old and out of shape, no chance. What do you all think?

Thanks for writing in about the NBA playoffs, it's definitely interesting right now for sure. What do we think about the the hornets snatching game 1? Expected? Anyone catch the feature on Lebron and his son on Sportscenter this morning? It was definitely a good one.

This week should be fairly chill. Got some stuff to do down in San Diego today, and then some events in Vegas on Thursday, and then off to Denver for a scrimmage this weekend!

Next week I'll be in Portland at Nike for a few days, so I'll be sure to get some good footage while I'm there.

I'll get at you all before the week is over.

KH

What's going on everybody? How's the week going? Mine has been smooth for the most part. I made a pretty bad decision Sunday night to DRIVE to San Fran from my place in Hermosa. Not only was the drive 6 hours, but there were cows the whole way, so it smelled terrible for a good 4 hours of the trip. It was definitely a productive trip though. Monday, I had lunch with Joe from Sling It Lacrosse (lacrosse specialty store), and then we had an autograph session at the store for a few hours. After the signing, we stopped by a few high schools and did a few small clinics, it was a lot of fun. Tuesday, I got to hop around a few of the different neighborhoods that the kids from Lacrosse for LIFE live, which is always eye opening. After that, we had a few more youth clinics, and then I hopped on the road and started back down to Hermosa. All in all, outside of the stinky cows, it's been a GREAT start to the week.

So, on to basketball now. Who do you all think is going to take it this year? I'm still not sure who I'm going with. I'm more of a fan of individual players, I don't really follow a specific team in the NBA. I was definitely pulling for the Sun's, wanted to see Shaq play well and wanted them to push the Spurs a bit. The Spur's are a tough team though man. Their all so comfortable in their roles on that team, it's fun to watch. Everybody does their job and they just methodically take teams a part. On any given night, they could have a different leading scorer. So, I'm not sure I'm ready to pick my a team quite yet, but what do you all think? Who's taking it?

Who's the MVP? There are some crazy talented guy's who have had HUGE years. Kobe, Chris Paul, Lebron, KG, all those cats. Who are ya going with? I'm not positive here either, but I've definitely got a better idea here then I do about my pick to win it all. So get at me! I need to hear your thoughts!

3 more days until I get to practice again with my team, I can't wait.

Talk to you soon,

KH

I hope everyone had a GREAT weekend! My weekend was one that I've been waiting for almost 8 months! Yup, that's right, training camp started last weekend and it was a great feeling to get back on the field with my new team.

I knew most of the guy's already, whether it was through email exchanges, phone conversations, meeting in person, or playing together at some point in our lives, but it was GREAT to be able to get out on the field and get after it with everybody all weekend. We had 2 practices Saturday, and 1 this morning before a lot of the guy's had to fly back out to their homes across the country.

We got up and down the field and started developing chemistry on both the offensive and defensive end of the field. What stands out to me most thus far is how hard everybody plays in each drill. It really is like a college atmosphere in terms of the level of intensity and competition at practice and that's how it should be.

Saturday we spent the whole day at the Home Depot Center together (our home field) having a practice in the morning, a clinic for kids in the early afternoon, one more practice in the late afternoon, and then we attended the LA Galaxy soccer game which ended up being a pretty exciting game.

After practice this morning, we had a short clinic for some local kids, and then I hopped in the car and drove up the coast to San Francisco for a few days. I've got a few STX events to do with Sling It, a lacrosse retailer up here.

I'm just counting down the days until I get to get back on the field with my teammates next Saturday morning, It's going to be a great year, and I couldn't be happier to be a part of the LA Riptide. The team's hard working, unselfish mentality is what's going to make it a very exciting season, so if your going to be in the LA area, make sure you get out to a game!

Well, I need to get in bed after the long drive, but I'll holler in the next few days, because I've got some play off basketball thoughts to get out.

KH

Oh yeah, so, I was listening to Weezy today (as usual) and I heard his song on drought 3, his remix of "This is why I'm Hot"...so, it got me to thinking, what happened to that cat Mim's (the one who made the original)? Haven't heard from that cat in a minute, just wondering if anybody else had.

Well, I had ery intention to write about how excited I am about the start of training camp this weekend (which I'm fired up about) and talk a little bit about my thoughts and confusion on the NBA playoff's, but after going to the Glow in the Dark Tour last night, I felt the need to tell you all about how CRAZY it was!

Me and my boys Brett Hughes (LA), Joe Walters (Rochester), and Xander Ritz (LA), went to the Kanye West concert last night in LA and it was off the chains! For starters, I think it's always interesting to see the different types of people who attend a Kanye concert, that cat has definitely got fans of all different backgrounds. It was also nice checking out everybody's shoes, felt like everybody had some kicks on that I hadn't seen before, I got to step my game up.

Anyway, Lupe, Rihanna, and NERD performed as well, but the show with out a doubt belonged to Kanye. He performed about 14 or 15 songs, by himself on a stage with NO dancers, NO hype man, nothing! It was out of control the way this cat was able to control the whole stage, keep everybody engaged and literally not slow down once. The guy has ridiculous passion for performing, you can definitely tell it's what he was born to do. To see a sold out stadium of people singing every word to every song was so energizing.

There were people of ALL ages at the concert, it was ridiculous. A little guy a few seats to the right of us couldn't have been any older then 12, and sat playing his PSP until Kanye got on (at 1030, concert started at 730) then sang every word to every Kanye song. There was a 52 year old woman standing in front of us, and while I definitely had some issues with a few of her dance moves, to see her feeling the music rapping every word was definitely something I've never seen before.

If the tour comes to your area, GO! It's worth every penny you spend buying the ticket, food, parking, and any other expense. The guy is an absolutely super star and when it comes to entertaining a crowd and putting on a show, I'm not sure I've seen someone do it better (MJ used to, but I was too young to see any of his shows live unfortunately).

I'll get at you all before the week is over, and seriously, if it's in your area, get to the Glow in the Dark tour!

KH

What's good everybody? I hope you guy's had a great week. Min was busy, and I had a few pretty difficult work out's but other then that, it was a GREAT week.

Training camp starts next weekend and I can't wait. I haven't been this excited to play in quite some time, and it all starts next Saturday. I've been waiting a long time to get on the field with my new team. I actually got to play last weekend with the few of the fella's, and tomorrow I'm going to get a little mini work out in with a few guys in the area. I'll fill ya in about the team next week.

Here's another video from Rome. This one is more of the sites as Joe, Fabio and I bounced around looking at all the amazing architecture and incredible sites in Rome.

Check it out!

Have a good weekend, and I'll check in early next week.

Get'um hop.

KH

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UX7UmoGOw4g

As I mentioned a few weeks back, I filmed tons of videos while in Rome, and here's one from one of the clinics that Joe and I did while we were there. I've got about 3 more, so I'll be sure to post those in the next few weeks?

Anybody see Lebron's dunk last night? Had me whilin' out this morning when I saw Sportscenter.

Anyway, have a great Tuesday, and I'll get at you before the week is over.

KH

What's going on everybody? I hope you guy's have had a GREAT week. Mine has been pretty smoothly actually which is nice, finally got in a bit of a routine out here.

I wanted to write quickly and just talk about the important of GREAT training. Both Brett Hughes and I have been working out with Chris and Doug Gizzi and it's been incredible. Training has completely changed in the past 5 years or so, and for you kids out there it's extremely important to get to a gym to meet with a trainer, or get online and do some research and figure out how to really train for your sport.. The day's of going into the wieght room and doing a few exercises, and heading out and doing a few sprints are over, and if you continue to train only that way, you will never reach your full potential as an athlete.

What I've learned in my time thus far with the Gizzi brothers is the importance of having correct technique when running and changing direction, the importance of breathing and body control. For one reason or another, I have a tendency to hold my breath constantly when I 'm running, which in the past has caused me problems. My entire athletic career, the right side of my body has been doing the majority of the work, so I'm learning to activate all of the muscles in my body, and it's making me faster and more explosive.

Go to their site and check out their work! These guy's are awesome, and a huge part of taking training to the next level. http://www.zoneready.net/ . Just by looking at me do body wieght squats, they are able to tell what muscles are weak, which muscles I use, which part of my body works the hardest, it's pretty crazy stuff.

I feel like I'm getting in the best shape of my life and I'm more explosive then I've ever been, I can't wait for this season to start.

Training is all about becoming a better, faster, stronger athlete, and that's exactly what the Gizzi brothers are doing for Brett and I.

Make sure to get to their site and check it out, and have a relaxing weekend.

KH

Oh yeah, anybody see Kobe jump over that car?????

So, I told you guys a while back I took my camera with my to the Nike shoot a month or so ago. I finally put it on my computer! It's me and Ryan Powell running around in a few different situations. Sorry for the delay in posting, I got sick and I've been out of the game for a few days or so. Either way I'm back in California and back at it, so I'm excited!

Anyway, I hope you guys had an awesome weekend and I've finally got all my video's together so I'll be posting them all week!

I'll get at you soon.

Oh, yeah, don't give up on my boy's at Hopkins yet. Remember what happened last year when everyone did......

KH

I was fortunate enough this weekend to be invited to participate in the Legacy Lacrosse cup down in Georgia. Parker Jackson was a driven young man who passed away last year in a car accident. His family put together a tournament in his honor to help to spread his legacy and what he stood for to as many young adults as possible. I spoke at the banquet on Friday evening, and attended a lot of the games on Saturday afternoon. At the end of the games on Saturday, I put on a shooting demonstration for all for all of the teams at the tournament. This weekend was about so much more then lacrosse. It was about teaching kids the correct way to live their lives. To be driven, have great character, and to be passionate about everything you do. Parker Jackson was a kid wise beyond his years, who in his short time on this earth created a legacy.

The way the Jackson family welcomed me to be a part of this event with open arms was incredible. I'm amazed that with such a painful and difficult situation, the Jackson family has focused on keeping Parker's legacy alive, and teaching kids to live a life of purpose.

There's no way I'll be able to capture how special Parker or this event was through my writing, but if you could take 5 minutes of your day and go to www.legacylacrossecup.com and read about what an amazing human being Parker was and what this tournament was about, you'll understand why it had so much of an impact on me. If you do make it to the site, please make sure to watch the short video "In a work, Who is Parker Jackson?"

I never knew Parker personally, but I'll never forget him, and what he stood for.

KH

What's good everybody? I hope you all had great weekends. I'm writing this blog sitting on the plane riding back from Rome to NYC, then eventually to Baltimore tomorrow around 11am or so.

Rome was definitely amazing, and the fact that the sport of lacrosse is growing internationally is great to see.

While we were there we actually had two clinics set up by Fabio Antonelli (who you'll see video off shortly), who is a 22 year old who more or less runs all of Italian lacrosse. He set up a few games this past Friday and Saturday and guys came in from Finland, Germany, Austria, and the Italian guys put together a team as well. For a few hours on Friday and Saturday, Joe Walters and I put on a few clinics and tried to teach the guys as much as possible. The weather was miserable Saturday during the games, but they seemed to think it was great running around soaking wet and muddy, so it was a success.

Being in Rome and being able to see all the incredible architecture was an experience I'll never forget. St. Peters was the most memorable for me because of how beautiful it was, and we were actually able to walk around with someone who explained everything we were looking at. We actually were able to walk down where every pope has been buried, which was very fascinating, and also a little strange. Definitely an experience though. Fabio did a great job of making sure Joe and I got to see everything we could in 7 days. We did a ridiculous amount of walking, but I was digging it. Didn't even think about it really, we were just so busy looking around at everything.

I think we're actually headed back to Rome next November to run a camp, so that should be great. Not only will it be nice to continue to spread the game of lacrosse, but it will be incredible to get back to Italy and hopefully travel around a bit.

Changing pace a bit, I'm sitting here trying to put together my pre-game warm up list on my Ipod for the season. I'm not a jump around screaming type dude as far as getting mentally prepared for games, I just like to sit by myself, shoot a bit and listen to music. For all you athletes out there, what are some of your favorite pre-game songs? Or for sports fans, what songs get you going? Ya don't't have to be an athlete to enjoy songs that get you pumped up! I'd be interested to hear what you guys think! Let me know! I'll list off a few of my all time favorites.



The Sky is the Limit, Weezy

Second Round Knock out,, Canibus

Patiently Waiting, Eminem/50

Notorious Thugs, Biggie/Bone Thugs

So Seductive, Tony Yayo/50

Kick in the door, Biggie/Eminem

Renegade, Jay-Z/Eminem

Stronger, Kanye West

Can't tell me nothing, Kanye West

I'ma Straight Rider, Tupac

Till I Collapse, Eminem

Dead Presidents, Jay-Z

We taking over (Remix), R. Kelly, T-pain, Lil Kim, Akon, Jeezy

We taking over (Remix), Weezy

I get Money (Remix), 50, Ludacris

I get Money (Remix) 50, Diddy, Jay-Z

I could definitely go on for a few pages here, but I think I'll stop here. Let me know some of your favorite re-game songs!

I'll be sure to check in later this week, and post some pictures as well. Here's one of my favorite pictures from the trip.

KH

What's good everybody? I just wanted to stop in and say hello, as I've got a little down time here in Rome and wanted to see what was going on! I flew to Italy on Sunday night and it's been an incredible few days. I've got all kinds of pictures and video's to post when I return to the country in 5 days. I've also got some great stories! Some dude yesterday thought me and my boy Joe were rappers and asked when our concert was, not too sure what that cat was talking about!

What's going on in the sports world? The most frustrating part of the whole trip is I've got NO IDEA whats going on with the tournament. Definitely looking forward to catching back up with that when I get back early next week.

Anyway, just stopping in to say what's good, I've got to get ready for dinner (been killin' pasta!). Have a GREAT rest of the week and I'll catch up soon.

KH

So here's the SPARQ commercial I've talked about a few times! I'm sure some of you guys have seen it already, but for those that haven't, once you see the frog jump, I'm coming up! Don't blink or you may miss me! I'm not in the commercial very long at all (but you should have seen my family whilin' out during American Idol Wednesday night when it aired for the first time), but you got to start somewhere right?! I'll take it. It was incredible to film it and be in a commercial with some of the best athletes in the world. I'm off to NYC for the weekend, and then for a vacation in Italy, then it's time to really begin to get mentally and physically prepared for the season, I can't wait. I'll definitely check in next week.

Have an amazing weekend.

Be great.

KH