😎 COOLEST LAX DAD EVER!?

Sorry baseball, but the coolest dude to ever pretend to play your sport is now a Lacrosse Dad.

During a recent podcast interview with comedian Theo Von, actor Danny McBride — who famously played a brash baseball pitcher named Kenny Powers in the HBO sitcom Eastbound & Down — revealed that his son plays lacrosse and has turned him into a huge fan of the sport.

Here’s a clip of McBride explaining the sport to Von, which ends with the two of them watching a TLN YouTube video (“12 Minutes of Lacrosse Hits… And They Keep Getting BIGGER”):

“Yeah, I didn’t know anything about it at all,” McBride said. “And then I watched it. I’m like, ‘This s*** is hardcore.’ They, like, knock each other down on the ground. Hit each other with these sticks.

“I was surprised my son was even into it. I saw him getting out there, whacking people. I’m like, ‘Oh, damn! Here we go!’”

In the clip above, McBride says that fellow actor Tony Cavalero helped introduce him and his son to the sport. Cavalero and McBride are currently costars in the HBO television series The Righteous Gemstones.

“Tony Cavalero’s a big deal in the lacrosse world, I don’t know if you know that,” McBride said. “Tony has kind of pushed us in the right direction of getting [my son] into a cool team.”

Cavalero played lacrosse at VMI from 2003-2006 and had over 200 ground balls in his career. As a senior he won the team’s Fred Hope Award, which is given annually to the VMI player who best displays a love of lacrosse and life.

We’re slated to have Cavalero on next week’s episode of the Mitchell Pehlke Lacrosse Show. Check out this week’s episode in the video player below.

Who would YOU like to see us interview on the Mitchell Pehlke Lacrosse Show? Let us know by replying to this email!

🤝 Redwoods Enter Joe Spallina Era

The California Redwoods dropped back-to-back bombs on the timeline on Monday night, announcing both the departure of longtime Head Coach Nat St. Laurent and the hiring of Joe Spallina as the team’s new General Manager.

Spallina is the father of Syracuse players Joey, Brett and Jake, as well as Clemson commit Alexa (No. 1 ranked recruit) and youngest daughter Olivia. He currently serves as head coach of the Stony Brook women’s lacrosse team, but he has pro lacrosse GM experience from his time with the MLL’s New York Lizards.

While the Premier Lacrosse League has initiated a search for St. Laurent’s replacement at head coach, Spallina is already shaping the Redwoods franchise in his image.

“My goal is to turn the Redwoods into the premier destination in the PLL,” Spallina said in a statement released by the team. “Brick by brick, a championship quality roster is on its way for Redwoods fans.”

The Redwoods appeared in the very first PLL Championship game (2019), where they ultimately fell to the Whipsnakes in overtime, but they have been up and down ever since.

Last season, the Redwoods finished 3-7 and missed the playoffs. As a result, Spallina is armed with the No. 2 pick in the 2025 PLL Draft. After losing veteran Rob Pannell in free agency and fellow attackman Chris Gray to early retirement, California may want to target a top-level offensive talent with that pick. CJ Kirst (Cornell), Chris Kavanagh (Notre Dame), Coulter Mackesy (Princeton) and Sam King (Harvard) are among the most intriguing options.

…and then there’s the 2026 PLL Draft, where Spallina’s son Joey will be a top prospect.

Will we see another father-son duo in the PLL soon?

🌿 Ivy League Play Set to Begin

The warm-up is winding down, and conference play is starting across the college lacrosse landscape. This weekend, we’ll see the first Ivy League matchups.

Princeton at Cornell is TLN’s Game of the Week. Both teams are ranked in the top five with only one loss each. Cornell is looking to bounce back from a tough overtime defeat against Penn State, while Princeton is riding a three-game winning streak into Ithaca this weekend.

The winner of the Princeton-Cornell game will be in the driver’s seat, but don’t overlook Yale’s trip to Harvard this weekend. Although Yale struggled to start the season, this is a fierce rivalry and the Bulldogs crushed a ranked Denver team last weekend. Harvard is 4-1 with a win at Syracuse; this weekend will be an interesting test to see how the Crimson hold up in an Ivy League battle.

Penn is 3-3 on the season and could really use a win over 2-3 Brown this weekend to keep the team’s postseason hopes alive. Dartmouth (5-1) will play Hobart this weekend, before opening up Ivy League play against Penn next weekend.

👀 Brother of Super Bowl Champ Joins PLL

Last month, lacrosse-standout-turned-NFL-running-back Will Shipley won a Super Bowl with the Philadelphia Eagles. Now, Will’s brother is joining the back-to-back reigning PLL Champions.

On Wednesday afternoon, the Utah Archers announced the signing of former Penn midfielder James Shipley.

At Penn, Shipley was known for his athleticism and clutch gene. He’s a dynamic midfield dodger, who displayed perfect balance in his game with exactly 44 goals and 44 assists (88 total points) during his college career.

It remains to be seen whether Shipley can crack Utah’s game-day roster, but his name alone is an exciting addition to the team. Expect to see his brother Will, who recently attended a NLL game with the Philadelphia Wings, out at a PLL event this summer.

🇯🇵 PLL and WLL Land in Japan

The PLL has made its annual voyage overseas to Japan, and this year, members of the newly formed Women’s Lacrosse League (WLL) tagged along for the trip. As the All-Stars from both leagues prepare for exhibition games against some of the best players in Japan, they’re also giving back and helping grow the game.

Check out this awesome clip of Archers midfielder Piper Bond coaching a young and curious player through his wall ball routine…

This is an awesome example of how sports can break through language barriers and create lasting connections between athletes from different countries.

📺 College Lacrosse on TV!

Here’s the men’s D1 slate and watch links for this weekend, via Inside Lacrosse (all times Eastern):

Friday, March 14:
3 p.m. — Binghamton at UMass Lowell (ESPN+)

Saturday, March 15:
11 a.m. — Fairfield at Hampton (FloSports)
11 a.m. — LIU at Mercyhurst (NEC Front Row)
11 a.m. — Vermont at UMBC (ESPN+)
11:30 a.m. — Mercer at St. John’s (FloSports)
12 p.m. — Army at Lehigh (ESPN+)
12 p.m. — St. Bonaventure at Bellarmine (ESPN+)
12 p.m. — Loyola at Boston U (ESPN+)
12 p.m. — Merrimack at Canisius (ESPN+)
12 p.m. — Cleveland State at Wagner (NEC Front Row)
12 p.m. — Princeton at Cornell (ESPN+)
12 p.m. — Hobart at Dartmouth (ESPN+)
12 p.m. — Delaware at Towson (FloSports)
12 p.m. — Robert Morris at Detroit Mercy (ESPN+)
12 p.m. — Monmouth at Drexel (FloSports)
12 p.m. — Duke at Richmond (ESPN+)
12 p.m. — High Point at Georgetown (FloSports)
12 p.m. — Holy Cross at Lafayette (ESPN+)
12 p.m. — Le Moyne at VMI (no streaming info)
12 p.m. — Mount St. Mary’s at Manhattan (Jasper Sports Network)
12 p.m. — UMass at Rutgers (BTN+)
12 p.m. — Siena at Sacred Heart (ESPN+)
1 p.m. — Brown at Penn (ESPN+)
1 p.m. — Bucknell at Colgate (ESPN+)
1 p.m. — Yale at Harvard (ESPN+)
1 p.m. — Quinnipiac at Marist (ESPN+)
1 p.m. — Notre Dame at Michigan (BTN)
2 p.m. — Marquette at Utah (ESPN+)
3:30 p.m. — Villanova at St. Joe’s (ESPN+)
4 p.m. — Maryland at Virginia (ACCN)
7 p.m. — UAlbany at Bryant (ESPN+)
7 p.m. — Stony Brook at Hofstra (LacrosseTV)
7 p.m. — Hopkins at Navy (ESPN+)

Sunday, March 16:
2 p.m. — Ohio State at Denver (MidcoSports+)
2 p.m. — Jacksonville at North Carolina (ESPNU)