On today's episode of the Lax Lounge we sat down to talk with our teammate Mario Leone! Mario talks about his early life playing hockey from the age of 3 all the way through high school as well as when he picked up lacrosse and how he was able to balance playing both sports. We also talk about his decision to pursue college lacrosse over hockey and managing the ups and downs of playing at a high level division III school. We end with a draft of the best video games in honor of OG Fortnite being back which is full of nostalgia. Make sure to vote down below for who had the best draft and leave a rating. Check out our website at https://www.laxloungeinc.com/ and thank you to our sponsor Edvative Learning (https://www.edvative.com/)
Intro/Edvative Ad 0:00-1:44
Mario Leone joins us in the lounge and we immediately hit him with the fast five questions where we hear some of his hot takes that he’s afraid to share and why he would want to have a puppy-size t-rex as a pet (featuring a bonus polar bear joke from Nick), we then touch a bit on Mario’s background growing up in South Jersey 1:44-10:29
We dive into Mario’s hockey career and how he got started from the moment he could walk, starting with competitive floor hockey at 3 years old to the first time he hit the ice (and tried to quit right away), he breaks down his entire hockey career going all the way up to playing at Nationals in Green Bay, Wisconsin, how he was able to recognize when he was burning out and take a step back to rekindle his passion, dealing with the super late practices (and the reason behind why they happen), and how the game has grown in recent years 10:29-31:28
We transition into Mario’s lacrosse career which he picked up after being pushed by his friends, his first time playing with the most disgusting starter stick, getting a hat trick in his first ever game, we debate the differences between club, travel, and rec teams, Mario’s experience playing club under a rival coach, his insane 7th and 8th grade seasons losing only one game, getting his footing in high school lacrosse leading into covid, coming back for his junior year and having to miss the first part of the season quarantining for hockey nationals and some of the big matchups from his high school career, the guys get back onto their Survivor tangents and discuss the possibility of Nick going on the show 31:28-1:03.45
Mario talks about the decision to focus on lacrosse over hockey, a full circle moment where he was able to fill in for his future roommate in a tournament where he got a lot of looks, the transition to college lacrosse and having to deal with the loss of his grandparents, and how he came to the decision to come back for the final year at Cabrini 1:03.45-1:20.16
The guys talk about their moments of the week with Fridge sharing his S-tier Tuesday, Nick highlights Wednesday where we had or latest organized fall practice into an outstanding survivor episode, and Mario talks about his Friday night playing OG Fortnite with his roommates 1:20.16-1:31.26
Draft of the best video games of all time 1:31.26-1:59.08
