LAX Sports !

By Sean Connolly

Lacrosse is slowly getting there. The thing is though, it’s slowly getting there. What should the MLL do to improve the league and expand itself? For me it all starts with marketing.

John Grant of the Rochester Rattlers

After Syracuse beat Johns Hopkins, lacrosse was on a high. The championship was widely televised on ESPN and garnered the biggest audience for a lacrosse match. I think right there was the MLL’s chance to shine. And personally, I don’t think they did enough. It was a real legit chance in which they had lacrosse on the proverbial sports pedestal and they failed to hit the nail on the head.

They need to start marketing the big names. In every league in America, big names draw big crowds which bring in big money. Every league has an untouchable hero in which like him or hate him, you have to appreciate him. One player who I think can easily take that role is John Grant of the Rochester Rattlers. He is easily the best player in lacrosse and has been around for a while, so every one appreciates what he’s done. He won last year’s MLL MVP in both the indoor and outdoor league showing his versatility. John Grant should be made the face of the league.

Rattlers’ Attack Man John Grant

Also to develop a league, great story lines need to be developed. Now I’m not saying the MLL should go on making up stories but they need to really drive home the really good ones. They need to make a hero out of John Grant and he needs an adversary. Since Grant plays for Rochester, an East Coast team, his opposite has to reside on the west coast to really develop a rivalry. I think Brian Langtry is the man for that job. He plays for a well rounded hard to beat Denver Outlaws team and would fit the role perfectly. If they can market these two as enemies of each other duking it out it will definitely garner interest.

Brian Langtry of the Denver Outlaws

The biggest chance the have though is coming up a week from today. The MLL All-Star game. It is being held in Denver at Mile High Stadium and is a real opportunity for the MLL to strut its stuff. People will tune in to an all-star game if they don’t follow the league. It happens all the time in American sports. When the MLB has their all-star game next week I guarantee many people will tune in who don’t normally watch baseball. The thing I’m most excited for is the Skills Challenge. John Grant is a participant and it’s going to be so much fun to see what he can do. The MLL needs to realize what is at stake on July 17th when the All-Star game is being played, because if they don’t this league could crumble in a matter of years.

Lacrosse is in the air.  First,  the recently completed MCLA Championship, and now the NCAA Championship. 

All you Patriots and Red Sox fans have a chance to head over to Gillete Stadium in Foxboro, MA for some incredibly exciting lacrosse: the 2008 NCAA Men’s Lacrosse Championships, May 24-26.

NCAA Championships weekend includes the Division I, II and III championships and will be hosted in New England for the first time.

For those of you new to lacrosse, the MCLA – Men’s Collegiate Lacrosse Association - is something between the NCAA varsity experience and more traditional club lacrosse teams. Each MCLA club team is self-funded and more than 200 of them competed for the championship.

Just last week in Irving, Texas, the Michigan Wolverines became the first team in MCLA history to go through the entire season undefeated. They beat the Chapman Panthers 14-11 at Texas Stadium.

Lee Wilson of collegelax.com reported on the game: 

“It sounds kind of cocky, but I kind of expected it,” said Brekan Kohlitz, the Wolverine faceoff specialist who went 20-of-28 from the faceoff circle. “I had a bad couple of games here at the beginning of the tournament…I just had to get that ball out real quick and find the open man. We did a great job of doing that.”

Kohlitz’s performance was enough for Chapman head coach Mike Wood to give him his vote for MVP of the tournament. [Michigan Coach John] Paul took notice of the stellar performance as well.

“Yeah, he’s been doing that all year,” said Paul of his senior faceoff specialist. “He’s special, really special. The biggest thing for him was that he’s always been able to dominate draws but he used to have trouble controlling the ball. Now he is so much better at that. Plus it always helps us out because we can put short sticks on the wing. We are always an offensive threat coming down. 

Brekan Kohlitz

Now the scene shifts from Texas to Foxboro, and from the MCLA to the NCAA.  If you’re looking for some family entertainment, the organizing committee for the Final has added a range of fan-oriented activities including youth lacrosse clinics, interactive sponsor fan zones, and community-oriented events.

While the most expensive seats are sold out, there are still seats in the endzones and upper balcony.  There are games going on Saturday through Monday.

Here are the Division 1 semifinal contests: You’ve got Syracuse vs Virginia in the first game at noon and Duke vs Hopkins going after each other at 2:30.  With the winners to meet Monday.

Meredith Galante analyzed the first game for insidelacrosse.com:

“During the Cavailers last matchup with the Orange, the lead changed five times throughout the game. The statistics and rankings are in Virginia’s favor, even though both teams own 10 wins against its opponent. However, Virginia has scored one more goal in the series, and one more goal was enough to win the last time these teams met. Both teams can score; this game will be decided on who can score more.

Matt Kelly – Photo: Pete Emerson UVA 

Sean Burns wrote about the Duke – Hopkins match:

“Of the four teams left to play this weekend, which has put up the best defensive numbers?

“Before you look at your stats, it’s not Hopkins, whose 7.87 goals against per game is solid, but is just the third best. It’s not Syracuse either, as the Orange come in at No. 9 (7.38). No, the top defensive dog in the fight is the team many don’t even realize have players on the other side of the field due to the firepower they bring offensively – the top-seeded Duke Blue Devils.

“While Duke has gone out and scored a whopping 15 goals a game to lead the country, they have also allowed a hair over seven, good for the seventh-best mark in Division I. With a schedule that included a bevy of NCAA-bound squads (including three contests against fellow semifinalists Johns Hopkins and Virginia), Duke allowed their foes to break the 10-goal barrier only twice: a March 22nd loss to Georgetown and last week’s lopsided quarterfinals win over Ohio State.”

Tony McDeavitt – Photo: Peyton Williams

There’s another way to look at this game. John Driscoll blogged about the resiliency of Hopkins:

“Defending national champion Johns Hopkins began the 2008 season ranked No. 1 before a five-game tail spin that threatened the Blue Jays’ string of 36 straight NCAA Tournament appearances – the longest NCAA string by any team in any Division I sport. It was a carbon copy of the mid-season slump endured by the sport’s most prestigious program last year, and it lasted a week longer. The Jays played the entire second half of the 2008 season knowing another loss – any loss – could end their phenomenal post-season run.

The Jays responded to the death watch by reeling off seven straight wins, a stretch that included crushing defeats of in-state rivals Maryland, Navy and Loyola, and tournament sprints past Hofstra and the Midshipmen by identical 10-4 scores.”

This is going to be a great tournament. If you’re new to lacrosse or an old hand, you’ll want to be there.