It’s finally here…the playoffs. We’ve waited all season for this weekend and it has been worth the wait after one of the most exciting seasons in history. The playoffs will take place in Harvard Stadium in Boston Massachusetts and will be the home of two great semifinal games and a final that decides it all. In the first semifinal there’s the Rochester Rattlers against the Philadelphia Barrage and on the Western side of things we’ve got the Denver Outlaws pitted against the Los Angeles Riptide. With that said, let’s get down to my predictions of who’s gonna win this thing!

Rochester Rattlers vs. Philadelphia Barrage: Winner-Rochester Rattlers

It’s simple really…John Grant Jr. I’ve been talking Grant up all season as the best in the game and on Thursday the MLL validated that talk by giving Grant the MLL MVP for the second season in a row. The Rattlers are the number one seeded team overall with their 9-3 record and haven’t shown many signs of letting up this entire season. As for the Philadelphia Barrage, they come in as the weak link in this Championship weekend as the fourth seed with a record of 7-5.

The focus will lie solely on John Grant Jr. for the Barrage and expect all-star Brodie Merrill to step up big time. The lingering problem for the Rattlers though is their goalie Mike Levin, who has looked very shaky in net for the last couple of weeks. The best opportunity for Jed Prossner and the Barrage to win is to actually get in a shootout with the Rattlers and hope that Brian Dougherty can get his act together and hold down this Rattler attack. I don’t think it’s possible for the Barrage to win as they are over-matched in every aspect, so expect a comfortable win for the Rattlers.

Denver Outlaws vs. Los Angeles Riptide: Winner- Los Angeles Riptide

The Riptide!?! Yes, I said it, the Riptide will win. The Riptide come into this weekend playing their best lacrosse of the season after winning 6 of their last 8. Winning streaks tend to carry over into the playoffs and I think the 7-5 Riptide have what it takes to take down the more powerful 8-4 Outlaws. The Riptide have the MLL Goalie of the Year in Mickey Jarboe who’s GAA is down to 12.75 which ranked first in the league.

With a solid guy in the net they also have three guys who seem unstoppable at times. Jesse Hubbard, Kyle Harrison, and Kevin Huntley are all completely different players but their style mix well together. Jesse Hubbard is the MLL’s all-time leading goal scorer so expect his veteran play to shine this weekend. As for the Outlaws, Brian Langtry is of course the key. But, in the one loss they had this season against L.A. Langtry was held to one assist. The Riptide know how to shut down Langtry and expect them to do it again this weekend.

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.