Annual Lacrosse rant 20013...

[coachcap]

With Memorial Day weekend being the culmination of college lacrosse with the NCAA championships in Philly, I find it interesting that Des Connor has switched it up a bit & written an article on the growth of youth lacrosse in the State. He addresses how the youth programs act as feeders for & as a catalyst for the creation of high school teams in Ct.
Of particular interest was a "growth of lacrosse" graph that accompanied Des's column. In Connecticut, high school boys & girls teams increased from 117 in 2004 to 181 in 2013. This means that the number of high schools in state that sponsor varsity lacrosse has increased from about 55 to 90 (if you figure that area high schools have both a boys & girls varsity team). The total number of participants at the high school level in state has increased from 5,802 in 2004 to 8,258 or roughly an increase of 35% in that same timeframe.
At some point, UConn will have to address this exponential growth if interest in the sport, realize that it has a ready made pool of talent instate, & reinstate varsity men's lacrosse at the University.

 

[whaler11]

When your TV contract equals nada I'm pretty sure you don't add scholarship men's sports.

 

[babysheep]

Speaking of lacrosse, who am I supposed to root for in the championships when my brother's school (Loyola Md) is already out and it comes down to exCuse and Puke?

 

[whaler11]

Speaking of lacrosse, who am I supposed to root for in the championships when my brother's school (Loyola Md) is already out and it comes down to exCuse and Puke?

Do what 99.9% of the population does and ignore it.

 

[zls44]

It's interesting, I remember the NC game having 65,000 people every year for a while and hearing nonstop lax rants.

Looking today, in Philly, the stadium seems half-full.

 

[BoatShow]

Written 18000 years in the future woooooaaaahhhhh.

 

[brasssbonanzaa]

LAX's problem is it doesn't have a bona fide professional league that garners national attention, from the general public or media's perspective. For all of their idiotic moves over the past decade, if you asked the casual person on the street what the name of the major professional hockey league is, 99% will be able to name the NHL. That number would be leaps and bounds less, my uneducated guess would put it far below 50%, for lacrosse.

 

[whaler11]

LAX's problem is it doesn't have a bona fide professional league that garners national attention, from the general public or media's perspective. For all of their idiotic moves over the past decade, if you asked the casual person on the street what the name of the major professional hockey league is, 99% will be able to name the NHL. That number would be leaps and bounds less, my uneducated guess would put it far below 50%, for lacrosse.

50? It's far below 10. And half that got it right would be guesses.

 

[dsturdy5]

A coworker's son plays professional lax, I watch him almost weekly online or on tv and I struggle to name the league when pressed.

That being said, the sport is exciting and I hope UConn can find a way to add a program.

 

[Waquoit]

LAX's problem is it doesn't have a bona fide professional league that garners national attention, from the general public or media's perspective.

Why isn't MLL "bona fide"?

 

[SAMCRO]

Speaking of lacrosse, who am I supposed to root for in the championships when my brother's school (Loyola Md) is already out and it comes down to exCuse and Puke?

Today was the first time I have ever rooted for Duke to win (threw up in my mouth a little)

 

[brasssbonanzaa]

Why isn't MLL "bona fide"?

It's bona fide in terms of competition, it's not in terms of public reception, ratings, attendance, media dollars generated, etc. It's nowhere near the level of the NHL, not to mention the other three major sports. So, while college lacrosse and college hockey are similar in that they're mainly regional niche sports with rabid but localized followings, lax doesn't have the advantage of the casual fan being able to associate something with the sport. The casual person in Texas has very likely heard of the Dallas Stars, but could they name the Dallas MLL team? I personally can't without using Wikipedia. The only reason I even know the Boston MLL team is because they played on BU's campus briefly while I was a student.

Edit: There is no Dallas MLL team. Same thing applies to average Colorado resident and the Colorado Avalanche/Denver MLL team.

 

[whaler11]

It's nowhere near the level of the WNBA. Seriously if you asked people to name a lacrosse player you'd get Jim Brown, Jim Thorpe and crickets.

 

[ZooCougar]

Do what 99.9% of the population does and ignore it.

Baseball in the near future. Worst and most boring sport ever, other than Cricket.

 

[WhereistheDove?]

Baseball in the near future. Worst and most boring sport ever, other than Cricket.

Seriously doubt it. You may not like it, but now and in the foreseeable future, it has a very large following.

 

[ZooCougar]

Seriously doubt it. You may not like it, but now and in the foreseeable future, it has a very large following.

The large following is dying rapidly. And it can't happen soon enough.

That sport should have the good grace to stfu and end it's season in August, it just won't get out of the way.

 

[WhereistheDove?]

It's a tough sell to add a scholarship sport when money is so tight at the school. The amount of money to kick that off (plus probably another women's sport for title IX), when the best case scenario down the room I would assume is no better than breaking even (someone correct me if I'm wrong). I think eventually they'll probably add it as a sport but there's a reason there's not more call for it and that's because it's just not that popular.

 

[WhereistheDove?]

The large following is dying rapidly. And it can't happen soon enough.

That sport should have the good grace to stfu and end it's season in August, it just won't get out of the way.

Don't hold your breath.

 

[babysheep]

Yeah, I thought watching sports was about entertainment. Put lacrosse and baseball next to each other, and there's no questioning which sport puts the better athletes out there and puts on the better show. It's like men's vs women's basketball.

It's just nobody was athletic enough in the 20s when baseball got big to play lacrosse at the level people play it now, but, as Babe Ruth showed us back then and as Prince Fielder shows us on the daily, any fat slob can step on to a baseball field and dominate. Lacrosse is also, a relatively young sport (in the sense of it being modernized from the Native game). It's growing at an amazing rate. You have stores dedicated to just lacrosse equipment all over now. I don't remember ever seeing a baseball gear store. It's all just in a corner at your local 's.

 

[WhereistheDove?]

Yeah, I thought watching sports was about entertainment. Put lacrosse and baseball next to each other, and there's no questioning which sport puts the better athletes out there and puts on the better show.

It's just nobody was athletic enough in the 20s when baseball got big to play lacrosse at the level people play it now, but, as Babe Ruth showed us, any fat slob can step on to a baseball field and dominate. Lacrosse is also, a relatively young sport (in the sense of it being modernized from the Native game). It's growing at an amazing rate. You have stores dedicated to just lacrosse equipment all over now. I don't remember ever seeing a baseball gear store. It's all just in a corner at your local 's.

Seeing as most Americans couldn't care less about lacrosse, that obviously is a question up for debate. I understand the draw of lacrosse in the same way I understand the draw of soccer, but just like soccer, every time I try to watch, I find myself horribly bored. Maybe it's more fun to watch in person and is just a bad sport for TV (like hockey IMO).

 

[babysheep]

every time I try to watch, I find myself horribly bored.

Yeah, I feel that. It must be very taxing on your old eyes to follow that ball around. Exhausting activity, all that watching. Way too confusing to follow. With baseball, you get one or two plays a minute, giving ample time to adjust your hearing aid as needed. Nice and slow for you older guys.

 

[WhereistheDove?]

Yeah, I feel that. It must be very taxing on your old eyes to follow that ball around. Exhausting activity, all that watching. Way too confusing to follow. With baseball, you get one or two plays a minute, giving ample time to adjust your hearing aid as needed. Nice and slow for you older guys.

I'm 22. You like what you like, I like what I like.

 

[babysheep]

Oh good, so you'll be alive to watch lacrosse become a major sport.

 

[whaler11]

Oh good, so you'll be alive to watch lacrosse become a major sport.

Oh God do people really believe crap like this?

Look at the demographics of who plays lacrosse. Look at how the demographics of the country are changing.

Yeah better athletes play lacrosse than baseball across the board. That is why one has billions and billions of revenue and one is played because schools prop it up with student fees.

99% of the population could not name a single living lacrosse player. There is a really good reason for this.

 

[ZooCougar]

Baseball gives the morbidly obese something to feel good about.