OT- UConn Lacrosse

[babysheep]

If you want an idea of how expensive lacrosse gear is, check out this website, it's pretty much the premier lacrosse gear supplier. Check out how nearly every set of gloves is over $100

http://lacrosseunlimited.com/?gclid=CNuO17q99q8CFQcFnQodhRZfSA

 

[UConnSportsGuy]

If you want an idea of how expensive lacrosse gear is, check out this website, it's pretty much the premier lacrosse gear supplier. Check out how nearly every set of gloves is over $100

http://lacrosseunlimited.com/?gclid=CNuO17q99q8CFQcFnQodhRZfSA

I grew up playing ice hockey...so that all seems pretty cheap to me!

 

[stamfordhusky]

Lacrosse is still mainly a New England sport and has just started creeping down the Mid Atlantic and is just starting to pop up on the West Coast, so I don't see the university seeing a reason to fund it for a long time.

Not exactly. The two historic historical hotbeds of lacrosse are Long Island and the Baltimore area - which were excelling at lacrosse decades before there was much lacrosse in New England public schools. As for lax having "just started creeping down the Mid-Atlantic", the reality is that lax in the Philly area and Baltimore area is significantly better than in New England right now. And the best public schools in New Jersey are also better than the best New England public schools.

 

[UofCT]

In Fairfield County alone, Darien, Greenwich, New Canaan, Ridgefield, and Fairfield Prep are all CT powerhouses. I think if UConn started to fund the program we could be pretty competitive in a couple of years.

 

[stamfordhusky]

Following up on the above, at the moment only five of the top 50 in the laxpower power rankings are from New England. There are far more from Maryland, Long Island, Central New York, and the Philly area.

 

[Northbound]

Upstate NY is and has been a very fertile ground for DI and high DIII lacrosse talent from high schools and JUCO's and while there are plenty of high income areas that have quality programs there are also plenty of average income areas that compete at a high level and have really good players. The sports has expanded significantly in recent years, moving from a once Northeastern/mid-atlantic (baltimore/philly main line) dominant sport. Not any longer there is significant growth in the west and mid-west and the challenge for the sport is to acquire fans that have never participated as the past participant pool is relatively small which leads to small fan bases.

As the sport grows at the HS level there are plenty of quality players to handle the growth at the DI and high DIII level so while pulling first line kids that would normally go to a resurgent UNC, Cuse, Hopkins, UVA, etc. would be challenging, UCONN could likely compete for other DI talent from the jump.

 

[ZooCougar]

Cause LAX is a lousy, boring sport?

This is the guy that misses Jeff Hathaway. 'nuff said.

Let me guess, you think baseball, a game based on a game that they only let British schoolgirls play is exciting?

 

[RuffRuff]

Can't get into this sport at all - kids like it because it has tons of fun expensive gear. It's a redundant sport. We already have an age old sport where your run up and down a grass/turf field and put balls in goals(soccer). We already have a sport where you put a small ball in small goals with sticks(hockey). It feels like a sport your gym teacher concocted and would have you play. It translates terribly, like hockey, to TV. A bit of a yuppy sport for rich kids with lot's of gear. Will never, ever gain any major momentum in the sports world if you ask me. We have enough major sports covering all seasons. What we see now is likely the ceiling - regional sport.

 

[Waquoit]

This is the guy that misses Jeff Hathaway. 'nuff said.

Let me guess, you think baseball, a game based on a game that they only let British schoolgirls play is exciting?

Real sports don't have artificial rules where certian players can't cross a line. Reminds me of the hoop my mother played in the 50's.

Your 1st sentence is slander but you aren't too bright so I will let it go.

 

[ZooCougar]

All sports have rules. And all rules by definition are artificial. By your definition soccer and football aren't even real sports.

This is exactly like explaining to some redneck idiot why there is an offsides rule in soccer, or some british guy why a certain number of players have to line up on the line of scrimmage in football.

Without these rules, the game is unbalanced and you have a mess like Canadian football, arena football.

Let us know when you have a criticism that holds water. We'll probably be waiting for a while. Like forever.

 

[SouthTampaBill]

Best lacrosse player ever came from Long Island
Imagine him coming at you?

http://nbcsports.msnbc.com/id/7903131/

 

[businesslawyer]

It feels like a sport your gym teacher concocted and would have you play.

I know you used that to put down lacrosse, but maybe recognize that you just exactly described the birth of basketball.

 

[babysheep]

Can't get into this sport at all - kids like it because it has tons of fun expensive gear. It's a redundant sport. We already have an age old sport where your run up and down a grass/turf field and put balls in goals(soccer). We already have a sport where you put a small ball in small goals with sticks(hockey). It feels like a sport your gym teacher concocted and would have you play. It translates terribly, like hockey, to TV. A bit of a yuppy sport for rich kids with lot's of gear. Will never, ever gain any major momentum in the sports world if you ask me. We have enough major sports covering all seasons. What we see now is likely the ceiling - regional sport.

Have you ever seen a full game played? Do you know what a yuppie is? Did the lacrosse kids pick on you in high school or something? Because this post just reeks of butthurt.

 

[stamfordhusky]

Will never, ever gain any major momentum in the sports world if you ask me. We have enough major sports covering all seasons. What we see now is likely the ceiling - regional sport.

Its ceiling may be a regional sport - but the region is getting bigger every year. In much of the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic, it has clearly passed baseball as the sport of choice among kids. The majority of the better athletes play lax in many areas. Attendance at high school and college games in these areas is much larger for lacrosse than for baseball.

As for expansion, lax has become big in many areas in California and Colorado, and it is expanding rapidly in North Carolina, Georgia, Florida, etc.

 

[AJC88]

butthurt just became my new favorite insult.

 

[royboy123]

Not enough money to go around even for the under-funded and very successful sports teams we already have (track, field hockey, baseball)

 

[babysheep]

Man, how cool would it be to have a competitive home-and-home with Cuse and in the Rent/Carrier Dome.

 

[HuskyDogArt]

Doesn't UHart have a LAX team??

 

[RuffRuff]

Have you ever seen a full game played? Do you know what a yuppie is? Did the lacrosse kids pick on you in high school or something? Because this post just reeks of butthurt.

Checklist for my good man Babysheep:

Have I ever seen a full game? I live and work in Ffld Country - seen plenty of lacrosse. I sit in a hotbed. Have yet to watch a full game only because it puts me to sleep. I've tried, have cousins that played in highschool.

Do I know what a yuppy is? I work in an Investment Bank in Fffld County, yes I know what a yuppy is.

Did a lacrosse kid pick on me? Not to sound like Tampa Bill, but I did play a major sport on a professional level. I have a good appreciation for sports. I have no bias against lacrosse specifically, I just find it concocted.

Listen, I just kind of look at lacrosse as the field hockey to women's sports. Something resurrected to satisfy a niche demographic of second tier athletes. The sport has no ambience, no character, feels artificial. I know the Indians played it 200 years ago - we also ran those guys off their land.

 

[8893]

Lacrosse was a varsity sport at my high school in Fairfield County when I attended more than 30 years ago. I didn't play it but some of my best friends did and I always found it interesting, although I didn't know the rules. The sport has grown steadily in popularity since.

I now live up the shoreline in CT and the sport is taking off like gangbusters--especially among girls. There are enough girls playing in the 5th and 6th grades that our town is fielding three teams. It is taking kids away from soccer at a steady clip.

Like it or not, it is growing. And it is no more artificial than any other team sport.

 

[UCHuskies08]

This is the guy that misses Jeff Hathaway. 'nuff said.

Let me guess, you think baseball, a game based on a game that they only let British schoolgirls play is exciting?

Baseball is a wee bit more popular than Lacrosse.

How many people here advocating for it would actually attend games? My guess is most might go to one, then return to their state of not caring about Lacrosse. Yet, they clamor for the university to add 24-26 scholarships. Where's that money coming from?

 

[ZooCougar]

Second tier athlete pretty much describes every baseball player, if you actually consider those fat boys to be athletes.

Checklist for my good man Babysheep:

Have I ever seen a full game? I live and work in Ffld Country - seen plenty of lacrosse. I sit in a hotbed. Have yet to watch a full game only because it puts me to sleep. I've tried, have cousins that played in highschool.

Do I know what a yuppy is? I work in an Investment Bank in Fffld County, yes I know what a yuppy is.

Did a lacrosse kid pick on me? Not to sound like Tampa Bill, but I did play a major sport on a professional level. I have a good appreciation for sports. I have no bias against lacrosse specifically, I just find it concocted.

Listen, I just kind of look at lacrosse as the field hockey to women's sports. Something resurrected to satisfy a niche demographic of second tier athletes. The sport has no ambience, no character, feels artificial. I know the Indians played it 200 years ago - we also ran those guys off their land.

 

[UCHuskies08]

Second tier athlete pretty much describes every baseball player, if you actually consider those fat boys to be athletes.

 

[RuffRuff]

Baseball is a wee bit more popular than Lacrosse.

How many people here advocating for it would actually attend games? My guess is most might go to one, then return to their state of not caring about Lacrosse. Yet, they clamor for the university to add 24-26 scholarships. Where's that money coming from?

Baseball is a wee bit more popular than Lacrosse.

How many people here advocating for it would actually attend games? My guess is most might go to one, then return to their state of not caring about Lacrosse. Yet, they clamor for the university to add 24-26 scholarships. Where's that money coming from?

Um, you officially lose all credibility and are thinking from the regional fishbowl perspective. No, baseball is not a "wee" bit more popular. It's vastly more popular. Baseball remains a prime time, top tier sport. It has international attention. It has a national/global franchise with a team like the NY Yankees that falls within the top ten highly valued sports franchises. Where is lacrosse? Is baseball the the NFL, right now? No. Although some may argue that the concussion thing may put the NFL in a very vunlerable position 30 years from now. Has lacrosse gained popularity in the Northeast/Mid Atlantic over baseball at the junior ranks? Sure - parents love investing in gear where they can afford it. Unfortunately for lacrosse, most of the country/middle America doesn't give a about a sport like that where they can't afford it. There is a lot more country to the US than just this corner. Head west, head south. Baseball has professionals garnering multi million dollar annual contracts playing in stadiums specific to baseball worth hundreds of millions of dollars. Lacrosse - has some makeshift league sharing fields with other sports. Give me a break - hogwash It's not even an Olympic sport.

Lacrosse = field hockey. So it's ripped up the Eastern CT shoreline - whoopee. Let's go a bit more macro with this one.

 

[UCHuskies08]

I was being sarcastic. It's a billion times more popular. I'm not on the lacrosse train here. MLB vs. Major League Lacrosse (such a thing exists). 'Nuff said.

Leave Lacrosse to the Orange and the Dukies.