OT- UConn Lacrosse

[ZooCougar]

Ask some random person on the street who played in the World Series last season. Bet they can't remember or couldn't care less. That sport is collapsing into itself because less people than ever before want to watch it, much less waste their time playing that idiotic and boring sport. It's the perfect cure for insomnia.

The worst thing about baseball is that it runs into football season and it distracts the media because for some reason they think people give a crap. I think ESPN got higher ratings from a weeknight mid major football game than than the stupid "world" series.

 

[RuffRuff]

?

Have you tried hitting a 95 mile an hour fastball? Or a 88 mile an hour slider that moves 4 inches 5 feet from the plate? My guess is if I threw you in a cage where a machine was throwing a straight 83 mile an hour fastball, you'd miss 10 out of 10. It's widely known that the hardest thing to do in all of sports is to hit a small ball traveling fast on multiple planes with a rounded bat. Are baseball players the best "athletes" in the world? No - it's more of a skill sport, a hand eye coordination sport. But there are still some great athletes in that sport and it's a sport distinct from any other. There is an art to it and it has an established historical value to it. It's not for everyone? I played it professionally, but have actually moved away from it as far as a sport of choice from a fan perspective. But I respect it, understand it's brand and where it sits in the American marketplace/history.

Lacrosse - not distinct. It overlaps other sports. Has no recognized history in today's passive fan base and fighting for recognition in a saturated sports market. It's going no where other than a regional makeshift sport. Just like so many of us can't get into watching women's hoops, nor can a lot of us get into watching second a second tier sport. We all want to watch sports where the best athletes or most skilled humans are.

 

[UCHuskies08]

?

Have you tried hitting a 95 mile an hour fastball? Or a 88 mile an hour slider that moves 4 inches 5 feet from the plate? My guess is if I threw you in a cage where a machine was throwing a straight 83 mile an hour fastball, you'd miss 10 out of 10. It's widely known that the hardest thing to do in all of sports is to hit a small ball traveling fast on multiple planes with a rounded bat. Are baseball players the best "athletes" in the world? No - it's more of a skill sport, a hand eye coordination sport. But there are still some great athletes in that sport and it's a sport distinct from any other. There is an art to it and it has an established historical value to it. It's not for everyone? I played it professionally, but have actually moved away from it as far as a sport of choice from a fan perspective. But I respect it, understand it's brand and where it sits in the American marketplace/history.

Lacrosse - not distinct. It overlaps other sports. Has no recognized history in today's passive fan base and fighting for recognition in a saturated sports market. It's going no where other than a regional makeshift sport. Just like so many of us can't get into watching women's hoops, nor can a lot of us get into watching second a second tier sport. We all want to watch sports where the best athletes or most skilled humans are.

Why are you responding to my posts like I'm agreeing with him? I'm on your side, buddy.

 

[UCHuskies08]

Ask some random person on the street who played in the World Series last season. Bet they can't remember or couldn't care less. That sport is collapsing into itself because less people than ever before want to watch it, much less waste their time playing that idiotic and boring sport. It's the perfect cure for insomnia.

The worst thing about baseball is that it runs into football season and it distracts the media because for some reason they think people give a crap. I think ESPN got higher ratings from a weeknight mid major football game than than the stupid "world" series.

I'm sure more people know who was in the World Series than could name a single Lacrosse player, nevermind a team in Major League Lacrosse, nevermind the teams that were in the Major League Lacrosse championship.

 

[RuffRuff]

Ask some random person on the street who played in the World Series last season. Bet they can't remember or couldn't care less. That sport is collapsing into itself because less people than ever before want to watch it, much less waste their time playing that idiotic and boring sport. It's the perfect cure for insomnia.

The worst thing about baseball is that it runs into football season and it distracts the media because for some reason they think people give a crap. I think ESPN got higher ratings from a weeknight mid major football game than than the stupid "world" series.

Ask some random person on the street who played in the World Series last season. Bet they can't remember or couldn't care less. That sport is collapsing into itself because less people than ever before want to watch it, much less waste their time playing that idiotic and boring sport. It's the perfect cure for insomnia.

The worst thing about baseball is that it runs into football season and it distracts the media because for some reason they think people give a crap. I think ESPN got higher ratings from a weeknight mid major football game than than the stupid "world" series.

Buddy, go check the financials. MLB has actually trended forward in revenue. Baseball is a slow boil - it's a long season and they have a mechanism in place that works. They don't do it in a short spurt like the NFL, they do it over a long haul. Why do you think teams still pay a player a guaranteed contract for 25 million a year for 10 years? Because they like throwing money out the window? No, because there is a cost benefit to it. If I'm pointing my kid in a direction, if he's talented, that makes the most sense, it's baseball. There are no health risks, there are gauranteed contracts, there is a long shelf life.

Who can remember who was in last years final in the NHL or NBA? Probably as many as MLB. The NFL is on it's own level - although it's having it's own issues. Again, don't fishbowl this one - Northeast, lot's of static. A lot of America is much more attentive, less distracted.

I actually agree that the baseball season is too long. That kills it for me - I need juice on any given game - I have ADD. It won't change given it's still making money that way and there it too much critical mass from the historical perspective. It's a sport that shouldn't be played in April or October/cold.

 

[husky8273]

Debate the structure of the game all you want. Kids are voting with their feet and they love it. It is the fastest growing youth sport today. The best athletes play lacrosse in the spring, not baseball.

Go to the lax Championships this year in Foxboro over Memorial Day weekend. The Final Four has been drawing 50,000 to NFL stadiums for 10 years! 2 D I semis on Sat., Div II and III finals on Sun., D I final on Mon. See a fanfest that rivals those at a men's hoops Final Four!

Go to http://uconnmenslacrosse.blogspot.com/. The UConn club team had his best year ever finishing 2nd in its conference, finished ranked #15 before losing in the first round of the PCLL playoffs.

 

[Waquoit]

Have you ever seen a full game played?

Make me. Unlike baseball, LAX has a low skill factor. It's just a glorified version of keep-away.

 

[8893]

LAX has a low skill factor. It's just a glorified version of keep-away.

You don't seem very bright. You also have a penchant for criticizing things you know very little about, like sports. Let me help you: That is false.

 

[ZooCougar]

I'm sure more people know who was in the World Series than could name a single Lacrosse player, nevermind a team in Major League Lacrosse, nevermind the teams that were in the Major League Lacrosse championship.

No doubt, nobody could name lacrosse player other than Jim Brown. But 35 years from now I bet a somewhat common question will be "daddy what is baseball?". The answer will be: "it's a niche sport that is still pretty big Japan".

Baseball is awful. People are turning away from it in droves. Good riddance.

 

[ZooCougar]

Make me. Unlike baseball, LAX has a low skill factor. It's just a glorified version of keep-away.

Baseball takes skill, so does gardening and automotive maintenance. And I don't want to watch any of the three.

Lacrosse has no skill. Too funny, I guess any bum on the street could play football well too.

 

[Waquoit]

You don't seem very bright. You also have a penchant for criticizing things you know very little about, like sports. Let me help you: That is false.

Insufficient reply. Why is it false? I'm giving reasons for my opinions, all I'm getting back is stuff like false, wrong, you don't know the sport. Inform me, where's the skill? Running back and forth holding a ball in a basket while everyone else watches doesn't seem that hard to do. There's the basic throwing and catching that has a degree of skill, but nothing that approaches hitting a baseball or dribbling a soccer ball. I think the lack of skill needed is part of it's appeal for new players.

 

[Waquoit]

Too funny, I guess any bum on the street could play football well too.

"Bum" is your word here. But UConn's Donald Thomas went from not playing football in high school to a starting position in the NFL in 5 years. Antonio Gates never played football in college and became an all-time great almost overnight from.

 

[UCHuskies08]

No doubt, nobody could name lacrosse player other than Jim Brown. But 35 years from now I bet a somewhat common question will be "daddy what is baseball?". The answer will be: "it's a niche sport that is still pretty big Japan".

Baseball is awful. People are turning away from it in droves. Good riddance.

Do you really believe this? This is so absurd I'm not sure if I should respond seriously or not.

 

[FfldCntyFan]

No doubt, nobody could name lacrosse player other than Jim Brown. But 35 years from now I bet a somewhat common question will be "daddy what is baseball?". The answer will be: "it's a niche sport that is still pretty big Japan".

Baseball is awful. People are turning away from it in droves. Good riddance.

Zoo, could you please explain to me the contract that the Reds gave Votto this past offseason?

I personally happen to enjoy both sports. I don't however see lacrosse ever being anything significance beyond a major college level.

 

[FrostyNuggets]

Isnt the Body By Jake guy commissioner of Major League Lacrosse?

 

[FfldCntyFan]

"A fully-funded Division I men's lacrosse team has a maximum number of 12.6 scholarships to hand out. On the women's side, the max is 12."

We just need to find 12-13 more scholarships to add for the females in some sport and we're good to go. UConn lacrosse can play in stadiums around the state, especially Harbour Yard in Bridgeport.

There's a bit more to it than just the scholarships. For the additional men's scholarships offered we would need to add a similar number of women's scholarships (easiest part of the equation). Additionally, for every increase in non scholarship male athletes (I imagine ~ 20 in lacrosse) there must be an equal increase (total participation must be in line, not merely scholarship athletes) in women athletes (which will likely require a good number of partial scholarships as incentive along with a large increase in overall scouting/recruiting budgets in order to identify candidates willing to participate).

I absolutely want men's lacrosse added and I've posted many times over the past decade (on prior boneyards) about how this can be part of a comprehensive plan to better establish UConn's presence (to increase interest in the academic institution as well as increase the fan base for revenue sports) in affluent suburban NYC regions (western LI, Westchester and Fairfield counties), all of which can easily improve the marketability of the university and its athletic programs.

I see no reason why we cannot become a major player (equivalent to the status our men's soccer program has) within a half dozen years in men's lacrosse and we can also easily become the most significant athletic presence in all of metropolitan NYC in the process.

 

[ZooCougar]

Zoo, could you please explain to me the contract that the Reds gave Votto this past offseason?

I personally happen to enjoy both sports. I don't however see lacrosse ever being anything significance beyond a major college level.

Zoo, could you please explain to me the contract that the Reds gave Votto this past offseason?

I personally happen to enjoy both sports. I don't however see lacrosse ever being anything significance beyond a major college level.

I have no idea what the heck you are talking about. No doubt, there are a few baseball enclaves out there willing to spend money, but this sport is dying a long slow death.

Also one of you baseball wackjobs said that baseball isn't a derivative.


That is also total BS. Baseball is based on a British schoolgirls game called rounders.

If anything, basketball and hockey are derivatives of lacrosse, since it predates both of those sports by centuries.

In fact, basketball and lax are the only true North American sports in origin. Even football traces it's origins to soccer.

 

[babysheep]

Give me a break - hogwash It's not even an Olympic sport.

So what about football

?

Have you tried hitting a 95 mile an hour fastball? Or a 88 mile an hour slider that moves 4 inches 5 feet from the plate? My guess is if I threw you in a cage where a machine was throwing a straight 83 mile an hour fastball, you'd miss 10 out of 10. It's widely known that the hardest thing to do in all of sports is to hit a small ball traveling fast on multiple planes with a rounded bat. Are baseball players the best "athletes" in the world? No - it's more of a skill sport, a hand eye coordination sport. But there are still some great athletes in that sport and it's a sport distinct from any other. There is an art to it and it has an established historical value to it. It's not for everyone? I played it professionally, but have actually moved away from it as far as a sport of choice from a fan perspective. But I respect it, understand it's brand and where it sits in the American marketplace/history.

Lacrosse - not distinct. It overlaps other sports. Has no recognized history in today's passive fan base and fighting for recognition in a saturated sports market. It's going no where other than a regional makeshift sport. Just like so many of us can't get into watching women's hoops, nor can a lot of us get into watching second a second tier sport. We all want to watch sports where the best athletes or most skilled humans are.

Seriously dude the tone of this post and your previous posts screams "I got beat up by lacrosse players in high school and I can't get over it". You really seem to have some kind of emotional aversion to the sport.

 

[johnhuskies95]

Baseball takes skill, so does gardening and automotive maintenance. And I don't want to watch any of the three.

Lacrosse has no skill. Too funny, I guess any bum on the street could play football well too.

Yeah, hitting a 90+ mph fastball takes no skill. How about hitting a 90 mph pitch that moves from side to side? That doesn't take skill?

It's funny that you say that baseball will be a niche sport in 30 years. If lacrosse will become so popular, how come nobody goes to the games? There isn't even a foundation of a fanbase. Nobody goes at all. Baseball routinely gets 40,000+ to go to regular season games all throughout the country.

Nobody supports lacrosse.

 

[ZooCougar]

Baseball is sooooooo popular in many American cities that the MLS teams in those cities have literary them. FACT.

I never said that lacrosse will overtake our sedentary national "pastime". What will happen is that many other sports will continue to chip away at it until the the only people who still care about this "sport" 'are a few Dominicans and a few guys from that town in Iowa where they filled "field of dreams".

Once the old geezers that actually still love this game die off, there won't be much of fervent base left around. Hello niche-dom.

Yeah, hitting a 90+ mph fastball takes no skill. How about hitting a 90 mph pitch that moves from side to side? That doesn't take skill?

It's funny that you say that baseball will be a niche sport in 30 years. If lacrosse will become so popular, how come nobody goes to the games? There isn't even a foundation of a fanbase. Nobody goes at all. Baseball routinely gets 40,000+ to go to regular season games all throughout the country.

Nobody supports lacrosse.

 

[ZooCougar]

"Bum" is your word here. But UConn's Donald Thomas went from not playing football in high school to a starting position in the NFL in 5 years. Antonio Gates never played football in college and became an all-time great almost overnight from.

So by Waquoit/Waylon fallacy based logic, football, like lacrosse also sucks because these sports place a higher premium on elite level athleticism. Fat guys hitting fastballs is better. Got it.

 

[ZooCougar]

Baseball is so popular that it was jettisoned from Olympics. It was an Olympic sport. The four guys in the Netherlands who weren't athletic enough to ride a bike or play soccer were pretty bummed about that.

So what about football
Seriously dude the tone of this post and your previous posts screams "I got beat up by lacrosse players in high school and I can't get over it". You really seem to have some kind of emotional aversion to the sport.

 

[johnhuskies95]

Baseball is sooooooo popular in many American cities that the MLS teams in those cities have literary them. FACT.

I never said that lacrosse will overtake our sedentary national "pastime". What will happen is that many other sports will continue to chip away at it until the the only people who still care about this "sport" 'are a few Dominicans and a few guys from that town in Iowa where they filled "field of dreams".

Once the old geezers that actually still love this game die off, there won't be much of fervent base left around. Hello niche-dom.

Nice diversion from my post. Baseball requires a ton of skill to play. Michael Jordan, arguably the best athlete in the world, couldn't hack it in baseball.

Deion Sanders is arguably the greatest defensive back in NFL history, and he was just average in the MLB. Same with Bo Jackson. He had a career OBP of .309.

Baseball attendance has gone up this year, and is up compared to where it was ten years ago.

You have spoken out of your ass this whole thread, and have yet to make any post based on any factual data. Everything you post is centered around your inane opinions.

 

[FAIRTIDES]

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.

For what it's worth there was a recent article (don't remember where, it was just an interesting tidbit. might have been the Yahoo front page) noting that Lax is the fastest growing youth sport in the U.S.

 

[ZooCougar]

I didn't divert. Your reading comprehension is just terrible. I agree that baseball takes skill, but that doesn't make it worthy viewing. Gardening takes skill, croquet takes skill, even curling takes skill. It does not mean it's cool.

It doesn't matter if attendance is up. And I do not believe that one bit. Last season MLS was outdrawing our boring national pastime in certain cities. People would rather watch bad pro soccer than go waste their lives watching nine excruciating innings of the most boring sport not named cricket.

Nice diversion from my post. Baseball requires a ton of skill to play. Michael Jordan, arguably the best athlete in the world, couldn't hack it in baseball.

Deion Sanders is arguably the greatest defensive back in NFL history, and he was just average in the MLB. Same with Bo Jackson. He had a career OBP of .309.

Baseball attendance has gone up this year, and is up compared to where it was ten years ago.

You have spoken out of your ass this whole thread, and have yet to make any post based on any factual data. Everything you post is centered around your inane opinions.