OT- UConn Lacrosse

[Adios]

Going by the attendance I saw at UNC during an NCAA tournament game against Denver University, baseball, soccer and hockey would all outdraw lacrosse.

I do have a Bridgeport Barrage t-shirt. Cool item. Wish I saw them in person.

 

[RuffRuff]

Coincidentally, the cousins that played at Trumbull high fit the LAX stereotype to a T, both with haircuts circa the Beatles and ok athletes. I know I'm stereotyping, but it kind of is part of the brand as far as how it's recognized. Then you see where the sport is played, the colleges that are passionate about it and it's hard not to. It's the sport where you see the dad's pull up in their convertible with pink popped collar and throw around sweater cheering on Biff III.

 

[8893]

Coincidentally, the cousins that played at Trumbull high fit the LAX stereotype to a T, both with haircuts circa the Beatles and ok athletes. I know I'm stereotyping, but it kind of is part of the brand as far as how it's recognized. Then you see where the sport is played, the colleges that are passionate about it and it's hard not to. It's the sport where you see the dad's pull up in their convertible with pink popped collar and throw around sweater cheering on Biff III.

Also coincidentally, I drive a convertible, usually wear a pink polo shirt with the collar turned up and a sweater wrapped around my shoulders, and am named Biff II. My daughters all attend private schools and are named Buffy, Muffy and Biffilina, respectively. And I wear a Bieber hairstyle.

Damn, dude, you have us nailed!

 

[stamfordhusky]

Coincidentally, the cousins that played at Trumbull high fit the LAX stereotype to a T, both with haircuts circa the Beatles and ok athletes. I know I'm stereotyping, but it kind of is part of the brand as far as how it's recognized. Then you see where the sport is played, the colleges that are passionate about it and it's hard not to. It's the sport where you see the dad's pull up in their convertible with pink popped collar and throw around sweater cheering on Biff III.

Every year Trumbull has one of the worst lax programs in Connecticut. Maybe that explains it. You should try watching one of the teams that routinely beats them 16-2 to see what real lax players look like.

In much of the east, lax has left baseball in the rear view mirror when it comes to which sport the top athletes play.

 

[ZooCougar]

I also saw a bunch of baseball players on tv who looked fat and unathletic. That pretty much fits the bill. They may not be much more fit than the average pro bass fisherman.

Coincidentally, the cousins that played at Trumbull high fit the LAX stereotype to a T, both with haircuts circa the Beatles and ok athletes. I know I'm stereotyping, but it kind of is part of the brand as far as how it's recognized. Then you see where the sport is played, the colleges that are passionate about it and it's hard not to. It's the sport where you see the dad's pull up in their convertible with pink popped collar and throw around sweater cheering on Biff III.

 

[Dogdeacon]

I also saw a bunch of baseball players on tv who looked fat and unathletic. That pretty much fits the bill. They may not be much more fit than the average pro bass fisherman.

Haven't you undone your own argument a little by mentioning that you saw the baseball players on TV?

I wonder if baseball is in trouble long-term*, but honestly if you've got a lefthanded kid that can throw a ball 90MPH he will be playing baseball. I don't know if that hypothetical fits some artificial definition of what 'top athletes' are, but the $ ultimately do have a say in what athletes end up doing

* Even the absolute, Defcon 5 worst projection for baseball in America still has to be about 10 x more popular than lacrosse. And please don't sight youth participation stats, that's been true of soccer since the 80's and its yet to get major sports traction in the USA. Lacrosse can draw 40-50K for an event at Foxboro (I've been, its great) but Fenway draws 45K 81 times a year.
And how many professional baseball players are there in the USA ? I'd bet the absolute # is about 5 times that of any other sport. How about # of total employment affiliated with the sport as again baseball has to be #1 and have a crazy multiple versus the number of folks earning their living in lacrosse. No value judgement, just the way it is and presents a substantial obstacle to change or penetrate the market.

 

[FAIRTIDES]

I also saw a bunch of baseball players on tv who looked fat and unathletic. That pretty much fits the bill. They may not be much more fit than the average pro bass fisherman.

Zoo,

Your "offerings" on this thread are way over-the-top. So much so that I picture you sitting at you computer, tongue firmly imbedded in cheek, asking yourself how you can top your last wacky contribution, and who's response will show the most frustration. It's obvious. You don't like baseball.

But, perhaps you weren't watching while;

. MLB yr-to-yr attendance figures continue to show growth in the face of ever-increasing ticket prices.
. Every time an MLB franchise becomes available, the really rich fall all over themselves submitting bids.
. The winning bids are so high that they have a favorable financial impact on every franchise. The recent winning bid for the Dodgers was $2.0 Billion.
. Have you noticed how many new stadiums have been built for millions and billions of dollars? The technical financial term, is a "bunch."
. Have you seen what the pay the players?
. The situation defined above , attendance growth, franchise cost and value with rich owners, and new stadiums is also true of the Minor Leagues, except, of course, player pay. Minor League franchises have become status symbols.

The people who have created baseball's present environment must be really stupid; or must not be working with data and projections available to you.

 

[mauconnfan]

I also saw a bunch of baseball players on tv who looked fat and unathletic. That pretty much fits the bill. They may not be much more fit than the average pro bass fisherman.

Fat unathletic but can hit a 98 MPH fastball or keep the hands back and wait for a 83 MPH duece and take it 440 feet over the wall...................yeah that's not as athletic as running around with a freakin ball in net of a long stick without having to dribble it or anything special? This thread is a joke at best..................I respect the people who like and play the game of Lax and it's tough kinda preppy game but it has no comparison to baseball whatsoever........

And if you knew anything about the fitness of the new "kid" coming up in baseball check out the indoor batting cages in the winter in the Northeast and the gym the same morning or night................bunch of 12-13 year olds trying to be real good at the national pastime.........you're lost!!!

 

[RuffRuff]

Baseball may not have the best runners/jumpers in the world, it's a sport that is a combination of athletecism, skill and size. Are there a few semi chubby pitchers out there that are blessed with a good arm? Sure, but that is 100% the exception. That was something seen more often in the 80's and before all this conditioning wasn't around. I'm not sure what baseball games you're watching. Have you seen Josh Hamilton? Miguel Cabrera? Cliff Lee? What you might not realize is the size of the average baseball player - they are huge men. Not just height, but hands, forearms, legs. I am 6'4" and when I got to spring training my first year, average. I was on a plane with Hank Aaron year s ago - not the biggest guy, but his hand was like 5 bananas. Get down to field level at an MLB game and take a look at those guys. I guarantee you that if you put a street fight together between pro LAX players and MLB players, it wouldn't even be close. LAX players might be quick shifty guys that like to bounce off each other and flick a stick, but baseball is made up enormous guys.

Listen, I'm joking about the Biff stuff - get a kick of you goons getting all fired up about this sport. And yes, maybe LAX is picking up steam over baseball..... in FFld County, LI and Maryland. I give you guys credit for your passion. Zoocougar, I give you credit for nothing - posts are assanine, but entertaining.

 

[ZooCougar]

I think you got it. But I stopped reading after the first paragraph.

Consider this: Look at how far baseball has already fallen. 60 years ago the sport was a religion. Now it is the third most popular sport and bleeding popularity fast.

Why is it inconceivable that it will continue its decline? I'll keep my fingers crossed.

Zoo,

Your "offerings" on this thread are way over-the-top. So much so that I picture you sitting at you computer, tongue firmly imbedded in cheek, asking yourself how you can top your last wacky contribution, and who's response will show the most frustration. It's obvious. You don't like baseball.

But, perhaps you weren't watching while;

. MLB yr-to-yr attendance figures continue to show growth in the face of ever-increasing ticket prices.
. Every time an MLB franchise becomes available, the really rich fall all over themselves submitting bids.
. The winning bids are so high that they have a favorable financial impact on every franchise. The recent winning bid for the Dodgers was $2.0 Billion.
. Have you noticed how many new stadiums have been built for millions and billions of dollars? The technical financial term, is a "bunch."
. Have you seen what the pay the players?
. The situation defined above , attendance growth, franchise cost and value with rich owners, and new stadiums is also true of the Minor Leagues, except, of course, player pay. Minor League franchises have become status symbols.

The people who have created baseball's present environment must be really stupid; or must not be working with data and projections available to you.

 

[ZooCougar]

Fat unathletic but can hit a 98 MPH fastball or keep the hands back and wait for a 83 MPH duece and take it 440 feet over the wall...................yeah that's not as athletic as running around with a freakin ball in net of a long stick without having to dribble it or anything special? This thread is a joke at best..................I respect the people who like and play the game of Lax and it's tough kinda preppy game but it has no comparison to baseball whatsoever........

And if you knew anything about the fitness of the new "kid" coming up in baseball check out the indoor batting cages in the winter in the Northeast and the gym the same morning or night................bunch of 12-13 year olds trying to be real good at the national pastime.........you're lost!!!

Fat unathletic but can hit a 98 MPH fastball or keep the hands back and wait for a 83 MPH duece and take it 440 feet over the wall...................yeah that's not as athletic as running around with a freakin ball in net of a long stick without having to dribble it or anything special? This thread is a joke at best..................I respect the people who like and play the game of Lax and it's tough kinda preppy game but it has no comparison to baseball whatsoever........

And if you knew anything about the fitness of the new "kid" coming up in baseball check out the indoor batting cages in the winter in the Northeast and the gym the same morning or night................bunch of 12-13 year olds trying to be real good at the national pastime.........you're lost!!!

Brain surgery is also difficult. But, like baseball I also have no interest in watching it. Nobody. gives. A. crap.

The number of people who actually want to play the game is actually alot smaller than the people who actually give a crap. You, Tim Kurkjian, that left wing pos Buster Olney can get together with Baseball's other dozen or so fans and watch the Red Sox, Yankees and Dodgers play each other 75 times a season.

Maybe they could get the Marlins to move to Havana and people will actually start to give a crap about them too.

Fat unathletic but can hit a 98 MPH fastball or keep the hands back and wait for a 83 MPH duece and take it 440 feet over the wall...................yeah that's not as athletic as running around with a freakin ball in net of a long stick without having to dribble it or anything special? This thread is a joke at best..................I respect the people who like and play the game of Lax and it's tough kinda preppy game but it has no comparison to baseball whatsoever........

And if you knew anything about the fitness of the new "kid" coming up in baseball check out the indoor batting cages in the winter in the Northeast and the gym the same morning or night................bunch of 12-13 year olds trying to be real good at the national pastime.........you're lost!!!

 

[Waquoit]

You, Tim Kurkjian, that left wing pos Buster Olney .

Left wing pos? Bobby Hull was the best ever at the left wing position. Didn't know Buster played hockey.

 

[ZooCougar]

Left wing pos? Bobby Hull was the best ever at the left wing position. Didn't know Buster played hockey.

Well, considering it was you who posted this, that cashiers the maxim that it takes one to know one.

 

[babysheep]

running around with a freakin ball in net of a long stick without having to dribble it or anything special?

You're forgetting the part where a guy with a 6' metal pole is slapping you as hard as he can everywhere between the neck and knees trying to knock the ball loose.

 

[babysheep]

I guarantee you that if you put a street fight together between pro LAX players and MLB players, it wouldn't even be close. LAX players might be quick shifty guys that like to bounce off each other and flick a stick, but baseball is made up enormous guys.

Yes, because a street fight is the best way to compare overall athleticism.

 

[Waquoit]

Well, considering it was you who posted this, that cashiers the maxim that it takes one to know one.

Cashiers the maxim? WTF ?

 

[Robertelamin]

Isn't Lacrosse the sport people play after they get cut from their High School baseball team?

 

[husky8273]

Isn't Lacrosse the sport people play after they get cut from their High School baseball team?

You have not read the earlier posts or have not been around youth sports in the last 10 years. The best athletes in grammar school and high school have left baseball in their rear view mirror and have taken up lax in droves. If you wait to high school to pick it up, it will be difficult to gain the stick skills that your classmates who have been playing lax since 3rd grade have.

 

[Waquoit]

The best athletes in grammar school and high school have left baseball in their rear view mirror and have taken up lax in droves. If you wait to high school to pick it up, it will be difficult to gain the stick skills that your classmates who have been playing lax since 3rd grade have.

Baloney. Kids leave baseball for lacrosse because it's easier and takes less time to get good. A great athlete might never learn how to hit, like MJ. OTOH, the greatest lacrosse player of all-time started playing in high school and only played in his spare time.

 

[johnhuskies95]

You have not read the earlier posts or have not been around youth sports in the last 10 years. The best athletes in grammar school and high school have left baseball in their rear view mirror and have taken up lax in droves. If you wait to high school to pick it up, it will be difficult to gain the stick skills that your classmates who have been playing lax since 3rd grade have.

Can you provide a link to support this?

 

[johnhuskies95]

I think you got it. But I stopped reading after the first paragraph.

Consider this: Look at how far baseball has already fallen. 60 years ago the sport was a religion. Now it is the third most popular sport and bleeding popularity fast.

Why is it inconceivable that it will continue its decline? I'll keep my fingers crossed.

All that you've done during this entire thread is completely ignore all the factual information posted by others. Baseball is more popular now than it was 10 years ago. That is a fact. The game's popularity hasn't dropped off.

 

[husky8273]

Can you provide a link to support this?

for starters - http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1110862/index.htm

or http://northernlightslacrosse.blogspot.com/2011/05/lacrosse-remains-americas-fastest.html

 

[johnhuskies95]

for starters - http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1110862/index.htm

or http://northernlightslacrosse.blogspot.com/2011/05/lacrosse-remains-americas-fastest.html

I can't believe you made me read through five pages of that article to find out that nowhere in the article did it actually state "The best athletes in grammar school and high school have left baseball in their rear view mirror and have taken up lax in droves". It never once said that, like you said in your previous post.

In fact, the article actually completely refutes your other point, saying that Allen Iverson nowadays could pick up the sport in a week or two, when you said a kid would need to play it since third grade in order to be on par with his peers.

The second article says nothing about lacrosse gaining more participants in place of baseball. All it says is that lacrosse is gaining more popularity.

 

[husky8273]

how many times do you have to be hit in the head before conceding..........

http://www.cnbc.com/id/44628826

"

Lacrosse is the fastest growing sport in America.​

There were 1.6 million people who played lacrosse last year, a 37.7 jump. Lacrosse participation is up 218.1 percent over the last 10 years."​

from the same article "​

Baseball participation was up 5.2 percent in 2010, but still down 8.1 percent over the last decade."​

37.7%>5.2%​

​

218.1% gain >8.1% loss​

​

Case closed.​

​

Instead of wasting everyone's time with the childish reply of "it's not true, it's not true" why don't you offer your own evidence to refute that lacrosse is growing exponentially faster than baseball.​

 

[johnhuskies95]

how many times do you have to be hit in the head before conceding..........

http://www.cnbc.com/id/44628826

"

Lacrosse is the fastest growing sport in America.​

There were 1.6 million people who played lacrosse last year, a 37.7 jump. Lacrosse participation is up 218.1 percent over the last 10 years."​

from the same article "​

Baseball participation was up 5.2 percent in 2010, but still down 8.1 percent over the last decade."​

37.7%>5.2%​

​

218.1% gain >8.1% loss​

​

Case closed.​

​

Instead of wasting everyone's time with the childish reply of "it's not true, it's not true" why don't you offer your own evidence to refute that lacrosse is growing exponentially faster than baseball.​

What? Your two links in your prior showed NOTHING that would suggest that "the best athletes have left baseball in their rearview mirror and have taken up lax in droves". Nowhere did it say that.

And surely you do know why I don't need to offer up my own evidence. You're the one who made the point in the first place. Why on earth would I need to preemptively refute something when you're the one who made the assertion without presenting evidence?

Also, you still have not shown anything that says that "the best athletes have left baseball in their rearview mirror and have taken up lax in droves". All I see is that lacrosse has increased by a lot, considering the fact it had nowhere to go but up 10 years ago.

In fact, that SI article talks about how lots of college lacrosse athletes play other sports. That tells me that the lacrosse players played a bunch of sports and figured out that lacrosse was probably the easiest one.

 

[babysheep]

Baloney. Kids leave baseball for lacrosse because it's easier and takes less time to get good. A great athlete might never learn how to hit, like MJ. OTOH, the greatest lacrosse player of all-time started playing in high school and only played in his spare time.

Kids are leaving baseball for lacrosse because in lacrosse you don't sit on a bench and watch (unless you deserve it) for half a game, and there is MUCH less waiting time (batters stepping out of the box every single pitch and taking 10 seconds to do whatever, foul balls, replacing balls [which happens any time the ball touches the dirt], teams switching in between innings). I've seen my fair share of Mets games and multiple times the game has taken 4 hours. Also, you get to freakin hit people.

And seriously get off the high horse. Nobody should play/care about a sport because it's alleged greater difficulty to master. What a snotty thing to care about. A sport should matter if it's fun to play. I'm not saying that lacrosse is more fun than baseball, just that some of you guys are trying to devalue the game for illegitimate reasons.

 

[ZooCougar]

Base

You have not read the earlier posts or have not been around youth sports in the last 10 years. The best athletes in grammar school and high school have left baseball in their rear view mirror and have taken up lax in droves. If you wait to high school to pick it up, it will be difficult to gain the stick skills that your classmates who have been playing lax since 3rd grade have.

Baseball is for from Iowa or kids in places that don't play lacrosse yet.

But our best athletes are playing football and basketball.