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Total posts: 9
Blog URL: http://laxspot.e-lacrosse.com/blogs/glens_look_on_lax
By: Glen
Random thoughts and topics from the world of lacrosse.
I thought it would be interesting to take a look at this years 2008 Lacrosse all Americans and see how the numbers correlate to the team's overall success. Not surprisingly the teams with the most all Americans in each division (Duke, LeMoyne, and Gettysburg) all had great seasons. However, none of those teams won the championship. Coincidentally the teams with the 2nd highest number of all Americans in each division won their respective championship - Syracuse, NY Tech, and Salisbury. So sometimes it's good to be #2.
2008 USILA Men's Lacrosse All Americans By Division
| Division 1 | |
| Duke University | 9 |
| Syracuse University | 8 |
| University of Virginia | 7 |
| Johns Hopkins University | 5 |
| Cornell University | 4 |
| The Ohio State University | 4 |
| University of Maryland Baltimore County | 4 |
| University of North Carolina | 4 |
| University of Notre Dame | 4 |
| Georgetown University | 3 |
| Princeton University | 3 |
| University of Maryland | 3 |
| Colgate University | 2 |
| United States Naval Academy | 2 |
| Brown University | 1 |
| Bucknell University | 1 |
| Canisius College | 1 |
| Dartmouth College | 1 |
| Drexel University | 1 |
| Hobart College | 1 |
| Hofstra University | 1 |
| Loyola College | 1 |
| Penn State University | 1 |
| Providence College | 1 |
| Rutgers University | 1 |
| Stony Brook University | 1 |
| United States Military Academy | 1 |
| University at Albany | 1 |
| University of Delaware | 1 |
| University of Denver | 1 |
| Division 2 | |
| LeMoyne College | 6 |
| C. W. Post College | 5 |
| New York Institute of Technology | 5 |
| Dowling College | 3 |
| Limestone College | 3 |
| Mercyhurst College | 3 |
| Adelphi University | 2 |
| Bryant University | 2 |
| Catawba College | 2 |
| Merrimack College | 2 |
| Molloy College | 2 |
| Wingate University | 2 |
| Pace University | 1 |
| Division 3 | |
| Gettysburg College | 10 |
| Salisbury University | 6 |
| Western New England College | 6 |
| Ithaca College | 5 |
| Lynchburg College | 5 |
| SUNY Cortland | 5 |
| Cabrini College | 4 |
| Middlebury College | 4 |
| Rochester Institute of Technology | 4 |
| Washington College | 4 |
| Denison University | 3 |
| Endicott College | 3 |
| Haverford College | 3 |
| Villa Julie College | 3 |
| Hampden-Sydney College | 2 |
| Muhlenberg College | 2 |
| Roanoke College | 2 |
| SUNY Geneseo | 2 |
| Wesleyan University | 2 |
| Bowdoin College | 1 |
| Clarkson University | 1 |
| Colorado College | 1 |
| Connecticut College | 1 |
| Drew University | 1 |
| Nazareth College | 1 |
| Ohio Wesleyan University | 1 |
| Springfield College | 1 |
| St. Lawrence University | 1 |
| Stevens Institute of Technology | 1 |
| SUNY Maritime | 1 |
| Tufts University | 1 |
| Union College | 1 |
| Ursinus College | 1 |
| Virginia Wesleyan College | 1 |
| Washington and Lee University | 1 |
| Wesleyan College | 1 |
Rankings from the TAKKLE Top 100, powered by Sports Illustrated and Blue Chip Camp
I had a chance to catch my 2nd
For the third straight game they came from behind to win a close game. Some will argue that this inconsistent play will come back to hurt them; whether it's vs. WAC in the War on the Shore, or in a potential rematch with Villa Julie, or in the NCAA playoffs. On the other hand you could argue that this will help them win tight games down the line, and give them the confidence to know they are never out of any game. I tend to think these hard fought close games will only help them. They can't get lazy; they should be hungry to prove they are a better team than some of these scores indicate. And at the very least, these games have been a lot more exciting then most of the games in recent years.
The two biggest factors in this game; sloppy ball handling and passing by
For the Mustangs junior midfielder Greg Furshman looked good and tallied 5 goals and an assist. I'm not sure how many of those came on man-up.
The press release below says there was a crowd of 500, and another article said 1,500. Obviously both are estimations because they weren't tracking the entrance, but I would put the crowd at more like 2,500. I would guess this is the largest crowd ever to attend a Villa Juile game. The facilities there aren't setup well. There was not enough seating or standing room for the crowd. Only one side of the field was open to fans; as a result people ended up standing 5 deep in some areas to see the game. Villa Julie's bathroom facilities consisted of 4 port-o-pottys. Obviously the school is in a bit of a growth mode and the facilities haven't caught up yet.
However, it was a great atmosphere at the game. A lot of students were tailgating and drinking; which made for a nice lively/obnoxious crowd. Players always love those types of environments. It's great to hear some heckling from the crowd. Although, the Villa fans really do need to get a bit more creative. Most of their chants consisted of "Salisbury Sucks." A little more imagination would be nice, but I think this might have been the first time attending a game for a lot of the fans. But I do commend Villa Julie for allowing fans to tailgate.
As an alum, it's been great to see
Looks like LaxPower is now also jumping on the online video bandwagon. After all everyone knows that video is king on the Web these days. I've been a huge fan of LaxPower's forums for years. So I'm glad to see them adding this new dimension to their site.
http://www.laxpower.com/media
E-lacrosse.com has featured a lot of lacrosse video over the years and could probably be considered the pioneers for lax video. Inside Lacrosse has obviously come on strong more recently. Now with the addition of video on LaxPower we have another outlet for quality lax video on the Web. The new media section seemed to have some minor bugs to work out when I took a look. But I would expect them to work those out quickly. Hopefully we can look forward to lots of great content from them. It's amazing how far the lacrosse on the Web has come since the early days of lax.com and e-lacrosse.com.
Here's a sample video - LaxPower interviews Philadelphia Wing Pat Heim.
I saw a breakdown of the schools feeding MLL rosters a while back; but I wanted to put up an updated breakdown. Of course this isn’t necessarily an indication of a programs overall strength because there’s obviously a lot of variables at play. Some great college players decide not to pursue a professional lacrosse career.
These numbers are based on the 10 MLL rosters on their websites as of 1/2/08. It’s possible that some of the players on those rosters won’t make the final squad. When a player attended multiple colleges, the most recent school was used.
It’s amazing how many players the top 5 schools put into the MLL. I’m surprised to see only 5 from G-town and 4 from Duke. I guess the alum are too busy making boat loads of money on Wall Street or wherever else. Dartmouth with 4 players surprised me; I need to stop sleeping on them I guess. Salisbury was the only non-D1 team to make the top 25.
Rank | School | # of MLL players * |
1 | Syracuse | 24 |
2 | Johns Hopkins | 22 |
3 | Virginia | 21 |
4 | Maryland | 19 |
5 | Hofstra | 16 |
6 | Navy | 11 |
7 | Princeton | 10 |
tie | Towson | 10 |
9 | Cornell | 9 |
tie | UMASS | 9 |
11 | Delaware | 8 |
tie | Salisbury | 8 |
13 | Loyola | 7 |
tie | North Carolina | 7 |
tie | Penn State | 7 |
16 | Brown | 6 |
tie | Denver | 6 |
tie | Ohio State | 6 |
tie | UMBC | 6 |
20 | Georgetown | 5 |
21 | Rutgers | 5 |
22 | Dartmouth | 4 |
tie | Duke | 4 |
tie | Notre Dame | 4 |
25 | Albany | 3 |
tie | Fairfield | 3 |
* Based on Rosters on Website as of 1/2/08
So I recently picked up a new helmet - the Cascade pro7. I have to admint I don't really stay up to date with all the new changes in helmet technoolgy. I would still be content with my Cascade Cpro from a few years ago. But as many players do I seem to accumulate helmets through club teams and various other sources. With that being said, this is a pretty nice helmet. I don't notice a whole lot of comfort or weight difference from the CPX, but apparantly the pro7 offers some enhanced technology. The Seven Technology - basically the mesh plastic helmet lining - is suppossed to improve shock absorption and injury prevention. The patented pro-fit fit system allows you to adjust the helmet as needed. If the adjustment system works as advertised this would allow young players to adjust the size of the helmet as they grow; potentially eliminating the need for new helmets every couple years. Of course that assumes a kid would be content to keep the same helmet for a few years. Which is unlikley. With the rate that lacrosse manufacturers put out new helmets, it's hard to keep up with the latest and greatest; but inevitably that's what kids wants.
It was the Germans, then the Russians, the Terrorists, now Smartlink...
For those who have never heard of Smartlink they are the powerhouse Annapolis/Baltimore based post-college club lacrosse team.
For years the outdoor team Single Source was an unstoppable force in the USCLA outdoor club league. Single Source, run by Brendan Kelly, eventually became Smartlink after Kelly's company changed names. However, Smartlink no longer fields an outdoor team.
Instead they have decided to take their winning ways indoors to the Baltimore Indoor Lacrosse League (BILL). For the past few years they have fielded a powerful team that some claim is simply too good. In fact they haven't lost a game in over two years. The roster is filled with MLL and NLL players in their prime.
This has lead to some speculation that the league powers will break up the dynasty by separating all-star goalie Erik "Godzirra" Miller from his squad; sending him on a rotation that will have him tending net for teams such as the South Baltimore Bad News Bandits, and the Screaming Burritos anchored by the Menendez brothers.
Without Miller in cage, will the dominance continue? Will contenders like Pickled Parrot, Dewalt, e-Lacrosse, and Cummings step up for the upset? We'll have to wait a year to find out.
As a member of a team (Pickled Parrot) that competes in the BILL - I can say that it is fun playing against them. It let's you test yourself against some of the best in the game. But it has to be rough for some of the other teams in the league.
This year's Smartlink Box roster:
Zack Burke, John Ciliberto, Buggs Combs, Casey Connor, Ben DeFelice, Kyle Fiat, Matthew Florio, Spencer Ford, Mark Frye, Erik Miller, Ryan Moran, Brian Myers, Shawn Nadelen, Tucker Parnell, Evan Santini
So I was browsing Amazon today – Christmas Eve is not too late to be shopping for presents – and came across the Duke Lacrosse books for sale. I knew former Duke Lacrosse coach Mike Pressler had co-authored a book, but I hadn’t realized there were two others on the market. I’m glad to see it. I hope a lot of people are interested in hearing the true story now that the sexy headlines are no longer in the national media. However, I seriously doubt all those who were so dangerously eager and fast to accuse the team of wrongdoing will give any time or interest to understanding the whole story. They were hoping the truth to be something other than reality, and once that hope expired their interest did as well.
I do have to question the decision of two of the publishers to put the three accused player’s faces on the cover. Their pictures were already widely circulated, but it seems unnecessary. If these books truly are an attempt at justice than the photos seem to contradict that effort. But I guess that’s a naïve view. Covers have the sole purpose of selling books, and I’m sure the publishers know what their doing in that respect. It is interesting that the Pressler book didn’t take the same approach though.
These three books all seem to be getting good user reviews. I haven’t read any of them yet – mainly because I very rarely have time to read a book. But I am interested and plan on picking one up. Might as well be the Pressler book I guess. This man has been severely wronged so I hope this book puts some good money in his pocket.
Duke Lacrosse Books
Until Proven Innocent: Political Correctness and the Shameful Injustices of the Duke Lacrosse Rape Case (Hardcover)
by Stuart Taylor (Author), KC Johnson (Author)
Average rating – 4.5 stars
It's Not About the Truth: The Untold Story of the Duke Lacrosse Rape Case and the Lives It Shattered (Hardcover)
by Don Yaeger (Author), Mike Pressler (Author)
Average rating – 4.5 stars
A Rush to Injustice: How Power, Prejudice, Racism, and Political Correctness Overshadowed Truth and Justice in the Duke Lacrosse Rape Case (Hardcover)
by Nader Baydoun (Author), R. Stephanie Good (Author)
Average rating – 4.0 stars
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