Opinion

It’s been almost a year since the debut of LRNews. Prior to that, my last real exposure to lacrosse was on the field in May of 2009 at Wesleyan University, where we lost in the NCAA Tournament (something I am definitely not still bitter about. At all. I swear.). Taking this one step further, I had no real experience, ever, with the recruiting scene as it currently exists. Graduating high school on Long Island in 2005, there were not yet many club teams or weekly events. There were the Empire Team tryouts, a showcase or two and your high school team. That’s about it. To say these past 12 months have been eye-opening is probably an understatement. Many aspects of a sport I had played since 1st grade – things like year-round showcases, tournaments, early recruiting, “gear" obsession, etc. – were foreign to me. While I saw plenty of recognizable things, I also saw some troubling aspects as well. So, I did what any rational adult would around the holiday season: I wrote a letter to Santa in the hopes that he can bring some holiday cheer – and maybe even change - to the sport. ...

For many high school lacrosse players, competing collegiately at a Division I program is seen as the end goal of countless Summer tournaments, showcases and in-season games. For many parents of these players, the ability to tell others that their son (or daughter) plays at a Division I school is a source of great pride, the fruit of the money, time and effort put into getting their child onto this club team or at that showcase. Now, before continuing, let’s state the obvious: This train of thought certainly is not true of every player or parent out there. Many aspire to attend and play at an academically prestigious DIII institution, or follow a family legacy to a very competitive DII program. Others, still, look forward to competing in the MCLA at a school that offers their desired major or has that "bigger-school" feel complete with DI football. Having said that, the instances of wanting that DI notoriety – especially for those new to the lacrosse recruiting process – are everywhere. And while not necessarily a bad thing, too often they fall beyond the realm of reality or self-awareness. Consider these numbers for DI Men’s Lacrosse. ...

If you missed Part One, click here. To catch you up: The 1995 classic Heavyweights is helping me dish out awards based on my Summer Lacrosse Circuit observations. As I went through my first real lacrosse Summer as it exists now - the scene is a much different one than it was went I went through the recruiting process in 2003/2004 - I took some notes based on some thoughts I had. The notes include everything, from travel tidbits to lacrosse game observations and anything in between. I am passing these along using Heavyweights quotes as awards. Without further delay, here is Part Two. ...

It is hard to believe Heavyweights – the Disney classic that tells the story of several portly adolescents and their summer at a fictitious weight loss camp aptly named Camp Hope – came out almost 20 years ago (1995). To put that into perspective – and make those of us who remember the movie vividly feel old – Friends was concluding its first season on NBC; The Usual Suspects, Seven, Braveheart, Clueless, Billy Madison, and Toy Story all made their theatrical debuts (wow 1995 was a solid movie year); Nebraska won its second consecutive National Championship on the gridiron; and Microsoft released Windows ’95 - you know, back when Microsoft releasing things was still a big deal. ...

“I didn’t feel like a college kid anymore. I felt like a pro that wasn’t getting paid,” said Jalen Rose, two-time NCAA basketball National Championship Game participant and critical member of the infamous 1992 Michigan Basketball team.     While playing Division Iacrosse may not come with the notoriety accompanied with DI basketball and initiating

In case you missed the big news of the day in the lacrosse world, the Big Ten Conference announced it was adding both men’s and women’s lacrosse as the 27th and 28th official sports beginning in 2015. As part of the announcement, Johns Hopkins was made an affiliate Big Ten member for men’s lacrosse. The Blue Jays become the first such member of the conference in any sport – which is a pretty big statement. The Big Ten Lacrosse Conference will feature Maryland, Michigan, Ohio State, Penn State and Rutgers in both men’s and women’s competition. Hopkins will be also be participating on the men’s side, while Northwestern will do the same on the women’s side. "We are excited to announce the launch of Big Ten men's and women's lacrosse and the addition of Johns Hopkins as a sport affiliate member," said Big Ten Commissioner Jim Delany in a press release. "Johns Hopkins is an outstanding institution with a legacy of success in men's lacrosse that is simply unmatched in intercollegiate athletics. Lacrosse is an emerging sport among our current schools and is a long-held passion among our East Coast institutions. With the addition of Maryland and Rutgers in all sports and Johns Hopkins for men's lacrosse, we will have the requisite number of institutions to make men's and women's lacrosse official conference sports, building upon our tradition of broad-based sports competition. We look forward to the start of the first Big Ten men's and women's lacrosse seasons in 2015." It is far too early to properly evaluate what the move means for the game itself, but here are a few quick thoughts. ...

Attempting to judge high school lacrosse team is akin to trying to navigate the New York City subway system with no experience or HopStop app. There are so many variables at the high school level that make this task so daunting that seldom exist as you move to the NCAA, from player X missing a game for a college visit to player Y missing a game to make up an exam. Attempting to rank high school teams is to wade further into these murky waters. Forget the inherent capricious nature of high school athletics. There is just so much lacrosse being played, in so many areas, that it is nearly impossible to see each team play. While at the college level there is at least usually the "luxury" of a webcast – which in 2013 basically allows you to watch almost any game – save for a few televised games here or there, one simply can’t see even half of the teams playing high school lacrosse. Ranking them is then reliant upon observations of the teams you have been able to see personally, and second-hand feedback from a variety of sources for the others. It’s an entertaining exercise, but far from a perfect science. In this ilk, we thought it would be fun (it’s Friday, after all) to discuss two teams we have actually seen live this season and by our eye-test (and corroborated by most other accounts) are two of the best in country this year: Boys’ Latin (MD) and Ward Melville (NY). So, what would happen if they were to play? Let’s discuss. ...

While new rule changes may speed up the game, they may also have unintended consequences ...