New Sponsorship for 20th Anniversary

The NLL turns 20 this season. So what do you give a Pro lacrosse circuit for its 20th B-day? A new logo and the announcement of a new sponsorship deal with a major shoe company! Not bad for a league that when it was started was called the Eagle Pro Box Lacrosse League. That league started some 20 years ago consisted of only 4 teams in the Mid-Atlantic area who played a total of 6 (that's right 6) games in a season. The name was changed again to the the Major Indoor Lacrosse League and then finally changed to the NLL in 1989. The league has evolved from its humble beginnings to a cross continental, multinational sport now comprised of 11 teams playing over roughly a baker's dozen games a season. Teams are now home in major arenas from Oregon to Arizona to Toronto to the Canadian Rockies.
Besides a new logo, the NLL has received financial support from Reebok as the new major sponsor of the sport. As listed in a previous blog of mine, Reebok and the NLL have officially announced the new deal. Teams will now wear nothing but Reebok gear, including helmets, shoes, jerseys, hats, t-shirts and every other form of shoe or apparel you could think of. A spokesman for Reebok said, "Our partnership with the NLL represents a huge opportunity for Reebok to enter the sport of lacrosse. Lacrosse is the fastest growing sport with today's youth, and our new agreement with the NLL provides Reebok with the platform to reach this target consumer by demonstrating the performance attributes of our products at the highest level of play. Our agreement with the NLL shows our deep commitment to the lacrosse player, coach and fan." Exciting news for lacrosse fans as it seems the sport is getticredibilityity and support like other professional leagues. Next up for lacrosse..Lets get a national broadcasting agreement.

Gaits Enter Hall of Fame

Paul and Gary Gait were inducted to the 48th class of the US Lacrosse Hall of Fame. The Gaits were honored this past weekend for their contributions to the game at all levels as US Lacrosse inducted the 48th class to the National Lacrosse Hall of Fame. Gary, a fifteen-year NLL veteran and Paul, a thirteen-year NLL veteran were both honored on Saturday at a ceremony held in Hunt Valley, Maryland. Gary Gait, who will begin his first season as coach of the Colorado Mammoth this season, was honored for an illustrious playing career that includes fifteen seasons in the NLL. He retired as the league’s all-time leader in goals (596) and points (1,091). He began his professional career in 1991 with the Detroit Turbos, capturing Rookie of the Year honors while leading the team to the league championship. He was an All-Pro every season he played and was named the league’s Most Valuable Player six times. Paul Gait, is a thirteen year NLL veteran. Paul was the NLL MVP in 2002 and an eight-time First Team All-Pro and three-time Second Team All-Pro. Prior to joining the NLL, the twin brothers were midfielders and earned NCAA first-team All-America status at Syracuse University. They lead the Orangemen to NCAA championships in '88 and '89. Gary was twice named the USILA national player of the year and was a first-team All-American three times. He left Syracuse as the school’s all-time leading goal scorer with 192, a record that stands today. Paul Gait also earned first-team All-America honors three times and was named the 1989 NCAA final's Most Outstanding Player.

They're Back!

The players are hitting the floor once again all over North America. The NLL open training camps have begun to take place in all but two of the 11 city league. These first tryouts are open to anyone who wants to step up and play with the big boys. A team is allowed to carry a 23 man roster throughout the season and the first step for any rookies or walk-ons is to take part in the open training camps. Most of the veterans do not compete during the first session of tryouts but then are required as more cuts are made to the team. Think you live too far away from Minnesota or Arizona to tryout? Well guess again, most teams' tryouts are held in hotbeds of lacrosse, like southern Ontario, Vancouver or Philadelphia. So no one wants to hear you in the stands telling your friends how you would score on Dallas Eliuk, beat Veltman to the groundball or go toe to toe with Tim, "The Surgeon" O'Brien. These camps will be a first chance for fans to see their favorite players in action since last year. The camps start with a large pool of people and after the first or second cuts, the players are moved to their home city and an open practice is held for the fans. Fan fests as many teams call them include media and fans watching inter-squad scrimmages, give aways and autograph signings.

Around the Lax World- Update

NEWS: Still no final verdict on the Rick Pass Passfield tragedy. It is still not known what ultimately caused the death of the Bellarmaine College and Whitby Warriors Goaltender. The 21 year old was laid to rest Saturday in his home town of Whitby. His coach said only good things about the young 21 year old and he will be missed by family, friends and the entire lacrosse community.
Coach's write up about the young player

TRADES: In other lacrosse news it seems that there will be a reuniting of some Orilla lacrosse players in Philadelphia this summer as Luke Wiles (former blue hen) will be joined by former teammate, Brock Robertson and Chad Thompson. The two were traded for former Surrey Stickmen star and league rookie Mike Leong and Veteran Ray Guzae who helped coach the Stickmen this last summer. A trade like this was no doubt a in an effort to keep some familiar faces around each other and improve team cohesiveness for both the Swarm and Wings.
Also Jordan Sundher, the Calgary Roughnecks all time face-off wins leader was traded to the Edmonton Rush last week. The trade was Sundher to Edmonton and a conditional pick for the Roughnecks in 2006's entry draft.

SIGNINGS: Kelly Hall and Nick Paterson were re-signed to one year deals with the Minnesota Storm. The sophomore Hall had 47 points last season and was the leagues leading power-play scorer with 19 goals. Paterson a back-up tender will no doubt help the struggling Storm with dept in net.

Bellarmaine Player Passes Away

Deaths are happening more and more often in sports and lacrosse is no exception. Two players in Division 1 have died in as many years from activity in the sport.

Last year a player on the Cornell University lacrosse team was killed. George Boiardi, a history major and team captain was hit in the chest with a shot last March. The incident caused Boiardi's heart to stop and the medical staff was unable to restart his heart. He passed away in the hospital hours later. Many hoped this would be the first and last death related to the sport, it wasn't.

Rick Passfield, a redshirt freshman lacrosse player at Bellarmine University, collapsed and died yesterday morning while participating in an off-season conditioning drill.
Passfield, a 21-year-old Canadian kid nicknamed "Tug" had completed two of four quarter-mile runs when he was overcome. Teammates reported, "Tuggy went down to his knees just trying to catch his breath," sophomore midfielder Adam Lukanchoff said. "Everyone was like, 'Are you all right?' He said, 'Yeah, I'm fine. I'm fine.'
"Then about 30 seconds later he turned over and was lying on his back. Coach ran over to see if he was all right. He wasn't moving." Emergency workers arrived and Passfield was taken to Norton Audubon Hospital, where doctors were unable to resuscitate him. He was pronounced dead at 9:20 a.m. The cause of death is still unknown at this time, but it seems to be another sad death tied to the sport of lacrosse. Either way, two 21 year olds are dead. Maybe somethings need to get changed in the sport? Maybe the pads need to be bigger? Maybe training needs to be more relaxed, or maybe harder? I don't know the answer but wanted to "stir the pot" on the subject.

Two Favorites Have Their Rosters!

The 2006 outdoor lacrosse world championships are set to begin in 8 months and the heavily favorite Americans have selected their team. Many NLL and MLL allstars are on the team. Its what some are calling a dream team for the Americans as virtually all of the players at every position are allstars. The team will be lead by the legendary Powell brothers all playing together as the starting midfield line. Combined that family scored over 700 points in NCAA lacrosse while they were All-Americans at Syracuse. The brothers, as well as the rest of the extremely talented team will be facing the recently rostered Canadians as their main competition. As someone who attended the tryout camp, I can say that the team is very talented. The Americans have always been atop the outdoor game and Canada has only beat it's neighbor to the south on one occasion 30 years ago. This year though many on both sides of the border feel that this could be Canada's strongest team ever sent to the games. With an attack of Gary Gaite, Tom Marecheck and John Grant Jr., it is possibly the best offensive unit ever put together, anywhere. Still the Canadians are in tough to knock off such a strong team as the Americans. Time will tell which of these two countries will have bragging rights for the next four years. Good Luck Canada.
Rosters (ABOVE-Guy in the yellow helmet is me)
Team Canada's final 23
Team USA's final 23

The NLL to compete with the MLL

The NLL commissioner Jim Jennings has announced Thursday that the league has an interest in taking the indoor box lacrosse game and expanding it to include field lacrosse. Currently the NLL is an all indoor box lacrosse league that runs from January to May. The league has plans to continue the league past May and have the indoor players and stars from the NLL to play in the new outdoor league in the summer months. This would put the NLL in direct competition with the already established outdoor league, the Major Lacrosse League or MLL. The NLL will not say what brought the sudden move, but with a big sponsorship agreement recently signed between the NLL and the shoe manufacturer it has lead many to wonder if their was a push from Reebok to control the whole market. The MLL's major sponsorship comes from Warrior/New Balance which contribute large sums into the somewhat unknown sport. It seems the two shoe companies have realized that the fastest growing sport in America may be a very profitable one in the future. The companies have waged a war for control of the sports market. Will this be good for the sport is another question. Stars could be lured to each league with high priced contracts and dilute the talent pool in both leagues. Only time will tell who will be the victor, but we can hope that the additional money in the professional game will help expand the already growing sport.
Links to the two company websites: Reebok New Balance

Grant to Enter UD Athletics Hall of Fame

John Grant Jr. (pictured) will be inducted into the 2005 University of Delaware Athletics hall of fame. The news was announced September 19th and the ceremony will take place on Friday November 4th. Grant an All-American played just two seasons with the Delaware men’s lacrosse program in 1998-99. Grant had 81 goals and 96 assists for a staggering total of 177 points in just 32 career games for the blue and gold. Grant won the NCAA's lacrosse player of the year award in 99 and lead all goal scorers in the country. He has gone on to an excellent Professional Career where he has won many otheraccoladess. Grant now lives in Rodchester where he plays pro. Grant will be inducted in with 7 other outstanding athletes, including Rich Gannon and Texas Rangers outfielder, Kevin Mench. (Full story)

Other News-Off-Season Signings
Philadelphia Wings sign another player to help them in their '06 campaign. Strong,aggressivee defensemen Dan Finck was re-signed by the Wings. 2005 was Finck's rookie season in which he captured all rookie team honors. He will be joined by Chad Thompson, Luke Wiles and Robbie Vanbeek as a core group of young talent.
The Oregon Lumberjax has signed three more to their expansion roster. GM and coach Dave Keenan has signed verten defensemen Pat Jones and Adam Bysouth, as well as forward Shawn Cable for the '06 season. The three will join first overall pick Brodie Merrill as they try for a playoff spot in their first season.