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2014 MLL Championship Game Denver Outlaws vs. Rochester Rattlers lacrosse news
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Friday Lacrosse News Blast & Video Explosion

It’s Friday and the news is coming in hot and heavy! So heavy that we had to create a Friday Lacrosse News Blast post, and we’re combining it with a Video Explosion.

We’ve got new pro teams, big time pro lacrosse players retiring, a lacrosse-only college stadium for a big time D1 program, and much, much more! It’s go time. Let’s get right into this!

Philly Wings –> New England Black Wolves

The Philadelphia Wings were purchased by the same group that owns Mohegan Sun in CT. The team has officially been re-named and rebranded now, and the franchise will now be known as the New England Black Wolves. Cool name, interesting location choice (New England over Connecticut), and a pretty solid logo. The logo reminds me of the Phoenix Coyotes a little bit, and the team colors look like those of Edmonton, or possibly Buffalo. I would have liked to see some green in the uniform as no one in the NLL wears any green, but what can you do?

https://youtu.be/uAppjTJxS-Q

Here are a couple photos from the New England Black Wolves unveiling:

Check out the New England Black Wolves on Instagram!

For more on the NLL, check out our NLL Draft Preview, which talks about top players, teams in need, sleeper picks, and more. And make sure you read this story about Casey Jackson. He’s leaving his D3 school a year early and declared for the NLL Draft. He’s a player!

MLL Players Retire – Boyle & Bice

Both Ryan Boyle (Boston Cannons) and Greg Bice (Ohio Machine) have been in the MLL for what seems like forever, but last season was the final mark for both players on the field. We hear Boyle will be entering the broadcast booth more and more, and Bice will continue to roll on with Anthony Kelly in their amazing lacrosse training facility. Do work fellas!

Here are a couple career highlight videos for both players. Thanks for the memories, guys!

Man, I forgot how many different jerseys Boyle wore over the course of his career… how sweet were those old Bridgeport Barrage unis?

Michigan Gets Lacrosse-Only Stadium

Denver is no longer the only D1 team that will have a lacrosse-only Stadium (Peter Barton Stadium). Michigan has announced a plan to build out their athletic facility and part of the build out is a lacrosse-only stadium. This is big news because a big time sports school is now raising the bar. While Denver has set an amazing precedent for lacrosse dedication, other schools can be slow to hop on that trend wagon until a true big boy does it. This isn’t a knock on Denver, ok. It really isn’t. It’s just that Michigan is Michigan, and that means something.

Look for other big time D1 schools to follow suit. Maybe it will be for bragging rights, maybe it’s to help woo recruits, or maybe they’ll just be trying to keep up with the Joneses from Michigan. Whatever the reason, it’s nice to see TWO schools with lacrosse-only stadiums!

Note: Many other schools have dedicated lacrosse stadiums (like Hopkins, Princeton, etc) but other sports play on these fields. For Denver and Michigan, it’s all lacrosse, all the time. That’s big time support, and a thing of the future. Check out the post on MGoBlue for more info on this rebuilding of UMich athletic facilities.

MLL Teams Announce Protected Rosters

Check out the lists on MajorLeagueLacrosse.com!

Lacrosse News Video Explosion

StylinStrings Interviews Throne of String – It’s like a mesh and stringing wormhole. LAS gets a shout out for Grow The Game. Thanks Joe!

I may or may not be the next person StylinStrings interviews, and when I say may, I mean definitely. When I say may not, I mean nothing.

ToS also interviews Justin Skaggs of SS:

GOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAL! – Boomtown.