We called it a couple of days ago when the video (below the update portion) came out, and now there is oh so obvious proof via the video below.  It’s a little artsy, but pretty fun to watch, and the action definitely picks up as the video progresses.  I said parkour above because while Powell wows you with his stick skills, he also goes extreme at an abandoned farm or industrial plant.  It’s all very post-apocolytpic lacrosse.

Mikey Powell is a huge name, with a huge draw.  He might not be playing in the MLL this summer, but he’s a big pick up for Easton no matter what.  Easton is making moves!

Easton Lacrosse just posted a new video on their Facebook page titled, “He Is Ready.”  Is the “He” in the video Mikey Powell?  It certainly looks like him!

Mikey has been with Brine for the past couple of seasons, and he was still under contract with the company until recently.  This was true even when he wasn’t playing, but to me, the relationship didn’t seem poised to last when MP made some comments about “needing a new stick” to Inside Lacrosse in a video interview up at Lake Placid.

Well, now it seems like Mikey might be joining his oldest brother, Casey Powell, as part of the Easton Lacrosse family. I don’t know if it’s him for sure, but let’s look at the video evidence a little closer…

Some might say it’s Casey in the video, which is possible because he’s coming back from surgery… but this doesn’t really look like him that much. I don’t think Casey has ever been that pale, at least not since he moved to Florida.

The shoes – chukka style boot sneakers?  That’s a Powell staple.

The socks – Rocking the number 22 on the socks gives some creedence to the MP call.

Well he is now that he tied his shoes.

The person – from the slender frame to the angular face, it looks like MP. The almost hairless calves are also a strong sign. When you’ve seen as many lax photos as I have, you notice these things.  Is it a little creepy?  Yes it is… but at least I’m being honest. You know you did the same thing too.

Is that Mikey?

The video says the announcement is coming on January 12, 2012, so we’ll have to wait a couple days for confirmation. If this truly is Mike Powell, the question becomes, did Easton do a great job of “leaking” the info via this video? Or did the cat get out of the bag earlier than they would have liked? And if it’s not MP in the video… well, then I’m an idiot.  But hey, you may have thought that already!

Is Mikey Powell Really Returning To Lacrosse? This video seems to say yes, pretty emphatically.

Each week we’re looking for a superb lacrosse photo from one of our readers. If your photo is selected as Photo Of The Week, you win something awesome from LAS! This week’s prize?Grow The Game Laces/Shooters. You gotta look good to play good, right?

This week’s winner is David Goodman for this “uncomfortable” shot:

Yes, ouch.

We’ll let David explain himself:

So guys, do you think I should have let go of my stick?  I was really trying to move him out of the way.  I needed the ball.  HaHa.  He was not happy with me after this.  My bad…

Want to be featured next week and entered to win? Email YOUR photo in to info@lacrosseallstars.com!

(Editor’s note: DG – you just won yourself another pair of GTG Laces! Email us your mailing address!)

Got a GREAT Lacrosse Photo?  Send it in toInfo@Lacrosseallstars.com and you could be next week’s winner!

“…they are not the NALL. We are the NALL.”

I couldn’t make up a headline like that if I tried.  Thankfully, I didn’t have to because the NALL wrote it for me.  Confused as to what exactly I’m talking about?  Don’t worry, 75% of the people reading this article are probably confused about the NALL as well, so you’re not alone.  Hell, I’m still a little confused about it!

The North American Lacrosse League, a newly formed professional box lacrosse league in the eastern US, is suing itself.  Sort of.  The three teams; Wilkes-Barre, Kentucky and Boston (which only became a team a couple of weeks ago and was scheduled to join the league next year), which are “teams in good standing” with the NALL, and along with what seems like the league itself, have gotten litigious with the Charlotte and Jacksonville franchises and other league leadership members.  They say these two teams are spreading false information, backing out of obligations, etc, etc.  Hershey still seems to be a go for next season, but arena issues have likely killed any chance at them playing this year.

I could go into more detail on the supposed situation I briefly outlined above, but the fact is that more false info has already been spread in this case than I care to stomach, so I’m not reporting anything else on when the NALL starts or who is playing until I see a court judgment and players on the floor.  Since the emergency hearing doesn’t take place until this week, the info I linked to above on the league website might not even be legit.

Like I said, I’m going to wait for the details to emerge before I dive any deeper into that portion of the story.  Pretty much every lacrosse site out there has gotten something wrong about this story already, ours included, and I’m simply not interested in being fooled anymore.  It’s clearly messy and until the courts can get it sorted out, all we can do is sat back and talk about what we do know.

Ok, so we know that this league is headed to court before they ever take the floor and are bickering like children and wasting money on lawyers, when they should be Growing the Game.  We know that much.  We don’t know who is right and who is wrong, but we do know that the owners, investors and leadership simply couldn’t get it right when working together.  Everyone wasn’t pulling in the same direction.  Now they’re in court.

Hopefully, a stronger, more determined group will emerge, and the chance for redemption is certainly there, but let’s be honest here; this is not a good start.  2.5 teams are more or less ready to go and 2 are being sued and aren’t on the league website but still have their own websites.  1.5 should be joining back in next season.  The margin of error on all of those numbers is now 2.  So yeah, nothing is set in stone.  It definitely seems touch and go at first glance.

And then you get to the players in the league and things start to look even bleaker.  Don’t worry, it gets better.  Really, it does.

Some of these guys won’t get to play this season, and have foregone other chances to play the game.  They’ve traveled, laid out cash, and trained their asses off.  Some are probably being lied to, because teams on all sides of the legal battle are holding sessions.  Some I talked to seemed a little disillusioned, but the vast majority were just disappointed that they weren’t going to be playing lacrosse.  In fact, even the guys who seemed the most put off by what has happened still wanted to play and seems ready to go.  And that’s the real shame of things here.  There were guys ready to give it their all out there, and now a solid portion of them probably won’t get that chance.

Now, I don’t expect the future of American Box Lacrosse to be a smooth road.  I know there will be a number of road bumps along with the moments of success.  Any small but growing sport is going to have to deal with these conditions and because of this I don’t expect perfection from the NALL.  But after all of this, I do expect something, and that something is for the owners and league leadership to be as dedicated to the fans and players, as the players have already been to the league.  And keep the right mentality here, especially in the early years.

Running a professional sports team or league is a long-term investment… meaning you are going to have to continually invest in it for the long-term, especially if you’re aren’t a great team in a big sport.  Owning a small time pro team, especially in a start-up league, usually doesn’t pay and it often doesn’t make sense.  But people do it anyway because they love sports, and they love their sport.  When they become the Yankees, they also love making money.

On the NALL’s message to the fans, it says somewhere that “It’s all about money”, so let me just clear that up for everyone right now… NO ONE is going to make money off a NALL franchise.  No way, no how.  At least not for the next 10, maybe 20 years.  Seriously.  I mean, look at the MLL.  Those guys aren’t paying their players a lot (but it’s WAY over the NALL), and they charge decent ticket prices, but they aren’t making money.  And field lacrosse has a larger built in fan base than box in the US.

And believe it or not, they’re actually ok with that.

You know why?  Because they KNOW this is a long-term investment, and because the ones that stick around genuinely LOVE lacrosse.  Want to know why so many ownership groups have come and gone in the MLL?  Because not all of them loved lacrosse.  They thought it was a good investment, but didn’t have the passion required to make it work and suffer the losses for the early years.  Know why Boston is still around?  Because the guys there love lax.  The ownership group makes it happen, and let’s face it, Matt Dwyer is a lax guy through and through who has a strong track record of growing the game.  They will the Cannons into existence, and that’s what you need to succeed.

And that is where the NALL’s future gets a little brighter.  Because there are guys involved in the league who are also game growers, and true lovers of lacrosse.  The new Boston ownership group is exceptionally young, but they love lacrosse.  In my book, that alone bodes well and I’m hopeful for them to do something radically different.  Kentucky has a game growing coach in Pete Schroeder.  I like an ownership group that hires a local guy like that.  It shows local involvement and trust.  And the players in the league seem pumped to play and GTG.  There is a US Box Lacrosse movement at foot here, and whether or not the league survives, this is a positive sign.

Of course if the league were to fail, even after a year or two, it would damage the sport’s immediate future in the US.  Another league could start up soon after, but there wouldn’t be an article out there that wouldn’t mention the failed NALL when introducing the new box league.  And guilt by association can be tough to shake.

I’m pulling for the NALL to make it work.  With big time pro sports budgets and costs going up every year, families and fans are looking for other things to love.  New hometown teams to root for.  Box lacrosse (and field) have a lot to offer, but must get it right to see success.  I already believe that box lacrosse can work in the US.  This week we see if the NALL can make the next step to actually getting on the floor, and becoming the vehicle for all that potential.

Pre-game wigs.

Got a question you want Trevor to answer in next week’s post? Drop it in the comments section below and we’ll make sure he sees it!
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I recently threw my two cents in on Connor Wilson’s piece on “Should We Take Club Ball Seriously?” and it seemed to get a favorable response from people. Connor asked if I would extrapolate on my comment, so I will copy and paste that response and just go into more detail on it below:

The argument on whether we should take club ball seriously is somewhat pointless as the MCLA is essential to the game right now, for the following reasons:

1. There are simply not enough NCAA teams for all the players who are coming out of high school now. So, the MCLA provides outstanding opportunities for the athletes who cannot or choose not to play in the NCAA. (I say “choose” because there are a lot of players from out west who make wise decisions for themselves and decide that they would rather go to a school in Colorado or California or Oregon rather than go all the way back east just to play NCAA lacrosse.)

I am no longer involved in the recruiting process at the University of Denver, now that I have stepped down to be the volunteer assistant coach there, but I still see what goes on. The coaches there get THOUSANDS of letters and videos from very good players around the country who want to play for our program. Unfortunately, we only have 10 to 12 spots on the team per year.

In 2010, US Lacrosse estimated that there were about 150,000 male high school players! If you divide that by four for the different class years, then that means we would have around 37,500 high school seniors playing lacrosse. If there are about 300 NCAA teams with 10 to 12 spots per year, that is only 3,600 spots for 37,500 players! That alone tells me that we need more opportunities for lacrosse players so that they can continue to enjoy the game in college!

2. There are more and more GREAT high school players every year, so the talent level at the DII, DIII and MCLA levels has increased dramatically over the past decade.

I remember watching some club teams when I was in college (I graduated in 2001) and I was not overly impressed. Now when I go to a MCLA game, which I have in both California and Colorado, I get to see quality lacrosse games. One thing that I have been really impressed with is how hard MCLA teams go! The CU versus CSU fall scrimmages are some of the most heated games I have ever seen. That is cool to see because that means the players care a lot about the game and about their team.

There are now very good players playing lacrosse in all three NCAA divisions and in the MCLA because the game has grown so much throughout the country, more players are starting at a younger age, and there is more good coaching. So, it is just a simple evolution that the increased quantities of talented players would trickle down throughout all levels. If you go to a game between two decent MCLA teams, you are going to see a lot of good athletes and good players.

3. As Connor said, the NCAA cannot keep up with the growth of the game now, but the MCLA can. That’s a good thing for the game.

Listen, would I love to see places like USC, Florida State, Florida, Texas, Colorado, Colorado State and Oregon decide to start NCAA Division I lacrosse programs? Hell yeah! That would be great for the sport! It’s awesome to see it just start to happen with Michigan. But, it’s not going to happen overnight and in the meantime, it’s important for the MCLA to continue to do what is doing, by fielding great lacrosse teams and providing opportunities to college student athletes.

This is where MCLA college lacrosse players may be some of the most important people in the game right now! You guys are the people who the administrators at your school are looking at as an example of what lacrosse brings to a college campus. By being good students, by contributing in positive ways to the campus community and by NOT being screw-ups, you will be showing your college that lacrosse is a great sport filled with great people. This may be one more piece to help convince an athletic director that adding the sport as a Division I program might be the right thing to do. So, MCLA players are diplomats for the game and should take that responsibility seriously.

I know that some people will think that I am saying that MCLA is just a stepping stone to Division I, but I’m not. I want to see both the NCAA continue to grow and the MCLA to continue to grow as well. The more opportunities that we have in college for players and the more exposure the game gets, the greater the popularity the game will have and the more youth players we will have. The NCAA and MCLA and even the MLL and NLL have a snowball effect on the growth of the game.

So, the argument of which is better between the NCAA and MCLA is purely based on people’s emotions and egos. There is no better or worse side here. The game of lacrosse is the game of lacrosse and if you work hard and play to the best of your abilities, you are going to have fun and learn a lot from it. That’s all that matters. When a player wins a championship in NCAA Division I or in the MCLA, the feeling is still the same. The sense of accomplishment and pride from doing your absolute best and competing at your highest level does not change due to the label on your division or league. Obviously, every individual needs to pick the level that they can test and challenge themselves at to reach their highest potential. In the end, we need both the NCAA and MCLA to keep growing so more athletes can continue to have the opportunity to take part in college lacrosse, no matter what the level.

Now on to the Box Lacrosse Twitter topic! My God! I am kind of a Twitter newbie (you can find me at @trevor_tierney) and I didn’t even know people had conversations like that on Twitter!  Does @swanklax even have a phone?  I’m not sure he is going to like me very much after this next answer, which again backs up Connor Wilson’s point.

I wrote a blog last year on LaxAllstars saying how important I thought it was for American players to start playing more box lacrosse. This is important for ALL positions, with maybe the exception of goalie. (However, I discovered that when I was on the NLL Colorado Mammoth’s practice squad as a forward, it greatly improved my stick work and skills as a goalie for the MLL Denver Outlaws. I do not think that box goalie skills translate over well to field goalie skills though, and may even develop bad habits.) This definitely includes defensemen!

1. Field defensemen need to have great stick skills and there is no better way to develop that aspect of your game than field lacrosse.

2. Playing defense with a short-stick is one of the best ways to improve your footwork and agility as a field defenseman. A lot of times at the University of Denver, we have our defensemen use either no stick, a shaft that is cut down to just a foot or so, or a short stick as a way to improve their one on one defensive skills.

3. Learning to play on and off-ball picks in indoor is incredibly challenging and transfers over well to field lacrosse because it is much easier to do with the increased space. A lot of our Canadians at DU are our best off-ball players because of all their indoor experience.

4. Look at two of the best defensemen in the game right now : Brodie Merrill and Eric Martin. Both are top defensemen in both the NLL and MLL. They have improved dramatically over their careers from playing both.

The myth that Canadian or box lacrosse players are not good long stick defenseman is now changing because there are now more opportunities for Canadian players to learn the field game when they are younger. Once they get the fundamentals and sense for the outdoor game down, then the footwork and stick skills transfer over and they have the ability to become dominant defensemen. American players, including defensemen, should take note and play both for their development!

Kind regards,
Trevor

Check out TierLacrosse.com for more great articles from Trevor Tierney.

What is Subway Music?  It’s music people tape on their phones in NYC subway system.  It’s pretty much everywhere, and some of it is actually pretty good.  The guy with the ukelele at the Lorimer stop? Not so much… lots of yell singing.  But there are others who rock, and some of them play the ukelele too.  So it’s not all bad.

No, this first one isn’t music, and yes, this is happening on a moving train.  Unreal.

This chick busts out uke, sings a bit, almost raps, and the guy on the bongos plays along seamlessly.  Do these people really not know each other?

Honestly, I never get tired of these guys…

This dude can drum with the best of ‘em!

This guy just has an awesome voice, and will jam out wherever:

Colorado College (NCAA DIII) Vs CSU (MCLA D1)

Yesterday on Twitter, I engaged in a conversation with SwankLax about whether or not MCLA lacrosse, or club ball (as it’s more derogatorily called), should be talked about and regarded as on par with NCAA lacrosse.  Swank made some good points about building legitimacy through the largest existing college sporting body, the NCAA, and how that is the path towards true growth in his mind, but I think club ball in general, and the MCLA in particular, has a lot more to offer for the growth of lacrosse and the future of our sport.  Let’s start with Swank’s first tweets…

A little back and forth.  I get what he’s saying to a certain extent, especially when he starts out with “D3 ain’t D1″.  That much is certainly true.  Now, while the difference between the top D3 lacrosse players and the Top D1 players isn’t as large as it is in basketball or football, it is still large, and pretty noticeable in most cases.  Paul Rabil is the best player on the planet while Mike Stone is a role player.  I get it.  But to say that the MCLA isn’t even in that conversation is ridiculous, because they actually are producing pro players right now, even if most are on the bottom of MLL depth charts and see little time.  You know the expression “these guys aren’t even in the same league”?  Well, these guys LITERALLY are in the same league.  That’s a flag down for dissing “club ball” right there.

And of course, the first guy I’ll bring up is Connor Martin.  Sure, Connor Martin dominated in college at Chapman, but so did Stephen Berger when he was at WAC.  We don’t just dismiss what Berger does now because he was a DIII guy.   He’s continued to do it at the pro level, and that helped keep DIII lacrosse legitimate in the eyes of most.  DII and DIII both have players like this, who are able to play at the highest levels, and it increases their legitimacy, but the fact is that the MCLA has more and more of those guys as well.  To not talk about the league merely because it’s club ball looks past the facts, and in the end, it’s just wrong.

Swank would go on to say more about club vs NCAA lax and how it relates to coverage:

So the problem is with how much coverage they get?

Listen, I love DIII lax as much as anyone.   I write about it, promote it, I played, I coached, I did the laxpower forum poll for years… all because I love DIII lax.  But I’m also a realist, and I know that people on the West Coast are never going to care about Wesleyan or Salisbury or Adelphi.  However, they WILL care about Oregon and USC and Arizona State.  And guess where those schools are playing their lacrosse?  Yup, the MCLA.  So if we truly want to draw in new fans, we need to make lacrosse available and appealing to them.  Lax at Oregon via club is good for the game.  D1 would be great, but if the school won’t do it then the local lacrosse community will.  And we, as the greater lacrosse community, should support that.

If the MCLA continues to grow, and the NCAA continues with their relatively slow adoption of the sport, how is that bad?  It’s not like having a club team makes a school less likely to add the sport.  In fact, I think a club team, when run properly, only supports the idea of lacrosse on campus.  The kids going there wanted a team so badly that they made one themselves.  If that isn’t a strong argument for adding lax, I don’t know what is.

Most people’s immediate response to the above statement is that it has only happened once so far, and very recently, in Michigan.  And that’s pretty much true.  UM is the only big school that has added lax as a direct result of their club team.  But I don’t know if that is the exception to the rule… in fact, I think it might be the start of a new trend: large schools adding lacrosse.  Universities and Colleges across the country can look at Michigan, and they can look at Marquette, and they can see which path they want to follow.  Do you want to build a team from scratch like Marquette is doing?  Or do you want to build a team from within, create an immediate alumni base, and give the team an immediate sense of history and belonging?

For my proposed growth pattern to succeed, we need schools to support their MCLA programs, but all we can do there is hope that it will happen, write some letters to college presidents and ADs, and see how the cards play out.  But we also need to support these programs ourselves, and that is something we can control.

I’d love to talk about DIII lax non-stop, because it’s where I come from, and it’s what I know.  But I also know that the game is growing and if we want to keep the feeling of community we need to cover and talk about lacrosse in new places, being played by people who will PAY to play.  The MCLA is still the new frontier of lacrosse, and it is where our community tells the NCAA what WE want.  And if we consider ourselves Game Growers, we all have a responsibility to support the MCLA.

If lacrosse keeps growing but the NCAA does not keep pace, more quality players will find themselves playing in the MCLA, and eventually, more of these guys will play in the MLL.  To me, college lacrosse is college lacrosse.  Some of it is better, and some of it is worse, but it’s all close enough to be part of the same larger conversation.  And BYU, Texas or ASU will always get more coverage than Stevenson, Carbini or Tufts.  That’s just life.

Main Photo courtesy CSU Lacrosse’s flickr

(Below) is a shot of me in my old high school all-star jersey (circa 1987) taken in my kitchen (circa today).  I was a second team All-County middie for Anne Arundel County powerhouse Glen Burnie High School (our mascot was the Gopher) way back when.  We were 2-12 that year.  I ended my 3 year varsity stint with a combined record of 6-36.  I lettered all 3 years in high school, which was grade only 10-12 back then.

Looking good, Woody!

Check out that jersey! Its a full mesh half shirt! I wish I had the shorts that went with the, They were full on… well, they were tight.

I included a photo from my junior year as well.  Dig that Alex P Keaton hair cut and the sly shit-eating grin!  I’m rocking the L35s and an STX Laser-HighWall.  What a fool I was!  Lord knows what Salisbury and Washington College were thinking recruiting me…

Check out that flow!

Also included a shot of me playing in my annual alumni game from last year. I coached the kid guarding me when he was 10!

Woody has still got it!

After hours of thorough YouTube research, LaxAllStars.com is excited to bring you the Top 11 Lacrosse Videos of 2011. From a wicked slash to college lacrosse highlights by Josh Lane and arguably the best lacrosse announcer ever, this year’s most watched lacrosse videos are full of great highlights. Now sit back, relax and enjoy the best of 2011!

11 – Coppell Lacrosse Super Slash

Video by LegitCinemax; 42,000+ views

10 – College Lacrosse 2011 Highlights

Video by rastamyles; 47,000+ views

9 – College Lacrosse 2011 Highlights PART 1

Video by XxRainingSlayer; 49,000+ views

8 – 2011 College Lacrosse Midseason Highlights

Video by JLProductions3; 84,000+ views

7 – Best Lacrosse Motivational Video 2011

Video by XxDJ2SiCKxX; 103,000+ views

6 – 2011 College Lacrosse Promo

Video by JLProductions3; 104,000+ views

5 – Best of College Lacrosse 2011

Video by JLProductions3; 160,000+ views

4 – Best Announcer in Lacrosse

Video by KuddaSports; 322,000+ views

3 – Bench Clearing Lacrosse Brawl

Video by wolverine1932; 337,000+ views 

2 – Maryland Lacrosse Hidden Ball Trick – May 15, 2011

Video by DudesonsSuomi22; 535,000+ combined views (2 videos)

#1 – Miracle Shot Amazing Lacrosse Goal (80 Yards) by

Video by Prominent44; 2,037,00+ views

Main photo credit: AllHipHop.com

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I was going for a run the other night and while listening to my iPod, Sam Adams, the rapper, came up on shuffle.  Adams is from the Cambridge, Mass and he went to college at Hobart and William Smith Colleges for two years.  It was while he was at Hobart where he recorded his first single, I Hate College (remix).  Now, you may be wondering, “What does this kid have to do with lacrosse?”, and I will tell you.  In the song I Hate College, Adams sings, “I felt lost saw some herbs all wearin’ Lacoste, couple dudes in pinnies musta played lacrosse”.  And that inspired me to write this article about all the pop culture references that deal with lacrosse.

Everyone can agree that Lacrosse is the fastest growing sport in America, and the larger media is even starting to pick up on this.  The movie Crooked Arrows has finished filming and is now in the post production stage.  This will be the first major motion picture that has a plot truly built around the sport of lacrosse.

Sean Parker; Facebook, Napster, Lacrosse?  In 2010, David Fincher’s film The Social Network was released.  The movie is about the creation of Facebook.  There is a particular scene in the movie where Sean Parker (Justin Timberlake) and Mark Zuckerberg (Jessie Eisenberg) are talking about Napster.  Sean Parker explains that he created Napster to impress the girlfriend of the varsity lacrosse captain, so that he could win her over.  I checked the validity of that story and couldn’t find how true it was, but nonetheless, even if Arron Sorkin made that part up, it is pretty cool that he chose to use lacrosse.

From a major motion picture all the way to a TV mini series, I found lacrosse references.  The main character, Sterling Archer, from the hit TV show Archer is a lacrosse fanatic.  Archer is the top agent at a secret US spy agency.  He went to a very private and prestigious prep school and was a Lacrosse All Star there.  In years past, prep schools and lacrosse were synonymous with one another.  Throughout the two seasons there have been a number of references to the sport of lacrosse, including when Archer becomes captain of a group of rebel pirates and establishes an intramural lacrosse league.

This past summer MTV even produced a new series called Teen Wolf.  The premise of the series was about a young kid in high school who gets bitten and eventually turns into a werewolf.  The big sports team that the main character is trying out for is the lacrosse team.  Traditionally, the hero goes out for the football or basketball team to impress the girl, but this time it’s the lacrosse team.  I thought this was awesome at first, but once I watched an episode and saw just how poorly they represented the sport of lacrosse I was upset.  MTV and that show did nothing for the sport of lacrosse.  No justice was served.

My final reference is both the most famous and probably the most classic lacrosse movie reference, American Pie.  The 1999 comedy is about a group of Seniors in their final months of high school.  What’s the sport that they all play?  Yep… you guessed it; lacrosse.   A very old school version of early 90′s lacrosse that is, but classic nonetheless.  Chris Klein and Sean William Scott are both stars on the team, and the movie includes some good lacrosse scenes.  Whenever movies and lacrosse are in the same topic American Pie always comes up.

I’d also like to point out that the goalie in the movie is a Mercyhurst alum.  Sorry, had to get that plug in there.  But now you have some extra trivia to impress your friends with.

I found another musical lacrosse reference, but I am not going to share it with you.  Instead, I’m going to challenge you to find it and tell me what song it is, and what the lyric is.  I’ll give you a hint:  There are two performers and one of them is from Canada.  Leave a comment or tweet me @connors36with your guesses.  Good Luck!!!

"Chewy" in Crooked Arrows.

- The Essential: 2 must-have items (1 gear related-item and 1 piece of apparel)
- The Premium: 5 exclusive items (The Essential + 3 more never-before-seen LAS swag)
- The Ultimate: The Essential + The Premium + something extra special
+ Extras and random bonus items, of course! 

But the goodies in the GB’s are just the beginning. As part of this Grab Bag offering we’re also getting set to kick off the 12 Days of Laxmas. it simply does not get any more awesome than this!

The 12 Days of Laxmas, as you may have guessed, run for 12 days. We’ll be raffling off a sweet sweet lax gear prize to one lucky winner every day for 12 days straight. On the final day, we’re even raffling a custom Cascade CPX-R complete with an LAS HeadWrapz on it!

The prizes start out great, and they only get better… and as you go up in Grab Bag level, you get more chances to win.

- Purchase an Essential Grab Bag and you’ll get ONE raffle ticket.

- Purchase a Premium Grab Bag and you’ll get TWO raffle tickets.

- Purchase an Ultimate Grab Bag and you’ll get THREE raffle tickets!

Thankfully, entering is also really easy!!!

Here’s how to enter The 12 Days of Laxmas Raffle:

1) Go to the LAS Grab Bag Product Page, pick your Holiday Grab Bag, and buy it

2) Receive your Grab Bag, enjoy the sick swag and hold on to your raffle ticket(s)

3) Wait For LAS to announce a Laxmas winner each day, Dec. 14-25

Just a few easy steps. We like to keep it simple and based purely on good fortune!!!

Who’s ready for some highlights from the Las Vegas Lacrosse Showcase?!

We synced up with the good folks at Prodigy Network to create a sweet highlight for the Bigfoot Lax All Stars, the team we co-sponsored with Bigfoot Lacrosse!

Whether it’s the on-field play or the uniforms by Enigma Apparel that make this video so dope, we’re not quite sure. What we do know is that Prodigy Network scored a hat trick with this footage. Make sure you hit them up for all your team media service needs.

‘Tis the season for awesome gifts, and we’ve decided to make our Grab Bags the #1 holiday gift a lax player or fan could possibly ask for!

Here’s the rundown: Thanks to the wild success of LAS Grab Bags, we’ve improved our offering to make sure YOU have an awesome December. This month we’re offering 3 versions of our Grab Bag: The Essential ($20), The Premium ($50) and The Ultimate ($100).

Exclusive lacrosse goods brought to you by LaxAllStars.com.

The bigger the Grab Bag you order, the more stuff you’ll get in it. The Essential is just like our standard Grab Bag from September and October (but with new items!). The Premium doubles the sweetness and adds some spice. Meanwhile, The Ultimate…well, we think the word “ultimate” speaks for itself!

The options have increased, but the process is the same – Simply select your Size and we take care of the rest!

BUT WAIT, THERE’S MORE.

Each Grab Bag purchase enters you into our 12 Days of Laxmas Raffle (more info soon)! You’ll be issued 1 to 3 raffle entries based on the size of the Grab Bag ordered. Each day leading up to Christmas (Dec 14-25), we’ll draw one winner to receive a sweet piece of brand new lacrosse equipment! We’re talking gloves, sticks, gear bags and more…

The Christmas Day giveaway? Feast your eyes on this puppy!

Can we interest you in a brand new LAS CPX-R?

Oh, almost forgot…we’ll also be throwing extra goodies in random bags again too!

ORDER YOUR HOLIDAY GRAB BAG NOW!

You want Max Seibald, Brett Queener and Connor Martin? We got ‘em. Guys, gals, and people from every nation under the Sun got in on this brand new Grow The Game lacrosse promo. It’s time to Grow The Game Hawaii style. Mahalo, Josh. Great work!

An even larger contingent of LaxAllStars.com will be heading to Las Vegas this weekend, where our Grow The Game mission will continue.  Make sure to check back for a ton of killer video, photos, stories and more from Vegas in the coming weeks. What happens in Vegas gets broadcast to the entire lacrosse world. So behave boys!

CBC + GTG!

First up: Syracuse lacrosse legend Ryan Powell.

Ryan with one of his MLL MVP trophies

Over the past 6 years, Ryan Powell has played a huge part in growing the game of lacrosse in Portland, Oregon. His instructional company Rhino Lacrosse offers a wide range of off-season playing opportunities for players of all ages and skill levels. Powell’s commitment to his local community is undeniable, and we’re thrilled to kick this new podcast series of with him.

Check it out!

Download this episode in iTunes or right-click here and save

Rhino Lacrosse headquarters

A few things to listen for in this podcast:

- The intro! Both the intro and exit were actually recorded for us by Ryan Powell himself. Over the course of this interview, we found out RP’s childhood dream was to be a sports broadcaster, so we couldn’t help but ask him to help us produce this first podcast!

- Love for Portland. Powell and his family love the Portland area, and that’s a big part of why Rhino Lacrosse has had such a big impact on the community. Commitment is everything!

- The Rhino offering. Powell has made Rhino Lacrosse the leading instructional company in Oregon by offering a great mix of high quality products to young lacrosse players. It all starts with hard work and a commitment to improving players one-by-one.

- Rhino Bootcamps. This is a concept I’ve grown to admire. The inclusion of Nike Sparq Training and intense stick work make for great crash-course in lacrosse for beginners and advanced players alike.

- Brett Favre who? I ask Ryan about his playing career and get some solid intel on his status as a professional lacrosse player.

- Woozle talk. Don’t miss the part where I ask RP to join the Woozles Lacrosse Club at Lake Tahoe next summer. I think he’s afraid to wear pink!

- Dicky V! Ever wondered who the next Dick Vitale might be? I’m putting my money on Ryan Powell after hearing the impression he gives at the end of our podcast.

Know who we should interview for next week’s podcast? Drop us a line at info@lacrosseallstars.com using subject line “Lacrosse The World”.

LAS all Lacrosse The World!

Pick up, no pads lacrosse in Brooklyn!

We talk about elite teams, wall ball routines, workouts and combine-type skills a lot on LAS.  But there is another kind of training out there that many of the best lacrosse players on the planet have engaged in, and it doesn’t get nearly enough play or coverage.  I’m talking about backyard lacrosse here, and it can be a total game changer.

Lacrosse has become more and more of a coaches’ game at the college level, and we are even seeing this change at the high school and the travel elite club levels as well.  More than ever, players are expected to know their roles, and do certain jobs on the field.  Specialization has become common-place and it’s not rare to hear a high school today describe themselves as a d-middie, FoGo, or even a man-up specialist.  College lacrosse hopefuls are working hard to get recruited, and as specialization increased, so too did the drive to specialize.

But as more and more players have become position-specific athletes, an old gap has once again opened up, and players who can do it all are of the highest value.  The NCAA has been experimenting with new rules as well, and all of these rule changes keep players on the field longer, and allow for less specialization.  So not only has a gap in all-around players been created by coaching, but a reinforced NEED for all-around players, via potential NCAA rule changes, could be just around the corner.

I have no doubt that a plethora of camps and coaches will come out preaching that they offer the best all-around player training, but this shouldn’t be the first step to developing all-around talent.  The first step is right in a player’s backyard or on the local playing field, and it doesn’t involve coaches or drills.  It just involves playing the game with friends in a competitive manner as much as you can.  And some people out there might be shocked to learn some of the ways this style of play can help.

One of the biggest things lacking in the college lacrosse world right now is creativity.  Players are bigger, stronger, more skilled and faster than they have ever been (at least in my opinion), but the style of play that most teams utilize rests upon isolating a shortstick, dodging, drawing a slide and moving the ball in a somewhat predetermined manner.  It used to be that defenses were the most predictable thing on a lacrosse field, but it almost seems like the offensive sets have taken over that dubious distinction, and this is true for a couple of reasons.

The first reason is that like I said above, offenses have simply become more predictable.  But another reason for this is that defenses have become less predictable.  If you look at some of the more complex man-zone hybrid defenses out there (Virginia, NY Tech, Wesleyan) it can be VERY hard to determine from where, or even if, a slide is coming, and basic man-to-man defense are quickly becoming a thing of the past.  A third reason for offenses getting less predictable is stick widths and pocket depths.  One would think that it would just allow players to go the cage harder and in more ways, but it all comes back to coaching, and the value of a long possession is just too much for most coaches to pass up.

We saw a similar thing happen in the NFL, as defenses got better and more organized (and therefore harder to read), offenses responded by scripting plays even more and this was most in evidence with Peyton Manning and the Colts and Tom Brady and the Patriots.  But I really don’t think that this approach is going to work in lacrosse.  A missed connection in the NFL usually results in an incomplete pass, but a bad look in lacrosse often results in a turnover.  And as I said above, good possessions are just too valuable.

If the NCAA rules allowed for more substitutions, and more specialization, the NFL offensive approach could actually work.  But as we’ve seen, the trend seems to be heading in the opposite direction.  Now even if the NFL allowed less subs per play or game, Brady and Manning could still wreak havoc on defenses.  This is true because not only do they know their scripts, but they are both extremely creative players.  They both have a lot of control over play selection at the line, and they are almost like an extra coach who is playing the game.  Their ability to read and decide what to do in complex, ever-changing situations is the biggest strength.

Since lacrosse seems to be getting away from the massive amount of specialization, the approach isn’t necessarily to run a more scripted offense, so the approach must be to find players who are creative, and who can run a team’s offense from the field.  And where do you find these players?  Oftentimes in the backyard, playing against their siblings or other kids from the neighborhood.

I used to play a little bit in my sideyard growing up with my brother, my friends and his friends.  We had a cheap goal and a home-made rebounding wall made out of plywood, and I definitely think that those were the moments when I most improved.  My brother and my friends all knew I was a lefty, and even though I was fast, they could overplay me, and force me to find new ways to beat them.  They knew all my tricks, and things that would work on the field in high school, wouldn’t work in the sideyard.  Looking back, the only thing I regret is not playing like that more!

I also knew their tricks, so when my brother would try to take the ball away from me, I knew what he was going to do… at first.  But he learned knew tricks out of necessity, and we both improved because of it.  There was no pressure other than the kind I put on myself, and we were more than free to try whatever we wanted.  The drive to win was enough to make us good hard, and sometimes it ended in a fight or argument, but overall it also brought us close together as brothers.  At least I think it did!

The other big thing that it did for me was to toughen me up a bit.  Always playing in full pads, and with coaches and refs, gives kids a certain expectation of not getting hurt.  When they do take a good whack on the arm, a lot of players today think that it should automatically be a slash.  But sometimes you just get hit hard, and playing competitive games against your friends is a great way to get used to it.

I’ve coached a lot of kids in the past couple of years, and I’ve seen them on the playing field, and I’ve seen them on the training field.  When they’re fully suited up and playing in a game, they actually tend to whine more about getting hit.  But when I do lessons with two or more kids and have them play one on one, they go at it just as hard, with less pads on, and there is rarely even a whimper of complaint.  Sometimes kids take a pretty good whack to the head or hands, but they bounce back pretty quickly.  I’m certainly not advocating for kids to just go to town on each other, but a little rough play with friends at a young age is great prep for the rough play that these kids will find at higher levels of the game.

The game needs creative, tough and skilled players at every level, and the repetitions one will get playing in the backyard against friends could be the difference maker they need to go from good to great.  If you were to check in with some of the best players in the world right now, you would probably find this is how a good number of them got their game.  So what are you waiting for?