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Back To Lax Full Time

Photo courtesy of InsideLacrosse

USA – Duke on TV:

Last night we all caught the first televised outdoor lacrosse “game” of the year when Duke and Team USA threw down in Orlando.  I was excited to see the game back on TV and I was also pumped to get a good first look at both Duke and the US National Team (apart from tons of youtube videos).

I got so excited, I even ordered a new piece of mesh!  Crazy, I know.  I also did it so I will have an all-weather stick for New Orleans.  Supposedly it often rains during the Mardi Gras Tourney.  Who knew?  At least I’m getting a sweet t-shirt out of it and it gave me another excuse to dye a head.

Now back to the Duke-US scrimmage (I bolded that so you wouldn’t forget this is just a scrimmage. You’re welcome)…  Neither team really disappointed although, as is to be expected, there were some haters.

Duke looked like they had made a lot of progress early in their season.  Their projected starter in net, Brady, is gone but it didn’t seem to matter.  The Duke keepers held their own against the best the US had to offer.  The Blue Devils were fast and played hard and smart.  They kept possession well and challenged their defenders all game.  The poles played good team D in general and cleared the ball well.

Team USA still has a lot of work to do but for something this early, I was pretty impressed.  Sure, lots of guys were missing the mark on shots (it’s early still) and passes were just off but the framework was there.  They created good opportunities and played like a team more than most MLL teams (but not as well as Duke).

With more reps together in practice and future scrimmages, the US team will really gel and make huge strides… and they need to.  If they rely solely on individuals, they will lose to Canada again but I don’t think either of those things will happen.

You want a top performer?  Ryan McClay looked unbelievable on D.  He must have put the ball on the turf 10 times and looked pretty much undodgeable for most of the game.  Now you want someone who needs improvement?  Ok, I’ll go with Fullerton then.  He wasn’t bad but he wasn’t great and with guys like Schwartzman and Jarboe sitting at home, “not bad” just isn’t good enough.

IL has coverage here, photos here and more college scrimmage coverage on their homepage, including the US-Army scrimmage, which the US won 15-7.  Laxpower also supplies some more analysis on the action here.

Tennessee, Lacrosse and LAS:

The UT Men’s Lacrosse Team will be telling LAS all about their season and what lax is like at Kiffin-less Tennessee via posts that incorporate both text and photos.  On a side note, I honestly think that Kiffin is a snake in the grass and that the Vols will be better off without him.  I would guess it will take him a little under 2 years to completely ruin USC’s program.  As a little preview of the lacrosse updates, check out the UT uniforms for 2010…  Adidas hooked them up with something spicy:

White on whites. Sounds nice. Make it twice.
These uniforms are Cream-SICK-le good.

We’ll show off the Tennessee helmets and gloves soon as well and I’m really looking forward to checking out the UT perspective on lacrosse, life and the SELC vibe.  Do kids come to games?  What is the talent like both on the field and on the sideline?  I have so many questions.  Tennessee has answers.

More Uniforms, Miami Love and Mesh:

I also got some more uniform pictures from the Miami Tournament from the Salt Shakers, an NYC based lacrosse club.  They joined the tournament last minute and that is what they blame their boring uniforms on:

Boring uniforms but super bright & tight gear! I like a good contrast.

The Salt Shakers also put together a team and some sweet uniforms for the Ocean City Tournament each summer in Maryland and their efforts there were of a much higher quality:

0-99 is so old school. Those new numbers sure get high! Too easy.

Good effort and I particularly like the pithy beach graphics, especially considering that tournament is basically on a beach.  For South Beach, StrikerDanger hooked us up in legit fashion and the pictures and video are only starting to slowly trickle in.  At this rate, we could still be posting stuff in May but it would be so worth it since the gear is so fly.

Why are Cahill and I the only ones still wearing helmets? oh yeah, so we wouldn't lose them. Rough morning.
Steven Brooks gets ready to score against Lacrossewear in the QuarterFinals on Sunday.

As if my recent tournament appearance, Duke-USA on TV and NLL games online weren’t enough (more on this later…), I felt compelled to order some Marc Mesh.  You can order your own here and there are just so many variations to choose from!

Big holes, regular sized mesh holes, one-color, two-color, custom color designs and the best darn piece of mesh you’ve ever used: when you add all that up, the price still seems really high (starting at $30 per kit) but it’s worth it!

I don’t buy much equipment these days but Marc Mesh is one of those things I’m more than willing to spring for.  The sidewalls they supply you with are thick (not my preference) so I switch those out but the shooters are great and the mesh itself is second to none.  Excited to string up another wand and get back to the game!

What wand am I going to re-string with my new Marc Mesh?  This one:

more to come on the NOLC dye job later though...
More to come on this dye job (partial in picture) later this week along with my New Orleans preview!

NLL Action; Ask and ye shall receive:

You may be asking how I was able to watch NLL games this weekend while still living in the good ol’ US of A.  Well, you can go to NLL.com and find schedules of online game broadcasts each weekend and then watch them right there on the website!

NLL.com has online broadcasts

If you have a good computer and a good connection, the service is pretty decent!  Much better than using something like Stat-tracker.  It works fine for baseball, but lacrosse is a sport that needs to be seen and not turned into a bunch of numbers.  I saw Orlando dominate Rochester and Boston bested Philly.  Good games, good action and I didn’t actually see Geoff Snider fight anyone.  Of course, that doesn’t mean he didn’t actually fight someone, I just didn’t see it if he did.  First time for everything, I guess!

I also paid particular attention to when Brett Queener was on the floor playing as a forward and while he runs hard and shows some potential… honestly, I think he hurts the Blazers more than he helps them.  Here is Boston’s offense in a nutshell: get the ball to Dan Dawson, let Dawson back someone in righty and either shoot or pass to Veltman who shoots.  If that doesn’t work, rinse and repeat.  Can’t see that alone winning them lots of games for a second whole season.

Orlando looked good as a team and Casey Powell is just plain ol’ nasty.  Rochester’s John Grant Jr. has the best stick skills in the world.  Gary Gait is STILL beyond cunning with his ball movement.

For all of you guys looking for free stuff (and who isn’t looking for free stuff? am I right?), check out Elevation Lacrosse’s newest giveaway.  28 days of FREE. STUFF.  Gloves, helmets, bags, stuff.  you get the idea.  How do you get the stuff?  Easy:  follow them on twitter, friend them on good ol’ Bookface or register on their website.  Wow, that WAS easy!  Now go win stuff.  Disclaimer:  Elevation advertises with us but this contest is legit and we would have told you about it anyway.

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About the Author:
After helping to start the program at Weston HS in Massachusetts, Connor Wilson went on to play at Wesleyan University. Post-graduation, Wilson stayed on and coached at Wesleyan for 2 years. He also played in Australia and the American Lacrosse League. Currently Wilson plays for the Southampton Lacrosse Club in NYC and enjoys dyeing lacrosse sticks, eating breakfast sandwiches and a pretentious writer’s bio on LAS.

Contact him at connor@lacrosseallstars.com.