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Sunday Lacrosse Drop: NLL Opens, HIGHLIGHTS, Photos And MORE!

What a weekend.  The NLL kicked off and lacrosse got rolling just a little bit more.  We’ve got great photos, video and reports from all across the lacrosse world as well as some thoughts on one recent piece of sporting news and how easy it is to misplace priorities.  Let’s dive right in.

Zebra Apparel Club Team Lacrosse Gear

Zebra Apparel‘s club lacrosse team had some pretty intense helmets and gloves for 2010.  We’re looking forward to their 2011 gear even more and hope these guys don’t go all white again!  It’s just too easy and everyone is doing it.  That being said, this is still a great all-white effort.  It does look good, when you’re the only team doing it.  When its de rigueur, the effect wears off a bit.  Thanks to Michael Britt for the submission!

Zebra Apparel Lacrosse helmet cascade gloves brine lax
Love the Zebra vent stripes!

The King Print on the gloves is usually heinous but looks great here, especially when you consider they mimicked the pattern on the backpanel with their own logo..  Super attention detail right there.  Flawless.  For more pictures, check out Zebra Apparel on Sweet Sweet Lax.

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NYC Box League Cancelled This Weekend

There was just too much ice on the rink to play.  The NYC Parks Department did a great job of trying to clear the massive amounts of snow and ice from the rink.  They made a ton of progress.  I’m not one of those people that complains about the government not doing enough so in addition to their efforts, which will continue this week, we’ll have to go back on Friday and finish the clean up, so we can play on Saturday.  Part of running a lacrosse league in the winter, I guess!

We need a covered rink controlled by the City (and not the State).  The State, evidently, does not like box lacrosse.  People asked about one such rink but they think the balls damage the walls more than hockey pucks do.  Even though hockey pucks weigh 6 oz and lacrosse balls weigh 5 oz.  And the shot speeds in both sports are almost perfectly in line.  I guess that’s why they work for the State of New York.  They’re professionals at saying “no”, even if they story doesn’t work.  We’ll find a way to make it work though!!

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College Lacrosse Video Game Game Play Video

The title pretty much says it all.  CL 11.   Check it out!

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Andrew Luck is Going Back to Cali

I love that he chose to go back to school, get his degree and play another year of college football.  For some of these analysts to come out and bash him is reprehensible.  The NFL is clearly on his path but some tried to make it seem like the choice to leave school is a no-brainer.  Well, I guess it is.  Guys who leave school early often have no brain.  They were football players.  And that was pretty much it.  Andrew Luck is clearly more than that and takes his academics seriously, it seems.  So I guess I’m not surprised that the guys on TV think he should have left.  They’re mostly no-brainers themselves.  Props to Andrew Luck for taking college seriously and making it about more than just sports!

Andrew-Luck-Stanford 12 football
Good form on and off the field!

I am not looking forward to the day some high-profile lacrosse player leaves college early to play pro.  Its only a matter of time.  Kids have done it in the past (for the NLL) but its a very different game, which has a very different feeder system, so the effect isn’t quite the same.

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THE NLL IS BACK!!!!

January 8th was a great day for 2011 because the NLL started back up.  Pared down to only 10 teams, the NLL is loaded with talent all over the place.  Even with injuries, there isn’t a single guy out on the floor who can’t play lacrosse at an extremely high level.  When guys like Steve Toll are getting let go (and the picked back up by someone else), you know the talent level is deep.  Casey Powell joined the Boston Blazers, along with Sanderson (and Dawson was already there) and they only managed to score 10 goals in their opener.  Defense in the NLL is on point early on!!

Like I said, Boston scored 10 but it was enough to beat Philadelphia who could only manage 6 goals.  Casey Powell had 5 of Boston’s tallies. Bill McGlone continued his impressive box lacrosse advancement by notching 2 goals for Philly.  Dan Dawson somehow managed to rack up assists on 8, yes EIGHT, straight Boston goals.  That guy is incredible.  People are going to talk about Casey Powell because he’s Casey Powell and let’s face it, because he’s American.  But Dawson is a beast out there.  8 straight assists?  He’s running the show.  Anthony Cosmo only had to make 25 saves for the win, while Brandon Miller made 39 saves in the losing effort.  Ok, Boston could be really dangerous if they start finishing a bit more.  Wait, you wanted highlights?  Ok.  Bill McGlone drops a sick individial effort in these.

Toronto took out Edmonton 13-7.  Edmonton played 3 goalies and Matt Disher had 42 saves in 57 minutes.  Tough to do that and have your team only score 7 goals.  Bob Watson was good in net with 36 saves for Toronto however.  Brodie Merrill was held pointless and Ryan Ward went 2-1 for the Rush.  Toronto used a balanced attack and got 2 and 2 from Casey Beimes and Garret Billings each.

Rochester barely bear Minnesota but took care of things when it mattered and escaped with an 11-10 win in OT.  Gary Gait had 3 assists, including the OT game winner to Craig Point, who had 3 goals and an assist in the game.  Cody Jamieson had 2 goals to start his career for Rochester. Ryan Benesch went 2, 3 while Andrew Watt, Callum Crawford and Mat Giles all went 2, 2 for Minnesota.

Washington also won in OT and they also won by a score of 11-10 but they got their win over Colorado.  Lewis Ratcliff didn’t score but he did have 4 assists. Rhys Duch and Jeff Zwycki did each notch 3 goals for the Stealth with Duch’s final goal being the OT game winner. Matt Roik had 38 saves in the win for the Stealth. John Grant Junior scored 4 straight goals for Colorado and then assisted on their final three for 7 points proving just how valuable he really is.

Calgary also enjoyed a 1-point virtory by the score of 10-9 over Buffalo.  For Calgary, Scott Ranger had 5 goals and led all scorers in the game Kaleb Toth had 1, 2 while Jeff Shattler added 3 assists.  Mike Poulin had 38 saves for Calgary while Mike Thompson had 28 for Bufallo.  Roger Vyse had 2 goals and 3 assists for the Bandits while Tracey Kelusky added a goal and three assists of his own. Geoff Snider only had 2 penalties in his debut with Calgary.

Calgary plays Washington again TONIGHT at 8pm EST.  Back to back pro box lacrosse games?  That’s impressive.  Or crazy.  Or both.

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412 Posting His Pants Off

This is the kind of stuff we love to see from 412.  His best post of 2011.  Sure, the year is young but that Wiz Khalifa remix is unreal.

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DID YOU SEE THIS?!?!?!?!

Carbon Fiber, Gun Metal and awesomeness abound.  All. In. One. Helmet.  Thailand Lacrosse Helmet. Pure hotness.