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Super Friday Lax Drop

It’s October and lacrosse news is flying fast and loose. I love typing that. It reminds of how things will be even better and lax-ier during the Spring!  Let’s start off with some video, shall we?

Video You May Have Already Seen

You can see UNC vs. Loyola highlights on e-lacrosse. And of course, 412 provides his thorough and entertaining analysis. E-lacrosse also has Washington College vs. Stevenson (NCAA D3) highlights and Stevenson looks GOOD.  More 412 film breakdown.  Jimmy Dailey of Stevenson embodies a devastating COD.

Jimmy Dailey breaking ankles. Get low, D-man.

WAC has fallen off in recent years (really since Stephen Berger graduated in 2004), but with a new coach in Jeff Shirk (ex-VMI HC and UMaryland player), the Shoremen are looking to rebound. Quint Kessenich used to say people got “Shirkerized” when Jeff hit them. It was fair. He trucked people on the reg.  WAC looked competitive, but Stevenson looked like a contender.  Yes, there is a very noticeable difference.

Who Is That Guy With The Hair?

We talked about Dailey’s quickness and we talked about a successful player becoming a successful coach, and you know who else might be on that track?  Mikey Powell.  He doesn’t seem that interested in playing anymore (he’s kind of done it all) so maybe he’ll take up coaching full-time.  If the video below is any indication, he’d make a GREAT coach at any level.

[fvplayer src=”https://youtube.com/watch?v=4bC4RauOHbM?fs=1″ splash=”https://i.ytimg.com/vi/4bC4RauOHbM/hqdefault.jpg” caption=”Mikey Powell at All American Lacrosse”]

Box Action!

Powell starts to talk about behind the back passes towards the end of that video and I think it’s great to start teaching kids good BTB fundamentals early on.  They’re going to need to know how to do it someday, so why not learn young?  They’ll really need to learn how to throw a solid BTB if they want to play box lacrosse, and since I’ve been talking about it so much here’s another box video.  This time it’s REAL box lacrosse, even if it isn’t the highest level. The Alese Hrebesky Memorial Tournament in Prague… looks like a really good time!

[fvplayer src=”https://youtube.com/watch?v=GQpryLp-yVA?fs=1″ splash=”https://i.ytimg.com/vi/GQpryLp-yVA/hqdefault.jpg” caption=”"Saturday Sat Alone" by Love You To Death — LYTD Czech Lacrosse”]

Gear!

I also have some new shorts to show off! LacrosseWear just dropped its new I-A line and they’re already coming out with some killer stuff.  The Arizona practice jersey that was shown on SweetSweetLax.com earlier this month is part of the line and so are these shorts.  Pretty sick.

NYC Lax Update

The NYC ULax regular season also wrapped up last weekend and LAS pulled out a 7-2 win in my absence.  I was helping out at a Citylax clinic on Randall’s Island in NYC so I couldn’t make the games.  We ended up at 3-3, sitting in the 5th place position, which is rough because only the top 4 teams make the playoffs.  Teamitup.com, Dirt McGirt, Team Jug and the Gotham Goats all made the playoffs, which will be decided this weekend. The points race heated up towards the end, but Briggs Thompson ended up as the regular season leader with 14 points. I dropped 10 to tie for 8th.  Not bad for an old, slow, converted D-pole!

Week 6 ULax action
Joe Barile of Teamitup.com and Warhawk Lacrosse (R) gets ready to face.
Georgia Tech vs. Yale in lax? Only in ULax.
Quality: Power-tek player and 2 ex-MLLers facing off.
The one hand cradle? Where is the dangle???

So while I didn’t get to play any lax last weekend, I did get to instruct about 200 kids on proper 1-on-1 dodging and defense techniques!  And that’s a lot of fun.  We had kids as young as 4 and as old as 14.  Some had played years and others were experiencing lax for the first time.  Public school, private, charter… we had it all!

The offense’s focus was GO HARD.  Make a move and commit to it.  Too many young players today try to do all the bob and weave dodging and it STILL doesn’t work.  Didn’t when I was a kid, doesn’t now.  For the D we focused on playing D with your feet and dictating where your man was going to dodge.  It’s amazing how much improvement you can see in kids if you focus on the basics and let them figure out the rest!  Learn by doing. Words to live by.

Rumors and Nonsense

To wrap up, I’ll fuel the rumor mill a little and opine on some of the recent happenings in our wonderful world. Cal is dropping their women’s lacrosse team.  At least that’s the story so far.  Boo Cal.  BOO!  However, USC is adding a women’s lacrosse team!  Yay USC!  This doesn’t make up for Cal’s decision, but I do think it shows how short-sighted a cut this was.  Women’s lax is growing by leaps and bounds and still features a TON of top-notch STUDENT-athletes.  For a school like Cal, this is a sport they should have EMBRACED!

Trinity (NCAA D3 in the NESCAC) is STILL looking for a coach. Was a recent assistant from another NESCAC school seen on campus? Maybe.  Whoever they hire, it needs to happen FAST.  Expect mediocre at best recruiting classes for 2011 and 2012 because of the delay.

Milton Lyles is out at UNC.  I feel for him and was really excited to see him play this year.  Will Bitter be back? UNC has been bitten by the major injury bug HARD.  Loyola‘s Steve Dircks knee seems to be holding up well though. Expect him to be one of the better D guys in the country this year.  Yeatman and Maryland want another year of eligibility for him since he played in only one scrimmage during a season that was cut short by suspension at Notre Dame.  Does the NCAA give out extra years for injury?  Yes.  Do they do the same for suspensions?  I kind of hope not.  Otherwise, where’s the actual penalty from being suspended?

(Photos credits: John Stroshacker on lax.com, Ulax.org, LacrosseWear)