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Miami B&G Recap – Sunday Funday

After 2 or 3 nights of drinking and 3 days of lax, the Miami Bump & Grind Tourney finished up on Sunday, January 24th with the playoffs and crowning of a Champion.  Everyone was a little exhausted but still excited to go out and lax it up a little more.

In the 11AM games, Stickhead/ProAthletics took on the Salt Shakerz, who entered the playoffs with a perfect 3-0 record.  SH/ProA was 2-1 (losing to Wells Fargo in the round robin portion) but they took the first round game anyway and moved on to the Semis.

Run Forrest! Run! Stickhead takes it to the competition early on. photo courtesy of Mark Paret.

Lacrossewear/Headstrong took on the super squad I played for, STX/StrikerDanger, and Lacrossewear pulled out the 11-9 victory in a hard fought game.  Malcolm Chase, Brendan Mundorf, Steven Brooks and Kyle Harrison continued to play well.  John Dicomillo (of STX/SD) and Greg Gurenlian (of LW) had some nice battles at the X although I’m sure they were both beat and bruised from the weekend.  No one else we played was on par with Dico so if Gurenlian doesn’t find his way onto an MLL team this summer as a primary fogo, I will be more than surprised.  The guy is a specimen and has the skills to get it done at the highest level.   Seems like he would be a good fit in Denver (no disrespect to Walterhoffer but still… Denver needs a top level fogo that can perform at the highest levels on cue and consistently).  We had a good tourney overall and while we may have lost in the quarters, STX/StrikerDanger were definitely the off-the-field tournament MVPs.  These guys went so hard that I struggled to keep up.  Impressive!

Lacrossewear/Headstrong getting fancy. photo courtesy of Mark Paret.

Stickhead took on Team Awesome (another 3-0 team) in the Semis and again came out on top.  I expected nothing less from a team that had depth, star players and matching helmets and gloves.  Team Awesome’s uniforms were in delicate shades of pink of blue.  Maybe one of their players was a Beta in college.  That could explain the color choices.  Or they just realized pink and blue are sweet.  Both seem possible.

Team Awesome. photo courtesy of Mark Paret. Thanks, Mark!

In the other Semifinal, Lacrosswear/HeadStrong took on Wells Fargo, a team made up of Brine and Warrior reps and players.  Lacrossewear took this one to the bank in a really close game.  Wells Fargo was up 1 when Liam Banks (Cuse back in the 200s) got stuffed in front and LW created a break which Doug Shanahan finished with a 2-point rip.  The teams traded goals, went to OT where a tough ride on Nate Watkins forced a turnover and Lacrossewear was able to capitalize.   Game. Blouses.

A little Championship Game action from Mark Paret, photog and laxer extraordinnaire.

In the Finale, Stickhead and Lacrossewear did serious battle with Stickhead coming out on top.   Stickhead had Dan Loftus (Duke) and Danny Shaivitz (Rutgers) in goal for the games and the tournament MVP was split between these two guys although rumor has it that Shaivitz was awarded the trophy.  I guess it’s kind of hard to drink out of a trophy that has been split down the middle.  Evidently these guys were brick walls out there and were a big reason for Stickhead’s win.  Goalies, hugely affecting the outcome of games?  Unheard of, I know.

Champ-eeeeeeens.
Almost Champeeeens.

Overall, the tournament was a huge success with lots of really good lacrosse, an excellent night life and a real positive vibe.  As anyone who has been to a number of post-college tourneys can tell you, a good vibe is the most important thing… the rest is just gravy.  Tip of the hat to Bo Lamon, Lacrossewear and the LaxZone for getting this together and making it happen.  This is the 3rd year for Miami and if it keeps getting better like it has, it will soon be THE tournament that everyone wants to play.  Miami in January? YES, PLEASE.

Here are some more photos just for fun… we should have a ton of video and photos of the STX/StrikerDanger squad as well but there is just so much it is taking some time to get it all together.  Bear with us and we’ll drop it on you whenever we can.  It’ll be a nice surprise, promise.

Where the dyed heads at? COME ON, MAN!
A good number of box helmets at the tourney... I have the cage, but need the helmet still. Next year maybe.
The U was even there! Dudes had a lot of orange wands on the team. Respek.
Custom Stickhead/ProAthletics Reebok gloves... pretty schweet gear!

Overall, this was probably the best tourney I’ve been to over the past 5 years.  Placid is also really, really good and high up on the list.  Glastonbury in CT is good but you play 4 games on Saturday.  Ugh, no thanks.  I’ve also done a bunch of one-day tourneys out on LI with my club Team, Southampton, which are fun but can’t match up with a 3 day lax/party extravaganza like Miami.

If you have any photos or stories you want shared (ok, maybe just photos!) then drop me a line at connor@lacrosseallstars.com.

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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.