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Thoughts After a Big Weekend in Foxborough

This past weekend at Gillette Stadium I was able to witness one of the greatest games I’ve ever seen in sports. (Followed by the Magic’s huge win last night at the ORENA, of course.)

The Syracuse/Cornell game featured one of the best comebacks in sports in recent memory, as well as one of the biggest collapses. I learned one thing this weekend, as my UF roommate/teammate Dave Rule puts it “Canadians have a knack for finding the net.”

In front of 41,935 in Foxboro ‘Cuse put lacrosse in the mainstream with their exceptional play, determination, and finishing ability. This morning on ESPN’s First Take, the Title Game finished 2nd in top plays behind LeBron’s lucky buzzerbeater. Skip Bayless gave the game a 9 and said even though he did not know much about the sport, that game was awesome to watch.

Photo courtesy of Jon Bongiorno – Thanks Jonny B!Combine Bayless’ comment with Mark Dixon name-dropping BYU, Michigan, and my own Florida lacrosse program on the halftime show and the whole sport including the MCLA immediately gained even more credibility and footing in more ways than we can know at this time. The fastest game on two feet is quickly finding its place in the American mainstream sport scene.

In regards to the overall weekend, I was disappointed with the turnout. Don’t get me wrong, the crowd was electric, the fans were rowdy, and Gillette Stadium is a world class facility, but I wish it would have been at M&T Bank Stadium in Baltimore where it belongs.

I’m originally from Rhode Island, a huge Patriots fan, and still have a lot of family in Newport so it makes for a great Memorial Day weekend to travel the 30-min to Foxborough. So obviously I can’t wait for the Final Four to get back to Baltimore. This was the first year that the weekend didn’t top the attendance record set by the previous year, combine the recession with Foxboro’s location and you just don’t have the weekend you’d have if it were in Baltimore.

I hope everyone enjoyed my tweets from the game, if you couldn’t make it to the games the twitter updates were definitely a close 2nd behind the impressive ESPNHD skycam (HA!).

Go Magic!