Here are this week’s must-see links to lacrosse videos and articles found on the internet this week…

DeadSpin:

• Japan’s hidden ball trick in the FIL World Games this week.

LacrosseAllStars:

• Best. Check. Ever.  The Rusty Gate executed to perfection.

WallStreetJournal:

• New York’s First Family of Lacrosse.  The Powell Brothers end of an era?

LacrossePlayground:

• New Zealand and Scotland square off pre-game in an odd but intimidating ritual.

GuestOfAGuest:

• The Quintessential Guide to Preppy Sports: Lacrosse.

Canadian film director, James Cameron

Press Release – Hollywood film director James Cameron has entered the dispute surrounding the Iroquois Nationals lacrosse team. The Iroquois Nationals have been rejected from entering the UK to play in the World Lacrosse Championships, after the British consulate refused to acknowledge the team’s Haudenosaunee passports. The team had already had their travel visas delayed after waiting for assurance from the U.S. State Department that the group will be allowed back into the United States.

The director of blockbuster movies such as Avatar, Titanic and Terminator donated $50,000 to the Iroquois team after they spent more than $25,000 a day on hotels and airline charges, whilst trying to travel to Manchester to play in the World Lacrosse Championships.

Cameron was born in Canada, where lacrosse is the national sport.

The Iroquois team is ranked No. 4 in the world by the FIL and represents the Haudenosaunee — an Iroquois Confederacy of the Oneida, Seneca, Mohawk,Tuscarora, Cayuga and Onondaga nations, whose land stretches from upstate New York into Ontario, Canada. The team were due to play against England in the opening match of the Championships but after being turned away from their flight in New York,missed the opening ceremony and were replaced in the evenings opening fixture by Germany.

Furthermore, they have been completely replaced in the Blue division by Germany, who will take over the Iroquois team’s schedule.The Iroquois Nationals are still aiming to make it to Manchester at some point to take part in a competitive match. Should they arrive in time, the FIL have indicated that a decision will be made regarding their fixture schedule, allowing them to compete.

Click here to read James Cameron’s email message to Chief Lyons.

Due to the enormous growth of lacrosse at the college and high school levels across the country (and around the world), a new organization has been launched to help ensure that the growth of the game is successful and long lasting.

Russ Ketcham, Executive Director of Old School Lax

Russ Ketcham (former Head Men’s Lacrosse Coach and Director of Athletics at SUNY Maritime College) and his brother, Jeff Ketcham (former officer of the Metro/Long Island Chapter of the US Lacrosse Foundation) have formed a non-profit venture named “Old School Lax” (www.oldschoollax.org).   Old School Lax was launched to promote the growth of lacrosse by offering technical assistance, support, and expertise to college and high school athletic departments that are considering adding lacrosse to their athletic offerings.

We recently caught up with Russ and got the opportunity to discuss some of the exciting things that they’re involved with.  Be sure to check out the interview. (more…)

Team USA stars, including Max Seibald, Matt Striebel, and Kevin Cassesse will be on NBC’s “Today Show” this Thursday, along with Coach Pressler.  They will appear sometime between 7am and 9am, so you’ll have to waste about 115 minutes worth of DVR space to catch about 5 minutes of footage.

In case you missed it last time, the Long Island Lizard’s were on the Today Show last season – click here for that video.

LAXFU Post-Show Update: The show was week.  The hosts were reading off a piece of paper because they had no interest or knowledge of what the segment was even about.  They only gave the players about 3 minutes of air-time, and butchered the segment.  The best part: Al Roker made a silly comment about “people die in games, right?  That’s how the indians played it.”   In short, if you didn’t see the clip, don’t waste your time looking for it.  At least lacrosse was on a national show (congrats to the MLL), but it didn’t add a whole lot of value to anything.

From Press Release:

The U.S. men’s national team will appear on NBC’s TODAY Show on Thursday morning, July 1 to promote the team and discuss the upcoming FIL World Championships in England, as well as Team USA’s July 8 game against the MLL All-Stars on ESPN2. Team members Kevin Cassese, Max Seibald and Matt Striebel are expected to appear, along with Team USA head coach Mike Pressler.

(more…)

Allan Harvie announced that he hopes to have the Arena Lacrosse League up and running in February 2011.

Apparently a sports franchise owner from Virginia has decided to venture into lacrosse.  At first it appeared that the proposed “Arena Lacrosse League” was meant to be yet another pro lacrosse venture.  But after further review, it sounds like the goal of the league is two-fold:

1. to raise money for Haitians;
2. to create a minor-league system for the NLL.

These sounds like somewhat confusing priorities, but time will tell.  As always, we’re all for growth of the sport.  But does this make any sense?  We’re a little confused…

NORFOLK — Hampton Coliseum and Norfolk Scope are among the venues targeted by a Richmond businessman and philanthropist hoping to start the Arena Lacrosse League in February.

“It’s just like hockey, without the skates,” Harvie said of indoor lacrosse.

Harvie envision his league becoming a farm system for the established National Lacrosse League, an 11-team venture with franchises in big-league markets such as Washington, D.C., Philadelphia, Boston, Buffalo, Toronto and Edmonton.

“I don’t need the Arena Lacrosse League to support me,” Harvie said. “If you go down (to Haiti) one time, you’ll see a lot more need than here.”

Read the full articles at:

• Daily Press:  http://www.dailypress.com/sports/spt-lax-0622,0,1364290.story
• Richmond Times-Dispatch:  http://www2.timesdispatch.com/sports/2010/jun/23/harv23-ar-229107/

LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. – (June 10, 2010) – Disney Sports has joined with one of the most recognized names in lacrosse to take the Disney Sports Lacrosse Spring Training program to the next level.

Casey Powell, all-time leading scorer in Major League Lacrosse history and former member of the US National Team, will bring his expertise to ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex and help guide teams during their spring training stay at Walt Disney World Resort.

All teams registered for the Disney Lacrosse Spring Training program will receive a one hour session with Powell, the recent recipient of the 2010 MVP award in the National Lacrosse League – the first American player to ever receive the award.

“Bringing Casey Powell to the Disney Sports Lacrosse Spring Training program will be a great enhancement for incoming teams,’’ said Disney Sports Area Manager Scott St. George. “Casey is one of the best in the sport and will provide teams training at Disney with great knowledge.’’

Disney Sports and ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex support more than 700 high school and collegiate teams and 13,000 athletes in four different sports (baseball, softball, lacrosse and track & field) from across the country as they train at world-class facilities from February through April. The lacrosse-specific program brings in more than 150 teams and has done so for the past ten years.

(more…)

In an insider’s account of the Duke lacrosse scandal, former varsity lacrosse coach Mike Pressler blasts senior university officials for fumbling the case in a book titled: “It’s Not About The TRUTH”.

Mike Pressler walked into the bottomfloor meeting room of the Murray Building and, as he had done hundreds of times over a sixteen-year career at Duke University, prepared to address his men’s lacrosse team. Forty-six players sat in theater-style chairs, all eyes riveted forward.

It was 4:35 P.M. on Wednesday, April 5, 2006. The program’s darkest hour had arrived in an unexpected and explosive announcement.

(more…)

If you haven’t heard about it already, there are some amazing things being done by a group of lacrosse players who wanted to give back. Brad Corrigan (Middlebury) Brett Hughes (Virginia) founded Lacrosse the Nations as “an international humanitarian organization that utilizes sport and play to foster education and the development of critical life skills for children living in impoverished communities worldwide”.

Be sure to check out their website to learn more about the project and how you can help the cause: http://lacrossethenations.org