14 Jul
With the FIL world lacrosse tournament kicking off this week, we thought we’d take a look back at the past World Lacrosse champions and rankings. On a related note, the next FIL tourney (2014) is slated to be hosted in Denver, CO!
14 Jul
InsideLacrosse and the Associated Press is reporting that the passport issue has been resolved, and they’re preparing to catch their flight to England. Let’s hope they make their game scheduled for 7:30pm tomorrow against Team England.
“The State Department is going to allow one-time usage of our passports,” Percy Abrams, the Iroquois Nationals’ executive director, told AFP.
14 Jul
The Iroquois National team, posing in Times Square.
Sadly, the Iroquois Nationals lacrosse team is still stuck in NY and it appears they’ll miss their opening game at the World Lacrosse Championships in England. Their first game is scheduled for tomorrow (Thursday). The team has been stranded in New York City since Sunday, and has already had to spend an additional $30,000 waiting for the problem to get sorted out.
“Since last week, the team learned that the Obama administration declined to honor the Haudenosaunee passports, and instead has asked the group to travel on U.S. passports – an action that would violate the sovereignty of the six Haudenosaunee (or Iroquois) Confederacy nations – the Onondaga, Mohawk, Seneca, Oneida, Tuscarora and Cayuga. Haudenosaunee citizens have been traveling internationally on their own passports for more than 30 years.”
- Chief Oren Lyons
The issue is about more than a team getting to a game – it is about whether the Obama Administration will truly recognize Native American Nation sovereignty. The US passport decision will also set a precedent for recognition of Native American passports in the future, overseas and at the US borders.
“The game of De-hon-tshi-gwa’ ehs (Lacrosse) has become an inspiration to a third of the world’s youth – 109 countries in all. The long-stick game is a gift to the world from the Haudenosaunee, the Six Nations Iroquois Confederacy. It would be strange – beyond strange, indeed – if the Iroquois Nationals Lacrosse Team, the national team of the Haudenosaunee were denied participation in the World Lacrosse Championships by agencies of the United States. We are perplexed by this position taken by the Obama Administration,” Chief Oren Lyons said.
Read the CNN article: http://www.cnn.com/2010/SPORT/07/14/sport.iroquois.passport.controversy/
13 Jul
Here’s the schedule for the FIL World Lacrosse Championships in Manchester, England. Rumor has it that the July 24th final championship game will be aired on ESPNU! All other games can be viewed online at 247.tv.
Check out the team rosters for the top contenders:
Breaking News: Everyone is pulling for the Iroquois team to make it to England in time! Let’s hope they get this passport thing worked out ASAP!
* 14th July: Opening Reception
* 15th July: Opening Ceremony
* 16th – 20th July: Round Robin
* 21st July: Play-In Games
* 22nd July: Semi Final Games
* 23rd July: Placing Games
* 24th July: Final
13 Jul
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. Continue reading
12 Jul
Long Island Lizard's Matt Danowski was chosen as the MLL's Week 9 "Offensive Player of the Week"
Boston, MA – Major League Lacrosse (MLL), the premier professional outdoor lacrosse league, has announced the weekly award winners following this past weekend’s action. Long Island Lizards attackman Matt Danowski was named the Offensive Player of the Week and Boston Cannons goalie Kip Turner was named the Defensive Player of the Week for their performances while Chicago Machine attackman Ned Crotty was selected as the Rookie of the Week.
Matt Danowski was honored as the Offensive Player of the Week for his seven-point outburst in a 17-15 victory over the Chicago Machine. The former Duke attackman tallied four goals, three of which were for two points, including the game winner. With the score tied at 15, Danowski ripped a two pointer with 1:24 remaining in the game to give his team the go ahead goal.
“You know what happened with the two pointers is that as an attackman you can’t really do it six on six, it’s got to be in transition,” Danowski said. “So I’m not scoring those goals without our defense playing really well and our middies getting the ball up field. So those are products of playing as a team.”
9 Jul
The MLL All-Star game was a huge success last night as Team USA squeezed out a victory in the closing seconds in a back and forth battle between the two star-studded teams.
The All-Star Skills Competition always gets a lot of attention, as fans are always fired up to see who has the hardest shot (Paul Rabil, 111mph), and to see what the tricks the players will pull out in the freestyle competition. Last year Queener dominiated with his “Michael Jackson Thriller” dance (watch the video here).
This year’s competition seemed a little weaker, with many contestants appearing unprepared and having trouble getting the ball in the net. There isn’t any good footage available yet, so this one will have to do. You’ll probably want to mute out the annoying techno music while viewing (unless you like techno)…
7 Jul
Don’t forget – MLL All-Stars vs. Team USA is tomorrow at 7pm on ESPN2, live from Harvard Stadium!
Boston, MA – Major League Lacrosse (MLL), the premier professional outdoor lacrosse league today announced the participants in the 2010 Bud Light Skills Competition, which will take place at halftime of the MLL All-Star Game on Thursday, July 8.
The Bud Light Skills Competition is made up of three events, the 2-Point Shooting Contest, Fastest Shot Contest and Freestyle Contest. The winners of each event will receive $1,000.
As part of Major League Lacrosse’s 10th Anniversary celebration, the league will be bringing back past winners to participate in the Skills Competition along with MLL All-Stars and members of the US National Team.
In the 2-Point Contest each player has 30 seconds to shoot up to 15 2-point attempts. There are three balls located at each of 5 stations, with the first two being worth 1 point, while the third shot is the “money ball” worth 2 points. The contestant with the most points wins. The 2010 participants will be:
