NLL Insider

I absolutely love the kinda ball teams like Philadelphia and New York are playing right now. Fast, in your face, high scoring (usually) and not only pretty successful in the standings, but fun as hell to watch.

Both the Wings and Titans are loaded with athletic American talent, a big reason why they’re able to play the kinda style they are right now.

I for one love the fact that more-and-more Yanks are sneaking onto rosters every season. Not only do I think they add another element to the sport based on their athletic brand of ball, I think their involvement will be crucial to the league once the NLL’s membership list pushes past the 15 team mark.

The big trend these days is dropping the O/D style of boxla and creating that high tempo style that forces teams to make quicker decisions and also forces them to have both O and D guys that have the engines to go both ways effectively. Like it or not (and for anyone that is a fan of good, exciting lacrosse, they’re definitely liking it) that’s the way the game is headed.

Although at times I think it’s gonna be pretty tough to effectively police, even the CLA has recently taken a stance and have outlawed the use of old school O/D systems at the Minor level of the game, forcing almost every kid on the floor to be able to play both ways. Each province is responsible for creating their own set of rules to police this new approach with the OLA already laying the groundwork on how they’ll attempt it this upcoming summer.  

I’m currently putting together our first Futures Report Ranking and am checking in with every top American NCAA Senior this year, and lemme tell you, this upcoming draft will have more top US studs wanting to play in the NLL than ever before. Although some may need to play for a team close to home in order to make things work, the level of commitment and a willingness to learn the indoor game is at an all time high.

Anyways, I wanted to check in with the players this past week about their thoughts of the typical American player in this league, along with a couple questions on how to maybe get even more yanks sticking to our brand of ball.

For a couple questions, I looked to other pro sports around the world to see how they’ve dealt with nationality in their game (i.e. CFL, EPL, etc…) and also looked to Major League Soccer at how they’ve handled giving guys on practice rosters (or what they call their reserve division) a chance to get more playing time and develop their pro game. It’s kinda a mash-up of Jim Jennings‘ previous idea for an NLL2, combined with current practice rosters, which would have to be increased obviously. I realize salaries and other aspects would play a role here, but I just wanted to throw that idea out there and see what the boys had to say.

Also, on an unrelated note, since there was a bit of concern with how NLL Insider conducts our NLL Player Poll, here’s how we run it for those of you who were interested. The poll goes out to over 250 players (mostly current guys but a few retired players whose response we still consider very much relevant). We usually give the guys around a week to respond and hear back from a good chunk of those we send the poll out too. But at minimum, depending on the topic, the poll results are usually the feelings of around 100 players, give or take a few votes. There’s an almost equal amount of players from each team too, so you can forget about the poll being slanted to one coast or the other. And we like to keep the responses anonymous so we can get the most honest answer from the players and not risk them getting in any hot water with the league or their team.

Anyways, I’ve done way too much talking already, so check out this week’s NLL Player Poll results below…

Comments:

1. Do you think it’s important for the NLL to continue to try and attract top American grads to the league, or is it fine the way it is?

“I think it helps the growth of the game in America if home grown players are playing the game and being marketed.”

“As an American who has been playing in the league for ten years, I don’t see the American college kids putting in the time to learn now.”

“If the league grows like we were told it would, then we definitely need them. If not, there are tons of sick Canadian ballers without a job.”

“Many American grads have too much ego and too little guts to play indoor. They’re worried their star power will fade when they can’t hack it in the NLL”

“Every team needs a Jarret Park”

“14 Canadian senior A teams; JJ wants 24 NLL teams. Quality is going to go way down, or USA Lacrosse has to take the future of our game more seriously.”

“There’s only so many good Canadians playing summer ball and the Americans add a different element of athleticism to the game.”

“Most of the expansion is happening in the States. To get American fans, you need American players.”

“We cannot grow with 80% Canadian talent. We need to tap into the talent pool in USA Lacrosse.” (Note: Make sure to check out Inside Lacrosse’s next issue, where we break down the league based on nationality over the past five years and what trends are developing. Although most in the industry feel as this player does that the NLL is 80% Canuck, the number is much closer to 70% this season, while Americans are just over the 20% mark for the first time in many, many, many years.)

“We will end up the same as hockey, with a bunch of American babies.”

2. Should the NLL create a rule forcing teams to carry a certain percentage of non-Canadians on their roster? For example, only a max of 70% of a team’s roster can be Canadian, the other 30% needs to be made up of Americans or other non-Canadian residents.

“Whoever is good enough should be playing… American or not. It should be the most talented guys out there.”

“How bush league do you want to be? Is this the CFL?”

“It will happen anyways. Do teams like Edmonton and Calgary really need yankees? Travel would be tough.”

“No, but maybe an idea to cultivate goalies is needed. Maybe you get one extra PS slot if it is an American goalie.”

“That would ruin the integrity of the league. Probably illegal too for discrimination purposes.”

“If they don’t like the heat in the kitchen let the US players stay home!”

“Do you intentionally want to water down the league?”

3. Should the NLL increase the amount of player’s on a team’s practice roster and allow them to play a game prior to the main event on game day, similar to what the MLS (pro soccer) does with team’s reserve rosters?

“Good idea!!”

“Anything that creates more jobs is good for the players.”

“I don’t see owners bucking up for more players on the roster.”

“Nobody would play for the peanuts they pay the practice guys.”

“The idea would have to be restructured a bit and talked about with the league and PLPA, but it’d be a great concept to run with, especially for the Americans that are learning box for the first time.”

4. Who is the best American player in the NLL today?

“We used to see Americans shy away from the rough and dirty stuff, but Meat usually starts it!” on Eric Martin

“This guy has got it all. Speed, smarts, weirdness and a million dollar smile!!!” on Josh Sims by a likely teammate who’s crushin’ on him maybe a bit too hard

“Sims is just pure raw talent.”

“Look at how long he’s been playing in this league!!” on Regy Thorpe

“Really making a lot of know-it-all Canadian fans shut their clueless mouths up. Get a clue! CP hands down. ” on Casey Powell

5. What statement below best describes the current American player in today’s NLL?

“Americans don’t grow up playing the game like Canadians. They have quite the learning curve to play in the NLL. Langtry is a good example of that.”

“Better athletes than the Canadians they just don’t know the nuances as well.”

“The Americans that have experience with the indoor game are just as dangerous.”

“Over the past few years, they have really adapted. Darwinism at its best!”

“Guys are adjusting fine but are not used to the close quarters of the arenas just yet. Goalies unfortunately are in a different universe.”

“Give them a year of experience and they learn the game faster because they are better athletes. The rule changes are helping this as well.”

“Depends on where they play.”

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