The Week That Was In The NLL
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It’s been an up and down week in the NLL; one that is sure to have a lasting effect on a lot of people; good for some, not so much for others. Here is my little recap of the week that was in the NLL and a few other points of interest.
A Story That Wasn’t Finished.
A fan on the NLL Forums posted that it won’t be the same having your coffee the morning after a Bandits game, without a post game story from Tom Borelli. Borelli had a unique way of putting you right into the fray and did it with such flair that you would wonder if all lacrosse games were that exciting. As devoted as Borelli was to lacrosse it was the lasting friendships he built with the players that will be missed most. On NLL.com there are a few video clips from players, John Tavares and Pat Maddalena for example, who share their personal sentiments regarding the Hall of Fame Inductee.
Naming the NLL’s writer of the year award after Borelli is a very fitting tribute to a man who put a lot of his time and effort into pushing the game into the main stream media. We have lost one of the greatest story tellers of our time this past week, and yes, your morning paper may never be the same. Once Tom Borelli got his hands on the game of lacrosse, he changed the way it was received forever!
A Rose is a Flower with Thorns
In an absolutely stunner of a move, the Toronto Rock jettisoned their third round pick, goaltender Nick Rose. Rose was one of the main reasons for Orangeville’s recent domination of the Ontario JR loop and was a brick wall for them during their run to the Minto Cup. Many people questioned Rose’s ability to make the jump from JR to the Show, but from what I have heard, the kid has always been a diligent student of the game, studying shooters to know their tendencies all while being very mobile despite his size. Admittedly Rose has stated that he didn’t have the greatest opening week of camp but to give up on him that easily, allowing Boston to pick him up for nothing, is nothing shy of Shocking.
Rose quickly turned things around, went to the Blazers camp this past weekend, was told by coach Tom Ryan that he would be given every opportunity to earn the backup role and seemed to impress immediately. I’m quite confident that the Rock will be a threat in the East this season and I, along with a few other Rocks fans I’m sure, am just hoping that nothing happens to ‘Whipper’ Watson. Best of luck to Nick in Boston, I’m sure Toronto is hoping you don’t come back to be a thorn in their side.
Do You Think He Had To Negotiate His Own Contract?
It may be one for the record books, at the very least it’s an interesting curiosity. While they do exist, we all know that the phenomenon of the Player/Coach is something rarely seen. Gary Gait did it while playing for Baltimore in the MLL and of course Reggie Dunlop of Slap Shot (portrayed by the late great Paul Newman) may be the most famous Player/Coach of all. Now (as reported by Paul Tutka yesterday on Insider) another Reggie is making news by dressing for the rink. Reggie Thorpe has signed a player contract with the Knighthawks. As I said, they may not be a common occurrence, but Player/Coaches do exist… I even heard once of a South American President actually playing on a league team (imagine that pressure)… but I don’t think I have ever heard of a GM signing a contract to suit up with his boys. Unusual? For sure! Interesting? Absolutely! Can’t wait to see how this one plays out. I wonder if Thorpe had an agent on hand for the negotiations.
Flags? We Don’t Need No Stinking Flags!
With the introduction of Instant Replay to the NLL this season, the league figures it has come up with a ’sure fire’ way to run the show with no glitches. That may very well be the case, that is if all the rinks can provide in house camera feeds with a quality view of the crease- for example, an overhead camera angle. But do we really need to throw a yellow flag? I know we don’t have the resources to create an NHL-like ‘War-Room’ where one group of people watch every game and can make the call for a review (HEY TUTS, I just found us a sweet Winter part time gig!), but are we not more ’sophisticated’ than a flag? Yes, the NLL is a fast-paced game and if a crease violation call is made the play can turn around right away and go back up the floor; how hard is it for the Coach to tell the trailing Referee that he wants a review at the next stoppage of play. Just like they used to do in the NHL. A flag seems somewhat unnecessary and not something I feel is needed to signify that a team wants a replay. And to be honest, it’s not like we’re going to send the ref into a secret booth and give him 90 seconds to make a judgement call. It’s pretty cut and dried, he was either in the crease while still in possession of the ball or not.
Let’s just hope that a coach doesn’t happen to throw the flag on the floor to challenge a call and hit a player in the face with it…. Just saying, the league doesn’t want the fans throwing things on to the floor for players safety, why initiate it with the coaches?
And finally…
Bringing New Meaning to Playing With a Woody
I came across this article yesterday, now I really wonder how this affects players for obvious reasons…
http://www.canada.com/topics/bodyandhealth/story.html?id=8fabc082-5ebe-4950-a916-76f36a36c994
Jenner is a two-time Mann Cup champion with six years of NLL experience. Email him at ted.jenner@nllinsider.com also follow the Coquitlam Jr. A Adanacs and the Intermediate A Adanacs live, as Teddy brings you color commentary with Brad Challoner for the Jr's and play by play with Brody Allen for the Intermediates -- http://www.junioradanacs.com/multimedia.phpRate This Story:
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