NLL Insider

NLL Insider

BaseBrawl - where does it end?

It’s that time of year again: the long, hot days of summer. What does one do with themselves when there is no NBA or NHL to watch or attend? Hmmmm…vacations to the Hamptons, camping trips up north, or maybe a family bike tour just to say you were able to get out of the house for a while. How about taking them across the border and doing a weekend tour of two MSL or WLA arenas so you and your family can get your lacrosse fix and see some of the big names battle it out for national supremacy!? READ MORE »

NLL Insider

Arizona Sting Dispersal Draft set for Monday

NLL Insider has learned from several sources that the anticipated Arizona Sting Dispersal Draft will happen this coming Monday afternoon, with Dan Dawson likely going to the expansion Boston Blazers with the first overall pick.

It’s expected several teams will try and land the number one spot via a trade with Boston, the Edmonton Rush likely being the most aggressive, but most insiders currently feel that the Blazers will hold onto the pick and land Dawson, one of the sport’s biggest impact players. READ MORE »

NLL Insider

Revisiting the Draft: ‘02 Edition

As part of our draft coverage, like I mentioned a couple weeks back, we’d be looking at a lot more than just some of the prospects available this year.

Wanted to take a quick peek back at past draft years and rehash some of the winners, losers, surprises and busts.

First draft we’ll loot at… Pat Merrill and the ‘02 draft class. READ MORE »

NLL Insider

Boston Celebrates Celtics’ NBA Championship Season

In the wake of the Celtics’ NBA Championship, Boston is once again celebrating.  The 2007 season saw the Celtics finish in last place with a 24-58 record. In the offseason, GM Danny Ainge brought in Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen to join Paul Pierce as the Big 3.

Everyone knows that it takes more than superstars to win a title and hence it became head coach Doc Rivers’ mission to get his players to put aside their egos and buy into a team system.  The carrot being the one thing that all three perennial all stars lacked … an NBA Title.  If only the Portland LumberJax had upset Buffalo, I would have a perfect segue to make this all relevant.

This great story in sports history has unfolded in front of our eyes in the Boston Blazers’ new home the TD Banknorth Garden.  In a town that has become accustomed to Championships (Patriots ‘01, ‘03 & ‘04 and the Red Sox ‘04 & ‘07), the word on the street is that the most important factor for gaining fan support come January is “winning!”

READ MORE »

NLL Insider, WLA

Take Your Mind to the Gym

Well the west sure just got a lot more interesting now didn’t it? As Shanny stated in his CLA rankings, just when you thought the west was a three team race, everything changes and you have no idea how it happened. Trust me, I can’t explain it either. If I could I’m sure my Victoria Shamrocks would be at the top rather than fighting our way back up!

But the world of lacrosse is filled with peaks and valleys and it comes down to how you deal with them. Chris Hall always used to say ‘what’s next, what’s next, what’s next!?’ We used to joke about it when he said it but now I’m starting to realize that he wasn’t just emphasizing the fact that you have control of what happens, but he was also forcing us to remember that what has happened has happened and you can’t do anything about it. You have to forget about the last play and move on to the next. Get back to the face-off circle and do what you have to do for the team. READ MORE »

NLL Insider, Senior A

Stranded on an Island

What do you do when you live on an island and all but one other team makes their home on the mainland? Well you fly, of course. Sure you could take the majestic and peaceful 90 minute ride the BC Ferries has to offer, but with the last boat returning at 10 pm, it’s a pretty tight schedule to adhere to and more often than not, you’re not making the last boat back and will be stuck over night. So thanks to NOLINOR, a Quebec based fishing charter company, we are able to fly back and forth to our away games without having to worry about rushing back and traffic.

It’s a quick and easy 15-20 minute flight, depending on what airport we are flying to. But man do we live the superstar lifestyle! The bus rolls right onto the tarmac, they load our gear for us (with the help from our fine rookies) and we are whisked away to the arena with out having to lift our bags yet! So this is how NHLers feel eh? OK OK so it’s not the same deal, but it’s a pretty cool feeling to have people grab your stinky gear off a plane and put it onto a bus and vice versa. READ MORE »

NLL Insider

Value of the NLL Entry Draft

With this kinda being my first post-NLL season pro related, well, post, I wanted to set one thing straight before the rumours started getting too out of hand. So in response to the countless number of emails I’ve been swarmed with, yes that is my body that Marc Mesh has been using in their recent string of ads, with Jamie Taylor’s and Lewis Ratcliff’s heads just photoshopped onto my mid section (plus tats). I’m kinda shy and was a bit hesitant at first to let them use my six pack, but in the end, how could I not share that with the masses.

Now that that’s out in the open and off my chest… READ MORE »

NLL Insider

Saying goodbye to Back Door Eddie

In the world of lacrosse, many organizations and fan clubs live by the credo of ‘Once a (insert team name here), always a (said team)’. It’s a pretty amazing feeling to know that you are a part of a team so deeply, that even if you only play for them a few times before being traded, in the end the fans and team will always be there to support you. The support given by the fans is a very humbling experience because all we do is go out, play the game we love and game in and game out they pack arenas, put on fundraisers and ask for our autographs. Without these people, our game truly has no future.

So it is with a very heavy heart that we, the lacrosse players and members of the Victoria Shamrocks lacrosse club, say goodbye this week to a man that gave endlessly to our team and never asked for anything in return. Ed Mohler, better know as ‘back-door Eddie’ or ‘Fast Eddie’, passed away Sunday May 25, 2008 at his home in Victoria. Eddie had become a main-stay in the Victoria lacrosse community with his efforts working the arena’s back door from the early 80’s up until last season. READ MORE »

NLL Insider, Senior A, Uncategorized

It’s that time of year again; the long, hot days of summer.  What does one do with themselves when there is no NBA or NHL to watch or attend? Hmmmm…. Vacations to the Hamptons, camping trips up north, or maybe a family bike tour just to say you were able to get out of the house for a while.  How about taking them across the border and doing a weekend tour of two MLS or WLA arenas so you and your family can get your lacrosse fix and see some of the big names battle it out for national supremacy!?

Then there is the other option. You could grab the kids and take ‘em to an afternoon baseball game at one of the countless half filled ball parks across the US. Not saying that going to the park isn’t a good time, hell I’d go if it meant getting out of work. The problem is I just can’t figure out how baseball gets away with it. Multi-million dollar contracts, almost every game is televised, no parity- and when I say that I think that one day a team can dump somebody 14-1 then lose 3-0 later that evening and of course playing in front of 7,000 fans in 20,000 seat brand new facilities. I know baseball is a highly driven revenue sharing league, with endorsements and long term TV deals but there are just some major glaring things that stick out whenever I watch highlights.

• 1- Can you name any other league where a player can get right in the refs face for 5 minutes, yelling, cursing, throw expletive after expletive at him acting like a 4 year old throwing a tantrum in Toys ‘R Us only to get ejected by the Umpire and not be reprimanded for it? Then to have his manager come out of the dugout and do the exact same thing, initiating the same result…. If that happened in any other sport the player would be fined and suspended for a few games and any subsequent behavior would result in lengthy suspensions. Here’s my new rule - if you argue a call to the extent that the Umpire feels the need to eject you, it’s an automatic $5000 fine and one game suspension. Any repeat offense the fines double.
• 2- I remember when Gary Gait, who was playing for the Victoria Shamrocks in ‘97, would take an absolute ass kicking from Shaun Springette who was playing for the North Shore Indians. Sure slashing is part of the game but it was to the point where it was quite excessive. But Gary never threw down his stick and gloves and ran after Springette. (yes I know that’s not his role but follow along) So why, when Alex Rodriguez gets hit with one pitch, whether on purpose or not, does he feel the need to charge the mound? SUCK IT UP! Take your free base and your $100,000 per at bat and move on. If it’s on purpose the Umpire should throw the pitcher from the game anyways. So the new rule - You charge the mound $10,000 fine and a 3 game suspension. Again any repeat offenses get you doubled fines and a hearing with MLB.
• 3- When is baseball going to get rid of ‘bench clearing brawls’? Now I know they aren’t really a brawl per say but, lets be honest here. If I’m one of the guys way out in the left field bull pen and I have to run all the way to home to stand around and police a situation the Umpires should be able to diffuse I’m not going to be to happy about it. Is there really a point to having everyone run from the dugouts and bullpens to end up in a giant unnecessary dog pile? Seriously! Hockey has gotten away from it almost completely, when was the last time in the NHL there was bench clear? It never happens in the NFL, College maybe but it’s rare and lacrosse, considered one of the most brutal sports out there, hasn’t seen one since the mid 90’s that I know of. I wouldn’t go so far as to say the team that starts the clearing automatically loses the game but, the players that come from the dug outs and bullpens get 2 game suspensions and the teams are fined $50,000.

While it seems like this is pointless and I may be beating a dead horse, it bothers me to no end that the Heads of MLB are doing nothing to improve the standards of their game. The NLL puts out one of THE best products in the sports market, has generally packed buildings, and the game pretty much sells itself. Yet television sports networks aren’t giving us the respect we deserve - where are our TV deals? And some of the hardest working guys in sport are still fighting for full time pay! Well Mr. Rodriguez, the next time you decide to charge the mound after a pitcher brushes you back, try not to drop your wallet and think of us little guys, battling it out (for a tenth of what you make a year) every weekend, then going back to our real jobs the next day.

NLL Insider

Update: Portland Lumberjax coaching situation

As NLL Insider reported earlier this week, the Portland Lumberjax are without former Assistant Coaches Jeremy Tavllevi and Jeff McComb, but as Lumberjax’s Managing Partner Angela Batinovich stressed to NLL Insider today, the move was not made based on the two coach’s performances over the past three seasons with the club, but rather for other reasons.

The team is in the process of making their lacrosse operations more efficient and could no longer fly in their entire bench staff from throughout Ontario to Portland every week for games and practices.

Although current GM and Head Coach Derek Keenan also lives in the same province as his former assistants, the team is currently working on an offer that would keep Keenan in the same situation he is currently serving with the club. Keenan’s contract with the team expired after this season. He would remain a weekly fly-in if he stays with the franchise. READ MORE »

NLL Insider

Portland Lumberjax fire assistant coaches

NLL Insider has learned from numerous sources that the Portland Lumberjax have fired Assistant Coaches Jeremy Tallevi and Jeff McComb.

It appears that those are the only two firings from the current staff, leaving Derek Keenan as both the team’s Gerenal Manager and Heach Coach.

The three coaches had been together since taking over the bench with the Anaheim Storm in 2005, before making the move to Portland a year later, where Kenann was named both the NLL’s GM and Coach of the year. A season later, the team struggled and failed to make the post-season but rebounded in 2008, finding their way to the Champion’s Cup final, but lossing to the Buffalo Bandits 14-13.

It’s expected an official announcement from the Lumberjax will be made soon, although it’s unknown who Tallevi and McComb’s replacements might be.

NLL Insider

Is the East taking over Canadian lacrosse?

Talk about an all out defection. People always used to say there was something in the west coast water that attracted eastern players to pack an overnight bag and shack up on the left coast for a few months. Maybe it was lack of humidity during the late summer months that attracted the players. Or was it the fact that instead of a 6 hour bus ride in rush hour traffic through downtown Toronto to the ‘Borough, the longest trip was a 15 minute flight and 30 minute bus ride. Regardless, in years past the West Coast has seen the likes of JT, Jim Veltman, Colin Doyle, Tracy Kelusky, Dan Dawson, Anthony Cosmo, Ryan Cousins and the list goes on, but for some reason this season there are no big name Eastern Studs calling BC home this summer.

What’s worse, is the East is now rumored to be drawing some of the West’s home grown talent. With Mr. Saturday Night Rob Van Beek already suiting up for St. Regis and the gossip mill swirling that NLL Scoring Champ Athan Iannucci is following suit, the WLA has lost two of its top young guns to a Major Series league that is dominating the name game.
READ MORE »

NLL Insider

This summer on NLL Insider

Hey guys, just wanted to throw up a quick post about what we’ve got up our sleeves for coverage this summer. Been getting a ton of emails from readers, players, coaches and everyone else connected to the game, wonderin’ what we’d be doing now that the NLL season is put to bed.

Well, we’re hitting up the summer loop all over Canada, and even the US, with more rankings, analysis, stats breakdowns, Q&A’s, player polls, game previews and a whole whack of player blogs from just about every level of ball in Canada. Plus apparently Inside Lacrosse couldn’t get rid of Ted Jenner, so evidently he’ll be checkin’ in weekly all summer too. Just click on his posts and give him some traffic, that way he thinks people are actually reading his stuff. It’ll keep him happy and relatively quiet.

We’ll also be staying on top of the NLL off-season, focusing on the prospects in this year’s Entry Draft along with a look at what teams are doing this summer in preparation for 2009.

If it’s box related, we’ll try out best to be on top of it this summer and bring ya as much breaking news as possible.

So next week, make sure you’re dialed into NLLInsider.com, cuz the crew at the site has a whole host of summer box coverage planned, and it officially kicks off on Monday.

NLL Insider

It’s transition time

Hey guys, I hope all has been strong in the Yard!! My time has been busy over the last month or so, dealing with our early National Lacrosse League exit, as well as travelling home to Ontario, Canada, and getting geared up for the summer.

Over last three weeks, I have travelled back home with the family and continued to train in preparation for what seems to be a very busy summer of lax!! I will be playing in Brampton in the OLA Major Series (indoor lax) and competing there for the Mann Cup, as well as playing in the MLL with the Rochester Rattlers. Both seasons, continue over the course of the summer and do conflict sometimes, but I look forward to playing a full MLL season and as many as 13 games in the OLA. It should make for a busy summer, but what else would you rather be doing???

Click here to read the rest of this post and leave comments for Colin.

NLL Insider

No rest for the wicked

I’ve never really liked that saying because, I’m not wicked. OK, maybe wicked awesome but only the So-Cal surfers talk like and I’m a laid back Vancouver islander who likes to get out there and give ‘er.

But for the few hundred National Lacrosse League superstars the “rest” period is literally no time at all.

For most players, as soon as their team has played their last game of the season they head home, get razzed by their friends for not being in the post season or in the final. They spend their first free weekend in 6 months with their family and catch up on some much needed sleep. However, after that little break it’s right back in the saddle for the grueling summer months of lacrosse.

READ MORE »

NLL Insider

Blazers Kick Off Summer Events

As the National Lacrosse League season comes to a close, Boston Blazers operations are in full swing.  Yesterday, we had a meeting with our seven summer interns followed by their first task of assembling our IKEA office furniture.

Final touches are being put on our permanent office space, across the street from the TD Banknorth Garden.  It is an exciting time here in Boston as we prepare for the biggest lacrosse event of the year … the NCAA Final Four in Foxboro, Mass.  Skeptics believed having the Final Four in New England would negatively affect attendance.  All reports so far suggest another record crowd this weekend. 

READ MORE »

NLL Insider

Whose NLL stock rose in 2008?

2008 mighta been the year of parity (just in case you hadn’t heard… like a million times), but it was also the year of guys steppin’ up extra large.

So after the jump, checkout the top 10 players whose stock went up the most now that 2008 is in the books. They may not be MVP’s, well not all of ‘em, but each of the following ten guys made 2008 “their” year. READ MORE »

NLL Insider

B Day in the NLL

So, I got to watch a couple of incredibly exciting back-to-back sporting events on Saturday. First up was another stunning performance by a very special horse named Big Brown followed by the National Lacrosse League’s Champion’s Cup game, won by Buffalo. Was there any doubt that the Buffalo Bandits were going to win in Buffalo after Big Brown won in Baltimore?

Mind you, while Big Brown destroyed the rest of the Preakness field, it took until the final buzzer (yes, that’s another B), for the Bandits to dispatch the LumberJax. Buffalo exploded out of the gate, taking a 1-0 lead on the very first shot of the game.

It came via the ‘ol hidden ball trick that was missed by just about everyone including the two Lumberjax defenders who were confidently helping their goalie Matt Disher (much to his later blustery ballyhoo) by pointing to the Bandit player without the ball. Meanwhile, John “the Magician” Tavares, drifting around the opposite side of the floor, calmly lobbed the ball into a gaping net with the first shot of the game.

READ MORE »

NLL Insider

More Picks

Here’s a few more picks on this weekend’s National Lacrosse League (NLL) Champion’s Cup game from members of our usual Pick ‘Ems team.

Tutka and Jenner provided previews below, with Tutka later stating for this post he’s goin’ out on a limb… Portland wins 14-12.

Kevin Fixler, Lauren Ward and Chris Hall are going the opposite way and taking the Buffalo Bandits. Fixler’s predicting a 13-9 Final.

READ MORE »

NLL Insider

NLL: Somebody ends 5 years of Frustration tonight

 In the 5 years since 2004, the NLL Championship game has included either the Buffalo Bandits or a Dan Dawson team. And in each of those games, when the final buzzer ended, neither the Bandits nor Dawson have held coveted Champions Cup. Tonight will be the third attempt  for the Bandits in 5 years.  It will also be the third attempt for Dan Dawson. Tonight something has got to give and one side will end 5 years of frustration. READ MORE »