NLL Insider

The Buzz

Sneak peek at the Rochester Knighthawks’ camo jerseys

Well, with the way the Knighthawks have been playing lately, can you blame them for wanting to go a little incognito? Here’s a first look at a sketch of the Knighthawks planned camo jerseys for their annual jersey auction — military night, Saturday April 12th vs. the Buffalo Bandits. Proceeds will go to Foodlink, a Rochester-area food bank that serves over 550 human service programs. The Knighthawks recently raised over $2,600 for CURE Childhood Cancer Association with their second annual teddy bear auction.

The Buzz

Mammoth-Wings are on TV

If you’ve got satellite TV, you’re all set.

If you don’t, make friends real fast with someone who does.

The Colorado Mammoth (5-0) put their unbeaten record on the line Friday night against another unbeaten squad, the Philadelphia Wings (3-0) and if you have satellite TV, you can watch it all live. It’s a 9 p.m. start on the East Coast and it’ll be aired live on Altitude, which is Ch. 644 on DirecTV and Ch. 410 on the Dish Network. If you’re in Philly and have Comcast SportsNet Philadelphia, the game will be broadcast on a tape-delay, starting at 10:30 p.m. It’s a Friday night, so you know you’re gonna be awake that late, so stay up and watch it.

If you’re gonna be on the road and have satellite radio, you won’t have to miss the game. It’s the SIRIUS Game of the Week, live on Ch. 143. Coverage starts at 8 p.m. with Casey Powell’s “Inside the NLL with Casey Powell” show, followed by the game at 9.

Of course, if the game you wanna see isn’t on a cable or satellite station, you can always plug into the B2 network to catch your favorite tilt.

The Buzz

NLL Source: Glenn Clark Suspension Lifted

NLL Insider has learned from a source close to the National Lacrosse League that the NLL has lifted the suspension on Toronto Rock head coach Glenn Clark, effective immediately. An announcement will be made by the NLL Wednesday.

Clark missed four games after being suspended indefinitely by the league following an altercation with Minneosta forward Sean Pollock after the Toronto-Swarm game Jan. 11 at the Air Canada Centre. Assault charges were initially laid on Clark, but were subsequently dropped Feb. 5.

The 38-year-old NLL veteran is in his second season as Toronto’s head coach; he was replaced by assistant Terry Bullen on the Rock bench over the past four games.

Toronto stands 3-3 in the stacked East Division. Clark is expected to return to the Rock bench this Friday for Toronto’s big division tilt with Buffalo at the ACC. Stay tuned to NLLInsider.com for more on this breaking story.

NLL Insider, The Buzz

Report from Titans-Bandits Game at Madison Square Garden

New York Titans Dance Team

I went to the New York Titans game Sunday at Madison Square Garden. Pretty exciting afternoon of lacrosse. New York went up, fell apart and then hung on to win in overtime on a Jordan Hall goal against Buffalo. HUGE win for New York.

I already voted for the All-Star Game but since you can vote once a day I might have to vote again every day from now until Feb. 28 to guarantee Jarett Park makes the East squad. I heard from my man Paul Tutka that Park got blown up last weekend in a fight against Jon Harasym, so I didn’t know if the former ’Cuse star would be a bit shell-shocked this week against the Bandits.

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The Buzz

At the end of the first quarter …

Well, we are a quarter of the way through and who would have EVER thought the NLL would look like this when we got here?! Sure, the fans in Philly and Minny “knew” they would be undefeated, but let’s be honest here: Top to bottom, the league is all shook up!

When the season started, I went WAY out on a limb and said my former team, the Rush, would surprise all and make triumphant run to the Cup. Somebody hit the gong please, I was way off. Not to say they won’t make a N.Y. Giants run to finish but, I just don’t see it happening. Somebody posted on the message boards that it’s possible, that both Edmonton and Portland could continue losing games and we may see a 2-14 team make the playoffs. CAN YOU IMAGINE THAT?!?  That’s just stupid. Come on fellas, we all know you can play, get out there and smash some heads!

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The Buzz

Merrill or a package of players?

This week’s column is brought to you courtesy of Saturday’s Roughnecks/Lumberjax game.

The lopsided 13-6 Calgary win gave me plenty of things to talk about.

The first was the opportunity to revisit a debate that raged 2 1/2 years ago when Portland won the expansion lottery and received the coveted first-overall pick.

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The Buzz

JT: A Humble Champion

Well, it’s been a wild week in the NLL. Well, OK, it hasn’t been as wild as the week before but that’s WAY in the past already.

There have been countless articles and stories and blogs and posts congratulating John Tavares on his record-breaking performance, but not many have gone deeper into the man. I’m not saying I’m a JT expert or anything, but having been able to play a few seasons with him I got know him quite a bit.

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The Buzz

A.I. show in Philly

I spent last weekend in Philadelphia and was able to catch the Wings vs. Knighthawks game at the Wachovia Center. I arrived at the arena excited about the chance to watch John Grant Jr. and his Rochester squad in action.

So much has been said and written about their offensive prowess that I walked in last Friday fully expecting to be awed by Grant, Scott Evans, Shawn Evans, Steve Toll and Shawn Williams. What I got instead was the Athan Iannucci show and a new respect for the Philadelphia Wings and head coach Dave Huntley.

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The Buzz

A Win in a Loss?

It’s hard being in the business end of the game.  When you’re playing, it’s simple win or lose.  Things get more complicated when your primary job is putting butts in seats.

The Portland LumberJax had a great crowd for the opener in Portland on Saturday night.  We had been bashed around a little by the local media for canceling the season and many people were having trouble getting over our 10-game losing streak and last place finish in 2007.  But when the curtain came up on the 2008 season there were over 10,000 screaming fans in the Rose Garden Arena and the energy was as high as I have seen for a Jax game. 

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From the Stands, The Buzz

Wings Versus Shamrox Analysis

At the end of last season, Philadelphia Wings owner Russ Cline guaranteed a victory in their final home game.  In front of 12,000 people he offered a free ticket to their ‘08 home opener if he was wrong. 

Well, the Wings lost and I am not sure what happened to the free entry promise, but it appears that last year’s Nightmare on Broad Street, Part V, might be the end of long and painful series.  The 19–11 final score in Saturday’s opening night game accurately summarized the inequalities between the Wings and the Shamrox, in spite of the fact that Chicago only trailed by 3 early in the fourth quarter.

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