By James Simmons

University of Denver: home to 26 NationalChampionships; 7 in Men’s Ice Hockey, 19 in Skiing, and so far none inlacrosse. Last year the Men’s Lacrosse team finished 7-8 and failed tomake the Great Western Lacrosse League Tournament. In fact, DU’svarsity program, which has only been around for a decade, has made thenational tournament just twice, and never succeeded to win their firstround game. So what would persuade Bill Tierney toaccept the head coaching position there? Certainly the commitment fromthe school was very comforting. The Pioneers have the newly PeterBarton Lacrosse Stadium, they have the scholarships to compete and theyhave the academics. Coach Tierney and DU have made it clear that theywant to be the launching pad for lacrosse in the West, and be theepicenter of the western lacrosse world.  Anotherreason is the Tierney’s retirement plans. Bill said that he and hiswife had planned to retire out west anyway, and now he’s just going tobe making that move a little sooner. The third reason, a challenge.“This job is another challenge for me, to see if I can take a programto new heights.” It could be that with his guidance the day may be fastapproaching when Denver is seen as the lacrosse capital of the West.

Zack Attack...

Yea it’s cheesy, but this rookie is absolutely filthy. He’s torn up every defenseman thrown at him. In his first two games this kid has racked up 10 points, and it doesn’t look like he’s going to be slowing down. With 8 goals and 2 assists, Greer is far and away the best rookie in his class. Nothing against Nims, who has 4 points in 2 games, but I’m sure Chicago is second-guessing their first draft selection, and if they’re not, they will be when Greer takes home the Rookie of the Year award. Not to say Nims is a bad player, it’s just that Greer is that much better. His transition into the MLL game has been seamless; chemistry with the rest of his teammates, especially former Duke teammate Matt Danowski, has developed quickly. While some fans reserve their predictions for later in the season, I already know that Greer will undoubtedly be 2009’s Cascade Rookie of the Year.

Milestone Year...

I don’t know if anyone has been following the career records list this season, but they are a ton of milestones that have been reached in the last few weeks and many more that will be surpassed in the upcoming weeks.  Here are just a few notable records:

·                Kyle Dixon (Washington) 50th goal, 10 2-pointers

·                Spencer Ford (Washington) 100th assist

·         Scott Urick (Washington) also played in his 100^th regular season game this season, and will probably surpass Mark Millon’s 239-career-goals mark to move into second on the all-time list.

·                Brendan Mundorf (Denver) scored his 100th goal

·                Drew Westervelt (Denver) scored his 50th goal

·                Matt Brown (Denver) scored his 99th goal

·                Jesse Schwartzman (Denver)approaching 300 saves

·                Tim Goettelmann (Long Island) is approaching 300 points and was the first player ever to play 100 regular season games

·                Stephen Berger (Long Island) has 97 goals

·         Mike Gabel (Chicago) approaching 600 saves

Check out some more records at the MLL’s website (majorleaguelacrosse.com)

Team America...

Tryouts for Team USA were underway at Bryant University (Smithfield, R.I.) and wraped up this Wednesday. The team, which will be coached by Bryant’s Mike Pressler, will compete at the Federation of International Lacrosse World Championship, in Manchester, England. The dates are July 10-24, 2010. With 84 players to choose from, only 23 will be chosen midway through the fall. Here’s the link for the try-out roster:

http://www.laxmagazine.com/international/men/2008-09/news/030209_usmentryout

Here’s my prediction on the selections:

Name - Current Team - College

Attack
Ryan Boyle - Boston Cannons - Princeton ‘04
Matt Danowski - Long Island Lizards - Duke ‘08
Ryan Powell - Denver Outlaws - Syracuse ‘00 - righty feeder and dodger
Scott Urick - Washington Bayhawks - Georgetown ‘00 - need a crease finisher
Joe Walters - Toronto Nationals - Maryland ‘06 - Lefty
Matt Ward - Long Island Lizards - Virginia ‘06

Midfield
Ned Crotty - Duke - Duke ‘09
Kyle Dixon - Washington Bayhawks - Virginia ‘06
Kyle Harrison - Denver Outlaws - Johns Hopkins ‘05
Stephen Peyser - Long Island Lizards - Johns Hopkins ‘08
Matt Poskay - Boston Cannons - Virginia ‘06
Paul Rabil - Boston Cannons - Johns Hopkins ‘08
Max Seibald - Cornell - Cornell ‘09
Alex Smith - Washington Bayhawks - Delaware ‘07
Matt Striebel - Chicago Machine - Princeton ‘01

Defense
Chris Passavia - Boston Cannons - Cornell ‘07
Nicky Polanco- Long Island Lizards – Hofstra ‘02
DJ Driscoll - Chicago Machine - Notre Dame ‘06
Lee Zink - Denver Outlaws – Maryland ‘04
Jack Reid - Boston Cannons - Massachusetts ‘06
Kyle Sweeney - Washington Bayhawks - Georgetown ‘03

Goalie
Brian Dougherty - Long Island Lizards- Maryland ‘96
Mickey Jarboe - Navy ‘00

Thoughts anyone?

Regardless of the final, 23-man roster, Team USA should run by everyone else, with the exception of Canada. With guys like Greer, Canada is probably going to be the toughest competition for Team America, but ultimately I think I our boys will prevail and bring home the gold.

Closing words…

Before I cut myself off, I just want to highlight Kyle Dixon this week. He tallied 6 points (4 goals, 1 2pt.g, and 1 assist). With 13 goals in just 4 games, Dixon has already scored 5 2-pointeres and added 4 assists. In 12 games last season, he recorded 22 goals, 5 2-pointers, and 11 assists; he should have a career season in 2009, and definitely my candidate for Most Improved Player of the Year.

This week’s game schedule features a new match up, Long Island @ Denver. I’m predicting: Toronto over Washington (for the third time this season), Boston over Chicago, and for I think will be the game of the week, Long Island over Denver. 

Until next week…

Aftermath of the Draft…

The draft is over and some teams have already played their top pick. I don’t know about you but after watching the draft, I’m pretty excited about what could happen with some of these players entering their first ever professional season. Greer of course comes to mind, as well as Seibald, the Tewaaraton Award winner for 2009, and many others from around the nation. The question is not about if these players will adapt to the league, but rather, when. The 42 players drafted by the 6 teams are all outstanding lacrosse players, and legitimacy of each pick will be proven within the next couple of weeks. We’ve already seen that Greer, who I think should’ve been selected first, has already made a big splash in the MLL.

First there was Chuck Norris, then there was Paul Rabil...take a look at some funny 'Rabil-isms'

• Paul Rabil had his jersey retired in High School in sports he did not even play.
• Paul Rabil once shot so hard that he spontaneously grew a mustache. 
  
• It was once said that Moses made the red sea part, incorrect. It was Paul Rabil missing the goal and the ball accidentally went through the red sea and parting it due to its high velocity
• Paul Rabil was a ghost writer for such books like war and peace and the bible. Not to mention he has directed every top 20 grossing films of all time, except for "home alone" because Paul Rabil felt uncomfortable directing his son, macauley caulkin
• I read when newton discovered gravity by watching apples fall from trees, it was actually Paul Rabil sitting above him throwing lazer beams with a plastic fork
• Paul Rabil is single handedly responsible for the period, the question mark and the percentage symbol.
• Paul Rabil is also the only player to ever have scored a two point goal in college lacrosse.
• I heard that Coach Petrimala is a robot and Paul Rabil controls him with a microphone in his helmet.
• It was Paul Rabil’s split dodge that made the dinosaurs go extinct
• Paul Rabil was the 1st overall pick in the 1986 NBA draft but decided to go to kindergarten.
• Paul Rabil just bought you…
• The US government is now considering recalling all US currency and reprinting it with Paul Rabil's face on it, and also not calling them dollars but Rabils
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