To see lacrosse spreading into the west, along with current mainstays Notre Dame and Denver — now under a brand like the University of Michigan’s — it is huge for the sport’s growth.  Michigan will have all the resources to build its program into a national contender but, as recent fall contest results would indicate, that will be a slow-but-steady progression.

Last weekend the Wolverines made a trip east to the 5th Annual Nick Colleluori Classic in Ridley, Pennsylvania and suffered one-sided losses to Saint Joseph’s (9-5) and Towson (14-2).  While yes, it is fall ball — lineups are far from decided and game lengths are shorter — still, the Hawks and Tigers combined for just three wins last year.  St. Joseph’s was winless.  Towson had three, and one of those wins was against St. Joseph’s.  Earlier this fall Michigan hosted Providence at the Big House and lost 11-10 in overtime.  Providence also had just three wins in 2011.

As a devout University of Michigan fan, nobody was more ecstatic than me when this past May the U of M announced it was taking its mens’ lacrosse program to Division I.  U of M has taken lacrosse seriously for the better part of a decade; it won Men’s Collegiate Lacrosse Association (MCLA) Division I National Championships from 2008 through 2010, and suffered just one loss by a goal to Arizona State in 2011.

I guess I thought they would have an easier time playing with the Towsons, Providences, and St. Joes of the world, even this early on as a Varsity program.

This weekend several teams will be testing out new rules designed to speed up the pace of play in college lacrosse.  If you watched the last couple Division I Final Fours, you understand why.  Deliberate and slow.  Offenses with wide sets, inverts, and shots that only come once the perfect match up has been established.  And if a defense happens to be in a zone,  like 2011 NCAA Champs UVA?  Forget it.  Brutal to watch.

The one experiment that stands out to me will be the one involving an offensive team member committing a non-serving infraction inside the attack area (warding off, moving screen, crease violation).  Under this particular experimental rule, the defensive team will be given a chance to capitalize on a quick restart — presumably at the spot of the foul and once the player with the ball has been given (or already has) five yards of space from a now-riding player.  Rather than having to take the ball outside the near restraining box before play can resume, a la the old way, defensive personnel can pick the ball up and go.  There is potential for transition offense galore.

One drawback is that this rule could breed some sloppy play.  Overzealous defensive players could rush what would otherwise be a settled clear.  Most good teams already clear upwards of 85 and 95 percent, so defensively, teams will have to be careful about rushing things.  Players looking to capitalize on the quick restart might find the ball in the back of their own net sooner than anticipated.

I like this rule and I haven’t even seen it used.  What better way to promote fast play than to help create an environment where true fast breaks, end to end “numbers”, are more frequent?

Lacrosse is a rugged game.  To most who are unfamiliar with the finer nuances of the sport, a parent might be reluctant to condone their child’s participation until second grade or later.  With little ones, the idea of helmets, pads, mouth guards, slashing, pushing, sliding, and a hard ball can be a little overwhelming at first.  I know there are days where the last thing my kindergartener needs is a lacrosse stick with a hard plastic head and titanium shaft attached.  If his energy is corralled, however, lacrosse has been a wonderful yard activity escape for he and I.  Plus, it’s been amazing watching his ability to catch and throw evolve over a short period of time.

Perhaps missed due to the physical side of lacrosse is the finesse and hand-eye refining skills, uniquely inherent to a game which demands an ambidextrous grace.  These are skills that a player can begin to develop as young as four or five years of age, without the need for pads (and damage to your wallet), and will turn out to be instrumental towards the pure shaping of a player’s deftness with their stick.

When we think of that first team sport children are exposed to, lacrosse isn’t usually the first to come to mind.  But why not?  Give a child, boy or girl, a stick and a ball (any that fits in the pocket) and they have all the tools to learn a great team sport.  I’m amazed at how good a young player can get with their stick and there are countless drills and concepts for them to become accustomed early.

There’s an old adage that the lacrosse community epitomizes that occasional “small world” scenario.  How many times have you been in conversation with so-and-so, and that person knows so-and-so due to some degree of proximal separation, and all caused by lacrosse’s doing?  Well, I can’t tell you how many times this phenomenon has unfolded before me, and so, as the ten-year anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks passes, I find myself taken by that personal connection to those people who helped carve for me indelible life moments prior to that fateful day.

Father-son

I spent at least one evening in the company of Donald, whose son Geoff was a friend of mine in college.  I met Donald through Geoff at the University of Delaware and I remember having a great time over drinks and “shenanigans” at Geoff’s apartment on Main Street in Newark.  Don was the type of dad (a lot like mine, which was why I liked him) who so enjoyed spending time with his sons in the company of their goofball friends.

Geoff and his family had been from Manhasset, New York, a Long Island lacrosse mecca, where Jim Brown starred in lacrosse (and, oh yeah, football too) before Syracuse, a place that continues to churn out some of the top players in the country.  I would never have met Geoff had it not been for common acquaintances through lacrosse.  A couple of my Delaware teammates were also close friends with Geoff, so therefore I would have never met Donald if not for a relationship lacrosse helped to mold.

Shortly after 9/11 I met Geoff in Wilmington for what turned out to be the last time since we hung out regularly in college. I can recall the strength with which he spoke when I asked him how he was coping after the loss of his father in such a sudden and unimaginable way.  Having lost my father to cancer this past July, I now have a better understanding of where that strength comes from.

Newsday on Long Island recently did a small film interview with Geoff and asked how much he remembers of the actual day, September 11, what that day was like for him, and how he and his family have managed to cope since.  It was great to see him doing well — actually living in New York City, married, and at peace.

The “area”

In college we used to rib each other when someone gloated about some relatively famous (at least to us) person, usually athletes, who hailed from our respective home town or “area”.  During my sophomore year I had two roommates from Nyack, New York and so Jon Hess (Princeton Lacrosse virtuoso on arguably the greatest attack line ever), Elton Brand, Keith Bullock, who all went on to success in the pros after great prep careers around the Hudson Valley, were often repeatedly (stress on “repeatedly”) subjects of mindless banter.  I, too, would chime in about usually some obscure athletes from my “area” in northern, New Jersey.  Glenn Sekunda, anyone?  Parsippany Hills, New Jersey basketball star, early 90s?  Syracuse, transferred to Penn State?  I’m shocked.

Okay, my list was far less impressive I would come to realize than the Hudson Valley one often bragged by Will and Kevin, my two roommates from Nyack.   Some of the people from my “area”, like Sekunda, did experience marginal successes, but only if I could prove it.

Kevin, Will and I would often trade sarcastic comments, often unsolicited, over our clinging to “glory days” through constant mentioning of people from the “area”.  Both Kevin and Will were good lacrosse players (Kevin, a goalie, Will, a middie) who grew up with Hess and Welles Crowther, at the time an equities trader with Sandler O’Neill & Partners, who heroically perished on the day of the 9/11 attacks.

I’m not exactly certain whether at some point I met Welles through Willy or Kevin.  But I can swear with positivity that they both spoke about him often.  No different from any of our closest friends,  I remember Welles’ name coming up over conversation, usually with some term of endearment attached to it — something like “scrapper”, “legend” or “asshole” (actually pronounced by New Yorkers as ess-hole and, unlike in most discourse, was a commonly used, matter-of-fact, surprisingly benevolent attachment to any buddy’s name.  For example, “How’s that asshole doing?  Haven’t heard from him in a while.”)

There’s a uniqueness to the bonds that people from New York form through friendships, and I mean that in a good way.  Will and Kevin clearly shared that unique friendship with Welles.  When I caught the piece ESPN recently aired about Welles, Man In The Red Bandanna, I was immediately moved by the photographs and film footage of Welles as a lacrosse player at Nyack and Boston College.  As I learned his story narrated by Ed Burns, I couldn’t help but feel an attachment to Welles. It’s impossible to comprehend what someone like him experienced on 9/11.  Though I didn’t really know him hardly at all, I sure knew of him.  That certainly wouldn’t have been possible without having Kevin and Will as teammates, and always talking about the “area”.

Everyone comes from an “area” — it is our own personal small world and, for some like me, it is often shaped by lacrosse.

As most lacrosse junkies know, the first words new players are taught are, “Here’s your help!”  A simple command, and universally accepted verbal communication between one player and his teammate, these three words symbolize lacrosse at its core.  Though most players will eventually nix practical use of the phrase, it has been a fixture of the sport’s lexicon for ages.  The words symbolize innocence, truth, and the beginning.

Here’s Your Help will feature daily posts with a mix of humor, satire, and honesty.  Topics will center around lacrosse’s polarizing reputation as our most rapidly growing sport and, conversely, complex criticisms about its elitist ties, lagging professional game, and head scratching marketing angles by industry leaders.  HYH will provide commentary surrounding 2011 lacrosse culture from the youth game, to college, up through the professional ranks, and also delve into the broad lacrosse spectrum, from brands to on-the-field Xs and Os.

This blog is for the lacrosse enthusiast who might be searching for a unique departure from mainstream lacrosse journalism.  It has been created in honor of my late father– an avid sports fan whose love of lacrosse stemmed from an initial disappointment that his two sons chose it over baseball.

Our hope is that this blog is your “help” towards thinking about the game from another perspective.  We look forward to your readership.

Lacrosse camper in New Jersey