WPIAL 13

[LacrosseEverything20]

Well you are obviously just stuck in your ways. It can be free, why do you have to charge? All of these "Governing" bodies have money to spend so spend it on putting on a free clinic. If you want lacrosse to get better you gotta make more of an effort.

You can get JC Stone Field in North Park for free which is a nice stadium with turf. You get get referees to come out because they love to help explain some of the rules and you can get a group very great coaches (who have actually played the game) to come together to make a great coaching clinic. Coaches who aren't out there to promote anything but to help grow the game (they do exist) in the area. If you promote it correctly and have people communicating everything correctly it would have a great turnout. It is possible, I have seen it. When I see people charging for them, they usually are just trying to promote their travel team or something else.

PS, for the record I not an Obama fan! I am fan of lacrosse and a fan promoting the game.

I am over this subject though because its like beating a dead horse with everyone.

WPIAL Practices starts March 4......16 Days!

[brutus of apple hill]

You get get referees to come out because they love to help explain some of the rules...!

very funny...that is like asking a blind man for directions

[Really???]

I'm willing to bet there aren't more than 5 actual players who read/use this forum anymore. FRFAM, Dwight, Brutus, lax_is_everything...not sure what you guys do for a living, but i want your job. You all have entirely to much free time and a slightly uncomfortable need to live vicariously thru your children. This forum is supposed to be for the players. You know, 15-18 year olds.....

[laxnot]

If there really is an age limit to the users, 15 to 18, there are going to be a lot fewer posts to read, they will be less entertaining, and as if we need any evidence, the spelling and grammar will be worse.

[formerkeeper]

"Grinder" Graham has better moves on the lax field than dance floor...GO LEBO !

[mr.moneybags]

Now onto the topic of lacrosse. Jim volberg (coach of the year, mind you) is running a tight ship this year. Possible repeat coy??? And there is no nuetralizing the young guns you talk about. COuldnt be done when they were freshman, wont be done when they are sophmores. The senior class this year shows great leadership in one of there long pole defenders Brown prospect steps up in the net for the junior class. Loads of talent this year.Take a step back and look at shady side, lebo, sewickly, upper saint clair, fox chapel? I have watched these kids grow up and they are a bunch of down to earth hard nosed kids with great work ethic.

[Dwight_Schrute]

FRFAM, Dwight, Brutus, lax_is_everything...not sure what you guys do for a living, but i want your job. You all have entirely to much free time and a slightly uncomfortable need to live vicariously thru your children...

C'mon Really???, we all definitely live vicariously through our kids. Yeah, we want our kids to learn sportsmanship, competition, love of the game, yada yada, but we all spend the money and time because it makes us feel good. Anyone who doesn't admit that is a fibber. I've told my kids (only half-jokingly) that it's about me. Deep down we all are that way. Just embrace it, it's more fun being a lax parent that way. Remember most of us were third string water boys for the girls track team and need help.

Speaking of parents, lax has the most entertaining parents of any sport that I've seen. My choice for the most entertaining parent groups recently is Bethel Park. It's a comedy watching them yelling at the players (not their own kid of course), the coaches, the refs, and then at each other in the stands. You couldn't pay for better entertainment. Next up is probably Pine Richland. Arrogance without results is great. Lifetime award winners, in my opinion, goes to some of the late 2000's years for Seneca. The frustration of being so close, but so far from winning it had some of the greatest outbursts in the stands that you will ever see.

Guys, we are here to maximize our local lax entertainment dollars. Really???, don't take everything personally. Just remember to select a career path that allows maximum laxpower posting time. You can make a lot of money doing it.

[ChesmontLaxDad]

Actually, this forum is for fans and those involved in HS lacrosse (i.e. players, coaches, parents etc.) and for the most part consists of folks interested in the positive growth of the game.

[frmanfan]

Dwight, you hit this on the head. Really??? has probably benefitted from all of us living so vicariously through our children; without us, there would be no travel teams in lacrosse, soccer, basketball, baseball, softball, hockey, swimming, etc. I am guilty as charged, but not for the reasons Really??? probably has in mind. We didn’t have the opportunities that exist today, we had pickup teams in somebody’s back yard. No nets, no goalposts, trees for boundary markers. If it cost our parents any money we weren’t allowed to do it. Do we overindulge our children to give them opportunities we never had? You bet we do. But as a fan, I will always toot the horn of my local team, whether you think they deserve it or not, that is what a fan does. And I will post the names of players from my local team who deserve recognition in the local lacrosse community, during the season you can decide for yourself when you see them play. I don’t know about you, but I like to know who the good players on the opposing teams are so I can watch and enjoy their play when they match up against the players from “my” team.

It is ironic that someone Really??? has to dis posters by name while using a pseudonym himself (he knows of what I speak).

My apologies for not replying sooner, in spite of what he Really??? thinks I don’t spend all my time posting, blogging, or tweeting. Being independently wealthy doesn’t just happen, every once in a while I have to meet with my personal secretaries who tend to my extensive investment portfolio.

[formerkeeper]

"We are NA" Lacrosse was entertaining. The best of any sport was Baldwin Hockey.

[Dwight_Schrute]

Actually, this forum is for fans and those involved in HS lacrosse (i.e. players, coaches, parents etc.) and for the most part consists of folks interested in the positive growth of the game.

Chesmont, I'm all for the the growth of lax locally and that is what I post most of the time. As for the positive experience, at the end of every May and early June, the minor leagues over here seem to get blasted by the District 1 (I genuflected when I typed that) posters for how bad we are and that we shouldn't be allowed in the PIAA playoffs. Seeing that you do most of your posting on the District 1 forum, isn't the pot trying to tell the kettle something?

We western hillbillies don't have third line middies getting offers to play Division 1 lax like District 1 (I genuflected again) does, so finding stuff to talk about isn't easy.

Humor and sarcasm make it more fun. This forum would be nothing but ML/SV goodest, FR/NA/SA/SSA gooder, everybody else less gooder if it wasn't for some humor. So, I thank frfamman, brutus, laxnot, toooldlaxer, etc. for keeping this forum alive. I apologize if I didn't include your name in the list as I've run out of time. I only have a few minutes this morning before I have to go back to lighting my cubans with $100 bills and beat on the huddled masses (hopefully there are a few Hampton parents in there) to make me more money.

[ChesmontLaxDad]

Chesmont, I'm all for the the growth of lax locally and that is what I post most of the time. As for the positive experience, at the end of every May and early June, the minor leagues over here seem to get blasted by the District 1 (I genuflected when I typed that) posters for how bad we are and that we shouldn't be allowed in the PIAA playoffs. Seeing that you do most of your posting on the District 1 forum, isn't the pot trying to tell the kettle something?

We western hillbillies don't have third line middies getting offers to play Division 1 lax like District 1 (I genuflected again) does, so finding stuff to talk about isn't easy.

Humor and sarcasm make it more fun. This forum would be nothing but ML/SV goodest, FR/NA/SA/SSA gooder, everybody else less gooder if it wasn't for some humor. So, I thank frfamman, brutus, laxnot, toooldlaxer, etc. for keeping this forum alive. I apologize if I didn't include your name in the list as I've run out of time. I only have a few minutes this morning before I have to go back to lighting my cubans with $100 bills and beat on the huddled masses (hopefully there are a few Hampton parents in there) to make me more money.

Dwight, I am certainly not one who "bashes" anyone and especially anyone playing lax within the great state of PA. My post was actually towards the guy claiming that we should not be posting so much in the HS forum etc. I actually was taking the side of you and the regular posters in this forum. I apologize for some of my eastern counterparts as I think the betterment of the sport statewide makes us all better in the long run. I wish nothing but the best to your squads this Spring!

[frmanfan]

Doesn't anyone have anything interesting to post? The CheeseDad is the last poster, and he doesn't even belong here! How about the Midnight Madness, any comments? I see the FR kids did defend their title, it would be nice if the dasher field play carried over to the real thing.

[ChesmontLaxDad]

What's with the name calling? Is that what you resort to in the Western Pa "Lacrosse" forum? I didn't know my zip code determined what forums I am allowed to comment in or not. Keep it classy gents.

[frmanfan]

Hey, that was a play on your name, which obviously didn't work. I thought your name was too long, could have gone with ChesDad but that didn't have the same ring to it. Of course you are welcome to comment here, especially since none of the local wags are posting.

[WPIALer]

On Midnight Madness: Franklin looked fast and they basically outran the competition. Bethel looked suprisingly good. They haven't been great recently, but they seem to have some talented athletes. One of their taller players seemed like he had quite a shot. Sewickley looked solid overall. No other teams really stood out besides the True Team, and they just ran iso after iso.

[KWarren]

Midnight Madness was a nice event overall- impressive getting 16 teams to show up (well 15 once Wheeling bailed because of the snow). The level of play was decent for what it was. One negative was there seemed to be a lot of confusion by the officials on the rules for the third (open) field, with different sets of rules called by different crews- watched three games in a row there and the out of bounds was called three different ways- the True people need to do a better job communicating with the officials who need to do a better job asking what the ground rules are if they are not sure.

Personally, I would like to see the field split into A and B brackets, it would provide some more competitive games overall and prevent Franklin for pounding on Mars- I know teams can learn from playing a high quality opposition, but I am not sure losing by 20+ on a dasher is a great experience. It would also keep the actual brackets more fair- one of the brackets had Sewickley and Bethel (who were two of the final four) while another bracket has four Division B teams. It would just make the seeding for the elimination play a bit more fair...but minor quarrels for a really fun event.

As for the play on the field(s), I saw a fair amount of games in the bracket portion- a few observations...
- Franklin looked very good, seemed very comfortable in the format and appeared to really be cruising the whole night.
-I was very surprised by Bethel- they barely beat Shaler early in the night but seemed to get better as the night went. They have a few nice players who did all of their scoring....
-I personally thought SA looked like the best team early on- very smooth, no mistakes- typical Sewickly I guess.
-For the "Travel Teams" Gorillas looked pretty good, Arrows OK and True had some great players but was not a great team.
-Of the "B"team, I think Cannon-Mac might have been the best of the bunch with both Aquanis Academy and Shaler (who both have some pretty good players) next in line. GCC is (of course) very well coached, but very young, Moon has some nice pieces but is probably a few years away, Quaker Valley and WT both seemed to be missing some key guys and North Hills took just a ton of bad penalties- very undisciplined. Give a lot of credit t Mars... 1st year team with mostly 9th/10th graders playing with the big kids- that could be the next team to make a rapid rise in the area.

[frmanfan]

I had nothing else to do today, since my portfolio Really??? needed no tending, and was over reading the girl's high school posts regarding the state of Maryland and the proposed law to mandate helmets on high school girls. A lot of good comments by coaches, parents, refs, most against it as they believe it would lead to rougher play and more concussions, not fewer concussions. Several comments on USLacrosse and their efforts in this area. That leads to my question, with all this awareness and alarm over concussions in all sports, what is the word to the refs/coaches/players this year for the boys game to try to minimize concussions. Anybody know?

[WPIALer]

For referees, any check to the head, even those previously considered incidental contact, are now penalties. Any body check to the head is at the very least a one minute non-releasable. If a blow to the head is considered intentional, unnecessary, or anything like that, the penalty can be a 3 minute non-releasable or ejection. Referees have been instructed to try to completely take hitting the head out of the game of lacrosse. It has been stressed to them that those hits can't happen this year.

[KWarren]

It should also be pointed out that the officials have been instructed to "call anything close" and have said that if a hit is to the chest or shoulder but causes the head to snap back in a manner constant with a blow to the head such that they cannot be sure where the contact was made, they will most likely "err on the side of caution" and call a penalty.

I understand the need to protect players, but I think this is going to dramatically alter the game- and not for the better.