TRENDING BUZZ WORTHY 1
NEIL STEVENS’ NLL PREVIEW
The NLL is beating an expansion drum, and beating it hard, which means the 2017 season might be the last with nine teams. Years from now, NLL fans might be looking back at the nine-team loop with fond memories. The new era began last spring with a totally revamped league executive headed up by commissioner Nick Sakiewicz that has undertaken refreshingly aggressive marketing, has moved the head office to the Philadelphia region, and has made a bold push on social media platforms. On the floor, a new rule to eliminate hits on players in vulnerable positions and the addition of a third referee allow the NLL to rightly claim it is a leader in ensuring player safety. The league is also allowing a 17th runner to dress, which means a team losing a player to injury during a game will have others to pick up the slack.
As for which team will emerge with the Champion’s Cup in 2017, here’s the obvious question: Can Saskatchewan be stopped? The youthful Rush have won two consecutive titles, show no cracks in the armor, and have made offseason moves to guarantee competition for lineup spots remains intense. Bring it on, they’re sayin’.
Check out team-by-team previews, in projected order of finish, and more of NLL Hall of Famer Neil Stevens’ predictions at
uslaxmagazine.com/nll.
10 US LACROSSE MAGAZINE January 2017 2
MANNEQUIN CHALLENGE
With the college season starting in the middle of winter, a lot of lacrosse players will already be accustomed to freezing, thanks to the Mannequin Challenge. In the spirit of planking, Call Me Maybe, the Harlem Shake and the Ice Bucket Challenge, the Mannequin Challenge is the latest viral video craze, in which people freeze like mannequins while the song “Black Beatles” by Rae Sremmurd plays. The USC lady Trojans took the challenge to the weight room and posted a video on Instagram that garnered 1.2 million views in three weeks.
4
EAT MY SHORTS!
“The Simpsons,” the longest-running American sitcom and animated show, featured lacrosse prominently in an episode that aired Nov. 6. In “There Will Be Buds,” Springfield’s fickle fans turn to lacrosse as an alternative to football, turning Homer Simpson and Kirk Van Houten into lovable lacrosse dads. On a bus trip, they show the kids a video of the Gait brothers playing at Syracuse, where Gary Gait now is the women’s lacrosse coach. “What else is there to do now? I made it on ‘The Simpsons,’” he said. “I can retire and get out of lacrosse.”
Matt Selman, executive producer of the episode, said his team worked hard to make lacrosse’s appearance on “The Simpsons” authentic, while also poking fun at the crazy youth sports culture.
“It was really fun to dig into that world,” Selman said. “I hope [lacrosse fans] were happy with the show.”
— M.H.
USlacrosse.org
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68
