2008 Schedule

[LaxRef]

15. Stillwater?

[Chris Larson]

1. Augsburg dome

lacrosse friendly at this time

2. Plymouth dome

committed to providing time to their park and rec department. Less and less time open each year

3. Rosemount dome

decent, poorly marked field. Willing to rent to us

4. St. Cloud dome

looking to become a major player in the lacrosse community, but has to balance with institutional demands

5. Minnetonka dome

expensive, best lighting around, little time available for outside groups

6. Burnsville blast dome

new to me

7. UofM Nagurski field house

I get responses from this facility about 3 months after I need an answer. Slave to varsity programs who know they will get whatever time they want no matter how late they request it (no bitterness here)

8. Holy Angels dome

lacrosse friendly, very popular among a variety of groups

9. St. Thomas Academy dome

new to me

10. Eden Prairie dome

expensive, poor surface, poor availabilty

11. Shattuck dome

not convenient for metro teams but very nice if you're willing to drive

12. Metrodome

yeah, right

13. Winter Park (they do open it up for very unique situations ie- Edina Football team)

Like when the head coach has a kid on the team. They've denied me every time I've asked.

14. Is there still one at the Bielenberg Complex in Woodbury?

Bielenberg exists. It's too short to run a real game in though (about 96 yards).

15. Stillwater

Willing to accommodate groups like ours (see overnight rentals), poor surface, questionable markings.

[NELAX21]

If anyone is interested in coming to Nebraska in February next year we have our own indoor facility that is free. We can pretty much guarantee another OOC game for you too.

[Tretiak3]

You might just get lucky. Also you could try (if you havent already) to bug Shattuck and the St. Cloud crew as i know they have large amounts of time blocked off for stupid reasons and might open up for a paying group with a legitimate cause

The St. Cloud dome is booked from 8am to 10:30pm every weekend in February, and I know that all multiple attempts have been made since early september to find dome space, to no avail. After much negotiation with St. Cloud we were finally allowed to use the space, only after the Softball team was done (11pm). Other domes did not have enough time, and would not stay open late, or open early to allow us to play.

[Jolly Roger]

I would suggest though that you continually bug all of the local domes if you want to get the times changed because i know that people lock in lots of time then cancel some when it comes down too it (i worked for the City of Plymouth). You might just get lucky. Also you could try (if you havent already) to bug Shattuck and the St. Cloud crew as i know they have large amounts of time blocked off for stupid reasons and might open up for a paying group with a legitimate cause (CJ3).

So you would ask a team to travel to Minnesota in the hope that some time comes available and risk important OCC game(s)? I think these teams did the right thing in securing definite times (even though the times stink).

[Timbalaned]

and to think i complained about playing in the rain at 7 pm...

[LaxRef]

I would suggest though that you continually bug all of the local domes if you want to get the times changed because i know that people lock in lots of time then cancel some when it comes down too it (i worked for the City of Plymouth). You might just get lucky. Also you could try (if you havent already) to bug Shattuck and the St. Cloud crew as i know they have large amounts of time blocked off for stupid reasons and might open up for a paying group with a legitimate cause (CJ3).

So you would ask a team to travel to Minnesota in the hope that some time comes available and risk important OCC game(s)? I think these teams did the right thing in securing definite times (even though the times stink).

I think he's saying, "Keep asking to see if you can get a better time for these scheduled games," not, "Get a team to commit to come to MN to play you, but don't book any time and hope something opens up."

[Rob Graff]

Guys:

This discussion isn't solving any of our problems - merely criticizing those who've tried to solve problems best way they can..

1. We now know that Dome usage is becoming more an more of a valuable commodity. This is a big change since 2 years ago - recall that last year we had almost no indoor games.

2. We know that our UMLL teams want to play indoor games in Feb/March - even if it raises team dues. Again, we learned that at this fall meeting.

3. We know now that one solution is for the league to procure dome time in bulk, and make it available to teams for OOC games. Through the leadership of Augsburg's coaches and Chris Larson, this was done, and it solved SOME of our problems. And we'll talk about doing it in May this year for next year.

Rob

[Mr. Jefferson]

Pinball -

There is nothing BUSH LEAGUE about the UMLL......I dont know of one person that thinks that is the case. You must remeber, not every state has the weather we do, and we do have to make the best opportunities of what we can. I think the league has done a great job of scheduling more OCC games than ever before - sometimes we are cut out of dome times for local teams (HS track, etc)....nothing you can do about it. UMLL Lacrosse is still new to many people, and many might not be familar with the tradition and history of the league - thus putting us lower on the totem pole. The only thing bush league about us, is when our own alumni come on the board preaching about us being bush league....

[Dulax31]

Pinball -

There is nothing BUSH LEAGUE about the UMLL......I dont know of one person that thinks that is the case. You must remeber, not every state has the weather we do, and we do have to make the best opportunities of what we can. I think the league has done a great job of scheduling more OCC games than ever before - sometimes we are cut out of dome times for local teams (HS track, etc)....nothing you can do about it. UMLL Lacrosse is still new to many people, and many might not be familar with the tradition and history of the league - thus putting us lower on the totem pole. The only thing bush league about us, is when our own alumni come on the board preaching about us being bush league....

I for one think Pinball is 100% correct on his analysis, it does NOT reflect well on our league to have games played at 4am in the night / morning. I have never heard of that in any league. While I agree it is a solution to the problems that have come up, it is obviously NOT the solution that everyone wanted. And it looks like, even if it wasn't, poor planning by the league and the teams involved (aka bush league).

[Mr. Jefferson]

You take what you can get....its not bush league - its whats available....maybe we should be focusing now how teams are actually coming here instead of all of us having to travel for every OCC game...

Nothing you can do when most domes are scheduled out for at least 6 months in advance....and if all teams are fine with it, why would that be seen as bush league...

I tell you what, you and Pinball drop the 3 million to build one to save our league some face, until then, dont make a comment on something you had no say, and didnt help out in....

I know we schedule our dome time for our HS team in JUNE 2007 for the upcoming 2008 year - why, because thats how far in advance you have to now a days, and not to mention to be put on a waiting list...

Im sure the league is still trying to switch those out as neccessary

[Adam Gamradt]

Pinball -

There is nothing BUSH LEAGUE about the UMLL......I dont know of one person that thinks that is the case. You must remeber, not every state has the weather we do, and we do have to make the best opportunities of what we can. I think the league has done a great job of scheduling more OCC games than ever before - sometimes we are cut out of dome times for local teams (HS track, etc)....nothing you can do about it. UMLL Lacrosse is still new to many people, and many might not be familar with the tradition and history of the league - thus putting us lower on the totem pole. The only thing bush league about us, is when our own alumni come on the board preaching about us being bush league....

I for one think Pinball is 100% correct on his analysis, it does NOT reflect well on our league to have games played at 4am in the night / morning. I have never heard of that in any league. While I agree it is a solution to the problems that have come up, it is obviously NOT the solution that everyone wanted. And it looks like, even if it wasn't, poor planning by the league and the teams involved (aka bush league).

Fleckster, I was tired of discussing this a while back, but I don't think the league has anything to do with the times these games were scheduled.

In fact, by purchasing the Augsburg time, the league saved us from a lot of miserable weather. And secured for us the cheapest dome time I've ever seen.

[Chris Larson]

Chris and Jon,

I'm sorry that our schedule doesn't meet your expectations.

It was decided at our league meeting in October that we needed to pursue expanding the season into February and March. Remember, in the preceeding couple of years I attempted to eliminate or, at a minimum, reduce the number of indoor games so as to control costs.

We were lucky enough to receive an offer from Augsburg that really helped us out, and we went ahead and spent a great deal of money to secure a large block of time. In spite of the time we were able to secure there, not everyone was able to schedule within those hours.

The time secured by the league, with the exception of 1 game, would enable us to start all games before 9:30pm. The added benifit is that teams are able to de-compress their league season - ask St Olaf about that last year (7 games in 11 days)

Those games starting outside of these parameters are the result of certain teams working hard to locate a facility and get a committment from teams to travel to Minnesota. If the teams agree and we can staff them, I don't see a problem.

I'm disappointed that both of you would characterize our league in such a manner without all the information.

I hope we can work with teams to avoid this inconvenience in the future.

[AuggieLaxCoach]

I would have do say I agree with bits and pieces from everyone’s posts... first off, the 3am/6am games have nothing to do with the scheduling of the UMLL. The OOC games are scheduled exclusively by the leadership of each team and reported to the league. So, the UMLL would have no actual control over teams scheduling games at this time. Any person who has attempted to schedule early season OOC games knows the immense horror involved in doing so in our region. Secondly, as Larson has addressed a few times, the league did a wonderful job working very hard to get a large chunk of weekend Dome times at Augsburg in order to schedule a ton of UMLL games, host 2 of the Jenkins Invite games, I believe Michigan is swinging into town in March and there were still open time slots here and there for teams that needed to schedule additional OOC games. So, I would venture to say that the apparent "bush league" label on our league might be quickly dismissed when the big picture is revealed, i.e. all the top OOC games that will be held in proper facilities, at suitable times, against top tier opponents, (check the schedules of UST, SJU, UofM, UMD, etc...)

Conversely, I do see the possible perception by on-lookers that games played at such odd hours reflect negatively on not only those teams, our league, but also club lax. To this I say our weather in this region makes things very interesting… remember Nationals in Blaine a few years back??? There is a possibility for snow 8 months out of the year in our area. We have two seasons, hot and cold... These are issues we must face and deal with and it is just part of the game. Even D1 programs play at odd times, by their standards. Not every game is played in a 50,000-person stadium under the lights on a weekend evening. Some are on Tuesdays at 3pm on a rec. field. In my opinion, it would be odd to see Duke or Hopkins play on a side field on a Tuesday afternoon, but it happens.

There is a possibility for these types of issues on all levels, in all areas- and arguing and grumbling after the fact is futile. Going forward we can learn from our scheduling mistakes and be the better for it next season. Lesson learned, start looking for dome time NOW. Raise money NOW and rent the space out NOW. If you don’t end up using it, there will be no shortage of other folks who will take it off your hands for the same rate, maybe you can even spin a small profit (don’t know if there are legal restrictions on that, those with more law wisdom than I feel free to chime in)

Lastly, I respectfully request that everyone not take these posts so personal or turn them into personal attacks, or attacks on the league. I sincerely believe there is no room for that kind of attitude in these forums. It also amazes me how a post inquiring about the UMLL 2008 schedule gets turn into a shouting match about the legitimacy of our league… but hey, that’s what makes these forums so interesting.

[Pinball]

Chris and Jon,

I'm sorry that our schedule doesn't meet your expectations.

I'm disappointed that both of you would characterize our league in such a manner without all the information.

I actually did have all of that pertinent information (i still have a few on the inside) and instead of calling it "bush league" i should of stated it more eloquently by saying that it reflects very badly to have games at that time of the day.

Mr. Jefferson: how did you know? Fleck and I have began gathering investors (along with our own monies) to build the Johnnie Bulldog Lacrosse Stadium Dome Complex Arena that can travel back and forth between Collegeville and Duluth to accomodate all needs, but from 8am-2am it will be blocked off for UMD/SJU Lacrosse Activities only. The artist rendition is below.