Games for 2/23 - 3/1: Predict, discuss, report scores here

[tamu33]

St. John Fisher will play Texas A&M in a couple of weeks (3/2 i believe) and is a good match up of middle tier D3 and mid level MDIA. This year has been rough on A&M's young squad but it is also SJF's first game of the year. Should put the mid level disscusion in a better perspective.

[the lax]

CSU is that much better than CC. It has nothing to do with who is in what division. That argument is beginning to become tiresome. Plain and simple, CSU outclassed CC in all walks of the game yesterday, from organization to skill to execution.

Good I like to hear that. Playing a solid D3 will give a CSU a great advantage over UCSB in terms of preperation.

Hopefully, Flip will have the conditioning aspect down by then.

[Laxman50]

NCAA rules that I would guess MDIA teams break all the time when recruiting. I am not saying they do just a guess. Contact with kids at a high school game. Contact with kids before they are seniors in high school. Giving kids $ to play at the school. Giving high school kids free shirts or lax gear. Paying kids to play. I could go on and on but I wont. Also the size of the school dose matter or there would be no such thing as D1, D2, D3. How big is CSU and how big is CC. Is CSU a better team than CC yes, are there a few MDIA teams that would be good at the D3 level, sure. Dose this tip the scale a bit for MDIA teams with smart coaches like Flip, Rob Graff, and John Paul -- yes. Again I am not MDIA bashing.

[the lax]

Paying kids to play? You are out of your tree. There isn't enough money in D1 to give scholarships and pay players. How can there be enough money for a club team to give out "meal money" ?

[Laxman50]

have heard of 2 or three MDIA teams that have given $ to kids. Now I am not saying full ride but yes there are a few times this has happened.

[tamu33]

Contact with kids at a high school game. Contact with kids before they are seniors in high school. Giving kids $ to play at the school. Giving high school kids free shirts or lax gear. Paying kids to play. I could go on and on but I wont.
- LAXMAN50

I just don't buy any of these accusations. Paying kids to play.... come on, not in the MDIA where winning is just a pride thing, not a money maker like in NCAA. Shirts... ok but do programs really get recruits because of a shirt. Equipment... same as shirts, call me crazy but no MDIA gets their equipment free, so why give it away to some kid who is at best thinking of coming to your program. Contact with players... well some teams use their previous HS as a recruiting base but that is one reason the MDIA is not the NCAA.

No coach in the MDIA will be under ALUMNI pressure to do the illegal things that the NCAA prohibits. Most of the top flight coaches in the MDIA are the ones that built the league from nothing. Thus, tainting it with foul mischief would be contrary to their hard work.

Alumni scholorships are probably the only thing that should be under the examining eye. Some teams have scholorships that are for players in need. This may be contingent on whatever the team deems appropriate. Playing ability might be a factor but, I believe that the MDIA teams in question have more integrity.

[Laxman50]

I have had players in the MDIA say they have had help from coaches in the form of cash. Also nothing that I listed is illegal to do in the MDIA. I am not saying what they are doing is wrong in any way but it dose tip the scale a bit. I would think even more in an area like Colorado where there are few Varsity programs. Head to head recruiting must happen all the time between CSU and CC and if one coach has been talking to a kid for 3 years and throwing a hat or a shirt at a kid then another shows up when I am a senior. I would think it might sway a kid a little. Please don't think I am saying that anyone is bad or in the wrong.

[tamu33]

Laxman50- I have reveiewed your other posts and most of them are in the UMLL. So are we to assume you are talking about the UMLL.

I also read that you previously attended St. Mary's of MN. Since St. Mary's is not in the MDIA ... how did you obtain this knowledge?

[Laxman50]

St. Mary's was in the MDIA. I am in and around many teams over the year I talk to lots of players coaches and officials. Again I don't think anyone is in the wrong just thought it should be said. I also agree with the lax. CC took a beating the fans should live with it. Also it should be said that many varsity coaches do fudge on the rules themselves (I have see this with my own eyes). I am also not talking about the UMLL I have heard of 3 teams that have given $ to plays in one form or another i.e. scholarships and the like and none of them were in the UMLL. I believe that aggressive recruiting hurts the MDIA. Not the level of play but the vast difference in resources from team to team will keep the rich rich and the poor poor in the MDIA. If you want a truly level playing field in the MDIA ban aggressive recruiting. Many schools such as Minnesota are banned by there school from recruiting directly. So as it stands the few teams in the MDIA with good full time or enough time coaches and money from a long alumni list will keep the other teams down. I am a fan of what the MDIA has done. I applaud the founders and leaders of the league. Good luck to all teams that play in the MDIA this season but most teams will pay the dues and watch the same or close to the same teams in the A playoffs again this year. Congrats on the new B division playoffs it is a step in a positive direction.

[onpoint]

the lax, I think each board can handle itself. No need for cross posting stuff or trying to incite some sort of riot . . .

[dukeuniv21]

The poor will stay poor and the rich will stay rich because there is a large gap between the good and the bad. The elite programs will draw kids that don't play D1, D2, D3 and maybe even draw kids away from going D3 or D2. Players transfer back alot to these club teams from these "real" lacrosse programs. You can recuit all you want, but if you aren't in the elite teams then you are going to have a big problem recuiting because the gap between the top teams and everyone else is big, unlike D1 and so on and so on. UCSB and CSU don't need to actively recuit all of the time because there are guys that want to come and play for them and not teams else where. And no one is going to want to come to a program and pay to play if they don't have a chance to win the national championship, not the top players atleast.

[the lax]

I totally agree with Duke Univ. Players pay 2000$ at CSU for a reason.

[the lax]

How angry does this make you?

"The only thing that really sort of set off the petty, chip-on-the-shoulder side of me in a big way all day was when the P.A. announcer revealed the final score at the end of the game to one and all and for once and for all, he blatantly and suddenly referred to the game as an “Exhibition”, as if now all of a sudden it really doesn’t count. My really mature (but mostly private) response to that was, “Fine!” And thanks for playing the national anthem before our exhibition." - Flip

I really hate the politics of D3 lacrosse.

[Jason Newell]

One thing about the "Exhibition" comment, a CC player went up to a CSU player after the comment, and told him that both he and all of his teammates prepared and played this as a real game, not an exhibition. I think it was more of the PA announcer acting on his own accord and not the true feelings from anyone on the team.

[the lax]

Either way, good win for the Rams. Good luck against Denver's club team.