NCAA Final Four

[horn17]

What was the total attendance?

inside lacrosse said for the championship game it was 48,443.

they announced Saturday at 55,000

[CATLAX MAN]

Secondly, the stall warning in some cases seemed a little premature. There were some instances where both teams were going to the goal, but the D was playing solid.

I noticed this also. I thought they were a little quick on this also.

[horn17]

Not really, i think the temperatures played to this as they wanted to keep all the games moving...teams were attempting to play possesion offense to wear teams down in the heat...they usually let them have about a minute and a half, but without an intiation....after that the refs got frustrated and wanted to keep the games moving so told them to keep it in....you could tell espcially in the D3 game - that coaches planned to use the heat to their advantage...

[Anderson]

I actually really enjoyed the way the stalls were called, and wish that there was more of it in the MCLA. I thought some may have been a little quick, but not by much. From my experience it is rarely called in the MCLA and should at least be used as a tool to keep the game moving so long as it is not abused.

[Dan Wishengrad]

Splitting the Semis and Finals as suggested above would be a huge mistake IMHO. It would kill attendance for both rounds and remove the championship weekend atmosphere where fans from FOUR DI teams make the Final Four pilgrimage with the hopes of seeing their school win a title.

On reasons why Duke lost, I saw it as a combination of:

1. An overall terrible first half. Loftus contributed to this, I thought he was definitely off his game early, slow reacting to the shot out of the stick head. Hop also dominated the first-half faceoffs, winning the first seven or eight.

2. Unforced turnovers all game long, JHU definitely took better care of the ball on their possessions. Duke threw it away alot (especially for a #1 seed) and sure seemed to relish trying to dodge through Hop double-teams who took it away. Maybe the Blue Devils were trying to match Rabil, who's swim move DID split alot of double-teams?

3. Hopkins was a deeper team, and had a big advantage when 2nd lines ran against second lines.

4. Danowski and Greer both had sub-par games. When great teams win titles, their big players usually have big games. If either of Duke's attack stars had had a big game -- especially at crunch time -- Duke likely wins.

Still, it was a great game, though not as magical as the Cornell-Duke semi. That was one for the ages.

[byualum]

4. Danowski and Greer both had sub-par games. When great teams win titles, their big players usually have big games. If either of Duke's attack stars had had a big game -- especially at crunch time -- Duke likely wins.

So does Danowski still win the Tewaaraton?

[horn17]

yep, because it could be stated that he would have won it last year as well.....if.....

[Vols2]

4. Danowski and Greer both had sub-par games. When great teams win titles, their big players usually have big games. If either of Duke's attack stars had had a big game -- especially at crunch time -- Duke likely wins.

So does Danowski still win the Tewaaraton?

He better!! (he's a cousin of mine so I have some obvious bias)...but the entire year he's been the best player, 1 game (an important one) he doesn't show up.

[StrykerFSU]

I think Danowski is still the favorite. First off, he's a senior and Rabil is a junior so the argument can be made that Rabil could win it next year. Danowski will also have the sympathy vote for not only the loss of his junior season but also some voters might feel sorry that Duke did not finish its storybook run to redemption.

It's true that Danowski had a tough championship game. I don't think he had recovered from the far more difficult semifinal battle with Cornell, a game that he was forced to leave with leg cramps. JHU so completely dominated the first half that it must have felt like he wasn't even in the game until after half time. That had to be frustrating for an attackman.

It was also clear that JHU was concentrating on stopping Greer and Danowski at all costs as evidenced by the scoring from Crotty, Ross, Quinzoni, Lamade and company. Truly, big time players have to perform in the big game but couldn't the argument be made that Danowski might have been helping his team the most by not forcing his game and allowing his teammates to exploit a cheating defense?

Statistics aside, every time I saw Danowski with the ball I was amazed with his overall skill level. The kid is amazing! He would get my vote.

[StrykerFSU]

Interesting fact:
Doug Shanahan (2001) was the only player to win the Tewaaraton without having won the National Championship.

Also, it appears that Mikey Powell is the only non-senior to win the award when he won it as a sophomore in 2002.

[byualum]

I think in the past couple of years, the Tewaaraton has rarely gone to the best player in the country. I think Dino will probably win it, but I think Rabil is the best player in the country. I know all of the numbers Dino and Greer put up, but Rabil got better as the stakes got higher. Overtime winners vs. Princeton and Maryland. Wing-play on the face-offs and one of the better ssdm's Hopkins had.

Matt Ward won it last year, you could argue Dino was the best player in the country last year. However, I think Jack Reid had more impact on the games he played in than any other player. Reid was the best player I saw all of last year.

2005 was the same...Kyle Harrison had a great season, and was huge in the tournament, but, as I've argued many times on this board, Brodie Merrill was easily the best player in the country.

2004...Hard to argue against Mikey Powell, but for my money, Matt Russell was the best player in the country.

[CATLAX MAN]

2005 was the same...Kyle Harrison had a great season, and was huge in the tournament, but, as I've argued many times on this board, Brodie Merrill was easily the best player in the country.

2004...Hard to argue against Mikey Powell, but for my money, Matt Russell was the best player in the country.

Agreed & Agreed. Brodie Merrill was hands down the best player that year. Navy does not go anywhere in 2004 without Matt Russell's contributions.

[sohotrightnow]

At the risk of being berated by people, was anybody else less than impressed with the goalies this weekend? I mean, there was one time when a Duke midfielder shot it from 15 yards on the run and it beat the Hopkins goalie stick side high. There were a couple of other shots that goalies missed this weekend that had me scratching my head. Granted, all 4 teams, with the obvious exception of Delaware, can shoot the lights out, but it seemed as if goalie play was down this year. I also feel that Rabil should have been voted MVP, not Schwartzman.

[Steno]

But Old Spice said Schwartzmann was the best! How can you not trust a deoderant?

[echo 600]

I have to disagree here. On the first point, I always feel that Quint and company are awful. Who ever told them that you had to talk every single second without pause needs to have their head examined. I get so very tired of being told about how to play the game. Do NFL announcers spend the whole Super Bowl acting like it is an instructional clinic? I would much prefer analysis of the offensive/defensive matchups, what kind of formation a team is using on clears, zone vs. man to man, etc then to hear them chattering like a bunch of monkeys in a tree about scooping groundballs. I have gotten to the point that watching the game on mute is a viable option.

The Warrior commercial featured Nick Polanco who is widely seen as the most intense and physical defensemen in the MLL so I think that the commercial was just about perfect. He is also featured on the cover of this month's IL magazine. If you want to get upset about Warrior advertising, check out the ad in that same issue for the "Stiffi".

First point: With a sport where growth is so important, I like that the fact that they are explaining the rules and concepts of the game. It helps newcomers know what's going on.

Second point: Alright, Nick Polanco is widely seen as the most intense and physical defensemen in the MLL. Good for him. They should show some clips of him playing and market him as such, instead of having him run around like one of the Mountain Dew snowboarder idiots.