KARE 11/Swarm and Lacrosse

[TexOle]

In my opinion KARE 11 has not given lacrosse the respect the sport deserves. Only last year when the sport was sponsored by the MSHSL did they even recognize it as a sport. A few years ago they failed to show the All Star game on TV by replacing it with some blooper show and infomercials. Last year they had Eric Perkins play in a game. Perkins further showed complete disrespect for the sport by acting like a fool. His antics ruined a fun game. Now the Swarm is retiring his number and giving him a bobblehead. I am tired of this complete disrespect for lacrosse in Minnesota. I have yet to see the Swarm do anything to promote lacrosse in Minnesota. Other than Ryan Ward who is coaching a few teams that were established before he arrived and Colin Auchenbach who has brought notoriety to lacrosse in Minnesota, nobody has done anything of note to help the sport in Minnesota. I am tired of this from disrespect towards the Minnesota lacrosse community by the Swarm and KARE 11.

On a positive note the game on Feb. 10 is MLA bandana night. Hopefully there is a good crowd for that game.

[msum26]

I originally looked at this post and thought yeah i kind of agree. However, i do believe that whole eric perkins thing was a bunch of non-sense

however, i do believe a lot of people in minnesota have tried to strengthen lacrosse growth in minnesota and promote it.

Rob Graff, at UMD does a wonderful job with his team and i believe a lot of people see UMD as a great lacrosse program...Thus being from minnesota brings recognition.

Mark Helleneck, with his lax loons camps, his winter combine, st. johns camp does a lot to help the growth and recognition of lacrosse in minnesota.

There is quite a few things going on throughout the state with lacrosse its just a matter of sifting through the other MSHSL sports and notes to find it.

[TexOle]

There are way too many names to say on this board that have helped lacrosse in Minnesota. Unfortunately the KARE 11 and other media along with the Swarm refuses to acknowledge those that have made lacrosse possible in Minnesota. I think a better solution would be to have a night to honor those that have built lacrosse in Minnesota so that this game would be possible. I will gladly support the MLA night. I hope the place sells out that night so everyone can see the true lacrosse community in MN. It would be awesome if the MLA could sell tickets in advance and get a percentage of those sales.

[DwinsChamps]

I originally looked at this post and thought yeah i kind of agree. However, i do believe that whole eric perkins thing was a bunch of non-sense

however, i do believe a lot of people in minnesota have tried to strengthen lacrosse growth in minnesota and promote it.

Rob Graff, at UMD does a wonderful job with his team and i believe a lot of people see UMD as a great lacrosse program...Thus being from minnesota brings recognition.

Mark Helleneck, with his lax loons camps, his winter combine, st. johns camp does a lot to help the growth and recognition of lacrosse in minnesota.

There is quite a few things going on throughout the state with lacrosse its just a matter of sifting through the other MSHSL sports and notes to find it.

There absolutely are people in MN doing great things for lacrosse, most of them coaches or former players of UMLL teams. The Swarm could be doing much more to contribute to lax in the state.

[AuggieLaxCoach]

i would have to disagree with you Tex. As a player and now a coach, the Swarm have been involved with positively spreading lacrosse in MN. When I was a sophomore, they interviewed myself, the other 3 captains and the coaches at UST for their weekly Swarm show that airs during the season. They ran a whole piece about our team on the show. The Swarm works with the youth, high school and college teams in MN to raise funds for their programs, along with allowing teams to play before and after the Swarm games. I played games at the Xcel Center twice as a player and will coach one this February. I have nothing but good things to say about the work the Swarm does to support many programs in MN. The whole Kare-11, Perkins debacle was very disrespectful to our sport and all involved in the great state of Minnesota. But, there is an overall ignorance in MN as far as lacrosse in concerned. The box game is nothing like the game we play and it is some what misleading to try to promote our game within the confines of the box game, because they are so different. But, I would say that instead of us sitting here on the forums pissin and moanin about the lack of recognition for the torch bearers of our sport in Minnesota by the Swarm, why don't we contact the Swarm and try to arrange a night where all the people instrumental to the growth of our sport can be honored?

[Pinball]

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Check out the links above to prove that KARE 11 does have a little bit of heart when it comes to field lacrosse.

I really dont think eric perkins is trying to disrespect a sport. he just gets into his character and has some fun, KARE 11 definitley is the metro leader in prep sports. Lacrosse will slowly come in more and more.

[BB]

Perkins is a toolbox. His bit with the swarm, really just looks at Lax as "not a real sport" would a real sport let a press member suit up?

On a side note, I think there is a huge story missing on Graff, Lars, Art, Hellenack and the guys that got Lax in MN going. Hellenack in the Highschool ranks and the other coaches through the UMLL. It was those UMLL players and programs which started coaching and putting clubs together in highschools which eventually became Varsity.

The problem is, I think it may be too big of a story for the Swarm, to truly cover, or really anyone on the outside to cover. A book could probably be written about it.

Lastly about the Swarm, it really doesn't entertain me as much because it is soooo much different than field, I almost feel it does a disservice, as the fighting, slashing and the cheap shots, and lack of apparent strategy don't showcase to others exactly what Lacrosse is about. They instead want it to look like Hockey without ice.