Comments on: If You Could Add Another Sport…

By: lacrosse recruiting camps

lacrosse recruiting camps — Fri, 20 Feb 2009 19:56:16 +0000

great tips. I enjoyed reading this

By: Paul

Paul — Wed, 21 Jan 2009 15:45:11 +0000

I agree that Lacrosse is popular elsewhere. I’m just not convinced that Lacrosse’s particular elsewhere is that big. It seems to be popular on the East Coast from Maine to the Carolinas, but interest seems to flag a bit West of the Appalachians. I’m not saying this is a compelling reason not to have a Lax team. The same reasoning hasn’t stopped us from having a Water Polo team.

By: Other Chris

Other Chris — Wed, 21 Jan 2009 15:01:11 +0000

Stanford is looking at possibly eliminating some sports to deal with a budget deficit:

http://www.usatoday.com/printedition/sports/20090121/c9update21_st.art.htm

So one part of your nefarious scheme is already working!

As another East Coaster (and not even from Maryland!) I agree that you might not realize how popular lacrosse is elsewhere.

By: RFV

RFV — Mon, 19 Jan 2009 23:22:16 +0000

I have to disagree with your assessment that lacrosse is a niche sport. I think you severely underestimate the popularity of the sport, especially at the high school level. It is huge on the east coast from New England to the south and gaining ground in the midwest and west every year. It is an exciting, physical sport to watch and it is the natural choice to add to Michigan’s athletic portfolio.

By: GregGoBlue

GregGoBlue — Mon, 19 Jan 2009 23:07:02 +0000

Definitely, definitely Men’s Lacrosse. I played on the U of M Men’s Lacrosse Team a few years ago, and, believe me, the program is legit. Coach John Paul is an excellent head coach with lots of knowledge about the game. In previous seasons, the Men’s Lacrosse team has played various division I opponents and hung with them all (they even played final four-bound John’s Hopkins a few years ago!).

The players have to pay their own way (somewhere around $1700), but we already largely have great sponsorships in place. Ridell, for example, makes the U of M lacrosse helmets (we were the prototype for their LAX helmet line), and U of M lacrosse, at least when I played, was outfitted with premium equipment from Warrior.

With a national championship under our belt and many, many conference titles, the Men’s Lacrosse team is a prime candidate for elevation. Go Blue!

By: Julian

Julian — Mon, 19 Jan 2009 19:27:54 +0000

Although most people don’t know this, men’s crew has been even more successful than lacrosse in recent years. For years they’ve consistently been a top 25 team as well as the top club team in the country seven of the last eight years. The coach, Gregg Hartsuff, coached for the Olympic team in Athens. The team has produced 8 national team members. A new indoor training facility is being built, but the program is, in general, run on a shoestring. It would be nice to see these boys get some more support.

By: Ann Arbor 1879

Ann Arbor 1879 — Mon, 19 Jan 2009 18:17:04 +0000

Water Polo should be a NCAA sanctioned sport in the mid-west. All Big Ten teams plus ND all have failry long standing club teams in place. As does GVSU. Title IX is the only reason for it not being a varsity sport in my opinion.

By: Pat

Pat — Mon, 19 Jan 2009 17:37:33 +0000

This is what I have been saying for years. Mens Lacrosse used to be a varsity sport, but alas Title IX ruined that. It would be a good fit because there is already an excellent coach in pplace, there are sponsors, and Adidas makes lacrosse stuff, so it would fit in with the rest of the department. The crazy thing is that lacrosse at Michigan is treated by the team and coaches as pretty much a Varsity sport, but they have to pay for it themselves. I doubt we would challenge for National Championships within the first ten years (Only four teams have won one since 1977: Princeton, Hopkins, Syracuse, and Virginia). I do think that the team could make the NCAA tournament’s later rounds however, which would then attract better recruits, and so on.