Staff Picks: What We're Looking Forward To in 2012
by Lacrosse Magazine Staff | LaxMagazine.com
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| How will the Denver men's team,
and Chase Carraro, follow a historic 2011? That's one storyline the
LM staff will keep tabs on this year. © Lee Weissman |
Enough looking back at 2011. It's all about what's next. Here's what the Lacrosse Magazine staff is looking forward to in lacrosse in 2012.
Matt DaSilva
Editor, Lacrosse Magazine
Each year, it seems, we're enthralled with projections about which team will upset the balance of power in college lacrosse and make an unlikely postseason run. But this year, I'm more intrigued by which of the surprise teams from 2011 have staying power in 2012, and which of them will fade as flashes in the pan. Bucknell, Denver and Villanova come to mind on the Division I men's side, as do Albany, Boston College, Florida and Loyola among women's teams. Denver and Florida are top-five teams in Lacrosse Magazine's preseason rankings. I don't think Denver has the leadership on defense to make it back to the final four. Call it the Tebow effect, but I believe Kitty Cullen could take Florida all the way.
Clare Lochary
Assistant Editor, Lacrosse Magazine
I'm really looking forward to seeing the NCAA's new yellow card rule for women's lacrosse. The new rule will create real man-up/man-down situations, so there is finally a serious penalty for a major foul. Besides making women's lacrosse safer, I always thought it was weird that the men's game carries harsher penalties than the women's game, which is ostensibly more about finesse play. My conspiracy theory, which I think has a grain of truth in it: the penalty differences are grounded in some really outdated ideas about how you educate/discipline boys and girls differently, and that boys need to be punished when they transgress (i.e., stuck in the penalty box with the team at a serious disadvantage) and girls just need to shamed publically (i.e., a yellow card that has little to no effect on play).
Besides all that, it will be really fun to watch teams adapt to the new situation. I like things that force players and coaches to get creative.
Matt Forman
Assistant Editor, Lacrosse Magazine
The Philadelphia Wings' decision to use players' Twitter handles instead of last names on their jerseys' nameplates has yielded varying responses. Lacrosse fans have reacted by saying everything from, "Hey, that's creative," to "Gimmick like this sets the league back and makes us look like joke," from Jeff Zywicki -- and it's a tad ironic that some displeasure over the move was expressed on, you got it, Twitter -- but regardless of your reaction, it'll be interesting to follow the development of the relationship between lacrosse and social media in 2012. It's probably safe to dub 2011 "The Year of Twitter," and the network figures to play a more prominent role in shaping society's conversation in 2012. How does lacrosse best fit into the ever-changing digital landscape? How can we promote the game through social media without coming across as tacky? What steps can we take to inspire a healthy dialogue about the sport? Who is going to take a leading role? Those are all questions that will be answered -- or at least start to be addressed -- in the next calendar year.
Brian Logue
Director of Communications
As we get set to move into 2012, it means another year of US Lacrosse events. I love going around the country, seeing people really enjoying the game and playing the sport the way it should be played. That's something I look forward to every year.
"I don't think my Facebook news feed goes more than a few hours without an update from the Hounds." |
Another thing that intrigues me about 2012 is Major League Lacrosse. The league welcomes expansion teams in Charlotte and Columbus, and you can tell they're pumped. I don't think my Facebook news feed goes more than a few hours without an update from the Hounds. The expansion has led to tons of player movement and most of the guys seem excited about their new homes.
There's also a continued influx of former college coaches into the league, most notably former Towson coach Tony Seaman as Denver's GM and former Rutgers coach Jim Stagnitta as Denver's coach. Having known Jim for 20 years and watching him coach at the Division I and III levels, I'm really curious to see if he can get Denver over the hump and lead the Outlaws to their first MLL title.
Gabriella O'Brien
Art Director
The biggest thing that I am looking forward to this lacrosse season is my maternity leave!!!
Brad Tarr
Advertising Sales Manager
I'm looking forward to increased parity in men's Division I lacrosse. When I was a freshman at Fairfield in the mid-90s, we lost to Brown, 29-2, and beat Manhattan, 25-2. The gap between top and bottom has narrowed considerably, to the point where those types of scores would not be seen in today's game. In recent years, teams like Delaware, Massachusetts, and Denver have found themselves playing on Memorial Day weekend, and it gives hope to all teams, not just the traditional top-10, that they can compete for a national championship.
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| How will coaches and players
adjust to the NCAA's new yellow card rule in women's lacrosse? © Greg Wall |
Bill Tanton
Assistant Editor, Lacrosse Magazine
A men's final four that produces another new face in the game's elite pantheon – a la Denver '11 or Duke winning its first ever national championship in'10. I stay on the lookout for new faces all the time, mainly because when it happens that is a tangible sign that lacrosse truly is growing even at the top level. It is such an inspiration to new schools when any team comes up from the depths and proves the sport is not owned by Syracuse, Hopkins, Virginia, etc.
Occasionally a new face has joined the final four only to soon leave that company – such as UMass and Delaware. I expect Denver to remain an elite team and get even better because of the coaching of Bill Tierney.
Also, I'm looking forward to strong support for the MLL's two incoming franchises in Charlotte and Ohio. It seems to me the MLL is risking an embarrassment in both locations but I hope that's not the case. Once again, it's such a healthy thing for lacrosse to prosper in areas beyond the Northeast, indicating that US Lacrosse's efforts to grow the sport responsibly are paying off.
Paul Ohanian
Web Content Manager, uslacrosse.org
There's no shortage of interesting storylines at many levels of the game that intrigue me as the 2012 college season quickly approaches. In no particular order, I'm curious to see...
- If the Denver men's team will be able to build on the momentum of its historic run to the final four last season? Expectations are high (No. 5 in Lacrosse Magazine's preseason poll), meaning that the Pioneers are unlikely to sneak up on opponents this year.
- If North Carolina can make a serious run at the men's national championship? Buoyed by the addition of talented offseason transfers Jack McBride and Davey Emala joining a strong returning nucleus, is this the year that the Tar Heels finally return to the national semifinals for the first time since 1993?
- Speaking of droughts, will Maryland's men make it all the way to the top of the mountain and seize the NCAA hardware? Last year, the Terps came tantalizingly close to winning their first national title since 1975, losing to Virginia in the championship game. Can the Terps (No. 7 in LM's preseason poll) close the deal?
- If Florida, Virginia, Princeton, Duke (or anybody else) can challenge the stranglehold that Maryland and Northwestern have put on the women's Division I championship? Either the Terps or Wildcats have won the past seven NCAA titles and 14 of the last 17. To compound matters, Northwestern and Maryland begin the 2012 campaign ranked 1-2, respectively, in LM's preseason poll.
Corey McLaughlin
Editor, LaxMagazine.com; Assistant Editor, Lacrosse
Magazine
Recruiting, has and will continue to be, something I keep my eye on. In the summer of 2009, I wrote a story about the advent of sophomore recruiting. Just a few years later, the practice has quickly become widely-accepted at the NCAA Division I men's college level. It's a funny thing. Recruiting is the lifeblood for college programs, but for some coaches it's the part of the job they enjoy the least, and they especially don't enjoy having to spent summers away from home, recruiting kids so early and projecting where they may be as college players 4-6 years from now. Meanwhile, parents get worried about their kid making a college decision before they've reached halftime of their high school career. Players, who should be the most worried, are just along for the ride, but, at the same time, also have to be excited about getting college offers are playing just one year of high school ball.
In my opinion, there just seems to be so much angst and uncertainty surrounding the present and future of college recruiting from all parties involved, in all sports, not just lacrosse. There has to be a better way to do it and police it.
Jac Coyne
Assistant Editor, LaxMagazine.com
In NCAA Division II men's, I'm foreseeing a bloodbath on Selection Sunday, with more than the usual one team being jilted when the bids are rolled out. Both the North and Central regions are stacked with tournament-quality teams, and the South is improving, so I expect the selection committee to have a miserable spring trying choose the appropriate candidates in this last year before expansion.
Sadly, in Division III, I'm expecting a predictable season, with all of the usual suspects filling out the tournament bracket come May, and Salisbury as the last team standing. For diversity's sake, I hope I'm wrong.
South Carolina has never been confused with a hotbed, but the Palmetto State will be the epicenter for the MCLA this spring when Greenville hosts the national tournament. I'll be curious to see if a new locale can carve out a slice of the lacrosse pie.
