Michigan Lacrosse: National Champions!

...what future plans the AD has for Men's LAX is a question that needs to be posed directly to Dave Brandon at his next media availability (assuming there's one before the self-imposed sanctions presser on 25  May). 

"Within the past couple years, Michigan's first D-1 varsity program started up at University of Detroit."

This is incorrect.  MSU had a varsity program for some time in the '90s.

Woo woo!  They have turned me into a lacrosse fan.  Get busy Mr. Brandon, you've got a couple teams to promote to varsity.  Go Blue!

According to Wikipedia, the lacrosse team is Michigan's most successful program with a win percentage above 80% all time. Seems like they've outgrown the MCLA and deserve a shot as a varsity program.

I think I'm going to type out an email to Brandon this very afternoon...

It looks like the club team has raised the level of funding and infrastructure on their own to a point where a transition to varsity should be a smooth one.  The kind of success these guys have had deserves to be rewarded.  I don't see any reason why the athletic department shouldn't make this happen as soon as possible.

I played for Michigan Lacrosse in the late 90s.  At that time it was like most other club teams in the country:  lacrosse was a great reason to travel, stay in relatively good shape, have fun doing it, and partying.  We did not hold back.  Coach JP had just taken over the reigns of Michigan Lacrosse.  He knew he had the athletic and lacrosse talent to play far better than we were playing...and we convinced ourselves under his leadership to CHOOSE to take it to another level.  I was fortunate in that I played for BOTH types of Michigan lacrosse...the relaxing and fun true 'club' type team...and the demanding and serious 'club' team they are now.  I doubt my later teams were anywhere as serious and driven as they are now, but they were night and day different from my first few seasons at Michigan lacrosse.  The beautiful thing was that we enjoyed it just as much!  We enjoyed pushing ourselves athletically, we enjoyed every minute of it.  We were driven, we sopped up the "we are michigan men" stuff of Lloyd, Bo Schembechler and Jerry Hanlon.  I wouldn't trade it for the world. 

So when I hear bad blood talk about how everyone hates the wolverines, how we think we're so good, how it's some unfair advantage we have...I just shake my head.  It's a choice.  It's a choice that every single person can make.  Perhaps it's an easier choice for a michigan alum.  we have an uncommon heritage in our school and athletic department that trickles into the veins of every single student.  The type of person that goes to Michigan doesn't settle.  That's why they are at a place like Michigan.  

I don't see what JP , his coaches and players have built as a result of some unfair advantage they have over the whole MCLA...  It's the job of the coach to set up equipment deals for the team, it's the job of the coach to inspire alumni to contribute, it's the job of the coach to share the seasons moments with alumni (if you didn't know it, JP writes a 10 page letter every week to us alumni highlighting every detail of the season...we love it!).  Some club coaches just take things to a different level than others.  But no matter how well organized and driven the coaching staff is, it's ultimately up to players how good they want to be.  They have to choose to put the blood sweat and tears into their practices, and extend them to the games.  Michigan Mens Lacrosse does that better than any non-varsity squad out there.  Frankly Michigan CLUB lacrosse does it better than some D1 varsities.  As their goalie Stone said after the game "we just can't stop winning".  I absolutely love that attitude. 

Whether Michigan Lacrosse gets the opportunity to take their attitude to the next level (varsity) doesn't matter to me.  What matters to me is when they don't have the support, when their actions are driven not by a free education and when they are simply playing for the love of the game, that they choose to excel to this level. 

It's exhilarating to watch them play and to know that I was a very small part of this team years and years ago.   If they do get the privilege of varsity status, I frankly will respect the non-varsity players and alums more, because they choose to try to be great when all they had to do was have fun. 

As Jerry Hanlon would say slowly from a hunched over two point stance in an old tight UM golfshirt:  'BY GOD LETS GO BLUE!"

Dam straight!  Congrats to the 2010 MCLA Champions! 

P.S.  I have to also give a huge shout-out to Chapman and ASU, especially the Sun Devils...the quality of club lacrosse these days is bewildering and exciting.  It is a clear testament to me to how fast the sport has grown in the nation and how dedicated the past players - turned - coaches are to the game.  Cheers to all coaches for helping push this amazing game so far...all coaches, not just the college club coaches.  club lacrosse LIVE on TV?  never thought i'd see it. 

I love this team. I love this game. I hope Brandon makes the right choice.

Do it

...of game recaps.

laxmagazine.com

Sometimes beauty has to take a back seat to brains.

It did on Saturday night, when Michigan used a cerebral approach – and perhaps a dull brand of lacrosse – to rein in the good looking Arizona State transition game and offense, allowing the Wolverines to squeeze out a 12-11 victory in the MCLA Division I national championship game at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park.

“We wanted to possess and not give them a lot of transition opportunities,” said Michigan coach John Paul. “We felt comfortable playing six-on-six with them, but we wanted to be really careful on the offensive end so they were not coming right back down our throats.”
 

westsidelax.com

The University of Michigan men’s lacrosse team’s default attack mode is to stall, yet when the team sped up its transition late in the fourth quarter Saturday night, the Wolverines scored what stood up to be the winning goal of their third straight national title.

For most of the game, Michigan possessed the ball and rotated it around the perimeter, as if waiting for a referee to lift his arm to give a stall warning, at which point an attackman might bull-dodge toward the goal. Michigan had more than 85 percent time of possession, and the Wolverines outshot Arizona State, 56-30.

In Michigan’s semifinal Friday, a 12-10 win over No. 4 Chapman, spectators booed the Wolverines’ boring play. But the players didn’t care, Yealy said.

“The strategy was just to eat the clock up,” Yealy said. “We also did it against Chapman, and you could hear the whole stadium booing. But in a close game like that, you’ve got to kill the clock and do what you’ve got to do to hang on.”

I'm so proud of this team finishing the season the way they did. The team has so much talent that they can walk over most of the MCLA teams. The reason they can beat the other top teams is the work they put in. The coaches have these guys ready for every possible situation and the time the guys spend at practice and off the field work has led to another championship. The next obvious step would be going varsity and I hope they do. A lot will need to be done, but Michigan already brings in D1 caliber recruits. Going varsity will clearly increase those numbers. One thing is certain: Whether this team goes varsity next season, in 5 years, or in 20, the coaches and players will always approach this game with the drive and effort that all Michigan fans can be proud of. Go Blue!

For all of the envy and hated of this Michigan MCLA team, their primary advantage comes not from the resources that they have, but from the approach they take - an approach available to any club willing to take it.  JP runs the program the way a serious D1 program is run, and his players buy in.  They may not have D1 levels of talent, but they have high-end D1 attitudes toward the game, and in the way they carry themselves.  Also, it should be noted that the resources really began to flow after this change in approach!

Couldn't watch the game last night and was frantically searching for the score when I returned home.  Glad to see another championship.  The jump to D-1 needs to happen.  I'm excited for the proposed lax facilities and hope they are built soon. 

Go Blue! Hopefully varsity is the next step, both for you and the women's team!

...argieshark.  and i second what mgoshoe says about asking Dave Brandon at a presser.  I'd like to get an answer about the whole Title IX issue as well, a quick glance at wikipedia leads me to believe that there is no hard and fast rule as to number of sports or scholarships merely that you have to provide an equal opportunity to both genders.  anyway, congrats to the lacrosse team.

The way i see it is that there is no other option for the program; they must take the steps necessary to make the team a varsity program.  The program has reached the pinnacle of the club level and therefore the University must take these steps. 

If the University decides to wait on the program i expect a decline in the team, much like Tim stated.  They have nothing else to achieve, yeah they can continue winning the MCLA year in and year out, but i would imagine Coach JP would want a new challenge in coaching and the team would become bored with winning.  The program needs to take the steps to become DI and force the program to continue to grow and develop. 

Just think of naming the top DI programs in five years, Hopkins, Virginia, Duke, and Michigan.

GO M LAX!!!!!

GO D1!!!!!!!

If anyone would like to give details of the sore attitude re: M Lax, i'd be interested to read. Examples? Specifics?

no way on taking men's lax varsity. It's not that I'm against it, I just don't see it happening with title ix. unless, they bring women's lax with em. are they any good?

Do we offer scholarships or preferred admissions to athletes for non-varsity sports?  And does the NCAA have any authority to regulate non-varsity sports?

I think that it will be a hard sell to the AD, because of how tough times are economically right now. Given that we would have to add a women's team to balance this out with title ix, or cut another men's program, it does not seem logical. Having said that, I know that Northwestern made the decision to start a women's team a few years ago, and they are dominant.

Sweet Bejesus, three in a row!

Well done men!

I played for Michigan  years ago and I can tell you the California and Colorado kids can play.  There are pockets of good talent out west and they do send a lot of kids east to play. But, a lot of the talent slips through the cracks and ends up at schools like Colorado, CSU, Arizona and Cal. 

I was very impressed with the play of Chapman and ASU.  I think it goes to show that Michigan has raised the level of play not only for themselves but for the rest of the league.  Michigan may have outgrown this league but I think there a handful of teams that are not that far behind them.

I would love to see Michigan start a varsity program.  It won't enjoy immediate success but I don't think it would be very long.  Michigan already has Division 1 talent on campus now and that is without a varsity program, scholarships or too much help from the admissions office.  I would say Michigan would have a recruiting edge on half of the teams that made the NCAA tournament this year, based solely on its non-lacrosse strengths.  Out of these schools where would you rather go to school; Stony Brook, Hofstra, Delaware, Loyola, Mount St. Mary's, Denver or Michigan?  I think one of those would pique a recruit's interest more than the others, but I'm fairly biased so...

I would even argue that NCAA lacrosse needs Michigan just as much as Michigan needs it.  I love catching games on TV but I am SICK of the same teams.  Everytime the Final 4 is made up of Virginia, Duke, Princeton and Hopkins, that is bad for the sport (thankfully this year there will be no Final 4 for Syr, JHU and Prin).  There is far greater parity these days but its still largely the same.  Lacrosse is badly in need of some new blood.

Hopefully Coach Tierney at Denver and AD Brandon at Michigan can shift the balance of power slightly westward. 

But I just hope Michigan keeps rolling and continues to raise the bar for the club game.  Go Blue!  Go for #4 next year! 

http://www.collegelax.us/news/2010/05/16/mcla-all-america-teams-announced/

Congrats to the lacrosse team on an incredibly impressive feat.  However, I must say that the arguments for adding them to the varsity roster aren't impressive.  First of all, their dominance at the club level is not an indicator of potential to be dominate at the varsity level.  They are showing that they a group that takes their sport seriously and are dedicated to success, but successfully finding good players from your student body is different than successfully recruiting the best talent to your school to compete.

Varsity or risk stagnation?  Look at other club leagues (eg rugby).  The same teams manage to be the best for decades sometimes.

As far as the makeup and growth of lacrosse... Ohio State is the lone example of a non east coast public school having varsity lacrosse.  Penn State is in the east, where all but 6 varsity teams reside. 4/6 teams were named in the article, as if they were an example of a broader reality. (Detroit Mercy, Ohio State, Notre Dame, Denver, Air Force, and Bellarmine are all 6).   47/60 varsity teams are private schools.  Out of the 13 public institutions with varsity lacrosse teams, only one resides outside of the Midatlantic/Northeast regions... Ohio State.  While Notre Dame and UDM recently gained lacrosse teams, Butler in Indianapolis recently disbanded its team and Hobart College in New York recently dropped to Division III.  The Great Western Lacrosse League just disbanded as well.

I don't think that it is the right atmosphere for Michigan to create a varsity team.  It appears that the club is very well supported by a group of alumni, and there is no reason that will change anytime soon.  Congrats on a great season.