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Date	Title	Body
4 weeks 3 days ago	No.  Their win last year was	No.  Their win last year was against Mercer.  They were a two year old team.  Not brand new (but certainly not tradition rich). Good win for the boys today.  St. Joe's is far from a powerhouse, but they did have 5 wins this year.  From the stats, looks like a very complete game.  Logan looks like he had a shaky first half but really put the wall up in the second half.
4 weeks 5 days ago	No way he's on the hot seat	No way he's on the hot seat yet.  First recruiting class are freshmen, so really this year's team is the start of the varsity era.  Contrast that with the women's team, or some of the other new D1 men's teams, that had two years to recruit and get ready with only D1 players before playing.  JP still has half a roster of club players.  Good ones, no doubt, but most were not D1 caliber recruits and none of them were turning down offers from the big boys. Recruiting is going very well.  According to Laxpower and Inside Lacrosse they have 14 kids coming in this fall, including some studs like Mike Schlosser (Inside Lacrosse called him potentially the best midfielder in the country), Robbie Zonino, Ian King and Austin Shanks.  The 2014 class looks to be pretty much done too, and they have 7 2015's committed.  If you read their write ups on the sites that cover such stuff, a lot of them chose Michigan over some very good lacrosse schools. They don't even have their own facilities yet.  Look at the difference the PDC and Crisler made to basketball.  Lacrosse has literally nothing of their own.  When their facilities get built recruiting will take another step forward. Brandon has to understand the situation.  If they are around .500 in year 5 that's good realistically, assuming they keep playing a top 20 schedule.  It took Notre Dame 10 years and new facilities to go from mediocre D1 program to final four.  And that was a program that had already been D1 for 20 years before they finally started stepping it up. It's really too bad the Detroit game was cancelled.  It was probably going down to the wire.  St Joe's is a good opportunity this Saturday, but UM only has two days to prepare while the Hawks had all week.  At #1 Denver next Saturday will not be pretty.
6 weeks 3 days ago	Was at the game today.	Was at the game today.  Second one I've gotten to see live this season.  This team just doesn't have the talent or experience yet.  Three or four of the freshmen will be good as they develop.  Comparing them to Marquette isn't really fair.  All D1 recruits on that team.  Two years to recruit and get ready.  More transfers.  And still only two wins.  It will continue to be painful for another season or so, then less and less so as recruiting fills in the roster and better players commit. To be fair, they did a good job today at a lot of things.  Faceoffs were good.  Ground balls were better than they have been most of the season.  That's a key stat they were getting killed at earlier this season and now are improving.  The Delaware goalie played out of his mind.  Too many UM turnovers too, which is a talent thing as much as anything. OK.  Done with lacrosse for today.  Beat Cuse.
9 weeks 2 days ago	No question they are	No question they are improving.  My thoughts from today... Meter is their best dodger at attack.  But there is nobody there who can carry the offense (ie. no Trey Burke point guard type player).  Recruiting, recruiting, recruiting. That first midfield line is really talented and athletic.  And they are all freshmen.  They are putting the offense on their shoulders right now.  Joseph is tiny, but he's fast and tough.  Jackson is the best player on the team.  Hernandez is a beast.  They get free all the time, but they don't shoot well.  If these three guys get their shots going over the next couple of years, look out. There is no depth at midfield.  The second line did nothing.  They need Paras back.  He barely played again. Great to see the faceoff unit getting so much better.  Colgate is a very good faceoff team, and Lott and his wings did a great job. Logan had an off day by his standards.  I thought he let in a couple of softies.  He's very, very good though.  A great goalie is the way you start building a program.  He will win some games for them down the line. Defense is missing a few starters still.  Johnson, Swaney and Orr didn't play that I could see.  They slide A LOT which makes for a confusing defense to play, but it also forces the offense to make plays.  They make a lot of mistakes.  They had trouble with picks today as well. No problem clearing today.  There is no doubt they are playing with more confidence.  Where they really struggle is ground balls.  They just look like they get muscled off a lot of ground balls when it was a scrum.  Maybe that's all the freshmen who need to get tougher and stronger. The event itself was just kind of weird.  Horrible sight lines in a baseball stadium.  That and I don't like the Mets.  Decent crowd (they announced 15,000 and change), but it was spread throughout the stadium and I think a lot of people left after the first game.
9 weeks 2 days ago	Depends on what you mean by	Depends on what you mean by competing.  They are competing now.  Their last four have been close.  If you mean winning, they have a ways to go.  Another two years maybe to start winning more than a couple?  Even though this is Team Two, they only have one recruiting class in.  Watching them today, you can see the difference between the D1 recruits and the returning club guys.  They need the current freshmen to grow up, and they need two or three more classes for depth and more top end players. Will probably be 5-10 years before they have a shot at becoming really good.
9 weeks 2 days ago	Was at the game today.  It	Was at the game today.  It was cold, but not brutal.  I layered.  And drank. M&B - 7 guys on the defensive end happens a lot.  If you go offsides, which can happen on clears (it shouldn't, but it does every once in awhile), you just stay and play defense.  The flag is already down.  There's no reason to go back onsides at that point.  I've been playing and coaching a long time, and I see it a lot - especially at the high school level.  At the D1 level offsides happens less, but if you go off when the other team has possession, that's what you do.
9 weeks 2 days ago	Was at the game today.  It	Was at the game today.  It was cold, but not brutal.  I layered.  And drank. M&B - 7 guys on the defensive end happens a lot.  If you go offsides, which can happen on clears (it shouldn't, but it does every once in awhile), you just stay and play defense.  The flag is already down.  There's no reason to go back onsides at that point.  I've been playing and coaching a long time, and I see it a lot - especially at the high school level.  At the D1 level offsides happens less, but if you go off when the other team has possession, that's what you do.
10 weeks 14 hours ago	I get to see the boys live	I get to see the boys live this weekend!  Can't wait.  There's going to be a HUGE Michigan contingent there. So many freshmen playing right now.  That was expected.  I too am encouraged by what we're seeing.  Jackson, Hernandez, Logan, Kraus, Lott, Keady, Brown, Joseph, Moore, Kinek all seem to be getting a lot of time.  All freshmen.  Gaughan came in maybe the most hyped of all of them, and he hasn't even played yet because of injuries.  Keep in mind that JP put this class together very late, pretty much after everyone else was done, and still found a lot of talent.  The next couple of classes should get progressively better.  Once we get facilities, look out.  The wins are probably still a year or two away, and a great team is probably closer to 5-8 years away, but it's coming.  By the time this freshman class are seniors, the program will look completely different.
10 weeks 2 days ago	Citi Field game is going to	Citi Field game is going to be pretty cool.  Can't wait. I've said it before, but I completely agree with WolvinLA2.  Starting with the club roster set the development of the team back a couple of years compared to the more traditional way of doing it.  I'm not saying it was wrong.  The club players got a great opportunity they didn't anticipate when they came to Michigan, and their success was probably a big part of why the transition happened.  How great for them that they got the chance to be Team One.  But the difference between those guys and some of the freshmen in this class is clear.  The starting midfield line are all freshmen, and that's the strength of the offense.  That says a lot.  More recruiting classes will bring in more D1 talent and provide more quality depth.  Each class will be better than the last for the first few years too.  The fact that they are competing at all right now is a positive. Even the High Point game illustrated this fact.  They have only D1 kids on that roster.  Two classes worth, plus transfers.  Marquette is the same.  We think of them as newer, but both programs announced BEFORE Michigan. Aside from general maturation and depth, this team needs better defensive players, especially D middies, an attackman or two who can dodge, a backup goalie, and some second line middies who can be a threat. How many guys were out of the lineup yesterday?  Seems like a lot.  Injuries?  Suspensions? Hopefully some of those guys will be back this week.
11 weeks 2 days ago	High Point is playing their	High Point is playing their first year right now.  They are Michigan's next opponent, this Wednesday.  They did beat Towson earlier this season, but Towson was not ranked.  You are correct that both Marquette and High Point have two recruiting classes on campus and zero club players on the roster (I am a former club player, so I'm not ripping my fellow club guys - just pointing out the different approach).  Both of those programs spent last year preparing for this year with their varsity rosters.  So in some ways, they should be ahead of us right now. You have to start any good team with goaltending, and it looks like we have a great one in Logan.  Good to see from the stats that Lott did well facing off this game after getting crushed last week at Hopkins (Poppleton is dominating everyone).  That's another key position to build around.  Tons of freshmen getting experience right now.  It's going to be ugly for awhile. Of our 21 goals so far this year, 13 are from freshmen, 5 are from sophomores and the other 3 are from Paras who has been out for 2 games now with an injury that came early against Hopkins.  JP is definitely giving the young guys the opportunity to get experience. Thul for Army had 7 goals.  If you haven't seen him, he's a beast.  6-3, 230 and can bring it.  Glad he's going to be fighting for our side in a couple of years. Coming into this season I thought we had a shot in 5 games.  Bellarmine was one, but based on their play so far, including a really tight game with Loyola today, they are much better than anyone thought they'd be.  That leaves High Point this Wednesday, Hobart on Saturday, and St. Joe's and Detroit later this season.  Keep in mind that we are probably the underdog in every one of those games except maybe High Point.
12 weeks 2 days ago	The team has had many HS All	The team has had many HS All Americans. Even the club team got a few. Gaughan, not Graham, is their first ever Under Armour AA, which is a bigger deal. Gaughan has been hurt since the fall. Doubt he'll make an impact this year even if he gets healthy. Missed too much. Very impressed with some of the freshmen. Just have to remember they are freshmen.
14 weeks 2 days ago	From the stat sheet it looks	From the stat sheet it looks like they got killed on faceoffs, ground balls and shots.  Faceoffs would explain a lot of the ground ball and shots woes.  Lott didn't play again.  Have to wonder if he would have made a big enough difference to get the game closer.   Clearing is MUCH better than last year.  Turnovers are way down.  Special teams were good.  2 for 3 on EMO is great, and holding PSU to 1 for 6 is very good too.  I think it's becoming obvious that Logan is a very good goalie. Michigan had too many penalties. Both teams had bad shooting days.
14 weeks 3 days ago	Remember that their first	Remember that their first four games last year, including Detroit, they had a goalie playing who couldn't make saves or clear.  That's a tough skill set for a goalie.  With Weiss gone if Logan goes down they will be in the same situation again this year.  Assume that recruiting will take care of that depth in future years. I think you may be skewed a bit, but I love the optimism.  I played at Michigan, so nobody on here wants them to win more than I do.  But in OSU I saw a team that was vastly more skilled.  I do agree Bellarmine was winnable.  It seemed like every close game they had a breakdown at some point for a few minutes that killed them.  That's experience, and that's why I'm still a little pessimistic about this year.  By next year or late this season they should be much better at handling runs by the other team.
14 weeks 4 days ago	Thanks for this.  Tim's blog	Thanks for this.  Tim's blog over at greatlaxstate is really good for us UM lacrosse junkies, but I miss his coverage here at the homeship.  The more the better. I thought the team overachieved last year.  They had no business being close to some of the teams they hung with, and some of those games weren't actually as close as the final score indicated.  The only games where they really had a shot in the fourth quarter were Mercer (win), Jacksonville (OT loss), and Rutgers (loss).  I don't expect this season to be that much better.  They should be closer.  Maybe more 1 and 2 goal losses instead of 3 and 4 goal losses.  Maybe 1 or 2 more wins.  This is still a team with half a club roster and half freshman who were recruited late.
15 weeks 2 days ago	JP said in one of his alumni	JP said in one of his alumni emails that Weiss left the team but did not transfer, so I assume he either didn't want to be a backup or wasn't cut out for D1 lacrosse.  From the stats yesterday (16 saves and 6 goals against is phenomenal), it looks like they have a very good starter in Logan.  But time will tell.  I think it's safe to say that if Logan is out for any reason they are in trouble.  WolvinLA2 is right that they have very good goalies committed in each of the next three classes (Zonino in 13, Heidt in 14 and Garn in 15), so if they can get through this year healthy they will be in much better shape. Lott is on the roster.  Have to assume he was either hurt or suspended.  Hopefully he's back next week for the opener.  I can't imagine a D3 transfer (Wylie) or a kid who's never taken faceoffs before (Eisenreich) would beat the #1 faceoff recruit in the nation for the spot.  Scratch that...I can imagine it, but it's unlikely. Eisenreich did win 10 of 18.  That's pretty good.  Wylie struggled.
15 weeks 6 days ago	From a Hopkins perspective I	From a Hopkins perspective I see two major sticking points.  1. Having to alter a schedule that includes traditional rivals on traditional dates, many of which have been in place for decades (or over 100 years in a couple of cases).  2. ESPN deal.  Do they make money from this deal? If not, does the B1G offer include $$$ that would make a huge impact on a small D3 athletic department?  Does BTN allow them to keep an ESPN deal?  Does BTN give them a similar deal (can't see the other B1G schools signing off on that plan)?
17 weeks 4 days ago	While my background is	While my background is lacrosse and I'm as in to football and basketball as the next red-blooded American, I'm also a sports fan who is just as likely to stop channel surfing at a volleyball game or a tennis match as anything else, especially if there's a block M on one team's jerseys.  There's a natural spring sport rivalry between lacrosse and baseball, but I happen to love baseball.  I went to a lot of games at Fisher when I was a student.  It was often a lonely endeavor, but I loved the feel of them on a warm, sunny afternoon.  The cheesy baseball muzak.  The chatter.  The clang of aluminum on ball.  I miss that.  I would love to see the baseball program get back to the glory days of the 80s when Sabo, Larkin and Morris were preparing for their MLB careers by dominating the rest of the Big Ten.  I don't know if that kind of success is possible for a northern team again, but Bakich seems to be the right fit to get the ship pointed on that heading. Both baseball and lacrosse have third or fourth major sport standing on other campuses.  I think either or both could reach that level of following and support at Michigan.  While I personally think lacrosse is more likely to eventually capture the Michigan fan base due to national trends in growth, TV coverage and the UM demographic, I'm pulling for both.  If you're in Ann Arbor, go to a baseball game and see if you can find the same feeling I did.
22 weeks 6 days ago	Obviously this is of great	Obviously this is of great interest to me as well, and it's not surprising that it was an important issue for Maryland.  We all hear the Virginia and UNC rumors.  Either one of those schools would get the B16 to the required 6 to start sponsoring men's lacrosse.  The other rumor that I keep hearing is that Johns Hopkins is in play as a potential associate member, just for lacrosse.  That would be unprecedented for the Big Ten obviously, but very intriguing for the lacrosse world.
24 weeks 5 days ago	To be fair, football may	To be fair, football may never get a guy like him again either.  Class of his own at the time.  Lacrosse does get more guys these days that decline D1 football opportunities to play, and there are even a few former college lacrosse players in the NFL.  But you're right that football and basketball overwhelmingly monopolize the best athletes, and the  attention and potential for big payouts at the end are the driver for that. I hadn't thought of the fact that there's no developmental league pulling away the top lacrosse players - like minor league baseball, hockey, soccer and even international olympic sports to some extent (Phelps didn't swim for Michigan while there, for example).  Good point.  The best lacrosse athletes who stick with the sport in college are in fact the best lacrosse players out there.  Even if college lacrosse gets another Jim Brown, I don't think it will make a huge difference.  Only a popular professional league will pull the sport up into the major sport category.  The MLL and NLL both have a long, long way to go. Ultimately UM will be getting some of the best players, and the addition of Maryland and the eventual formation of B1G lacrosse will help.
24 weeks 5 days ago	For awhile.  But Maryland's	For awhile.  But Maryland's recruiting will take a bit of hit from this (see recent Starsia quotes) and Michigan's will keep getting better, especially once facilities are done.
24 weeks 5 days ago	I would tend to agree with	I would tend to agree with you.  The only difference here is that lacrosse already is a major-ish sport at some schools.  I would equate it to the UM hockey program in many ways at schools like Virginia, Maryland, Syracuse, etc.  At many of the smaller schools that sponsor D1 lacrosse, it is THE premier sport (Hopkins, Loyola, Denver along with hockey, etc.)  I don't know if another sport really has that except for maybe baseball at some southern schools?  and hockey obviously. The growth spurt over the last decade or so is similar to the soccer boom in the 80s.  The major differences?  It's an American sport.  It already had a very strong foothold as a major sport on the east coast.  It's more watchable than soccer (ask any soccer/lacrosse parent).   I don't think any sane lacrosse enthusiast expects the sport to become the next football.  But I do think it's reasonable that the sport could reach a hockey level of exposure and interest over the next 20 years, with a more national footprint since it doesn't require ice.  Time will tell.
26 weeks 1 day ago	The B1G (B14?), eventually	The B1G (B14?), eventually B16, won't start sponsoring a sport until there are six teams.  it took PSU to add hockey to make that happen.  Until then Big Ten lacrosse is in a similar situation.  Will be interesting to see if the five conference programs band together now or stay in other auto-bid conferences until a sixth school adds the sport or further expansion gets the number up.  Women's lacrosse will have six now (Northwestern has women's, but not men's), so they will be good to go. Let's go Sparty.  Get your program going again so we can get this thing started. As a lacrosse fan, I love this.  It adds one great program and another decent one, both in recruiting and alumni hotbeds. As a football fan, I hate this.  But I still want us playing Ohio State every year to go to the Rose Bowl and play the Pac 10 winner.  I am determined to remember the good old days as the good old days.
28 weeks 9 hours ago	Stadium games	The Army game is in Sun Life Stadium.  The Colgate game is at Citi Field.  Two reasons those games are happening in those stadiums and their names are Ross and Wilpon.  I was at the Rutgers game last year, and our fans outnumbered and outcheered the home team by a pretty wide margin.  Should be a great UM crowd on Long Island. I also don't expect the team to be significantly better yet.  Am hearing about a lot more talent on offense (hello, Kyle Jackson), but will still struggle defensively and much of the talent is very young.  Also, the new rules do not favor less talented teams.  You can't slow it down any more, and Michigan's famous 10-man ride will be harder to get into with the quick restarts.  Faceoffs should be a little better, and goalie will probably be about the same with Logan but an injury there puts them right back where they were when Weiss was out last year...screwed.  They need experience and depth, and that will take some time to build.
29 weeks 6 days ago	old news	...and I'd say the program is in pretty good hands now.
30 weeks 10 hours ago	lacrosse facilities	I believe the money listed for lacrosse facilities is just for their locker rooms, offices, meeting rooms, etc.  No way you build all those for 80+ athletes (combined between the two teams) PLUS a stadium for $12M.  A stadium will cost much more.  The picture they show on the website is of the soccer stadium.  Of course they could play in the soccer stadium eventually, but lacrosse would tear up the grass pretty badly.  If that was the plan you'd think they would already be out there instead of in the football stadium.  I've heard talk of an indoor lacrosse stadium eventually.  If that's the case you're talking big money, more in line with what they are doing for track.  This would make sense since lacrosse season starts in February, and you have to believe they want to draw well if they are going to compete with the ACC.
32 weeks 5 days ago	Wolv, I don't know how much	Wolv, I don't know how much money you think is in lacrosse coverage, but adding some regular season games and a tournament on BTN isn't going to increase revenue.  What do you think ad spots go for on lacrosse games?  My guess is the BTN has advertising contracts that cover a lot of their non-revenue sport programming, and those contracts are for peanuts compared to their football and basketball coverage.  Adding a few lacrosse games probably isn't the money tree you are implying it is. Adding sports isn't easy.  I would imagine that most Big Ten schools are focused on finding money to stay with what Michigan has done with their major sport facilities.  Then they need to find money to keep up with what Michigan is about to do with all of their non-revenue sport facilities.  Then maybe they can think about finding money to add men's and women's sport budgets, scholarships, coaches, support staff and facilities. Or they could do it how Richmond is doing it I suppose...and cut other sports to make way for lacrosse.
32 weeks 5 days ago	Don't hold your breath for	Don't hold your breath for B1G lax unless it happens through expansion.  I doubt any of the current schools that don't have men's lacrosse are close to adding. Wahoo is right.  The ECAC is a transient conference.  Always has been.  A new southern conference, if it happens, could pull away Bellarmine.  Hobart and Fairfield could find better geographical fits.  Michigan and Ohio State could pull out to join Penn State in a conference of bigger football names if other BCS schools add the sport.  I think adding Detroit would be a temporary fix at best.  Michigan needs a conference full of programs that have similar goals (championships) and the support to get there.  Without Loyola, the ECAC only gives them OSU and Denver (and possibly Fairfield) in that category. Sucks to lose Loyola, but Michigan will be able to schedule strong RPI opponents in out of conference games because of the name.
40 weeks 5 days ago	I disagree Buck	I disagree Buck (respectfully).  Packing it in is what most D1 defenses are already doing.  No pressure on ball, late slides, even a lot of pure zone.  It's been the trend the last couple of years, and it has led to a slow down in play as much as the other hot topics have (head size, pocket depth, coaching strategy), although they are definitely all related.  Without a two point shot like the MLL has, what's the benefit to extending your defense?  Since it's so hard to take the ball away these days, you just expose your defense by spreading them out.  There hasn't been a great takeaway defenseman in the game in years. I think this rule will result in teams packing it in even more.  Then once the stall call is made they either keep it tight or they junk it up with pressure or a shut off or something to disrupt an offense that is now in a hurry.  You'll see more rushed, bad shots.  Maybe this is a good thing as it could create a lot more transition, but I don't see this creating better settled offense. It's obvious that lacrosse is really struggling right now with how to maintain its self-proclaimed identity  of "fastest sport on two feet."  They keep throwing a bunch of new rules out there to see if any of them have the desired effect.  I wish they would just settle on the major tweaks and leave it alone.
42 weeks 9 hours ago	Already doing it.  They have	Already doing it.  They have commits from St. Paul's and McDonogh in Baltimore and Georgetown Prep in DC.  Uphill battle with those kids though.  Most of them grow up dreaming of playing at Hopkins or in the ACC.
42 weeks 12 hours ago	Good eye	...but Michigan actually does have one 2015 commit already.  Gunner Garn a goalie out of California.  I agree that a lot of these top kids having Michigan on their "strongly considered" list is a good sign.  The program is barely a year old with no dedicated facilities, going against powerhouse programs over a hundred years old often with great lacrosse facilities and often at similar academic levels (Ivy League, UVA, Hopkins, UNC, Duke, ND, etc).  Not to mention that many of those schools are physically embedded in the middle of most of the best lacrosse players, while Michigan is in the lacrosse outback.  It's still going to take awhile, but they are obviously getting interest from a lot of the right kids.  Matter of time. Side note...no sport seems to get more negative chirping on here than lacrosse.  Why?  Lacrosse has a big, rapidly expanding fan base, and most people seem to find it entertaining to watch once they are introduced to it.  So it makes sense that it is covered occasionally on mgoblog and espn and other media sources that used to ignore it.  I understand the stereotype that it's played by entitled, rich, prep school kids, but as the sport has grown it has certainly come a long way toward leaving that behind.  Where I'm from it's a public school sport that is made up of athletes who generally play football in the spring and maybe basketball or hockey in the winter.

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