04/25/24
May 08, 2004
Sorry Calgary Flames, but it seems that the Calgary Roughnecks have stolen your playoff mojo. The Roughnecks beat the Buffalo Bandits to win the National Lacrosse League's championship.
NoMich, shouldn't be but it is. Go back to drinking, you'll forget all about this in the morning. Then you'll see your name on the FPP and go WTF?!?!?!
posted by billsaysthis at 12:32 AM on May 08, 2004
He'll see his FPP and go WTF? LOL! ROTFL!!! ROTC! USA! USA! USA! NKOTB.
posted by Samsonov14 at 06:49 AM on May 08, 2004
We had a good Lacrosse team in college, and even though it was a DivIII team, those kids didn't mess around. Lacrosse is as mean as football, as gutsy as hockey, and takes as much skill as soccer. It's a blast to watch, too. Hey, 19,209 fans can't be wrong. Great sport, and I hope it catches on down here in the lower 48 soon. Good for the Roughnecks.
posted by Samsonov14 at 06:58 AM on May 08, 2004
I can't say that I watched more than 10 minutes of lacrosse on TV this year, but I do know that it has a very loyal following in most of the markets. It's like a Canadian version of Arena Football. I'm not sure what the players earn or how good their TV contract is as it's only showing up in Canada on "The Score", a sports station WAAAAY up on the cable dial (meaning you need more than basic cable to watch it).
posted by grum@work at 08:34 AM on May 08, 2004
I think Lacrosse is catching on in some American markets. Or, er, Rochester and Buffalo at least (so not far off from Canada, but still). Definitely a fun sport to watch, especially in this era where a lot of the NLL players still have day jobs.
posted by mkn at 01:38 PM on May 08, 2004
Lacrosse is pretty mainstream in Canada, if not exactly high-brow. I walked past a little league lacrosse scrimmage the other day, with five-and-six-year-olds running around in professional-looking equipment. Of course, I was on my way to an Ultimate practice, so perhaps my definition of "mainstream" is a little warped. By the way, I love The Score. They do an excellent job of picking up games (lacrosse, Expos) while not straying from their roots as a ticker channel. I really like the fact that I know exactly when every hour I can see my NHL highlights. Plus their analysis is decent. Of course, here in Toronto, analysis on the other networks consists entirely of having a collective orgasm any time Mats Sundin's name is mentioned.
posted by DrJohnEvans at 02:09 PM on May 08, 2004
I WAS THERE!!!! Fun fun game, even if I did have to keep bugging my neighbour for rule interpretations. The place was absolutely packed, and noisy too. I think the 'necks got a little roll-over from the Flames' bandwagon... From what I can tell, it's still in the semi-professional stages. The players hold down day jobs (I think there's a cop on the Roughnecks), and holy cow are they tough. Some observations: - The crowd was young. Really young. I felt old there at 32, and I'm used to hanging out with younger people. - it was LOUD. They passed out these inflatable "Thunder Sticks" which made an incredible amount of noise. - The demographic of the crowd was also a little downmarket, and they cranked up the hard rock and metal the whole game, including during the play. This got on my nerves a bit, but the kids seemed to like it. All in all, a fun, relatively inexpensive night of entertainment. DrJohn, I agree with your assessment of both the score and the toronto media.
posted by sauril at 07:13 PM on May 08, 2004
Oh, I almost forgot. One of my favourite moments was when the Roughnecks goalie would make a save. The announcer would yell out "What's he got?" and the crowd answers "NUTHIN!". heh
posted by sauril at 07:15 PM on May 08, 2004
'Fun fun game, even if I did have to keep bugging my neighbour for rule interpretations.' Lacrosse has rules? Who'da thunk it?
posted by mr_crash_davis at 12:00 AM on May 09, 2004
Weird, I know. But the refs were always calling for posession one way or another, and I rarely could figure out why...
posted by sauril at 03:21 PM on May 11, 2004
I've never watched a lacrosse game in my life, but I just happened to watch the last ~10 minutes of this game. I gotta say, it was pretty damn exciting. Of course, I drunk, but that should'nt be here nor there.