Lax Links 10-13-11

Let’s get right into the links:

Detroit

Hooray for decals

Looks like the Titans have some fly new lids, pictured at right (HT: 412 Lax).

Detroit’s Fall 7-on-7 tournament went off without a hitch:

“We had a lot of good players on campus as well as their parents, family and friends,” said head men’s lacrosse coach Matt Holtz. “To get these kids here to see what Detroit offers is always great, and the games themselves were very exciting and entertaining.”

Great move for Detroit to help grow their program’s profile in the area.

The Titans are in the midst of a million-pushup challenge for charity. Yay, offseason stories (UDM has two fall ball scrimmages next weekend).

Michigan

St. Joseph’s players think they surprised Michigan to start their scrimmage last week – by being competent – and by the time Michigan adjusted, they couldn’t catch up:

“I think they (Michigan) came out and thought, ‘It’s St. Joe’s – the same old St. Joe’s.’ We were able to get up early and hold the lead. Hopefully, we can do that in the regular season.”

The “club guys” underestimating an established D-1 team  (albeit one with a recent history of terrible play) would be an interesting twist. Coach Taylor Wray:

“[St. Joe’s] came out with a lot of energy, though I expect them to do that all the time. The game was a little sloppy at first, then we settled in. Michigan dominated us in groundballs. That was the only thing I didn’t like.”

Either way, it’s clear that this St. Joe’s team is going to be at least a bit better than last year’s – small consolation though that may be for Michigan.

Lacrosse Magazine photo gallery from the Colleluori Classic. Sounds like Michigan will be on the cover of Inside Lacrosse’s December issue.

Michigan’s coaching staff will conduct four free coaching clinics, which is a great way to grow the game in the state. The first one takes place October 13th which, uh, is tonight (7-9PM, e-mail Operations Director Joe Hennessy if you’re a coach interested in attending).

Other D-1

The 2013 NCAA Quarterfinals will take place in… Indianapolis? That’s huge for growth in the Midwest, though I would be surprised if either Detroit or Michigan is up to the level of winning a first-round game within a couple of seasons. We can dream though, right? I’m also over here twiddling my thumbs and noting how empty Ford Field (or even the Silverdome) will likely be on that date.

It sounds like some of the experimental rules for fall ball went well, including a shot clock. I’m not a big fan of the concept of a shot clock in lacrosse, so we’ll see if it gets implemented in future years.

Recruiting

Not content to simply ran the nation’s top senior lacrosse players, ESPN HS has taken the next step, and issued their preliminary rankings for the class of 2013. There is one player of (current) note:

#19 Ian King – St. Xavier (Cincinnati, Ohio), A – Michigan

Inside Lacrosse went one better and said “hey bros, how about those 2014s?” King committed to Michigan a couple weeks ago, and once I get caught up on profiling Michigan and Detroit’s 2012 commitments, I’ll start rolling out the 2013 Hellos.

Don’t miss yesterday’s contribution to finishing out the backlog with Hello: Sam Martorella.

MCLA

In an in-state battle for MCLA Fall Ball dominance, MCLA-2 squad Grand Valley State knocked off Michigan State 11-10.

As always, if you have anything you’d like to share for a links post (or any other type of post), you can drop me a line at t.w.sullivan1@gmail.com or tweet @GreatLaxState.