Guess who’s back? The people have spoken, and I have listened. Welcome to the first MMM of the 2021 lacrosse season. So, let’s loosen the masks and get ready to Mumbo…
Get Classy
A big shout out to Head Coach Mary Ann Meltzer and her Lawrence Tech Women’s team. They won the WHAC Championship on Saturday, downing Siena Heights, 17-10 and earned the AQ to the NAIA Tournament. But, in a gesture that did not go unnoticed, the team included a cardboard cutout of the late Kevin Riley in their team picture. It was a touching tribute and spoke of the bond that the coaches had when Kevin was the Men’s HC at LTU. M.A. – very well done!
Selection Sunday
I thought the selection shows for D I basketball and lacrosse were nerve-wracking. Imagine having your daughter over at the house checking Twitter and the NAIA website to see if her team got a bid to the tournament. Yes, we looked at all of the teams that were under consideration and checked the stats and the records and felt that her team (Concordia) had a great shot. And then, when the final bracket was announced and we saw that they got, well, robbed in a way, it was deflating at best. The parent can only console and encourage while the fan wants to call for a senate investigation. For her team, it was extremely discouraging – the only positive is that they had a great year and beat two of the teams heading to Savannah. I know, it’s a small consolation. And by the way, the committee took two teams (SCAD and Life-with 6 losses) that are a stone’s throw the tournament location.
Michigan Teams Heading to Savannah
Props to the following teams chosen to play in the NAIA Tournament in Savannah, beginning May 5th.
Men’s: Concordia (Ann Arbor) – their first trip to the big stage!
Women’s: Lawrence Tech and Siena Heights.
Tewaaraton Award
Izzy Scane (Northwestern) is on the Tewaaraton watch list and has to be one of the favorites. Scane leads the nation in goals and total points and has the Wildcats ranked #2 in the country.
Big 10 Tournament
The brackets were announced for the Big 10 tourney and the Michigan Women’s team will play on April 29 against Maryland at 5pm. All games will be played in State College, PA.
The Men’s team won a coin flip with Johns Hopkins and will play on May 1 against Ohio State in Columbus at 4pm. All the games will be broadcast on the Big 10 Network.
MHSAA Listen Up
Again, I will say – you MUST seed the Girl’s High School Lacrosse Tournament. The boys do it and you have been seeding other sports the past few years. Show that you are for equality and do the right thing.
Sportsmanship
I got wind of an incident from a boy’s game the other day. This happened in Michigan at a place that has had lacrosse for some time now. In a ground ball situation, a kid was going low for the GB and got wrecked by his opponent. His opponent stood over the kid like a Neanderthal warrior and received two penalties, one for the illegal hit and the other for conduct. While the player is laying there, with a broken collarbone, waiting for the ambulance to take him to the hospital, a fan, a mother of one of the opposing players yells, “C’mon, let’s go – get him off the field!”
I say to the lady, “C’mon – show some compassion, intelligence and human decency.” I thought we had come a long way in lacrosse in Michigan, obviously, not far enough.
