During the last part of my weekly commute up to Towson to help out at Lax Talk, I often tune my dial to our station, 1570 AM, to hear the auto racing show that precedes us. Although I have next to no knowledge or interest in auto racing, I respect the fine analysis produced by the hosts. However, last Saturday all I heard was fine whine regarding WMAR's decision to uphold their commitment to televise the Maryland-Towson lacrosse game live that Sunday and show a tape of the conflicting NASCAR event late Sunday night. Now, I may not be one to speak, since I do live in D.C., but it is quite obvious that sticking to the commitment it made last fall to televise lacrosse games is not only beneficial to the game of lacrosse but also WMAR and the people of Baltimore. With Baltimore being the world capital of the game, WMAR has a strong fan base with tremendous interest in lacrosse. The March 7th Maryland-Duke game on WMAR tied for second in its time slot in the ratings, in competition with basketball's ACC championship game. This shows what Baltimoreans want to see: lacrosse. High ratings for WMAR means plenty of sponsors and more lacrosse on TV in future years. A literal silver lining on a cloudy game day, three games were planned for broadcast last weekend: Hopkins-Loyola on Friday night, Baltimore-Philadelphia in the NLL on Saturday night, and Maryland-Towson on Sunday afternoon. Finally the people of Baltimore are getting what they want on television. And they're watching. The sport of lacrosse and its enthusiasts also benefit from the publicity the game gets over the air waves. Televising lacrosse games acts as a catalyst in the game's continued growth. Have you noticed how interest in the game has been boosted since 1995 when ESPN and ESPN2 chose to carry the NCAA Final Four live to a national audience? The same thing is happening here. Even in Baltimore many sports fans know little about lacrosse, and the sport on television is the perfect way to bring a game into their living rooms rather than expect them to get off their couch and attend one. When I set out to write this column, I promised myself that I would not go on and on bashing NASCAR. And I won't. But I can't see how anyone thinks that in the Baltimore area it should get priority over lacrosse, a sport possibly on the verge of becoming the official state sport. If we were in Florida, I would have no objection to NASCAR pushing out lacrosse--the Southeast is auto racing's hotbed. But this is Baltimore. In Baltimore, almost everyone would rather see an exciting, fast-paced lacrosse game between two traditional powers, the University of Maryland and Towson University, than something called the Cracker Barrel 500. I know the NASCAR fans are upset they can't see those cars running around a circle for a few hours. That's just too bad for them. Or, perhaps it could be good. Expecting to watch the Mack Truck 400, a NASCAR fan might turn on the TV and discover a lacrosse game instead. He/she is captivated by the action, and becomes a loyal lacrosse fan and lives happily ever after. Peter's Picks Here is my attempt at a fair top-ten list. Keep in mind that I am basing this on the teams' performances this year. These rankings are far different from the rankings I envision in May. 1. Loyola Proved their abilities by shutting down Hopkins' powerful (or so we thought) offense and pummeling the Blue Jays 14-5. This may be the year for Loyola to win their elusive national banner, after being blown out by Maryland in the Final Four as a #1 seed last year and beaten by Brown in the quarterfinals as a #2 seed in 1994. Dave Cottle is one of the coaching legends-to-be of lacrosse, but he has not fared well in the NCAA tournament, reaching the Final Four just once since 1990 and losing. 2. Syracuse This team is a very close second to Loyola, having beaten a good Virginia team but not being too impressive with a 15-9 victory against Yale. Ryan Powell leads the typical Syracuse offense: fast and explosive. We'll see just how good this team is under new coach John Desko in the big test next Saturday at Johns Hopkins. 3. Duke I attended the Duke-Maryland game and was impressed by Duke's ability to stay in the game and not give up after falling behind by four in the third quarter. The Blue Devils have my choice for the best attack unit in the country, with Greg Patchak, Jared Frood, and T.J. Durnan. 4. Virginia Closely ranked behind Duke, this team is better than most people think. Many members of the lacrosse media thought of this team as overrated. I used to agree, but with a victory over Princeton and a close loss against Syracuse I believe this team may peak in May and develop into a Final Four team. 5. Johns Hopkins On paper and based on the March 6 game against Princeton, this team is the best in the country with one of the most powerful offenses. Brian Carcaterra is easily one of the top three goalies in the country, and the team showed great poise in coming back to beat the Tigers. However, they just got waxed against Loyola on their own field, 14-5. FIVE. They managed to score just five goals in an entire 60 minutes against a defense that is strong but certainly nothing for the history books. Their offense certainly needs some improvement. Coach John Haus says that he does not see the effect of the new dive rule in his games. That's because you can't see goals that aren't scored. Look out for this team to improve and Saturday's game will be a fight to the finish. 6. UMBC One of the more underrated teams in the country, the Retrievers have improved dramatically and are my sleeper pick to turn some heads in May. 1998 E-Lacrosse Coach of the Year Don Zimmerman has done an excellent job in recent years of revitalizing the program, and they just get better every year. 7. Georgetown I don't usually cheer for a certain team in most NCAA games; I mostly remain a objective observer. But I will say that Georgetown is my favorite team. My only favorite team. My local boys have cruised to easy wins over Brown and Army, but the real test of whether they can pull out a close one comes Sunday at home against UMBC. Senior Brian Hole, who caught my eye as a solid performer his freshman year, is my pick for the best goalie in the country. 8. Maryland Have not played at the level expected of the Terrapins' program, but will become a contender. After the heartbreaking loss to Duke, the Terps did not get a chance to redeem themselves Sunday against Towson, as the game was postponed. Look for the Terps to take their anger out on a good Penn State team on the 17th and beat them by at least seven. 9. Delaware I know what you are thinking. "Delaware better than defending national champion Princeton? Who does this moron think he is?" Again, let me remind you that this does not show where I predict teams will be in May when everything is important. The Blue Hens are a solid team that beat Hofstra as handily as Loyola did, 13-7, in an under-publicized game that was very important. Everyone will look at this game in May, when Delaware just barely reaches the field of 12 and Hofstra just misses. 10. Princeton I'm no historian (well maybe I am) but I do believe this is the Tigers' worst ranking in the last six or seven years. But when you lose your first two games, you can't expect another #1 ranking just because you are the three time defending national champion. These were good teams to whom they fell, but they managed just four goals against Virginia. The loss of Massey, Sims, and Hubbard, was certainly noticed in that debacle. The 0-2 opening wound was salted by the last minute, season ending injury to senior All-America defenseman Kurt Lunkenheimer. If this team will have any success this year, they must overcome all these things and beat a pretty desperate UNC team next week by at least five goals. |
 Lund on Lacrosse By Peter Lund 3/17/99  |
