While researching the history of lacrosse, I have come across a handful of articles written about the sport for the New York Times in the late 19th Century and the early 20th Century. It's interesting to see some of the predictions being made. One stated that lacrosse would unseat baseball as the spring sport before the 1950's. It's true, but it was a century too early. Just to give the 21st and 22nd Century lacrosse enthusiasts something to laugh at, here's a review of the 21st Century a hundred years ahead of time. 2000: Conor Gill and the Virginia Cavaliers come just short of their second straight NCAA title, losing to Johns Hopkins in overtime. Hopkins wins its first title since 1987, and some eyewitnesses say they saw John Haus almost smile. 2002: Dave Urick leads Georgetown to its first NCAA title ever, beating Ohio State in the semifinals and Syracuse in the final. 2006: For the first time since 1978, the U.S. does not win the World Championship. It is not Canada, however, that unseats them. In the biggest day of upsets in lacrosse history, Australia defeats the U.S. in the semifinals. Australia goes on to win the championship 19-13. 2008: Ohio State coach Joe Breschi, who has led the Buckeyes on an upward ascent through the decade similar to Georgetown's rise through the 1990's, wins the school's first title. Popularity of lacrosse skyrockets at Ohio State, which will soon lead the NCAA in attendance by regularly selling out Jesse Owens Stadium. 2009: The first decade of the 21st Century comes to an end as Duke wins a national championship. After Syracuse dominated the 1980's and Princeton the 1990's, this decade saw a lot more parity. Georgetown, Johns Hopkins, and Syracuse won two titles each, and Loyola, Virginia, Duke and Ohio State each won one. 2012: Major League Lacrosse goes through its second expansion to now include 10 teams. The additions are Miami and St. Louis. 2014: Canada wins its first World Championship in 36 years, defeating the U.S. 19-17. This would be the last World Championship played for many years, because the International Olympic Committee announced before the 2012 Olympics that lacrosse would be added to the program starting in 2016.

Lund on Lacrosse By Peter Lund January, 2000 SPRING 1999 COLUMNS 4/30/99 - Fresh Starts For Hopkins 4/12/99 - Lax in a Box - The NLL Paradox 3/31/99 - USLIA, Not NCAA, Leads Growth of College Lacrosse 3/24/99 - March Lacrosse Locates Missing Madness 3/17/99 - WMAR wisely opts for Lacrosse over NASCAR

2019: Due to pressure from long waiting lists for season tickets and thousands of students camping out in tents outside the ticket office and missing class, Ohio State decides to move its home games to 90,000-seat Ohio Stadium. The Buckeyes advance to their fourth consecutive Final Four, but fall in overtime to North Carolina in the championship game.

2022: Syracuse wins yet another national title by defeating Hofstra 19-12, led by a combined 5 goals and 8 assists from junior Gary Gait Jr. and sophomore Paul Gait Jr., the best cousin-cousin tandem in college lacrosse history.

2023: Gary Gait Jr. and Paul Gait Jr. are both taken as the first two picks in the MLL Draft by Washington. Washington had traded three starting players, including All-League Goalie John Smith, to get the first two picks of the draft. Gary graduated from Syracuse, while Paul left school a year early for the big bucks. Each player got a $14 million signing bonus and a salary of over $13 million a year, only $1 million more than the NBA minimum salary.

2026: After 27 seasons coaching the Orangemen, John Desko retires as head coach after winning 8 NCAA titles in his tenure. Syracuse assistant Roy Simmons III replaces Desko and becomes just the fifth coach in Syracuse's 117-year lacrosse history.

2028: An amazing upset takes place as Chicago defeats Washington for the MLL title. The Gait cousins had led Washington to four straight titles from 2024-2027, but an injury kept Gary out of the championship game.

2037: Gary Gait Jr. retires from the MLL early due to injury, after 17 seasons with the Washington MLL franchise. Paul plays without his cousin for Washington for one year before being traded to Boston. Paul would eventually retire in 2045, ending an impressive 22-year MLL career.

2042: In front of over 60,000 fans at Johns Hopkins' new Bob Scott Stadium, built on the site of the demolished Memorial Stadium, Texas defeats Auburn in the Division I NCAA Championship. Both teams had started their Division I programs during the boom in the 2020's.

2046: In an attempt to match the flashy offenses of the MLL, the NCAA adds the two-point line to its lacrosse fields. Scoring in both NCAA and MLL games continues to rise exponentially. In the 2047 NCAA season, the average goals per game per team was 22.8.

2048: Continuing the Syracuse tradition of long tenures as head coach, Roy Simmons III retires as Syracuse coach after 23 seasons with the Orange. Paul Gait Jr. replaces him, leaving his position as assistant coach of the Las Vegas MLL team.

2057: Major League Lacrosse adds two teams each to the Western and Eastern Conferences. The league now has a total of 32 teams. Its retired founder, Jake Steinfeld, was inducted to the Hall of Fame in 2027 and is still living over 100 years of age. He credits his longevity to a healthy and fitness-obsessed lifestyle.

2059: Lacrosse is played on Mars, by two astronauts who played the game in high school. Though the game only included two players, it is considered one of the greatest games in lacrosse history.

2062: The first ever NCAA game played without officials occurs as Georgia defeats Syracuse 27-21. A system of cameras, sensors, and artificial intelligence apparently does an excellent job of calling every penalty correctly. An E-Lacrosse Expose reveals that the device was tampered with.

2069: UCLA's 2065 NCAA Championship is vacated after the computer-referee-tampering scandal surfaces. After eight seasons with the artificial system, all games are now officiated by humans (must be at least 51% human).

2076: Legendary lacrosse writer Peter Lund dies at the age of 94.

2085: Johns Hopkins defeats Western Maryland to win the Maryland Conference championship. This conference of Division III teams also includes Towson, Loyola, and UMBC. Similar to Yale and Chicago in football over one hundred years earlier, these schools learned that with the growth of the sport, they inevitably would not be able to compete with the bigger powers.

2091: The University of Arizona wins the Division I championship in a tight 31-29 battle with Michigan. Evidently, scoring has continued to rise. The game broke the NCAA Championship game attendance record, as 102,298 packed into Ohio State's renovated Ohio Stadium. Michigan would win the next year, led by attackman Gary Gait V, who chose to play for the Wolverines despite family pressure for Syracuse, including a visit from the ghost of his great-great-grandfather.

2099: ESPN, still alive after 120 years, reviews the 21st Century in another SportsCentury series. The number one athlete of the 21st Century is not a lacrosse player, but 6 of the top 50 are, including lacrosse legend and MLL star Johnny Christmas, and the Gait cousins.

2100: A young lacrosse fan searches through archives on the long-obsolete Internet and discovers an article written 100 years earlier on E-Lacrosse. He laughs at the bold, wildly inaccurate predictions made, and the late Peter Lund is labeled the worst prognosticator in the history of lacrosse.