The parallels between hockey and lacrosse that Jim Love first broached are
actually pretty fascinating when you look into them.
 
        College lacrosse rosters are dominated,  numbers-wise,  by players from NY
and MD.   Although LAX is a very rapidly growing sport already as big as
hockey,  it is amazing how regional it is still.   And,  there are plenty
of web sites to browse if you care to explore that fact.    You might find
a couple of surprises.   Did you know that Hobart is D-1 in lacrosse and
went to the NCAA's this year as the tenth or twelfth seeded team?
 
        Also,  despite the fact that lacrosse may be one of the Canadian national
sports,  there don't seem to be any Canadians playing at US colleges.
  Although I could not get into the Syracuse site today,  I think it is
fair to say from a very wide sampling of other rosters including the three
other D-1 semi-finalists,  that there are virtually no non-American players
in college lacrosse.   Only a few here and there in vanishingly small
percentages.
 
        Also interesting was the fact that lacrosse does not have as many prep
school players,  percentage-wise,  as you might imagine.   That fact,
 coupled with the absence of Junior programs like in hockey,  implies that
the possibility that lacrosse has a lot of 20 and 21 year old freshmen
seems remote.
 
        Regarding the national tournaments,  the idea of holding the D-3 and D-2
hockey finals at the same site as the D-1 has a certain appeal,  and the
lacrosse experience bears examination.   However,  I am personally
persuaded that campus sites at earlier dates to accommodate D-3 athletes
who want to do a spring sport are more compelling.   Bear in mind that many
D-3 athletes are playing at that level because they chose to do so for the
latitude it gives them.   Perhaps a best two out of three format for the
D-3 final,  East vs. West,  would be best.   First game on Thursday night
at the campus of the lower seed,  then a day of travel,  followed by the
second game at the campus of the higher seed.   Third game to be played the
next night if needed.   Or,  perhaps two days of travel and use a mini-game
if needed after the second instead of a full third game the next night.
 
        In closing,  my apologies to John if I strayed into the woof zone about
Todd Krygier.   I thought I was making a simple tongue in cheek come-back
to a (perhaps unintentional) slam on the MAAC,  but if it didn't come out
that way,  sorry.   Btw,  as Chris pointed out,  Krygier's story is kind of
interesting.   From Bloomfield Hills,  MI,  he ended up at UConn when he
was apparently cut by RIT in 1983 or 1984.   From 1984 to 1988,  he set the
UConn all-time scoring record of 200 career points which was then surpassed
by his brother Bryan in 1992 with 219 career points.   The Hartford Courant
recently ran an article on him in which he is quoted as saying that he
wants to settle in CT when he retires in a year or two.   Apparently he has
a business interest here now.
 
        -- Dick Tuthill
 
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