For those still yearning to follow the Yanks (or other countries) in a world championship, all eyes :) will be on Denver later this week for the World Lacrosse Championships!

The tournament kicks off Thu July 10 with the US v Canada in group play and concludes Sat July 19 with the final (which might well be US v Canada again). This is the first time the US has hosted since 1998.

All told there are 38 countries taking part. The structure is a bit complicated, taking into account the disparity between the top-tier teams and everyone else. It goes something like this: The Blue Division has the top six teams in the world -- US, Canada, Australia, England, Japan and the Iroquois nation. They play a round robin July 10-15. The top four teams from Blue advance to the quarterfinals. In parallel, the other 32 teams (in eight groups) play round robins within their groups; those group winners then play knockout games to earn berths in the quarterfinals. The quarters are July 16, semis on July 17, and final on July 19. Meanwhile, the teams that do not advance to the championship bracket still get to play classification games.

The opening US-Canada match is on ESPN2; most of the US group play games as well as the semis and finals will be on ESPNU; and a whole bunch of game will be on ESPN3. Everything else will be streamed live on another site.

Here's the ESPN schedule:
http://www.worldlacrosse2014.com/news/06...ampionship
And here's the full schedule:
http://www.worldlacrosse2014.com/event/0...g_schedule

Also in parallel, youth and master's clubs (not national teams) from around the world will be competing for the title of world club champion in their respective age divisions.

Basketball World Cup starting soon as well.

That Lacrosse tourney features 142 games in 10 days, played on 10 of the Dick's complex's 24 fields.

That's a lotta lacrosse! Good luck to all.

If you enjoyed the brutal, merciless seal-clubbing that was the Germany-Brazil game and would like to see the US National Team doing that, the World Cup of American Football is coming up, and Olympic Basketball is the year after that.

(07-07-2014 10:11 AM)georgewebb Wrote:  For those still yearning to follow the Yanks (or other countries) in a world championship, all eyes :) will be on Denver later this week for the World Lacrosse Championships!

The tournament kicks off Thu July 10 with the US v Canada in group play and concludes Sat July 19 with the final (which might well be US v Canada again). This is the first time the US has hosted since 1998.

All told there are 38 countries taking part. The structure is a bit complicated, taking into account the disparity between the top-tier teams and everyone else. It goes something like this: The Blue Division has the top six teams in the world -- US, Canada, Australia, England, Japan and the Iroquois nation. They play a round robin July 10-15. The top four teams from Blue advance to the quarterfinals. In parallel, the other 32 teams (in eight groups) play round robins within their groups; those group winners then play knockout games to earn berths in the quarterfinals. The quarters are July 16, semis on July 17, and final on July 19. Meanwhile, the teams that do not advance to the championship bracket still get to play classification games.

The opening US-Canada match is on ESPN2; most of the US group play games as well as the semis and finals will be on ESPNU; and a whole bunch of game will be on ESPN3. Everything else will be streamed live on another site.

Here's the ESPN schedule:
http://www.worldlacrosse2014.com/news/06...ampionship
And here's the full schedule:
http://www.worldlacrosse2014.com/event/0...g_schedule

Also in parallel, youth and master's clubs (not national teams) from around the world will be competing for the title of world club champion in their respective age divisions.

I just got back from five days there, and there are five more to go.
As they head into the elimination bracket, the teams to beat are the US, Canada, and the Iroquois nation. The final on Saturday will almost certainly be two of those three, but which two?
Full standings are here:
http://www.worldlacrosse2014.com/nations/standings

The Iroquois are led by twin brothers Lyle and Miles Thompson, members of the Onondaga nation who starred at University of Albany and were co-winners of the 2014 Tewaaraton Award (the Heisman Trophy of lacrosse).

I posted some personal photos on Facebook, if anyone is interested:
https://www.facebook.com/george.webb.319...618&type=1

Semifinals are today on ESPNU:
5:30: US v Australia
8:30: Canada v Iroquois
The final and third-place game will be on Saturday, with the final also on ESPNU.

Both Australia and the Iroquois earned their semifinal spots the hard way: the Aussies came from behind to edge Israel 9-8, while the Iroquois held off Scotland 10-8. Israel and Scotland were the two teams not from the elite group who played their way into the quarterfinals.

Also today, Scotland and Israel will go against Japan and England, respectively, with those winners playing Saturday for 5th place. It would be kinda cool to see England v Scotland!

Are the players from non-North American countries largely ex-pats living in or having ties to that country? Or are many locals who have somehow found lacrosse on their own (perhaps after going to school in North America, perhaps)?

I tuned in for a few minutes and saw four U.S. goals. The Aussie defense and goalie look like the Brazilian World Cup soccer team versus Germany.

(07-17-2014 05:41 PM)Almadenmike Wrote:  Are the players from non-North American countries largely ex-pats living in or having ties to that country? Or are many locals who have somehow found lacrosse on their own (perhaps after going to school in North America, perhaps)?

Depends on the team -- some of the newer teams in particular have a few key players who are Americans who can trace lineage, but overall there are lot fewer Americans than you might think. In fact, one of the things that impressed me in the games I worked was how much the sideline chatter on the team benches was not in English. That, and the fact that when the teams sang their national anthems, there were very few players on any team that didn't sing.

On the other hand, most of the less-established teams have at least some American coaches -- for example, one of the Austrian coaches is the head coach at Kingwood HS in Houston.

(07-17-2014 11:05 AM)georgewebb Wrote:  Semifinals are today on ESPNU:
5:30: US v Australia
8:30: Canada v Iroquois
The final and third-place game will be on Saturday, with the final also on ESPNU.

Both Australia and the Iroquois earned their semifinal spots the hard way: the Aussies came from behind to edge Israel 9-8, while the Iroquois held off Scotland 10-8. Israel and Scotland were the two teams not from the elite group who played their way into the quarterfinals.

Also today, Scotland and Israel will go against Japan and England, respectively, with those winners playing Saturday for 5th place. It would be kinda cool to see England v Scotland!

Well, the US demolished Australia 22-3, but the Iroquois lead Canada 4-1 after one quarter.

The other games I mentioned both went to OT, and both ended 10-9: Scotland over Japan in double overtime, and England over Israel in one extra frame. So Saturday it will be England v Scotland for 5th place.

Early in 3Q, Canada has tied the Iroquois at 4-all. Quite low-scoring especially given the offensive starts on both teams.

(07-17-2014 09:47 PM)georgewebb Wrote:  Early in 3Q, Canada has tied the Iroquois at 4-all. Quite low-scoring especially given the offensive starts on both teams.

Iroquois has had really poor shot selection in 3Q, while Canada has poured it on. It is now 8-4 Canada with one quarter to play.

And Canada pulls away 12-6.

So on Saturday it is:
12:00 central: England v Scotland for 5th place (ESPN3.com)
3:00 central: Australia v Iroquois for 3rd place (ESPN3.com)
8:00 central: US v Canada for the world championship (ESPNU)

All the other classification games (for 7th through 35th place) are on Friday. About a third of those games are on ESPN3.com. Those results have some bearing on seedings for the 2018 World Games, which will be back in Manchester, England.

Tonight the U.S. team was Brazilianesque in its World Cup home field ineptitude.

I'm sure Dean Smith was cheering the Canadians' adaptation of his Four Corners offense. And for more than a quarter, the U.S. just let them. Maybe someone can tell me the wisdom of such extended defensive lethargy. Saving themselves for a fifth quarter? Ooops.

The American offense finally perked up with ~8 minutes left in the game. But with an incredible 40-50 seconds of game time getting run off the clock after each goal -- what with all the celebrating, then substituting and finally the seconds-sucking stalemate faceoffs -- it was already too late in all but a theoretical possibility. Very strange American tactics/effort for most of the game.

Some observations/questions: the accuracy of passing and most of the goal scores was amazing, especially the behind the back one. But it seemed like the Canadian goalie stood with a gaping 5-hole between his legs and held his stick high. Our guys seemed to pass up many open opportunities to flick quick shots through that 5-hole. I wonder why.

Also, why didn't the American's weave though the Canadian zone to try to create space and/or mismatches, rather than just pass around the periphery, which engendered no Canadian reaction and hence no advantages to the American would-be attackers?

A glaring deficiency in the ESPN coverage was the lack of explanation of the lacrosse rules to newbies (like me). What are the rules of the "restraining line"? Is it like old school girls basketball, where defenders can't venture into offensive territory and vice-versa? And what's the deal with/without the shot-clock? How controversial is it, and what possession limits are currently used in the leagues that use it?

In the end, huge congrats to the Canadians. They seemed to win in all aspects of the game: offense, defense, goal tending, strategy, tactics, execution and discipline (for the most part, except for that senseless stick-jab to the belly of one American).

(07-19-2014 10:29 PM)Almadenmike Wrote:  Tonight the U.S. team was Brazilianesque in its World Cup home field ineptitude.

I'm sure Dean Smith was cheering the Canadians' adaptation of his Four Corners offense. And for more than a quarter, the U.S. just let them. Maybe someone can tell me the wisdom of such extended defensive lethargy. Saving themselves for a fifth quarter? Ooops.

The American offense finally perked up with ~8 minutes left in the game. But with an incredible 40-50 seconds of game time getting run off the clock after each goal -- what with all the celebrating, then substituting and finally the seconds-sucking stalemate faceoffs -- it was already too late in all but a theoretical possibility. Very strange American tactics/effort for most of the game.

Some observations/questions: the accuracy of passing and most of the goal scores was amazing, especially the behind the back one. But it seemed like the Canadian goalie stood with a gaping 5-hole between his legs and held his stick high. Our guys seemed to pass up many open opportunities to flick quick shots through that 5-hole. I wonder why.

Also, why didn't the American's weave though the Canadian zone to try to create space and/or mismatches, rather than just pass around the periphery, which engendered no Canadian reaction and hence no advantages to the American would-be attackers?

All great observations, Mike. I certainly can't understand why the US did what it did.

(07-19-2014 10:29 PM)Almadenmike Wrote:  A glaring deficiency in the ESPN coverage was the lack of explanation of the lacrosse rules to newbies (like me).

I see what you're saying. On the one hand, I personally think it's kinda gratifying that they don't feel the need to assume that every viewer is seeing the game for the first time. But yes they could explain a little more, and also they could be clearer in what they do explain (we officials often cringe at the rules explanations that ESPN gives -- they're typically about 1/2 to 2/3 correct).

(07-19-2014 10:29 PM)Almadenmike Wrote:  What are the rules of the "restraining line"? Is it like old school girls basketball, where defenders can't venture into offensive territory and vice-versa?

The restraining lines have two primary roles:
1. On faceoffs, everyone but the midfielders (three on the each team) must stay behind the restraining lines until either (1) a player gets possession or (2) the ball crosses the restraining line. This rule is to prevent the face-off from becoming a 9-on-9 melee. And it is this role which gives the line its name.
2. If the offense is obviously stalling, the officials can tell the offense to "keep it in", which means they must keep the ball below the restraining line o the offensive end -- i.e. they must keep it in the area of the goal. If they fail to do so, it's a turnover. In the final, the officials correctly invoked this rule on Canada several times.

(07-19-2014 10:29 PM)Almadenmike Wrote:  And what's the deal with/without the shot-clock? How controversial is it, and what possession limits are currently used in the leagues that use it?

In a nutshell:
- The North American professional league has a shot clock.
- The NCAA has a soft shot clock (kept by the officials on the field) that is triggered in certain circumstances. It's more than I feel like explaining now but PM me if you're really interested.
- High school and most middle school rules have other timing rules that are intended to keep up the pace of attack.
- The only level that does not have such rules is the FIL (Federation of International Lacrosse). There's no actual controversy there -- FIL has never had such rules, and historically it has not been an issue. The international game is usually fast-paced -- to be honest, this year's Canadian team (and to some extent this year's Iroquois team) are the first times I've ever seen a serious slow-down style in international play.

I supposed the "controversy" might be that the ESPN guys tend to judge everything by the extent to which it does or does not mirror the pro league -- sound familiar?

But after this final (and the Iroquois-Australia semifinal), I suspect FIL may adopt some sort of timing rule between now and 2018.

(07-19-2014 10:29 PM)Almadenmike Wrote:  In the end, huge congrats to the Canadians. They seemed to win in all aspects of the game: offense, defense, goal tending, strategy, tactics, execution and discipline (for the most part, except for that senseless stick-jab to the belly of one American).

Spot on!

In case anyone is interested, here are the Texas ties (that I know of) to the 2014 World Games:
- Stacie McKay, long-time president of the Greater Houston Chapter of US Lacrosse, served on the tournament host committee as chair of Game Day Operations
- Chris Arnold, head coach at Kingwood HS, was head coach of the Austrian national team
- Kyle Hartzell, head coach at Plano West HS, was a defenseman on the US National Team
- Several Houstonians played on various other national teams, including Austria and Russia
- Rodney Meyer, a referee in Austin who is of Cherokee descent, served as an assessor of officials on behalf of the Iroquois nation
- Stacie's sister Meghan (a former trainer at Rice) served as trainer for the Welsh national team
- 13 clubs from Texas (seven from Houston, six based in Dallas) competed in the youth divisions of the World Championship Festival
- Two teams from Texas competed in the adult divisions of the World Championship Festival -- including Space City Lacrosse Club, which took the gold medal in the Elite Division, defeating teams from the Philippines and Japan along the way
- I served as an official for the World Championship Festival and clock operator for the World Games