Chuck Jaffe, columnist for New England Lacrosse Journal, playing box lacrosse. (courtesy photo)Early this month, I’ll start my last game as the regular goalie on my primary lacrosse team. It’s not that I can’t hold up my end any more, but I’ve always said that I would step away from a team before … [Read more...]
Lacrosse on the Olympics stage? Maybe, but not as you know it
The American flag before the 2018 national title game between Duke and Yale. (Larry French/NCAA Photos via Getty Images)At the end of November, the International Olympic Committee officially recognized the sport of lacrosse. In spite of the rhetoric that came out of that news, lacrosse fans need to … [Read more...]
Pro leagues on collision course
As a lacrosse fan, you want the new Premier Lacrosse League to succeed without killing off Major League Lacrosse in the process. If you are a realist, however, you worry that the prophecy for these two leagues is the same as that for Harry Potter and Lord Voldemort, the mortal enemies from the … [Read more...]
In winning gold on global stage, Americans miss point of Worlds
Team USA didn’t win the 2018 FIL World Championship in July until the very last second, with Tom Schreiber’s goal with one click remaining on the clock taking down Canada, 9-8, in Netanya, Israel. Before playing its very first second in the tournament, however, Team USA started an ugly losing … [Read more...]
FIL World Championship: Regional Flair
The joke on the shuttle buses operating at the 2018 FIL Men’s Lacrosse World Championship in Netanya, Israel, in July was that if you wanted to save time, you didn’t ask the Americans where they were from. You asked them from which part of New England they came from. Yes, the 46 teams convened from … [Read more...]
Without fun and improvement, summer is a waste
For club lacrosse players, there are a lot of highlights that can define "a good summer." There are the wins for their team — and their role in that success — the places they traveled, the experiences they had, the people they met, the friends they made, the coaches they worked with, the college … [Read more...]
Season for the Ages
The "best season ever" is the one when your favorite team wins the crown, with players you love making big, unforgettable contributions. The best season ever is personal to you. So what we just witnessed during the college lacrosse season of 2018 is the "most accomplished season" in the history of … [Read more...]
With bloated lacrosse calendar, less would be more
I love lacrosse — every level, every variety, every version of the game. Yet, I have gotten to where I think there may just be too much of it. I realize how sacrilegious that sounds, particularly from a guy who works in the sport at every level from youth to the pros, but it seems like each portion … [Read more...]
For a rewarding summer, do your homework
The best things in life aren’t always free. My daughter, Whitney, learned that years ago when she won a raffle prize of a scholarship to the lacrosse camp at a prestigious local Division 1 university. It was the summer before her freshman year in high school and Whitney already was a veteran of … [Read more...]
No lacrosse in the Olympics? I’m fine with that
Taking off a Friday afternoon in February, I had two great sports choices on television: the Winter Olympic Games or an early-season lacrosse game between top-five college teams from Duke and Denver. The obvious pick would be the Olympics, which come around every four years, but as riveting as I can … [Read more...]
How to be a great teammate
I have been blessed in my long lacrosse career to be around a lot of great lacrosse players, and also to play with and witness a lot of great teammates. They aren’t always the same people. Not everyone can be a great player, but everyone can improve their game and can find a way to contribute to a … [Read more...]
Five wishes for an even better game
The more lacrosse I watch — and as a player, coach, official, journalist and broadcaster I see a lot more than most — the more I appreciate the things I do not see on an everyday basis. So as we start another year, and thus a new lacrosse season, I figured I’d point out five things I’d like to see a … [Read more...]
