Report: FSU thinking of adding Lacrosse

A college lacrosse blog used a Freedom of Information request to look into rumors of Florida State starting a DI college lacrosse program. While most of the official channels within the university focused on a Women's Team, there has been talk by their administration the past few years about including Lax in their master plan. Aside from the growing popularity of the sport, their rival's (University of Florida) expansion into lacrosse seems to be driving some of the interest at FSU.

What does this have to do with BC? While we can't do FOA requests to a private school, I imagine the topic has been discussed in official channels lately. We know all of BC's recent Athletic Directors have gotten the question from the Alumni base. Jarmond has repeated the same old narratives about the challenges of bringing back the Men's team. If other ACC team's expand, it will only make those excuses more hollow.

Checking in on Men's Lacrosse

This weekend was Senior Day for the Men's Lacrosse team. Fittingly they defeated UNH and are having another strong season.

Unsaid in the facilities announcement and renewed commitment to baseball, was that Men's Lacrosse remains a club and will likely be a club for the foreseeable future. As baseball faltered and club Lacrosse thrived it seemed like a smart move would be to have the programs trade places with regards to scholarships and funding. But that's not happening. It is a BC thing, an ACC thing and a Title 9 dilemma.

Right now BC is ranked 10th among club teams and should make the club championship tournament. Let's hope they make it and win it all. Although it wouldn't be an NCAA Title, it would still be a big step forward for the team and BC Athletics.

Men's Lacrosse loses in playoffs but sets path for future

After going undefeated in the regular season, the Men's Lacrosse team lost their first round game of the MCLA Tournament. There are no moral victories in club sports either, but the team's success this year shows they are doing the right things.

As I wrote at the beginning of Spring, I am basically neutral on Men's Lax returning as a varsity sport. But as I said at the time, the team's primary goal should not be varsity status. In my opinion, becoming a club level power would be more effective path to scholarship status than any politicking or fundraising. Going undefeated shows that BC can be dominant in club lacrosse. Losing the tourney opener is a setback but only a small one. Next year I expect the guys to get back in the Tournament and go deep.

Brad Bates is on record as having watched the club team. He also says all sports and their varsity status will be reviewed and addressed. I don't expect he will fund the team this year. Maybe it will happen next year, maybe it won't. But this season finally showed that the Men's Lacrosse team is taking its destiny to the field.

I look at Swofford's dealmaking and other links

John Swofford is a pretty polarizing figure among ACC fans and media. Some consider him a good ol' boy who gets pushed around by ESPN and the bigger conferences. Others refer to him as Ninja Swofford. This article goes in-depth about how the new ACC Grant of Rights deal came about. I think it shows both sides of Swofford. He was able to cajole a deal but only after getting blindsided by Maryland. I am not a fan of Swofford. While I will be forever grateful for BC joining the ACC, I think he's screwed up repeatedly in this process which is why the ACC often seems to be scrambling.

Pennsylvania Linebacker Christian Lezzer committed to BC this weekend.

Baseball beat Virginia Tech on Sunday for their third ACC win.

Olivier Hanlan earned team MVP honors at the annual Basketball awards dinner.

Softball lost to Georgia Tech.

Men's Lacrosse finished their regular season undefeated.

BC grad student Brittany Loring is sharing her story for the first time since being injured in the Marathon Bombing.

Lacrosse update and other links

Since I said on the field success was the key to Men's Lacrosse's future, I wanted to make people aware the team is undefeated. They beat UConn Tuesday and take on Rhode Island on Saturday.

With two of our best NFL Draft prospects both from Illinois, it is only natural that the Bears are paying attention.

Softball lost to Maine.

This is not about BC, but is about how Quinnipiac leveraged hockey to raise the university's profile. There are lessons here for our non- or low-revenue sports.

How its death might save Men's Lacrosse

Brad Bates hasn't even been around a full school year and he's already been peppered with the Men's Lacrosse question. This is not new. The most predictable thing about any online chat with former AD Gene DeFilippo was a question about Men's Lacrosse. There is a group of supporters who won't rest until BC brings back a Lacrosse team. I've always been indifferent towards the movement and the sport but as I see Bates face the same line of questioning, I've come to the realization that BC Men's Lacrosse is more popular dead than it ever was alive.

First let me clarify for those who don't follow the sport: BC still has a Men's Lacrosse team. They play BU, Northeastern, UConn, and UNH. They travel to Florida and Texas. They wear Under Armour gear and have their own twitter feed, but you won't find an official mention of them on BCeagles.com. This is because we don't have a varsity (i.e. scholarship), NCAA sanctioned team. Our guys are technically club and play in the MCLA. We have a team and it is thriving, even as it is on the periphery of BC sports.

For a long time no one really cared about Men's Lacrosse at BC. We had some decent teams and some passionate Alumni, but the sport was never a priority. Lacrosse -- although firmly entrenched in New England -- was still a regional, preppy game. It didn't do much for the school on a national level. When Gene cut the program in 2002, there was some outrage from the Lax Alums, but most people following the situation understood that Title IX compliance was probably the biggest factor in its demise. BC Wrestling and Water Polo had their supporters too when they got cut during the same process.

Unlike the other budget and politics victims, Lax won't really go away. The Alumni still do their part. The media keeps mentioning how BC would be the perfect Lacrosse school. And of course the fans won't let our AD forget that we don't have a Varsity program. This persistence is making BC Men's Lacrosse more relevant than they ever were in the old days.

I feel for the guys currently representing BC on the field. They deserve financial support and the chance to compete at the sport's highest level. But I don't think anything is going to change. In order for Lacrosse to return, BC would either have to cut other active men's teams or create more women's teams to offset the reborn Men's program. But the only reason why there remains a sliver of hope is the passion still being shown for our Men's program. The fans may be a minority, but they are vocal. And then there is the actual team. Bates recently said that sports is the biggest marketing vehicle the school has. If the Men's team can become a MCLA power, that will get noticed by the right people. Michigan turned their MCLA run into a move to DI NCAA lacrosse.

I don't know what the future holds for men's team. I can't fake some sort of passion for the game, but I do have begrudging respect for the ardent supporters. They are annoying but at least they care about something.   I do have one suggestion for them if they are serious about a full return of BC Lacrosse: change the narrative.  Stop pestering Bates with questions about reinstating the sport. Instead use the chats and town halls to ask him what he thinks of the club team. If he plans on attending the games. If he'll go to the MCLA playoffs. Get media interest on the team. Get an article in BC Magazine. See if you can get local media to do stories. And it shouldn't be about "boo hoo" BC needs a lacrosse team. It should be about how great our team is. Positive attention and national success will push the right buttons. That is the next step.