Thoughts on USA "upset".... [Archive]

bigstick24

07-23-2006, 10:57 AM

So after attending the World final, I don't think that USA's loss is that much of an upset really... and after seeing how poorly US played and how arrogant they seemed to be on the field, it's only fitting that someone else won. I mean Canada down right dominated after the first quater... Snider wins 20 out of 28 face-offs... and as we all know, face-offs are a huge part of the game... I don't think Mikey Powell should have been on the team, regardless of how good he is, he IS NOT a team player, he ball hogged every time he had posession... Although USA was a much faster team, Canada used the international rules to slow the game down to their level, rather than chase the Americans around... Bottom line: USA DID NOT PLAY AS A TEAM, even if they had the better individual talent; Canada came together in the second half, worked together and came out on top. They might not have USA's record, but they won when it counted, so the better team did win this time. Congrats to Canada on it's win!

uvalax572

07-23-2006, 12:31 PM

hell, lacrosse is canada's national sport!

lancerlax3

07-23-2006, 01:03 PM

mikey powell not a team player? he led the world lacrosse championship in assists

LaxDr

07-23-2006, 02:56 PM

i agree the canadians looked slow compared to the americans but zwiky was always around the net and burried his chances, i think if merechuck would of been playing the whole tournament and not zwiky canada would of came second

samchase

07-23-2006, 03:29 PM

honestly, i fell alsleep for the first 3 quarters (i had just gotten home from a 2 1/2 hour practice) and when i woke up to see the score at 9- 10 i was pissed. i was close to tears every time gait scored, but after the game i thought that he really did deserve it. he is the best player of all time, and this was his last game. so to beat the USA by 5 after loosing to them for 28 years is a great honor, and i think its awesome that he got it.

stegmakk

07-23-2006, 03:34 PM

SeanO39

07-23-2006, 04:37 PM

I think Chris Sanderson played more arrogantly than team USA. It made my day when he dropped that ball and Casey scored. But then he ruined my day by dominating team USA. I feel that it was in coaching that the USA lost. Canada worked specifically on playing defense against a US style of play, and it certainly showed. The US defense looked pretty weak outside of the beginning of the second half. The US just didn't show the determination or team effort to win. An example was that Jalbert shot where rather than working to get a good shot he simply ripped a shot wide without backup, losing the ball for his team. This was clearly a desperation and panicky play on his part. I think its safe to say that Team USA is the most talented team in the world, but they just didn't come to play as a team yesterday, and Canada did.

snell31

07-23-2006, 04:40 PM

here ismy take... http://laxnation.com/home/displaynationsviews.php?viewtopic=2006worldchamp&author=Keith%20Stegmaier

and who else here laughed when mikey fell flat on his face...cmon he ended up back in the game so it is politically acceptable to laugh...
hahahahaha

good article, well written.

i thought usa didnt show enough, passion? after a couple goals usa keeper looked very upset. none of the team seemed to want to push spirits up. they seemed very down trodden.

i laughed my *** off when powell fell. i also laughed when the streaker got on the pitch, ENGLAND!!!

mfLax03

07-23-2006, 05:12 PM

Canada deserved it, and I'm so glad that Gary Gait went out on top.

gaels_laxer_33

07-23-2006, 06:09 PM

It wasnt an "upset" Canada derserved to win they played far better then US did all in all though it was a great game lots of action and such

RockStar

07-23-2006, 07:09 PM

..........merechuck would of been playing the whole tournament and not zwiky canada would of came second
Marechek, and Zwycki, I believe.

Spelling lesson over. You might want to look at the scoring numbers that Gait and Marechek put up when they played together on the Bayhawks last summer and rethink your post.

Zwycki was fantastic this tourney, but it's easily possible that Marechek would have been as good.

Hackstall

07-23-2006, 07:13 PM

Here are my thoughts on the game. It rained for the first quarter. Then, when one of my buddies pointed to the clouds and said it looked like it was clearing up, it soon started pouring rain. Now, I don't know a whole lot about field lacrosse (box player), but I figured that the rain would give the Americans a huge advantage. A number of the Canadian players have only played box for years and I figured those players who play more field would have an easier time in the rain. That didn't seem to be the case.

I have never seen Mikey Powell play before and no doubt that he is one hell of a lacrosse player. However, he is awfully tiny. That's fine for the field game. However, I doubt he will be as great if he ever plays in the NLL, he will get eaten alive.

As I heard other people say, the USA stupidly turned the game into a box game. John Grant Jr. was being covered by the USA's best defenceman and by the 3rd quarter, Grant was just standing at the edge of the field so as to take himself and the defender out of the play but still be by the line for missed shots. The effect of this was that Canada could play 5 on 5 and there was lots of space to work with.

Honestly, Canada outplayed the US fairly badly after the first quarter. They deserved to win.

RockStar

07-23-2006, 07:17 PM

........The US just didn't show the determination or team effort to win. An example was that Jalbert shot where rather than working to get a good shot he simply ripped a shot wide without backup, losing the ball for his team..........

This was due to the absolute brutality shown by the best lacrosse defense corps I've ever seen assembled. By midway through the third, Team USA's offense looked like they were afraid to run the gauntlet and take the lumps.
(Wonder why Casey Powell only plays box reluctantly? You've just seen part of it!). The irony of this was before the tourney, almost everyone (myself included) was thinking that Canada's D was it's weakness.......This one held the US/Powell juggernaut to 23 goals in two games.

Key lessons to be learned

-All the speed in the world doesn't matter if you're afraid to drive into the shooting lanes.
-Dancing around and firing from outside doesn't work against a good goalie unless you get heavy traffic in front of the net and/or good backup and/or are willing to fight for the looseballs.

BlakFate

07-23-2006, 09:10 PM

i think it's probably one of the best events of sporting events this year
the olympics were upsetting because canada got screwed pretty muhc in everything
and then in the world cup the favorites were killed (brazil)
i cant really say that this followed the same suit because it wasnt an upset those were the teams expected to be in the finals and the canadians just had more drive
and i say good on em
GO CANADA

BelliesLax

07-23-2006, 09:22 PM

LOLOL garysgod hHAHAHAHAHAMod Edit: KnightsLaxDad - Quote removed potential flame war starter

How do u figure i think that it is absolutely pathetic that the USA losses to Canada in Lacrosse or Hockey especially seens that the usa has 10 times the amount of people than canada..
on the other hand...I dont think that there is a tougher harder hitting defense in the world than canadas..i found that the americans were scared to get hit and did not want to get touched by the canadians..This comes from the much rougher sport in box..compared to box lacrosse field lacrosse is almost a girlie game physically..i belive that the us have a very talented team but they all think that they are superstars..this was the reason that canada won and the us didnt...congrats to Gary The greatest lacrosse player to ever live without a dought..and to Frank Nielson head coach of Team canada

CanuckLax

07-23-2006, 09:26 PM

hell, lacrosse is canada's national sport!

It's our national summer sport, hockey is the national winter sport

CanuckLax

07-23-2006, 09:29 PM

It's funny how historically, the Canadians lack of field experience has been pegged as the reason for there losses, yet on this day when the roster had more field experience than ever before, it was their "box' style play that won them the game.

Someone mentioned it above, about the US unwillingness to pay the price and penetrate, they played a perimeter game while the Canucks played box, fought thru checks to get tight on the net, lotta quick sticks, rebounds, very few bombs from the outside...

radman

07-23-2006, 10:50 PM

I cant call it an upset. After seeing game one, I knew both teams had a 50/50 chance of winning.

But what shocked me the most was the melt down i nteh thrid and fourth quarter. I was expecting a war all the way to the last second..

I mean what was i ntheir minds? It seemed team USa after down by 3 goals seemed to let up.

How disapointing. :concerned

#15Roadies

07-24-2006, 07:17 AM

"compared to box lacrosse field lacrosse is almost a girlie game physically"

Really? "Physically" you say? Other than the rough-housing, field is as physically demanding, if not more so, than box. That is 110 yards you have to run back and forth on there bud, not 60 yards; start wielding a long pole on some speedy attackman for 2 minutes and see how your arms feel; try ripping a shot on your wrong hand and feel those obliques; try running your guts out into the open for a clear and have the coach send you into the hole at top speed; or riding those defenders as mean and viciously as you can; or better yet, try being on the receiving end of a man-ball situation when a couple of your opponents have lined you up.

Methinks you have never really played field to any real extent otherwise I doubt you would have such an opinion. Don't confuse field with intercrosse. I have seen box kids coming off the field looking like they want to hork up a lung, lie down and go to sleep, or holding one thing or another due to a well time and well hidden chop.

If you don't believe me, find a good field team and sign on the dotted line. I am sure you'll have a change of mind after a few games. That is, if you can keep up.

PS - added in edit to stay on topic: there wasn't one player that was playing any sort of girlie game. In fact, the Yank D was pretty darned scary and their rides were textbook efficient and mean.

thunder_15

07-24-2006, 07:45 AM

i was jsut wandering did chris sanderson do what he did in 02 and if he got the ball and was 1 on 1 with an attack he runs around the circle to get them to chase after him? that was helarious wen i saw that in perth

#15Roadies

07-24-2006, 07:51 AM

"...did chris sanderson do what he did in 02..."

Yeah he did and at one point lost the ball in front of his net whereby the attackman scooped it up and put it in the open net. Otherwise, it was useful to a degree. The American ride was pretty effective in limiting fast clears from the goal.

dougm

07-24-2006, 07:55 AM

PS - added in edit to stay on topic: there wasn't one player that was playing any sort of girlie game. In fact, the Yank D was pretty darned scary and their rides were textbook efficient and mean.
truth is among the top 20 ground ball hogs, only 3 were from the usa. this squad was soft that could had been reversed if sims, martin or cantabene played. but no, we wanted look pretty - soccer mom coaching!
next time, give me a middie that will scrap for the loosies.

stegmakk

07-24-2006, 08:38 AM

Marachek...no offense but hes getting old and making more ill advised BTBs than before...this was apparent in Philly a couple years ago. He is still great but it seems he cant do what he used to...ere go his WIDE btb shot in the championship game...

Zywicki...his championship explosion was more due to placing himself in the right area and having a good quick hands and finishing ability...none of his goals were anything special in terms of great shots, or flair...just hardworking smart play goals...

Sanderson he just played amazing...only blemish was when the ball fell out the back of his stick...

Gait...He sure picked the time to explode at the end...all 4 goals in the last 13 minutes...

Urick...played the best on the US team in the championship game...he took good shots, and put them home...they were also the sweetest shots of the game...now if there were 3 Urick brothers playing on the team instead of 3 powells, the outcome might have been different ;)

Gagliardi...he played well against JGjr...Detwigged him once and one of JGjrs goals was not due to Gags (came off unsettled situation where Gags was not on him)

Tierney...played not so well...but as expected...

Garrity...played horrible and was not what i expected at all...i thought (and still do) that garrity is the better keeper of the two...in the tourney (overall) Garrity had a better GAA, yet Tierney had a better save%...

Lastly Snider...74% wins on FO...simply amazing...

Canadian Lax

07-24-2006, 08:57 AM

i posted this reply in another thread but i think it has meaning.

during the game the announcer said something that really got to me and made me sort of think/ realize something. He said " in feild lacrosse your tought to look for open space, in box your tought to fight for open space" and when i herd that i was like wow its true. I think Canada fought for the open space in front of the net, just like in a box game, and fighting for that space worked.

MIExLax

07-24-2006, 01:35 PM

Canada deserved it, and I'm so glad that Gary Gait went out on top.
Totally Agree.

Gait has now accomplished and conquered the game of Lacrosse Completley!!!!... :worship:

The only reason i am not really upset that the US Lost was because if anyone deserved this it was him... plus for an old guy he showed us up...

bigstick24

07-24-2006, 04:54 PM

okay, just to clear something up... I put upset in quotations for a reason... apparently, people haven't heard of sarcasm... the game wasn't as much of an upset as it was a hard fought battle, that Canada EARNED.

Eclipse

07-24-2006, 07:16 PM

In a championship game, you don’t win silver. You lose gold.

That sums it up right there.

In four years, I hope to see USA perform more as a team. I also hope they dont put there names on the back of there jerseys again.

laxgoaliebm16

07-24-2006, 07:30 PM

its a sad day to be an american

SCpoleLAX

07-24-2006, 07:38 PM

That sums it up right there.

In four years, I hope to see USA perform more as a team. I also hope they dont put there names on the back of there jerseys again.

wont happen, USA is an "all star" team, "they rely soly on the individuals talent, where canada plays as a team"( part stolen from miracle)

samchase

07-24-2006, 07:39 PM

^^true that.
i hate gary gait.
not really...

SaltineWarrior4

07-24-2006, 07:42 PM

Why do all you Canadians keep saying that you lack the field experience, are you kidding me over 75% of that Canadian team went to college in the good old USA and play in the MLL during the summer. They have almost every bit the experience as the American team. They played a better game on Saturday and thats it , you no what they say " on any given Sunday" or Saturday in this case. They had homefield advantage, a BIG chip on their shoulder and came out on top thats it. Thank god for Canada they have a place to send their kids to college EH!

Eclipse

07-24-2006, 08:33 PM

wont happen, USA is an "all star" team, "they rely soly on the individuals talent, where canada plays as a team"( part stolen from miracle)

I realize you stole that from miracle bro, but National teams are not All-Star teams.

National teams may have the top players, but it also has the best coach. Realizing this, the nations top coach should not have the hardest time making these guys play together.

Lets not forget we are also lacrosse players here. We grow up dreaming to play for the national team. I dont think a little arrogance is going to cause these guys to throw that out the window so they can finish with a few more goals.

RockStar

07-24-2006, 08:53 PM

Why do all you Canadians keep saying that you lack the field experience........... over 75% of that Canadian team ............. play in the MLL during the summer. ........!
Check your facts, you're quite wrong.

Off the top of my head, just a few Team Canada guys who don't currently play MLL:

-Colin Doyle (but has signed with Rattlers and will play soon)
-Shawn Williams
-Andrew Turner
-Billy Dee Smith
-Gavin Prout
-Jim Moss
-Steve Toll
-Chris Sanderson
-Tom Phair
-Gary Gait (ha, he's not currently playing, so he still counts!)
-Tom Marechek (ha, he's not currently playing, so he still counts!)

That's eleven without even thinking too hard. That's about half of the roster.

This team may be more field-seasoned than any other Team Canada in recent memory, but it's still not the same level of experience as the US. Hell, a bunch of the guys (Doyle, Williams, Hoar, Smith for starters) didn't even play NCAA field.

BelliesLax

07-24-2006, 09:23 PM

Well said rockstar..and Eclipse..I believe u are wrong..when u have a bunch of guys like mikey powell on a team they all want to have the ball and they all want to individualy score..on the other hand the canadians with almost as box super stars learned to play as a team and not as individuals

Petem0ss

07-25-2006, 08:37 AM

Canada had the best combination of FOGO & LSM, possibly ever. USA had no one that could hang with either Snider or Merrill. Canada did a great job controlling posession & one result was that the US team wasn't very patient & became all out of sorts on offense. And Sanderson also played very well. Zywicki was an excellent compliment to Gait & Jr., good choice by Neilsen. Another good choice by the Canadians was to play as a team in the field tournament in Vail.

Not unlike like USA basketball in recent years, there didn't appear to be enough grinders & role players to do the dirty work. All of the talk about fast breaks & transition opportunities start with ground balls, and they didn't get enough of them. Credit to the Canadians. And good for Gary Gait.

radman

07-25-2006, 09:09 AM

Check your facts, you're quite wrong.

Off the top of my head, just a few Team Canada guys who don't currently play MLL:

-Colin Doyle (but has signed with Rattlers and will play soon)
-Shawn Williams
-Andrew Turner
-Billy Dee Smith
-Gavin Prout
-Jim Moss
-Steve Toll
-Chris Sanderson
-Tom Phair
-Gary Gait (ha, he's not currently playing, so he still counts!)
-Tom Marechek (ha, he's not currently playing, so he still counts!)

That's eleven without even thinking too hard. That's about half of the roster.

This team may be more field-seasoned than any other Team Canada in recent memory, but it's still not the same level of experience as the US. Hell, a bunch of the guys (Doyle, Williams, Hoar, Smith for starters) didn't even play NCAA field.

Yeah but Prout,Phair, and Gait played in the MLL.

dougm

07-25-2006, 09:10 AM

Zywicki was an excellent compliment to Gait & Jr., good choice by Neilsen.

jeff can do more w/ 2-square feet of space than most of our forwards can do w/ 2-yards.

WHEELAX2

07-25-2006, 09:13 AM

well, I can tell you, by seeing them play against the Aussies, I had a distinct feeling that Canada would win..

USA was major cocky all week..

RockfordAttack9

07-25-2006, 09:37 AM

After the first game against the USA I think everyone believed that Canada was ligit, and the USA didn't bring thier "A" game (not to mention thier huge egos) and lost.

Eclipse

07-25-2006, 10:15 AM

Im not going to argue this all star thing. If indeed we were just makin all stars..why bring 120 guys to tryout? We already know who the best is...shouldnt we just say "Hey, come play for the US."

A good coach, especially one like John Desko, knows what he wants in his team. Sure he may have 3 powells, but these are not supposed to be All star teams. Canada's team had all of canadas BEST players..but because they won, and played a little better, does no one think they had an All Star team?

dougm

07-25-2006, 11:16 AM

i have to admit that pick snider was a stroke of genius on their part. geoff has yet to play in the nll and his college career only intrigued a few. heck, he only made 3rd team all-american which kinda makes you wonder why when he lead the d1 in ground balls w/ a 70% f/o success rate. snider is tough, already knocking heads and sticks on the closer confines of senior box. the usa had no one as good, even cantabene, to counter him. now here is the really odd stat, pointstreak is reporting that in the mll, geoff on 15-draws has only won 6 as he is behind cercy on the depth chart w/ the outlaws. which mll fogo stayed home that had geoff's number really has to make you wonder?

bigstick24

07-25-2006, 02:04 PM

SinicinNJ23

07-25-2006, 02:23 PM

I love how all the Canadians in this thread are trying to bag on team USA.. you won one year.. big deal.

WHEELAX2

07-25-2006, 02:26 PM

I love how all the Canadians in this thread are trying to bag on team USA.. you won one year.. big deal.

I don't blame them one bit.. team USA carried themselves horribly, and were hardly representative of the US lacrosse scene..

team USA deserves to be bagged on..

Hackstall

07-25-2006, 03:30 PM

How big is Mikey Powell? Anyone know? 5'2" 110?

snell31

07-25-2006, 03:38 PM

Speaking of Snider's dominance on faceoffs, is anybody as puzzled as I am as to why Kyle Harrison didn't take more draws? It didn't seem like he got much game time... anbody know his stats for the game?

i thought that. i wondered why kyle didnt get more time, hes a good face off man. didnt usa get killed on faceoffs?

p.s. england represent http://www.lax.com/bimages/1691/51

Marty(Rock Fan)

07-25-2006, 03:59 PM

How big is Mikey Powell? Anyone know? 5'2" 110?

i believe mike is 5' 10", 165 lbs

TRITON

07-25-2006, 04:41 PM

i thought that. i wondered why kyle didnt get more time, hes a good face off man. didnt usa get killed on faceoffs?

p.s. england represent http://www.lax.com/bimages/1691/51

HA HA HA thats the little guy who tried to take him down after he gave up.............. The English guy just stood there with him hanging around his neck.

Too funny

Rok629

07-25-2006, 07:16 PM

Team USA should be ashamed of their loss. Being a member on the team that lost after 28 years! I wouldn'twant my name on that roster. It was so hyped about the Powells playing together with Desko. The Powell hype is just that. Great entertainers,but sometimes doing the little things is all that counts. Stick to the camps and show all the kids how to shoot between the legs and do flips.

Second is always regarded as number one loser.

Eclipse

07-25-2006, 07:25 PM

And he is right, USA walked in on a high horse, they thought they had the gold, before the first game. It is a shame we lost, but, in all honest we did not deserve it. We got outplayed. Simple.

Oh, and outclassed for that matter.

This all coming for a hardcore USA fan.

igloo dweller

07-26-2006, 07:48 PM

objective thoughts
i thought the US might've blown canada off the park in the final, assuming that the semi-final result against the aussies was an aberration caused by arrogance. as it turned out, the US' perceived invincibility was false. those who say it was a 'one off', or the US just had an 'off day' are kidding themselves - canada nearly beat the USA in tournament play, and the aussies pushed them in the semi.

i was happy to see that the gap from 2002 has narrowed between the top teams. canada win the whole thing, the aussies go down to the US and canada by 3 each, the nationals spring one on australia. good for lax.

subjective thoughts
im soooo stoked that the US had their cocky [mod edit]attitude[/mod edit] taken down. much respect to the Canadian team

Lacrossebum03

07-26-2006, 08:28 PM

Im fairly shocked and a little down that they lost and everything, but theyre heads got too big and that game was their wake up call that they have to play like they have something to prove.

UKLaxFan

07-26-2006, 09:20 PM

Canada deserved the win and played a great team game.

They controlled possession, tempo and played to their strengths... finishing inside with Box skills.

They out hustled the USA 38-17 on GBs.

Quint Kessinich has done a great article on Why Canada Won?

http://www.insidelacrosse.com/page.cfm?pagerid=2&news=fdetail&storyid=133626

He has raised some excellent points, but for me he has missed a couple as well.

Before the tournament everyone was convinced the USA was the greatest team ever, more talent, more speed, more power than ever before.

The reality was a number of these players on USA Team simply didn't perform.

LSM was meant to be a battle of the Titans two greats at the position both from Georgetown. Brodie Merrill vs Kyle Sweeney. No Contest

Brodie Merril was aggressive all over the field, on D, on GBs, on clearing he dominated and had a great Final & tourney. I didn't notice Kyle Sweeney.

Midfield: USA picked a squadron of two way middies, great speed, great skills who would be able to run over any opposition.

Jay Jalbert was the only US Middie who lasted the course and performed as expected. He was a threat everytime he got the ball and "firestarter" created lots of offense and deserved Best Midfielder Award.

Roy Colsey
Kyle Harrison
Kevin Cassesse
Doug Shanahan
Blake Miller
AJ Haugen
Matt Striebel

Just didn't do what they were expected to do.

Look at the stats http://www.pointstreak.com/prostats/teamplayerstats.html?teamid=54126&seasonid=1285

I don't think it's a coincidence that Jalbert played a full NLL season and won with Colorado Mammoth where as the rest of the midfield are running MLL where only 3 poles and teams don't train as hard as when in college.

Attack: Again USA were meant to have the Dream Team, all three Powells, Ryan Boyle, Joe Walters and Scott Urich.

On EMO and in transition the Powells were fun to watch, stick fakes, look away feeds etc. But 6v6 they weren't that dominant, Scott Urich was far more effective and executed better than any of the Powells.
Ryan was the most competitive of the three Powells, Mike scored the most points and had spells of brilliance and Casey had moments of Magic. But none of them were a GOTO guy when the US needed a goal.

There has been much made of Casey's Goal in the Final a one handed between the legs spectacular effort having driven from behind Goal, what they don't mention was the fact that the reason the ball was on the backline was because Casey had fluffed a 1-on-1 on the doorstep and shot over the bar. Also Casey & Mike had tried the between the legs shot earlier in the week, failing both times... for me the writing was on the wall.

This wasn't a fluke win, Canada deserved it and played better team lacrosse.

Gary Gait scored 4 but wasn't in shape compared to MLL Final 2005.
Tom Marechek was injured and only played a cameo role in Final & Tourney.
John Grant Jr was shut off in Final.

I feel sorry for Coach Desko to be clubbed with Richie Moran as the only USA Coaches to ever lose a game but he didn't deserve the loss. The players he selected didn't do the job when the pressure was on.

The Aussies played better as a Team than USA and could have turned the USA over in the semi which really would have rocked the boat.

Just my views having watched the games in London, Ontario.

RockStar

07-27-2006, 07:15 AM

WHEELAX2

07-27-2006, 08:00 AM

I blame stx and inferior products..

RockStar

07-27-2006, 08:23 AM

I blame stx and inferior products..
Bang on.

I think a guy named "WARRIOR" scored the winning goal, possibly while using a competitor's product. :crazy:

WHEELAX2

07-27-2006, 08:40 AM

well, from being at field level I was amazed at the individual talent of the US.. but that was the problem.. almost every player was going through warm ups as individuals.. I didn't see guys chatting and laughing it up like a team would.. I didn't see coaches walking through the drills giving individual instructions.. pumping their players up.. it just looked like a showcase.. Let's see who can rip the most corners, or pull off the sickest feed or dodge..

pregame for every US game I watched, Mikey powell was off doing his own thing, nicky polanco was pacing the sidelines, looking up into the crowd Urick was warming up the goalies, etc.. just a bunch of individuals.. no team spirit what-so-ever.

I was almost embarassed to root for them.. there was nothing about them that I enjoyed.. I was more in awe of individual talent, not drawn to them by spirit or nationality...

it's unfortunate that this team did not represent true USA lacrosse..

I was also embarassed by Polanco's dirty play against the Aussies, and it just gave us a bad name..

so thank you team USA... I'm proud of you all.. :WTF:

Sour

07-27-2006, 08:41 AM

as someone pointed out on a UK based forum USA now holds no senior international world championships.....indoor and outdoor mens - Canada and Australia have the women's

so much for centre of the lax world!

spenny

07-27-2006, 09:47 AM

i think the lack of cohesive team play in the MLL cost the US the win, i think a team made up of college players might have won. they guys that played this time around have been playing the 1-vs-1 style of the MLL for so long they arent capable of playing the game as a team, unlike the canadians.

congrats canada!

Hackstall

07-27-2006, 10:12 AM

The Aussies I think played the best team game of any of the tournament and this was evidenced by their conduct during the playing of the national anthems. They would stand behind each other and each player would place their hand on the shoulder of the player in front of them. I thought it was a great show of solidarity.

I didn't see many of the Canadian round robin games or the semis but the games I did see, Canada did not do that. They were kind of scattered along the line. They "looked" like a team of individuals whereas Australia looked like a team. It was actually somewhat of a cause of concern for me.

On Finals Day, I was pleasantly surprised. During the Anthems, Canada looked like the Aussies, standing straight, hands on each others shoulders. They looked like a team. On the other hand the US players were scattered around much like Canada was in the games before.

I know it sounds trivial, but to me that showed Canada was playing like a team and meant business, whereas the US looked like they didn't much care for each other or the task at hand.

dougm

07-27-2006, 03:01 PM

All the speed in the world doesn't matter if you're not using it to win a battle for looseballs, or to beat a defender, to get to the crease or at least to a shooting lane, or to catch a fast-breaking d-man or middie going the other way.....etc.

i'll never confuse jim veltman w/ carl lewis but i get your point and agree w/ you.

Corduroy

07-27-2006, 09:52 PM

Wheels,

You're not alone with emabarassment. That Polanco incident took place as a result of Ardossi getting nailed and then giving lip. When Polanco turned his back and was walking, Josh (in typical Ardossi style) smacked in the head with his stick. Seems not much has changed since his days at Willy. Still cheap and nasty!! Incidentally he sucked badly in London.

Apart from that our Aussie boys performed admirably and respectfully. The obvious real disappointment was losing to the Iroquoi team....Must have been thos big nasty hickory sticks they were getting clubbed with.

Peace out,

Roy.

goalie1215

07-27-2006, 10:31 PM

im just happy for gary gait. imagine being that legendary, haveing won all the honors in lacrosse expept a world championship....it would haunt him forever, i know i would hate it (not even comparing myself to him, im not even good enough to lick the dirt off the spikes on his cleats.)

FACTKING

07-27-2006, 11:26 PM

Quint missed the boat on a few things, but made a couple of good points. At least he identified the biggest factor at the top of his story (lack of grit).

The one aspect he missed biggest on was exactly how the US team speed was neutralized.

He says conservative style.

I say by reason noted above - lack of grit.

All the speed in the world doesn't matter if you're not using it to win a battle for looseballs, or to beat a defender, to get to the crease or at least to a shooting lane, or to catch a fast-breaking d-man or middie going the other way.....etc.

Not sure he missed anything in his Blog .... :worship: :worship:

Given this disaster , the US Lacrosse board ought to fire it's people running this team. :hot: :hot:

Quint was kind.

A disaster in the eyes of the world for USL. :devil: :devil:

Bravo Quint !

Aussie_kid

07-28-2006, 01:35 AM

Canada just played better ball than US on the day, pure and simple. and they dominated the F/O which always helps

P.S 1000th post

WHEELAX2

07-28-2006, 07:21 AM

Laxfan22

07-29-2006, 12:01 AM

Yes, Canada did win in 2006. But don't forget--the USA has 8 Championships and Canada has only 2 all time.

In 2010 Gary Gait will be retired...and who knows who else is also gone. I bet the USA wins it then.

endoftheline

07-29-2006, 09:45 AM

big call to make 4 years from the event........

RockStar

07-29-2006, 10:09 AM

.......
In 2010 Gary Gait will be retired...and who knows who else is also gone. I bet the USA wins it then.

Don't get too excited yet. The old grey Gait wasn't the difference himself. Check what are the experts saying. Gait's four goals are mentioned, but not as a leading cause. They're saying FOs, GBs, grit, punishing D, desire, and miscues by US coaching.

As far as 2010, CanLaX is growing fast, possibly as fast or faster than USLaX. If Gait retires, there will be a number of big and strong box-trained, NCAA-schooled lefthand sniper/playmaker types waiting to fight for his roster spot. They won't replace everything he brings, but hell think about what a different left-handed complement to Zywicki, say Sean Greenhalgh, could have done for Canada with an X-man like Grant feeding him. Or what if you mov Colin Doyle forward to attack and put a healthy AJ Shannon into Doyle's middie spot? There are certainly options.

Not denying Gait's contribution, just saying that anyone claiming a US win in 2010 is more likely just because one ~40 year old is retiring is shortsighted.

Come to think of it, overall this was a pretty young Team Canada. I don't think most of the guys are even into their early thirties yet. Hell, Other than Gait, Phair, and maybe Sanderson, most of the 2006 will have a solid shot at making the 2010 team.