Ivy League Lacrosse Tournament

[Al DeFlorio]

From Dan Freshman's in-game blog at Inside Lacrosse:

A rowdy Cornell fan screams for Vaughan's stick to be checked.  Minutes later, he gets nabbed for a 3:00 non-releasable for an illegal stick.  "A prophet," the press box says.  Cornell EMO.    Real Winklevoss move from Vaughan, if you know what I mean.

Blog is here: http://games.insidelacrosse.com/game/ingame/5786/2011-05-08/harvard-crimson--cornell-big-red

[billhoward]

Sign of the changing times: Cornell wins its first Ivy lacrosse tournament, as ESPN graphic notes, 15-6, and (announcers) "it seemed as if nobody would be able to match Princeton's dominance," forgetting about the late 1960s to late 1980s.

Nice all-round play. Nice that Cornell didn't get bogged down after the first quarter. Thank you, Cantabs, for the illegal stick that set off the Cornell explosion. Nice defense throughout the game. Balanced scoring which I guess is a way of saying when Pannell doesn't go 4-4, Cornell still does okay. Fiore was more than okay in nets. Pannell didn't get involved in a closing-seconds hard hit play at midfield at game's end this time.

It was a little unsettling to have the annouuncers harping on Pannell as the only real candidate for the 2011 Tewaaraton Trophy. It's not as if Pannell is off anyone's radar. Some voters may look for further signs of excellence in Billy Bitter (NC) as a reason to vote for him.

Sounds as if Penn might have a shot to join Cornell in the NCAA tourament but Harvard played itself out with today's loss. Well, they'll still have their trust funds.

[dbilmes]

We had a solid game in goal from A.J., and our faceoff percentage was higher than it's been most of the season. Even though, that illegal stick penalty was a real turning point, and we were able to capitalize on it. Let's hope we can keep playing this way for the rest of the month!

[Josh '99]

10-4 after 3.  The story of this weekend has really been Bronzino emerging as a star.  He's been solid last year and all this year, but I feel this weekend he's really taken his game to another level.

I thought he was phenomenal down the stretch last year, good enough for me to notice how effective he was and I don't know lacrosse well enough to always recognize good defensive play when I see it.

[peterg]

...Fiore was more than okay in nets.

That's the second game in a row with better than a 60% saves percentage.  I'd say that's more than "more than okay."

[Al DeFlorio]

Feely held Gibbons to one assist and Bronzino held Cohen scoreless.  Great D against two tough customers.

[Swampy]

Maybe this belongs to its own thread, but today's game on ESPNU had what was for me one of the all-time great commercial moments.

First, the Ivy League had a spot, naming all eight schools, talking about the number of sports in which they compete, and then saying something like, "These young men and women achieve athletic success with academic excellence greater than any other conference in the NCAA." To learn more about the Ivy League and to experience Ivy League sports yourself, go to IvyLeagueSports.com.

Immediately after, this young gal appears in pajamas and says, "I may look like I'm going to sleep, but I'm really going to college. ... To learn more about going to college online go to ...."

::doh::

(In my day, we actually got dressed and went to class before we went to sleep. And "going online" was something you did to get season hockey tickets.)

I think the ESPN crew figured it out. Once it became clear the game was a blowout, my focus shifted to watching attentively to see if they ran the two commercials back-to-back again. They didn't.

As the postseason continues, there may be more moments for such entertainment excellence.

[billhoward]

Demographics of lacrosse viewers are high. ESPN Group is doing a bad job if they can't sell upscale car ads and financial services (not sure SPIDERS count) and instead you get the pajama game coed, hair club, UnhackMyPC.com, and other bottom feeder commercials. We would've had Ron Popeil coming our way if he was still available.

[KenP]

So what was illegal about the Harvard player's stick?  How did we know to ask?  If it was a legal stick would we have been charged with a "delay of game" or similar penalty?

[Swampy]

So what was illegal about the Harvard player's stick?  How did we know to ask?  If it was a legal stick would we have been charged with a "delay of game" or similar penalty?

It's not clear that we asked. The Harvard player kept the ball in his stick through a half-dozen checks and, if I recall correctly, rolling on the ground. The refs may have asked to look at the stick.

[KeithK]

I took a look in the NCAA rule book. I do see the illegal stick rule on page 18 (three minute non-releasable) and the stick check guidelines in Appendix 1. But I don't see anything regarding consequences for a failed check. Maybe there's a generic section on that but I don't see it  in the equipment section.

http://www.ncaapublications.com/productdownloads/LC12.pdf

[Al DeFlorio]

So what was illegal about the Harvard player's stick?  How did we know to ask?  If it was a legal stick would we have been charged with a "delay of game" or similar penalty?

It's not clear that we asked. The Harvard player kept the ball in his stick through a half-dozen checks and, if I recall correctly, rolling on the ground. The refs may have asked to look at the stick.

From today's Ithaca Journal:

DeLuca implored the officials to check Vaughan's stick. They did on the next stoppage, and found it to be illegal. Vaughan was assessed a three-minute, nonreleaseable penalty.

Article here: http://www.theithacajournal.com/article/20110508/SPORTS03/105080340/Cornell-cruises-Ivy-lacrosse-title?odyssey=tab|topnews|text|FRONTPAGE

[Jacob '06]

I'm curious what the deal was with the Harvard assistant coach trying to show the referee some piece of paper. The commentators were saying many players get their sticks checked before the game, I'm wondering if the coaching staff keeps track of this and was saying that his stick had been approved.

[Al DeFlorio]

I'm curious what the deal was with the Harvard assistant coach trying to show the referee some piece of paper. The commentators were saying many players get their sticks checked before the game, I'm wondering if the coaching staff keeps track of this and was saying that his stick had been approved.

I was wondering the same thing. It looked like a grammar school kid waving a note excusing his absence from class.

[Jim Hyla]

I'm curious what the deal was with the Harvard assistant coach trying to show the referee some piece of paper. The commentators were saying many players get their sticks checked before the game, I'm wondering if the coaching staff keeps track of this and was saying that his stick had been approved.

Players check their sticks before the game, just so this doesn't happen. However it's not like making weight for wrestling, there is not a specific, before the game check by the officials. You are responsible for your own stick. Now what the paper was, I have no idea. Even if he had a paper saying they had checked his stick before, it wouldn't have mattered in the game.

The old wooden sticks, with rawhide or other laces, were worse as they could more easily stretch and change during the game. You might have to adjust it during the game, to keep it legal.