US Lacrosse Community Forum Forums MID-ATLANTIC LACROSSE MARYLAND FORUM MadLax Lacrosse

Well, you're way off there. Elite basketball players don't pay for a thing down to their shoes if they are in the top groups and are going to the combine camps. And if they go to those things and can't hang on, the club coach and parent can't just sign them up or appoint them again -- they get dropped. Soccer is like that too. Swimming, well, there you are totally off. Our daughter swims for Nations Capital in the same training group pool as Katie Ledecky. Not in the same lane mind you. Swimming costs $1000-$1500 a year in club dues and yes there are expenses to go to nationals. The main difference between swimming and lacrosse is the #3 or #6 ranked lacrosse recruit is just an assigned rating. The #3 swimmer or the #6 swimmer is exactly that according to her times. You can't phony it up and get recruited by UVA in swimming: you have to be national or world class and to do that you have to go swim with sharks at nationals and make at least the top 16 semi finals competing against current collegiate athletes and post grad Olympians. Do you realize how insanely accomplished you'd need to be against more than a million kids in your grade, including internationals, to get recruited to Texas or Georgia or UVA to swim? It is so hard that the comparible would be one Baltimore Crab gets recruited to Hopkins every third year. That is how big the difference is in being good enough in lacrosse versus being good enough in a real deep diverse and hugely populated sport with zillions of great athletes.

Try telling me Michael Phelps and Katie Ledecky are not two of the 20 greatest athletes of all time, not just swimming, all sports all time. To compare what Paul Rabil did in lacrosse (one NCAA championship, a couple MLL ones, some MVPs) to what Phelps or Ledecky have done and you'd look like a total ignorant fool.

I think your notion that some D1 football players couldn't drop Kyle Harrison or Paul Rabil is a bit silly too. Those are two great lacrosse athletes, and a better way of putting your analogy is if you put Harrison and Rabil out there on UMD's practice field in football with the linebackers, MAYBE they'd hold on and hold together. Take any 10 random lacrosse players on UMD's lacrosse team today and do the same, put them on the UMD football practice field, I rather doubt you'd see more than 2 or 3 who didn't look ridiculously outclassed right away. [/quote]

You're clueless. No one said anything about "dropping" anyone - if you look at the 99th player on any worthy D1 football team, in most cases they are a 300+lb DT, and yes, I'm sure they could "drop" anyone who weighs 100+ lbs less - that is not what the initial discussion was about. It also was not about which football player could play better lacrosse or vice versa - that's apples and oranges.

Let's go through your post:

- what does the fact that elite basketball players not having to pay for anything do with them being great athletes? Or soccer? I know a LOT of parents who aspire to have their kids be D1 basketball, baseball, football, soccer, and swimming, and they pay a LOT of $$ for private schools, camps, clubs, and the like for their kids, who are good, not great, every year. And somehow they are able to have their kids there year after year, because they can afford it. The two are unrelated, though - they will never make it all the way.

- as for swimming, you're saying it costs money (shocker) and you can afford to pay it, and your daughter swimming with her apparently implies that she is a good swimmer also, which is great. Unfortunately, it's not all that exciting to watch, and while Michael Phelps and Katie Ledecky are certainly fantastic swimmers, I cannot speak to how they throw a football, pass a lacrosse ball, or dunk a basketball. My guess is though, probably not exceptionally well - again, you're comparing apples and oranges. I'm pretty positive that Michael Phelps could not sink a goal on Scotty Rodgers, though. but what I am telling you is, NO - Michael Phelps and Katie Ledecky are NOT two of the greatest athletes of all sports of all time, because they are SWIMMERS. Also, Paul Rabil is NOT one of the greatest athetes of ALL SPORTS OF ALL TIME, because he is a PROFESSIONAL LACROSSE PLAYER.

What I will say is that those D1 players train hard - REALLY HARD. Lacrosse is a game which requires incredible stamina, quickness, hand eye coordination, mental acuity, and IQ. Bottom line is, in football, if you're a lineman, you pretty much have one job. Yeah, you have to occasionally play both offense and defense, but generally one thing. Same with a kicker. in swimming, you swim. In soccer, you do need IQ and stamina and quickness. Same in basketball. The difference is, in lacrosse, EVERYONE on the field needs to be fast, be smart, be alert, be physical, be quick, have IQ, and EVERYONE TOUCHES THE BALL. You just simply cannot compare it to other sports - put it this way, every kid can (and does) play soccer, swim, shoot hoops, and play pickup football and baseball. EVERYONE CAN DO ALL OF THEM - maybe not at a D1 level, but they can - toss a soccer ball out, everyone can play a pickup game, even 3 year olds. My 5 year old jumps in a pool, she swims. Toss a lacrosse stick in your kid's hand, and tell them to run down the field, pass, catch, and shoot, good luck - trust me, I run clinics, so you can't argue with me, I know firsthand. Give credit where credit is due, lacrosse players are athletes. If you don't believe it, what the heck are you doing trolling a lax forum anyways??