By Brett Hughes

Fall ball is heating up for high school ballers all over. For those of you in season be it football, cross country, golf, water polo...etc., that does not mean you should stop getting better at lacrosse. I'm not telling you to bring your long pole to practice to help you with your cover 2 assignments.

Instead head out to see some top college, pro, and even National Team games coming up over the next month and a half. As we saw in San Francisco, that showcase drew almost 5,000 and the fans got a chance to see UNC and Brown square off.

The COLORADO LACROSSE SHOWCASE: The Denver Outlaws are set to take on the Denver University Pioneers. This game should be great for the community recently ranked by Inside lacrosse as the No. 1 lacrosse town in America. The Stars will all be there for the Outlaws as Jesse Schwartzman, Kyle Harrison, Lee Zink, Brendan Mundorf, Max Seibald, Brian Langtry, and the rest of the Outlaws take on a college team on the rise. This also marks the first time the DU community will see legendary coach Bill Tierney in action on the DU sideline. The former Princeton coach is arguably one of the best to ever walk the sideline. These MLL vs NCAA games are always great as the MLL guys who do not practice everyday want to show why they are the best players in the world, and the NCAA guys just want to knock off the guys on top. These are great oppurtunity to watch great lacrosse and even meet some of the guys you may model your own game off.

Team USA SET TO TAKE ON NAVY, MARYLAND, AND UVA: If you are anywhere near Annapolis, Md., this Sunday go catch one of the four games slated to take place on two different fields. These games will be white hot, as the fellas on Team USA never want to lose, and they have a chip on their collective shoulder. From llast year, the 40+/- players on the Blue and White teams are still fighting for a roster spot when Team USA heads to Manchester, England this summer. Coach Dave Pressler will be continuing to evaluate these players and you can imagine the intensity these teams will bring. On the other side of the ball these teams happen to be playing three strong NCAA opponents. Navy, Maryland and Virginia will all be incredibly hard to beat. 

Players to watch when you go: USA: Kyle Harrison (hometown kid, dodges better than anyone), Max Seibald (works as hard as anyone on any field), Eric Martin (plays all over the field and always gives middies issues), Joe Walters (might be the best shooter in the game), Paul Rabil (the best offensive midfielder in the game), Kevin Levielle (as creative as the get), and Ryan Boyle (every team needs a QB, he is seen as one of the best and a hometown) 

NCAA: Max Schmidt (D), Dan Groot(M), Ryan Young(A), Shamel Bratton(M), Steele Stanwick(A), Ken Clausen(D), Brian Carrol(M), Tim Paul(A). Keep your eyes on these boys and many more. 

Team ENGLAND vs HOFSTRA: On October 17th The Hofstra Pride are set to take on Team England who just suffered a loss to Loyola this past weekend. These games are great because it is a chance for Hofstra to get excited about playing someone new, and you will see a Team England giving all the have to get their squad ready for Manchester this summer. 

The fact is you do not have to be playing to get better, find a player pay attention to what he does with the ball in his stick and what he is doing when the ball is spinning around. If you want to be one of the best, just get out and learn from them! 

Posted By Brett Hughes

Octotber 10th marked the first big time a Division 1 lacrosse game was played in Northern California at the 49ers old home, the historic Kezar Stadium. On a day that resembled more East Coast weather with clouds and a cool breeze the UNC Tar Heels and the Brown Bears did not dissapoint. North Carolina dominated play and tallied 13 goals in a 13-5 blowout.

Lacrosse highlighted the day for the near 5,000 in attendance. However, the fan fair was a close second, with clinics all around, complete set of vendors around the field and interaction with some of the best players in the NCAA game from both teams.

Events like this beg the question, when will this become a weekly occurrence. How long do we have to wait to see lacrosse really go to the next level on the West Coast?

With Denver being viewed as the new city for lacrosse, and attendance like this for a fall scrimmage, we all have to hope that more and more games like the San Francisco Fall Lacrosse Classic start populating the West Coast lacrosse scene. 

Posted by Brett Hughes

Just in time for the NCAA Final Four, an article from an unlikely outlet, explaining how even though our nation is in a recession... lacrosse is in a boom. The wall Street Journal discusses the westward migration and the boom is not stopping anytime soon. My own roommate Kyle Harrison even gets a quote in the article, so everyone tune in this weekend and lets set some more big numbers as  we watch this sport take off.

The games this weekend are on ESPN2 and something for everyone to watch. Attackmen, learn from the UVA boys on how to work together as those three (Glading, Stanwick, and Billings) put up crazy numbers on just about everyone in the league. Or If you want to see a Midfielder check out Cornell and watch Max Seibold and John Glynn both do everything they can, defense, face-off, and bring the noise on offense. If Defense is your cup of tea check out Duke, they play so well as a total unit, and goalie Rob Schroeder's leadership between the pipes is always impressive. Or maybe you want to  take in the team side where Syracuse is always known to take the "'eash off" in the final four and just move from one end to the other as fast as anyone.

Point is that whatever you are looking for as a lacrosse fan, or player, even just a sports fan in general this weekends final four has something for you... andnow it's a national attraction!

By Brett Hughes

I hope this is not to late... for my high school readers, do whatever you need to, go to a friend's house, go to Buffalo Wild Wings, or stay home if you have ESPNU and watch these games. I am aware some of you have prom, a couple games going on this weekend, but make sure you watch the best players in NCAA lacrosse pick it up even more to fight for a chance to play in the final four.

Here is the schedule and bracket so you can follow along: Schedule and Bracket

There are a bunch of amazing games to learn everything from what it takes to play at the next level, to what kind of sticks these guys use, even information about the schools and coaches that you should all aspire to play for someday. ESPN does an increidble job of trying to bring you more than just the game. So pay attention to Quint and his tips, interviews with players and coaches, and of course more than anything.

As lacrosse grows and we get to see more and more I am reminded of being in ohio when all we had was the final four our high school team would watch together before our state championship game every year. I remember finding a player and just watching everything that guy would do for a game.

So pick a Ned Crotty, Danny Glading, Kyle Wharton, Thomas Mulldone, Max Schmidt, or Shamel Bratton and see what they are doing with or without the ball... see what they are doing when nobody is watching and you will learn how to take your game to the next level.

By Brett Hughes

With the new specs for heads set to hit the NCAA in 2010, many lacrosse fans rejoice. Of course there are two sides to everything and many players and fans will oppose the new specs, I could not be happier. Having the lost art of a "take-away defender" back in college lacrosse is exciting, as a former college lacrosse defensman.

From the other side, I think that with the level of talent offensive players posses they will be happy to guard thier sticks a little more, the alternative is to guard their arms. As the heads get more and more pinched, defensman stopped swinging for the lost cause (the ball out of the stick), instead opting for the arm, shoulder, thigh, whatever they can hit. The opportunites for hitting the stick just right and the ball falling out are fewer than ever. Defenseman have been taught to take the ball out "take the arm holding the stick." The new stick specs will allow for a quicker release, and more opprutuntiy to throw the highlight reel check, both are good for the game.

Don't get it wrong, sticks will still have a bag and the laser highwall is not going to be the new head for 2010, but a slight change might make just enough of a difference to change the style a little in the way players handle the ball, and the way defenseman go about taking it away. We will find out in 2010 either way.