Amid the excitement of the hockey and basketball playoffs, and on the verge of the Saskatchewan Rush going after its third title in four years, other sports don’t get a lot of attention at this time of year from most sports fan.
In my own case I wouldn’t suggest I am the typical sports fan, or at least typical in terms of North American fans. My tastes might be more European in the sense that I follow a rather extensive list of leagues.
In general the sports are all team sports. My list of individual sports I devote attention to is rather short, and leans toward the obscure in sports; professional bullriding, snooker, badminton and the like.
The flipside, team sports I tend to be interested, although for the most part I need a Canadian team to follow, or I tend to tune out. As they say I want ‘a horse in the race’ to make it fun to watch. That is why I am a devout fan of the Canadian Football League and spend maybe 10-minutes a year with a TV channel on a National Football League.
It’s the same reason I pay fairly close attention to the American League of baseball, because I have the Toronto Blue Jays to cheer for. I used to pay attention to the National League too, but that was when there were the Montreal Expos to follow. As the Expos headed south to evolve into the Washington Nationals, they took my interest in the NL with them. I haven’t watched a complete NL game in years as a result.
So as noted last week in this space I am excited by the Winnipeg Jets and Toronto Maple Leafs in the National Hockey League playoffs, although if the two teams end up eliminated, my playoff viewing will shrink to almost nil.
There are however a few exceptions to my no viewing without a Canadian team rule.
If there is a sport that has a pro league, with no Canadian teams, and no option in this country I might be lured into watching.
But the hold on me is pretty thin in most cases. As sports Australian rules football and hurling are entertaining if you take a few minutes to learn the rules. I occasionally watch both sports, but without a connection to a ‘home team’ I don’t tune I regularly, in fact in reality it is rarely, in spite of appreciating both sports.
Then there is field lacrosse, the sport which defies my own rules.
It might be that the sport is Canada’s official summer sport.
It might be that there are Canadians playing at the top level.
Or, it could be that Major League Lacrosse is just a great league to follow in terms of sport entertainment.
The 2018 season starts Saturday, and you can watch the entire schedule via a low cost subscription to Lax Sports Network, an online platform. That really helps in terms of viewing as games are live, but also available on-demand so if you opt for a Jets playoff game, you can watch the New York Lizards and the Denver Outlaws later.
If you are unfamiliar with the field version of lacrosse -- hopefully the Saskatchewan Rush have your attention in terms of box lacrosse – I highly recommend taking a look at the MLL.
The pro game is a slightly modified version of the game, with a couple of notable changes which definitely enhance the game, both borrowing from basketball.
The first change is that the MLL uses a 60-second shot clock in order to keep the game fast and exciting for fans and players. The shot clock is reset after a goal is scored, a shot hits the post, is saved by the goalie or there is a change of possession. If the clock runs out, possession is granted to the other team. Teams have 20 seconds to clear the ball across the midfield line.
The clock keeps the pace focused on generating shots.
The MLL has also created a two-point goal line located 16-yards from each goal. A shot from beyond the arc is two points. It’s a great innovation, giving teams that chance to come back from a greater deficit late, although I would actually move the line in at least a yard, if not two, to make it a bigger part of games. In basketball the three-point shot is now an in-game mainstay which generates excitement, and the MLL could grow that making the two-point shot a higher percentage option.
Still, as is the MLL is great lacrosse, and I will be working a game, or so a week into my spring and summer viewing.
