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NU coach Randy Walker didn't want the media spotlight glaring at the Wildcats during the spring. With a new Offensive Coordinator training up a replacement for one of NU's best QBs ever, about half the team's practices were closed to the media. We've seen a few notes here and there, but most of the Spring Coverage has been of the "I think" type. Somebody in Evanston once said something about media coverage of Spring practice being overblown. I guess that thought has taken hold.
but sometimes you can want something too much Such appeared to be the attitude at Duke Men's Lacrosse. Now lacrosse can be a tough game, played at times, by very aggressive people. The game's Iroquois name is Tewaaraton, and was sometimes played by American Indians to settle disputes. It is also known as the "little brother of war." If you pay attention to the Tewaaraton information, there is almost a religious aura around the game, one writer refers to its curative purpose, surrounded by ceremony. Given the size of the field [miles long originally] only the strongest players were able to make plays. Over the years, various non-Indian schools picked up the game, seeing it as a better way to keep football players in shape during the spring. Lately, the Dukies recruited some very aggressive kids in their drive to make both Men's and Women's Lacrosse a premier Spring sport to add to their Basketball successes. Their Women's team is apparently on the right track. It seems that the men only got the aggressive part right.
As the ultimate outsiders, not from the northeast, the Cats will probably have to sweep their final 5 games, plus win the NCAA tournament to be back at #1. This weekend's pair with #5 North Carolina and #7 Johns Hopkins, represent the toughest opponents left on the NU schedule. Duke has a couple of games with unranked opponents, plus what could be rematches with both #6 Maryland and #3/4 Virginia in the ACC tournament. Forget that earlier in the year, NU easily dispatched Virgina [and Maryland], the Bounce Entertainment/Inside Lacrosse media poll has NU firmly in #2 behind the Demons, with Virginia getting only other first place vote! Should Duke lose one this weekend, Lacrosse will have the classic circle of winners; Duke beat NU, Virginia beat Duke, and NU beat Virginia. Duke has a good team with several Tewaaraton Trophy watch list members, but just like NU last week, they're set up for a surprise. Meanwhile, it appears that everyone on the NU Women's Lacrosse team has stepped it up. I guess all we have to do now is watch our women dominate the rest of the schedule the way they beat Penn State Sunday. #1 will take care of itself.
