And it's not the CFL. The MLL (pro outdoor Lacrosse) Rochester Rattlers are relocating to Toronto and will play out of BMO field. Since they will not have to mess with the stadium or the field how many of you are going to cry over this anyway? I'm sure some of you will still will, so lets hear it.
Source - The Globe and Mail http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/LAC.20090210.LACROSSE10/TPStory/Sports
There are a ton of Lacrosse fans around, Id be surprised if they don't become the most successful team in the league. I don;t expect too many soccer fans to have heard of the league or even know anything about the game. I would say the same thing about Lacrosse fans to MLS and soccer as Lacrosse fans tend to be multi generational Canadians or Americans.
Looks like we will be getting a good team lol. I'm from Peterborough where Lacrosse is second only to hockey so I'm jacked for this. Arguably the best player in the world John Grant is on the team as well.
I think this is a good thing for Toronto, BMO, and the MLL....and can help TFC as well. I know box lacrosse is more popular in Canada but I think this team will see some success in T.O.. and I do think this will help get grass at BMO if the contract is done right which means it helps TFC in getting players.
If it doesn't compromise the quality of BMO as a soccer stadium ( or our ability to improve on it ) then I have no problem with it.
There are tons of box lacrosse fans around but has field lacrosse ever really been a success here? I don't know. I do know that the league average attendance isn't really very high, somewhere in the 3 to 4k range. It will be interesting to see what happens. B
i am quite the sports enthusiast but i must say that i have never heard of this league so i am a bit embarrassed by this..but ihave watched some college field lacross on tv and i enjoyed it so i hope that the team does well at BMO!! any other info on the team coming here? how many home dates do they get? i would guess no more then 8 home games?....
Seeing as field lacrosse can be played on grass or turf, it won't. There aren't a lot of additional markings to be made on the field to clutter it up (crease markings near the top of the 18 yd box and restraining lines are about it) so it should be a relatively seamless thing that hardly anyone will notice.
I for one, would not be too keen on having anyone other than TFC using BMO Field once they change over to real grass, and then only just for games as well. They will have the new training facilities before then and BMO should be repaired and rested after each match to preserve the quaility of the pitch. Sorry, but I have seen too many beat-up city soccer fields that were used for mutli-purpose activities and cannot say that ANY have withstood the trampling. Just my 2-bits.
It's a fall league mostly made up of NLL indoor players. Many pro lax players play NLL-indoor in the winter, either Sr A semi-pro lacrosse in B.C. and Ontario or a rival outdoor pro league in the North East in the summer, and the NLL-outdoor league, which is fairly new, in the fall. The combination of leagues almost allows them to make a full-time living as a lax player.
It is actually a summer league, starts in May, championship game in August. Traditionally field LAX (eg. NCAA or CIS) is a fall sport, but the MLL plays in the summer to avoid going up against NFL. The season is only 12 games (6 home games) so it won't interfere with TFC at BMO. Other MLS/USL teams have shared their pitch with an MLL team. But in the end MLSE will probably just give the MLL team crappy dates. The NLL-o never existed, but the NLL talked about starting one. AFAIK, it has been on the back burner for the last couple of years. NLL is probably more concerned about survival and getting past 12 teams than trying to start up an outdoor field LAX league. I'm not 100% sure, but I bet you can count the number of full-time LAX players (without a second job) on one hand.
My mistake. I used to cover the NLL around the time that they were talking about the fall outdoor league. My relationship with lacrosse did not extend from the professional, so I stopped paying any attention after I left that position. The top NLL player made about $20,000 the last year I covered the league. Most made about $3-5,000 and were flown into the city they played for a day before the game.
I worked with a NLL player, they dont make much.. as for them using BMO, doesnt bother me 1 bit as long as no ugly lines go on and the scheduling doesnt cause hassles.
Here's a pic. Some lines. Goal crease and some sort of penalty area type thing. Not too bad but obviously they will have to be removed.
Well, here they are. Your Toronto Nationals of the MLL: http://majorleaguelacrosse.com/news/index.html?article_id=1276
Ah for f-sakes. I thought this was a SSS. Who the hell wants a third rate lacrosse team playing at BMO anyway? We don't want the Argos for the same reason: this stadium was built for soccer. I'm so sick of this bs.
I really don't get their logo. Bad name, bad logo. Go to torontonationals.com to see it. It's just a front page for now.
I'm just home from a visit to the UK. Got to watch some lower tier football and I've noticed that many of those clubs share their stadium with a local rugby side. I noticed it by the faded rugby lines on the pitch. As long as they can be reasonably faded away, it doesn't seem to me that the lacrosse lines will pose much of a problem as they are even fewer than for rugby. Really? The name is kind of crap but I think the badge looks pretty smart. At least they avoided that abomination that seems to flourish in Canadian sport: the silhoutted player.
Eight home dates, no field size issues, minimal lines to remove - not a problem IMO. SSS stands for Soccer Specific Stadium, not Soccer Only Stadium, this is good usage by the city.