Got a problem with Petro and his boring team? Go watch wrestling.

I'm enjoying the outrage that is being posted all over the internets this evening regarding the lack of a shot clock in college lacrosse. Apparently several dozen people in a certain area of up-state New York were unsatisfied with the measly nine goals that were scored during the Johns Hopkins-Syracuse game (SU prevailed 5-4 in double OT). Immediately following Stephen Keogh's goal at the 3:45 mark of the second overtime, the web became a buzz with angry lax fans lobbing hail size balls of hate at Johns Hopkins coach Dave Petriamala for his conservative offensive game plan which kept the scoring low and the game close.

I guess there are certain facts about these two teams that slipped the minds of these lax fans while the game was being played. For one, Syracuse is the number one team in the country and entered the game undefeated at 5-0. The Orangemen were also enjoying home field advantage inside the Carrier Dome, where they have only lost a few times since the dome was constructed in 1789. (Sorry, but that place is a dump). Johns Hopkins on the other hand entered this contest ranked #13 (or #9, depending on which poll you choose) and although they held a record of 5-1, they had yet to play a top ten team. In addition to their weak schedule, 8 of the Blue Jays starting 10 players are sophomores or freshman.

The way I see this, coach Petriamala had very few choices. Slowing the game down and not allowing the uber talented Orangemen to dictate the tempo in their home stadium seems like head coaching 101 to me. But you see this is 2011, and we live in the world of "entertain me with lots of action regardless of its purpose or I'll go elsewhere" kind of fans. One fan actually stated that he was so overcome with boredom that he turned the game off to watch college wrestling on another network. College wrestling instead of a prime time, nationaly televised contest between lacrosse's two most storied programs (and its a tie game late in the forth quarter)? Go ahead buddy, by all means change that channel. You are obviously not a lacrosse fan. I'd gather that you aren't much of a sports fan either. You probabaly turned the dial to "Minute to Win It" or some other mediocare prime time game show that has plenty of lights and flashy hosts that can stilumate the minimal synnapses in your tiny brain.

Coach Petro. Didn't want to shoot from x or outside the box.

You see friends, unlike basketball, where at 90% of the time someone is within shooting range, lacrosse is played on a large field, and unlike basketball there is always one defensive player unobtrusively guarding the goal. That means that working for a quality shot in lacrosse can take time, especially against a superior opponent. In basketball a shot taken to avoid a clock violation has a decent chance of going in, or at the very least can be rebounded by another offensive player. A shot taken in lacrosse to avoid this same violation will most likely be caught by the goalie and will equate to an unforced turnover.

Dude, you're in range, shoot it!

Forcing shots in lacrosse does nothing but artificially hasten a sport that is already designed to be fast. Don't agree? Then I would suggest that you check out the next MLL game that you can find. Go watch a few quarters of that mess and then let me know the offensive game plan of either team. And please don't try to compare NCAA Lacrosse with this pro league either. The MLL is basically an 8 team all-star league (wait, the league shrunk to 6 teams while I was writing this, Newport News ans Punxsutawney have folded).The offensive players on the pro teams can create offense on their own with very little coaching or game planning. Go tell the head coach at Holy Cross to implement that strategy the next time they play Virginia. I'm sure it will work out well for them.

Want to speed up the NCAA game? Eliminate the horn. Make all substitutions on the fly. Still not fast enough for ya? Eliminate the long pole middie. Still not fast enough? Go watch college wrestling. There, I just fixed lacrosse for all of you SU fans. Now go score 32 goals on Hobart and enjoy your teams success.