Good morning. Here’s the latest from around the lacrosse world:
1. The MLL is set to make a “major announcement” at 11 a.m. this morning at the Star in Frisco, Texas. All indications are that the league will announce that the rumored Dallas franchise has become a reality, and that it will retain the name and logos from the Rochester Rattlers franchise.
The announcement, which will be streamed on Lax Sports Network, could be the end to months of rumors about the relocation of the Rattlers franchise. The league applied for the Dallas Rattlers wordmark with the US Patent and Trade office on Oct. 13.
Thursday: LIVE coverage of @MLL_Lacrosse announcement in Dallas, Texas at 11am ET/10am CT from @thestarinfrisco WATCH: https://t.co/oJkK8CQ2nw & the LSN app pic.twitter.com/ExCdBcTHOR
— Lax Sports Network (@LaxSportsNet) November 15, 2017
Stay tuned for more on the Rattlers story, in what has been a wild week for the MLL because news came out that….
2. Atlanta Blaze Owner Peter Trematerra sued the league earlier this year. College Crosse did some digging and found that, in what amounts to a 13-count complaint, Trematerra filed a lawsuit against Major League Lacrosse, MLL Commissioner David Gross, & other parties on April 13.
In the suit, Trematerra alleges Gross “made several misrepresentations regarding MLL’s profitability and that he also failed to disclose, among other things, that the League had sold its broadcast and sponsorship rights at far below market value to companies owned or controlled by other MLL equity holders.”
Those misrepresentations include, according to the suit, that Gross did not fully disclose the league’s relationship with sponsors like New Balance, Warrior, and Brine during negotiations to buy the rights to the Blaze back in 2014. According to Trematerra, the League sold its sponsorship rights well below market value.
He also said that information about a broadcast agreement between the MLL and Lax United Marketing, which owns Lax Sports Network, went undisclosed. The League held a 4.5% equity interest in LUM.
Eight of the 13 counts were dismissed or sent to arbitration. There’s a lot more to the suit, which you can read here. Safe to say it’s been a busy offseason for the MLL, which also made the news in August when it exposed the personal information of every player in its player pool.
3. Marquette and coach Joe Amplo have made two straight NCAA tournament appearances. However, with a young core in tact, it will take some development in order to make it three straight.
Amplo said the defense could be the backbone of the team come 2018. Led by Colin Riehl, Nick Grill and Noah Richard, the Golden Eagles’ will look to stay dominant.
Nick Grill and Noah Richard are also beneficiaries of their brothers’ wisdom. B.J. Grill and Jacob Richard (now a Marquette asssiant) starred on the Golden Eagles’ defense from 2013-16.
4. Key to the growth of lacrosse in many developing areas over the years has been locally-operated lacrosse specialty stores. One such entity, Tribal West Lacrosse in Sandy, Utah, is having a grand re-opening ceremony on Saturday.
"We now have made the store look and feel how I envisioned it years ago and it is awesome," said owner Fish Bartlett.
5. Carol Cantele, the Gettysburg women’s lacrosse coach who recently won her 400th career game, was honored for that milestone and took home the Division III Coach of the Year award at the IWLCA Honors Banquet in Lake Buena Vista, Fla.
Check out the full list of award winners from the IWLCA banquet.