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Displaying 1-7 of 7 messages in this thread.
Posted ByDiscussion Topic: Long Island Lizards
NewYorkDragons80
posted on 03-11-2001 @ 11:19 AM      
Psychopath
Registered: Nov. 00
Seriously, O&A's core audience is in Long Island and Jersey, so don't DILLON any lacrosse posts.


Lizards Are LI's Newest Pro Team
by David Lennon
Newsday.com
Staff Writer

With a logo taken from the label of a soft-drink bottle, and a roster sprinkled with some of the sport's biggest names, the Long Island Lizards will be familiar to fans before they even step on the field for the inaugural season of Major League Lacrosse this summer.

Bill Bishop, the CEO of SoBe Beverage, heads an ownership group that paid $1.6 million to bring professional outdoor lacrosse to Long Island. And with a team that features Casey Powell, a two-time Player of the Year at Syracuse, and the Gait Brothers-Paul and Gary-Bishop's organization should be the premier franchise in the six-team startup league.

"We want to be like the Yankees," said Joe DeSimone, one of Bishop's partners. "But we don't want to be like George Steinbrenner." MLL founder Jake Steinfeld, the fitness guru best known for his "Body by Jake" empire, has spent the past three years preparing for the league's inaugual season. He's lined up television contracts for each region-Madison Square Garden network will broadcast 12 games featuring the Lizards, New Jersey Pride and Bridgeport Barrage on Sunday nights-and also signed up deep-pocketed sponsors like Yahoo! and Anheuser-Busch.

While elite players like Powell can make a pretty decent living with endorsement deals and playing the sport year-round, the average MLL salary is $15,000 for a 14-game season. Or as Steinfeld referred to it, "the per diem for Alex Rodriguez." The hyper-charged Steinfeld, who held a news conference yesterday at the hip Hudson Hotel in midtown Manhattan, sounded much like XFL founder Vince McMahon at the birth of his league. But there are important differences between the two ventures.

Aside from a couple of fan-friendly rule changes, which include the addition of a two-point shot and a 45-second shot clock, Steinfeld isn't trying to re-invent the sport. Or cheapen it. The MLL has recruited the nation's top talent, and that means the quality of play will be unmatched.

"Americans love hitting, scoring and speed, and this game has all three of those components," said the Brooklyn-born Steinfeld, who played lacrosse at Baldwin High. "The MLL will succeed because we're fielding the best players in the world and you can't say that about another start-up league. That's the reason why we'll not only succeed, but be big winners." The Lizards will open their home schedule at Hofstra against the Rochester Rattlers on June 14, then switch to a converted EAB Park in Central Islip for the next four games before returning to Hofstra for the final two. Like the baseball Ducks, who cashed in during their first season with both ticket sales and merchandising, the Lizards are planning the same type of marketing strategy.

Players will have plenty of interaction with fans, and the Lizard logo-check out your grocer's cooler-will be available on just about anything relating to lacrosse.

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Football!!! See their
home-opener April 21st
against the Toronto
Phantoms at the Nassau
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SpiderBob
posted on 03-11-2001 @ 12:13 PM      
O&A Board Regular
Registered: Oct. 00
That's great but, Lacrose doesn't seem to impress me. I don't know why, but I just don't see it taking off.


darthziggy
Isles fan for life
posted on 03-11-2001 @ 12:20 PM      
O&A Board Regular
Registered: Aug. 00
it prolly won't take off that well, but who knows? lax kicks ass, and tho i've never been to a mill game, i wuz hoping to get to a saints game soon. i saw a few on espn2 a few years ago and they're fun as hell. outdoor lax is a little slower, but it's no less fun. like hockey, only different :p


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USA
posted on 03-11-2001 @ 12:22 PM      
O&A Board Regular
Registered: Jan. 01
No DILLONS here.
I can say I have watched lacrosse before, but never really got into it much. I will say that I have a lot of respect for the goalies in that sport though. They wear much less padding than a hockey goalie and are constantly bombarded by wicked shots. It's gotta take balls to play goal in LAX.




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NewYorkDragons80
posted on 03-11-2001 @ 12:29 PM      
Psychopath
Registered: Nov. 00
If anybody out there knows lacrosse, they will agree that the Lizards will be flat-out unstoppable. This team has all the game's best players. The Gait brothers, Casey Powell, John Gagliardi, and for all you Hofrstra fans out there, Brian Spallina (Long-haired guy.) Lacrosse is soccer with a weapon and a lot more scoring and excitement. I've been to the NCAA Final Four 3 times in Maryland and that place is just nuts with 30,000 screaming fans.

Visit this Website

New York Dragons Arena
Football!!! See their
home-opener April 21st
against the Toronto
Phantoms at the Nassau
Coliseum

This message was edited by NewYorkDragons80 on 3-11-01 @ 12:36 PM
SpiderBob
posted on 03-11-2001 @ 5:51 PM      
O&A Board Regular
Registered: Oct. 00
Hey flock, tough or on something.


Rowelentless
Black Rock Coalition
Do you have a basketball in your car?
posted on 03-16-2001 @ 1:03 PM      
O&A Board Regular
Registered: May. 00
I'm guessing grads from my Alma Mattar Comsewogue HS will be on MILL rosters, right?


-I'm really Broadbandnigga!-



Displaying 1-7 of 7 messages in this thread.