GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOD MORNING, College Crosse Nation!! Happy New Year’s Eve!! Thanks for making us a part of your day today and throughout all of 2016. It was a fun year and we can’t wait for 2017 to start. We hope you all have a fun night tonight. Here are your links for December 31, 2016.
College Crosse News.
Always has been ... always will be.
It's a good thing Michigan is a lacrosse school. @SexyTimeLax @CFJastrzembski
— Frank Deronja III (@FrankDeronja) December 31, 2016
Pasco County in Florida is using lacrosse to boost its tourism sector.
Fifty three teams — around 4,000 people — descended upon a Wesley Chapel sports complex Thursday for the first day of a national youth lacrosse tournament. The parking lot was full to the brim. So were hotels from the Suncoast Parkway east to Zephyrhills and across the Hillsborough County line.
It's the tenth time Pasco County has hosted Dick's Sporting Goods Tournament of Champions, a national youth lacrosse tournament. And ensuring the tournament continues its tradition in Pasco County is part of a concerted effort by officials to attract tourism dollars through youth sports.
Pasco doesn't have the traditional tourist attractions that bring people to the Tampa Bay region — think Pinellas County's beaches and Busch Gardens and Ybor City in Hillsborough County. So instead, Pasco is positioning itself as a place where young athletes, their teams and their families can come from near and far to train, compete — and spend money.
"We don't have the beaches and some of the other amenities," Pasco County tourism project manager Ed Caum said, "but we have the dirt and the access to the transportation systems ... we're right on Interstate 75, we have (Tampa International Airport) right there."
So to Caum, it's a "normal progression" for Pasco to use sports tourism to attract visitors.
In just four years the Ankeny Lacrosse Club has grown from 24 novice players to more than 100 boys and girls playing on five teams.
“There is definitely something with the sport of lacrosse that is attracting youth from across the city to play it,” said Luke Bullock, head coach of Ankeny’s junior varsity boys’ team.
Registration for spring 2017 season is underway. Coaches expect to see more than 120 athletes sign up. The club has four teams for boys from the U13 through high school varsity level. It also has a high school girls’ team.
Want to play football at Ohio State or Clemson? The NY Times says you should play lacrosse.
Ohio State’s Hubbard is a perfect example of what Swinney is talking about. He has added 30 pounds to his frame since his freshman year and found his niche at defensive end. Once skilled enough in lacrosse to commit to playing in college at Notre Dame, he now is considering an N.F.L. career. One of Hubbard’s teammates, Zach Turnure, played one year of lacrosse for the Buckeyes before joining the football team as a walk-on. Both said the running and physicality of lacrosse made it better preparation for football than one might think.
“I miss lacrosse because it was a big part of my life, and I was really good at it,” Hubbard said, “but I like what I’m doing now. It’s hard to complain about how things turned out when you’re about to play for a national championship.”
STAND UP, UGANDA!!!!!!: CNN does an 8 minute piece on Uganda Lacrosse!
Jim Brady is out as Major Series Lacrosse commissioner.
Brad MacArthur, of the Brooklin Redmen, has been appointed as chairman of the MSL's board of directors and Peterborough's Lynn Withers has been appointed as treasurer. The league has struck a committee to find a new commissioner. Brady had voiced an opinion that the board did not follow proper procedure when voting on whether to retain him as commissioner, but MacArthur said the board is confident they've taken the appropriate and necessary steps to remove Brady.
MacArthur said there is agreement around the table that the league needs new direction. "There are a lot of areas this league needs improvement in," MacArthur said. "We've remained, what the league views, as stagnant. Don't get me wrong, Jim has done some great things and he's made his mark. At the same time, we're kind of standing pat." MacArthur said the league is strong in terms of its product on the floor and is growing increasingly competitive. "In terms of finances, business decisions, marketing we're looking for someone who is more in-tune with how we can take steps forward," said MacArthur. "We've been kind of running in the sand.
Nice post on Lehigh’s Allison LaBeau.
What’s Up, Philly?
The Pennsylvania Game Commission Eagle Cam is back up!!
A third year of peaking into the lives of this bald eagle family in Hanover, Pennsylvania is brought to you by the coordinated efforts of the Pennsylvania Game Commission ... Enjoy! And, be aware that, at times, nature can be difficult to watch.
The #PGCeaglecam is back! Watch it now:
— PA Game Commission (@PAGameComm) December 28, 2016
https://t.co/ikiNdY3Qu0
Thanks to our partners: @hdontap & @comcastbusiness pic.twitter.com/qky3FQhLt9
Here’s Philly Mag’s biggest Philly losers of 2016 post.
Our Sports Teams (Flyers Excluded)
It wasn’t so long ago that the Phillies won the World Series and the Eagles seemed like a team destined for the Super Bowl. How quickly things can change. As for the Sixers, well, we’ve stopped paying attention.
World/National News.
Looks like the Neanderthals were cannibals.
The bones in Goyet date from when Neanderthals were nearing the end of their time on earth before being replaced by Homo sapiens, with whom they also interbred.
Once regarded as primitive cavemen driven to extinction by smarter modern humans, studies have found that Neanderthals were actually sophisticated beings who took care of the bodies of the deceased and held burial rituals.
But there is a growing body of proof that they also ate their dead.
Your GIF for December 31, 2016: Last GIF of the year! Let’s end 2016 on a happy note!
That’s it for today!! Have a fun and safe night tonight!
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Managing Editors: Safe Fekadu, Chris Jastrzembski, Ryan McDonnell.