2014 FIL World Championships Start Thursday

The FIL World Lacrosse Championships open this Thursday in Denver, Colorado. This is important for three reasons:

1. America is going to America the heck out of the tournament, dropping freedom bombs and shooting liberty lasers on its way to its 10th world lacrosse championship.
2. This is an important moment in Canada's history, using its 23-man Summer Toboggan Championships roster to try and win a world lacrosse championship. This is a bold strategy.
3. The Iroquois actually get to compete this time around, and that should make your face explode due to medically-dangerous high levels of excitement.

ESPN is going to carry more than 40 games of the championships on ESPN2, ESPNU, and ESPN3. Paul Carcaterra, Mark, Dixon, Quint Kessenich, Jamie Munro, Joe Beninanti, Mike Corey, and Booker Corrigan will say things to you during the broadcasts. Additionally, something called Coaches Aid is going to stream -- for a fee -- almost 100 games on the Internet machine.

The big focus of the event is on the elite Blue Division. Featuring six teams -- Not America, Not America, Not America, Not America, Not America, and America -- the Blue Division marks the finest lacrosse that the tournament offers. While no current collegians will represent Team Deep-Fried Everything, current collegians will put their fingerprints on some of the other participants in the division: Wes Berg (Denver) and Jesse King (Ohio State) headline current collegians that will play in toques for Canada; Max Bonsall (Siena) and Matthew Sexton (Penn State) will wear ascots for England; and the Iroquois will feature, among others, Lyle Thompson (Albany), Randy Staats (Syracuse), and Zach Miller (Denver).

The games start at 9:00 P.M. ET on Thursday with Team Truths of Self-Evidence facing Team Bryan Adams.