I respect the work that Inside Lacrosse does for the sport.  They have good coverage of the premier events.  But this time, they flat out got it wrong.  On September 17^th I noticed that they came out with the Top 10 Lacrosse Towns.  The list included all the areas I would have expected, however, it was the order I have issue with.  Denver was ranked #1.  That is not a typo.  Denver is #1.  They broke it down into categories then gave ratings accordingly.  They looked at the following areas to come up with a grade: Pro Game, College, High School, Youth, and Potential.  These are great categories to look at when trying to distinguish the best lax town.  However, these areas should be weighted accordingly.  The system in weighted order should be College, HS, Youth, Potential, and Pro.  The Pro game should definitely carry the lowest weight of them all.  This is how they rated the game.  They then broke down the life.  With areas such as Scene, Marquee Events, Facilities, and Names used to rank.  These categories are harder to substantiate.

 Let’s take a look at the comparison between Denver and Baltimore.

 Pro Rating: Den 99  Bmore 75

College: Den 90       Bmore 97

HS: Den 94               Bmore 99

Youth: Den 96         Bmore 97

Potential: Den 99     Bmore 85

Scene: Den 99          Bmore 97

Events: Den 92        Bmore 99

Facilities: Den 100  Bmore 95

Names: Den 92       Bmore 98

So now that you can see the break down it makes it easier to see where they just plain got it wrong.  Starting at the top, the Pro Rating is dead on.  I will not argue with that.  The Outlaws and the Mammoth draw insane attendance.  The Bayhawks keep moving venues making it hard to sustain a following.  The Thunder drew great crowds when they were around.  The College Rating is where the issues begin.  There hasn’t been a college from the Denver area represented in a championship game in NCAA history.  Baltimore area schools have been represented in 30 D1 championships winning 11 of them.  Division 2 schools have been in 5 championships and D3 schools 19 championship games.  Those numbers speak for themselves. 

 Moving on to the HS level, the 99 rating is spot on for Baltimore.  But to give Denver a 94 is insane.  Just think about the schedules the Balmer teams have to play.  Boy’s Latin, Calvert Hall, Gilmen, Loyola, Fallston, DeMatha, St. Mary’s, and the list continues on.  I would love to see any high school from the Denver area keep up with a Maryland team.  In fact I would be as bold to say that the JV team at most MD schools would wreck the Denver area all star team.  The Youth rating falls under the same type of scrutiny.  There are a lot of Balmer area teams that travel to other states and post great showings in those tournaments.  In MD, most kids walk around and sleep with their stick.  It’s a way of life. 

Now the potential is another are I have no issues with.  Denver really is up can coming.  Balmer is at the top.  The biggest way to grow is to find a way to develop the following for the Bayhawks.  But, why see the Hawks when you are used to UMD vs Hopkins, Towson vs UMBC, and Calvert Hall vs Loyola.  The next area I have more issues with.  The Lacrosse Scene rankings are ridiculous.  Visit any park in the spring and what are you going to see…Lax sticks EVERYWHERE.  Kids in this area live, eat, breath, sleep the game of Lax. I am sure there are plenty of people in Denver that do not even know what a lacrosse stick is, let alone own one.  Between my brother and I we own about 7. 

Now, the facilities ranking.  This one I cannot comment on because I haven’t been out to Denver to take a look to see what they have.  However, lets look at where out hometown team play.  Byrd Stadium, Homewood Field, M&T Bank, Navy-Marine Corps Memorial and many other places.  Through the interviews we have conducted, Navy continues to be the favorite of the players.  Take that into consideration. 

Finally, my biggest gripe, the Names ranking.  I challenge anyone to compile a list of the players born in MD or played in MD and compare it to Denver.  IL listed Tierney as a name.  He coached at Princeton for a number of years.  He is not from Denver.  They listed players that are from NY or played at UMD.  Again, they are not affiliated with Denver besides the Outlaws or Mammoth.  Which means they are in Denver long enough to play a home game. 

Balmer area fans should be on notice.  It’s not Denver we need to worry about, its Long Island.  The NY area is moving up the list on the talent and teams they produce.  It is great to know that the game is expanding the way it is.  However, if you are going to produce a list like this, get it right.