2017 Draft-Eligible Goalies

Ohio State goalie Tom Carey

In the 2016 MLL draft, there was only one goalie taken in the first three rounds of the draft, Maryland keeper Kyle Bernlohr.

In a league where there are only 9 teams, and only one goalie can play at a time, there is plenty of goalie talent out there for teams to choose from so they are not quick to gobble up talent early in the draft. John Galloway, arguably the best goalie in the MLL last season, was just a 4th round pick. Scotty Rodgers, a notable #7 overall pick from 2010, only played in 12 games from 2010-2015 before reclaiming rockstar status last season. The bottomline is that goalies aren’t a hot commodity in today’s high-scoring game. Maybe (hopefully) that changes as the league pushes for expansion.

With all that being said, here are my top 5 goalies eligible for the 2017 MLL draft.

#1. Shane Doss, Notre Dame

While Notre Dame had a disappointing end (2-3 in their final 5 games, including a playoff loss to UNC, after starting out 9-1) to their season, Shane Doss was a bright spot and tops off this goalie class. He had a 56% save percentage last season and has starting experience dating back to his freshman year. His goals against average (GAA) was below 8 last season and is under 9 for his career. It helps to play behind a dominant defense but that can only get you so far. During a 6 game stretch against the best teams in the country last season (Maryland, Denver, UVA, Ohio St., Cuse & Duke) Doss posted a 58% save percentage and 5-1 record.

#2. Tom Carey, Ohio State

Carey originally started his career at Bryant but transferred after it was evident that Gunner Waldt (2016 4th round pick) wasn’t going to give up the starting job. He’s posted back-to-back seasons with a save percentage above 51% and goals against average below 9.1. He’s helped put Ohio State back on the map and I think he can be very successful at the next level.

#3. Jimmy Joe Granito, Drexel

Not #3 just because of the name. Jimmy Joe has the numbers to back him up. The Loyola transfer posted a 55% save percentage last season and 53% two years ago.

#4. Tyler Behring, Fairfield

While Fairfield had an up and down 2016 campaign, Behring was one Stag who you could depend on week in and week out. His 57% save percentage was just 2nd among all D1 juniors last year. Two years ago he split time with Brad Nordstrom and made the most of his time between the pipes winning 6 of 8 starts and finishing with a 62% save percentage and 6.32 goals against average.

#5. Jackson Brown, Hobart

I’ll go with Jackson Brown from Hobart for my #5 spot. Hobart quietly had a nice 2016 season going 10-7 and beating St. Joseph’s in the conference championship to secure a bid to the NCAA playoffs. Brown played a big role in that playing in 99% of the team’s minutes last season and marking a 52% save percentage. His body type reminds me of a Blaze Riorden or Gunner Waldt in the fact that he takes up space in-between the pipes. He’s listed at 5’10, 212 but I wouldn’t be surprised if he’s closer to weighing north of 220.

Early Look at the 2017 Draft-Eligible Midfielders

We are just over halfway through the 2016 campaign so I thought it would be appropriate to check in on some of the 2017 MLL draft prospects. Specifically, I want to look at this years draft-eligible midfield group.

Last season, I don’t think it was much of a question that Duke midfielder, Myles Jones, was the best midfielder and would be drafted #1 overall. Is Sergio Perkovic that guy this year? It is still early, and some things can change, but today I will take a look at my top 5 midfielders eligible for the 2017 MLL draft.

#1. Sergio Perkovic, Notre Dame

Although his scoring is slightly down so far this season, he is still the best midfielder in the country at the moment. At 6’4, 220 pounds, he possess elite size and is a force to be reckoned with. With the game on the line, you want the ball in his hands, and he doesn’t shy away. Take a look at his game-winner earlier this year in OT against Virginia.

#2. Jake Froccaro, Villanova

Froccaro is a player who can flat out score. He started his career at Princeton, had a 10 goal game his sophomore year vs. Yale, and then would miss last season due to injury. This year, he began fresh transferring to Villanova where, through 9 games, has 31 goals and 7 assists. That’s good for second in D1 in goals per game behind Brown’s Kylor Bellistri.

#3. Tyler Pace, Denver

Tyler Pace is a 6’0, 180 pound Canadian who has had quite the career with the Pioneers. 37 points as a freshman, 49 points (and a National Championship) as a sophomore last season, and is currently averaging a career-high 3.0 points per game, through 9 games. He’s well-coached, savvy, and could easily sneak into the 1^st round.

#4. Zach Miller, Denver

Zach Miller spent his first two seasons at Denver playing attack. He’s made the transition to midfield this season and, while his numbers are slightly down, he’s a staple of that Pioneers offense. He’s a career 42% shooter, to date, and is also a member of the Iroquois national team.

Denver's Zach Miller is a crafty southpaw from The Hill Academy

#5. Zed Williams, Virginia
There are a few other names that you could throw in at #5 and make an argument for as a top 5 junior midfielder. I like Zed Williams. He was a highly touted recruit (ranked #4 by Inside Lacrosse) and broke the high school national records for total goals and total assists at Silver Creek in New York. He started to come into his own last year scoring 37 points and is being relied upon more this season. He’s still a bit raw but has the tools and the size to be successful at the next level.

UConn Football is Back

The Connecticut Huskies are going bowling for the first time since 2010 - when they faced off against Oklahoma in the Fiesta Bowl. This time around they’ll see a 9-3 Marshall team in a matchup in the St. Petersburg Bowl in Florida.

The Huskies were projected to finish in the basement of the AAC in multiple preseason polls and after a promising 2-0 start, they dropped to 3-5, and with ECU, Houston, and Temple still on the schedule, a bowl game didn’t look like it was in the picture. But if there’s one thing that stands out about UConn athletics, it’s that you can never count the Huskies out.

I have to give it to Bob Diaco. After finishing 2-10 in his first season with the team last year, and losing what looked to be the “QB of the future” in Casey Cochran (concussions), I thought that it could be another couple of years until UConn football would be competitive again.

From 2007-2010, UConn football went 33-19 finishing with at least 8 wins each season and reaching 4 straight bowl games. What stands out on those teams was UConn’s reliable defense. Those were teams led by dominant defensive players like Danny Lansanah, Scott Lutrus, Tyvon Branch, Darius Butler, Robert McClain, Lindsey Witten, Sio Moore, Dwayne Gratz, Blidi Wreh-Wilson, etc. Their defense always seemed to keep them in games, getting to the quarterback and making big plays, which was especially important considering they themselves never really had a great quarterback. During that same 4-year span, UConn quarterbacks threw just as many interceptions as touchdowns (45).

There are a lot of parallels that one can draw between this year's UConn team and those of the Randy Edsall era. And the best part is, UConn is returning a lot of firepower next season. I’ll start out with the defense. On the front 7, they’ll return Cole Ormsby, Folorunso Fatukasi, Junior Joseph, Cameron Stapleton, and Luke Carrezola. Carrezola and Fatukasi (both sophomore’s) lead the team with 12.5 combined sacks. This is an incredibly athletic group with a bunch of guys who can move around and play in different formations. Linebacker, Graham Stewart, will be a huge loss for this defense. The transfer from Florida is a ballhawk with a high motor who will most likely get a shot to play on Sunday’s. However, EJ Levenberry, is a transfer from Florida State who sat out this season but will be eligible to play next year and will be looked big upon to fill the shoes of Stewart.

Lindsey Witten (#9) led the Huskies with 11.5 sacks in 2009

In the secondary, the Huskies will lose safety Andrew Adams, who has 9 career interceptions. That loss will hurt just as much as Stewart, but cornerback, Jamar Summers, who’s currently tied for 5th in the nation with 5 interceptions, will be looked upon to become the staple of this secondary.

Bottom line: UConn’s defense is back

Offensively, sophomore quarterback, Bryant Shirreffs, was the big surprise. The NC State transfer fended off Timmy Boyle for the starting job. He tossed for 9 touchdowns but it was his ability to move around in the pocket (420 rush yards, 3 rush TD) that made him such a threat. Combine his running ability with the likes of Arkeel Newsome (1,500+ total yards, 8 total TD) and Ron Johnson (220 rush yards, 4 rush TD) and the Huskies had a formidable rushing attack. The real question coming into the year: who would the quarterback be throwing to? They graduated their top 2 receivers (Geremy Davis & Deshon Foxx) and prior to the season it was announced that starting TE, Sean McQuillan, had been arrested and removed from the football team. Enter Noel Thomas. The 6’1 junior emerged as The Shirreffs top target and reminds me of a young Marcus Easley...Sophomore’s Tommy Myers and Alec Bloom filled in for McQuillan and their NFL size (6’5, 250 & 6’6, 260, respectively) provided additional beef in the blocking game. Shirreffs, Newsome, Johnson, Thomas, Myers, and Bloom are all set to return next season.

Bottom line: UConn has an offense

UConn will return their trio of backs in 2016

The future looks bright and the Bob Diaco era is off to a promising start. Win or lose to Marshall in the St. Petersburg Bowl, there is no reason that UConn football can’t compete for an AAC championship in the near future.

General Electric Spins Off Synchrony Financial

On October 14th, the Federal Reserve announced that they had approved General Electric’s (GE) plan to spin off Synchrony Financial (SYF) as part of GE’s mission to reduce the size of their North American financial entity. On October 19th, General Electric officially announced an exchange offer to shareholders: to exchange their General Electric shares for those of Synchrony Financial, with that offer expiring on November 16th.

So what does this mean for General Electric shareholders? Do they take the offer or stay put?

Synchrony Financial has some serious appeal. Prior to their IPO, Synchrony Financial was a division of General Electric (formerly General Electric Capital Retail Finance) and was able to bring in nearly one-half of General Electric’s revenues. It was the third largest IPO of 2014 after raising roughly $2.88 billion in their initial public offering. In their first 15 months on the NYSE, Synchrony Financial’s stock has raised over $7/share (while GE has raised roughly $3.5/share over the same period).

General Electric’s (red line) and Synchrony Financial’s (blue line) stock growth dating back to Synchrony’s IPO in August of 2014 (click to enlarge)

All this sounds good, so why the split?

The financial division of GE ran into some distress during the monetary crisis a few years ago when it held some risky loans. Once Lehman Brothers collapsed, GE’s shares started to drop as the public grew concerned with GE’s financial division. It was at this point that General Electric set its sights on becoming less dependent on that area of the company, and the split is part of an ongoing effort to trim down that sector of its business.

If you’re someone who holds stock in GE, this exchange might be something to seriously consider. Despite the potential risk, there’s a lot of upside in Synchrony Financial. They are currently the largest provider of private-label credit cards in the U.S. (based on purchase volumes and receivables) -- a significant statistic as a Federal Reserve study found that the private-label credit card business has outpaced general-purpose credit card growth. Synchrony is also in the works of striking a deal with Apple to include their multi-purpose cards in Apple Pay.

While Synchrony doesn’t pay out a dividend, if management continues moving in the right direction, there could be some real value with SYF. Keep the offer’s expiration of November 16th in mind if you’re considering pursuing this opportunity!

The Crimestopper Breaks into Houston

According to Aquille Carr’s twitter and other sources reporting the like, the 5’6 guard has signed with the Houston Rockets and will compete on their preseason roster. For those basketball fans out there that have never heard of Carr (aka “The Crimestopper”), you are in for a treat. Carr is listed at 5’6, 150 pounds (that’s nearly 3 inches shorter than Nate Robinson for comparison) but doesn’t lack the talent. The ball skills of Jason Williams combined with the scoring ability of a young Steve Francis, on the court, Carr is most known for his dazzling handles and his ability to score with some emphasis - 50 points in a game was not out of the ordinary for Carr at Patterson High school in Baltimore, Maryland.

He quickly became a YouTube sensation making his high school counterparts look as if they were playing on skates. After showing out in a tournament playing for Team USA in Milan, Virtus Roma (a professional team in Italy) offered the then high school sophomore $750,000 to drop out of high school and come play for them (the same team Brandon Jennings played for before turning pro). Carr would pass on the offer and return to finish high school at Princeton Day Academy. In 2012, he verbally committed to play collegiately at Seton Hall University, but would never step on campus and instead play overseas in China for a brief time, perhaps to support his newborn daughter.

Carr was drafted to the Delaware 87ers (affiliate of the 76ers) in the 3rd round of 2013 NBA D-League draft but was subsequently released a few months later. He was eligible for the 2014 NBA draft but went undrafted and signed to play with the Saint John Mill Rats of the Canadian National Basketball League. His time in Canada didn’t last as he was released 9 games into the Mill Rats season after two suspensions during his tenure. He was officially released on December 13, 2014 and it looked like the 21 year-old’s basketball career was on the decline and certainly the aspirations of an NBA career were an afterthought.

On October 14, 2015, Carr tweeted this:

As a basketball fan you have to be happy for this kid. He didn’t come from much in Baltimore, which is perhaps an understatement, and despite his stat line was often overlooked. I’ll definitely be tuning into a few Rockets preseason games to hopefully watch this kid continue to ball.

I could keep going but I'll leave it to 3.

Time To Trade Robert Griffin III

An elite-level QB with elite-level swagger, RG3 more than deserves a shot elsewhere

The NFL's cut down to 53 players has come and gone and Robert Griffin III was not one of those cut by the Redskins despite the uneasy relationship with management, embarrassing on the Washington Redskins part. As a Giants fan I certainly don't like the Redskins but when it comes to the NFC East I'll root for Washington over Philly and Dallas any day of the week, especially when RG3 is under center. One could argue I'm bias after I closely followed and relished his college career at Baylor, or maybe one could just look at the facts/numbers. The facts are Robert was drafted #2 overall (!) not because of his arm but because of his arm/feet combo, in other words he can make plays running (ran for 815 yards, 7 TD, 6.8 yards per carry as a rookie). And it somehow seems that Robert's best attribute (his ability to take off and run) has become his biggest weakness. The Redskins (and it's primarily Jay Gruden) have taken away RG3's running game which has limited him as a player. When you take away his running capabilities then teams preparing for RG3 focus solely on his passing which come gameday has showed the last 2 seasons. I understand the injuries that come with a mobile QB, and which are certainly tied to RG3, but again, he wasn't drafted #2 overall because of strictly his passing ability. If the front office is all the sudden going to say "don't run" then they basically wasted a #2 overall pick, and if they didn't weight out the positives and negatives of drafting a scrambler #2 then shame on them. RG3 is a consummate pro who can play the game of football and certainly deserves a starting role elsewhere in the league. Say what you want about RG3 publicly saying he's the best QB in the league but how do you not love that fire and cockyness? - It kind of reminds me of Tom Brady (disclaimer: I'm not comparing RG3 to Tommy Terrific). Those are certainly qualities I want in my QB. Since the team did not cut Robert then hopefully they trade him for not only his sake, but their own as well since we all know that as long as RG3 is a 'skin, this will drag on. But from a team in such disarray that isn't going to finish above .500 this season, what else can you expect?

Link to his stats (click here)

Osi Umenyiora Tribute

My favorite image of Osi has to be his sack of Matt Ryan (and tackle Will Svitek) in the 2011 Wild Card game. From that moment on, I knew the Giants were clicking, and indeed they were as Osi and the Giants went on to capture their 2nd Super Bowl victory in 5 years.

“Umi” was a 2nd round pick to the Giants in 2003 out of Troy University. He recorded 1 sack in 13 games his rookie season but followed that with a promising 7-sack sophomore campaign. In 2005 Osi recorded 14.5 sacks (good for 2nd in the league) accompanied by 4 forced fumbles and was selected to the Pro Bowl as well as receiving the prestigious “All-Pro” tag. He missed 5 games in ‘06 but got back up to speed in 2007 and teamed up with Michael Strahan, Justin Tuck, and Mathias Kiwanuka to combine for 36.5 regular season sacks (6 of which came from Osi in one game vs. the Eagles) en route to a Super Bowl victory over the then-undefeated New England Patriots.

Strahan retired after the ‘07 Super Bowl victory leaving Osi and Tuck the keys to the kingdom, but things took a turn for the worst when Umi injured his knee in the ‘08 preseason and missed the regular season.

Nobody knew what to expect in 2009 coming off the injury but Osi still managed to sack the quarterback 7 times and recover 4 fumbles. Not knowing if Osi was truly back, the Giants drafted a raw defensive end by the name of Jason Pierre-Paul with the 15th pick of the 2010 draft. Paul got to the QB 4.5 times as a rookie which was nothing compared to Osi’s 11.5 sacks, and maybe more impressively his 10 forced fumbles. Umenyiora was perhaps snubbed by the Pro Bowl voters that season but had bigger plans in 2011. He missed a lot of time to injury that year, but in 9 games he still had 9 sacks, and he added 3.5 more sacks in the postseason - a postseason that ended with Osi and the Giants hoisting another Lombardi Trophy.

The following season, the 31 year-old Osi only had 6 sacks in 16 games (only 4 starts) and the Giants appeared that they were more committed to their new star, Pierre-Paul. Osi spent the last 2 seasons in Atlanta where he tallied 10 sacks and had a couple big return touchdowns.

It was only appropriate that he retired as a Giant. I thought that he might reunite with Coach Spagnuolo for one last run in a blue uniform but that was not the case. 85 sacks, 5 touchdowns, and 2 Super Bowl victories later, what else is there for Osi to prove? I wish him the best of luck in his life after football and thank him for his 9 years of playmaking for the New York Giants.

The (Proposed) Manning Deal

Eli Eli Eli. Highest paid QB in the NFL? Come on now. Making Eli Manning the highest paid QB in the league would be a contract solely based off what he’s done (2 Superbowls - of which I’m very grateful for) but a sane front office knows that a contract should be based on predicted future performance, to avoid leaving, what I call, dead money, on the table. Eli’s 34 now and it’s hard to make the argument that his best days lie ahead. Yes, he does have one of the best young receiving corps on his side but the Cruz-Nicks duo of 2013 wasn’t bad on paper and Eli still threw a whopping 27 picks (yes, I suppose that offense was a debacle all around). I say see what Eli can do this year. 2nd year with the new offense, healthy RB’s, uber-talent receivers, the o-line is so-so but it has been and will be until they can find a legitimate anchor. If Eli can get the G-Men back to the playoffs, which [t]he[y] haven’t managed to do since winning it all in 2011, then sure, go ahead and pay the guy. But if you pay him now and the Giants struggle, then what? In that scenario (one where the Giants miss the playoffs), Coughlin is most likely gone (McAdoo too?), and you’ve spent all this money on Eli that could be allocated towards other upcoming team free agents (Amukamara, J. Brown, DeOssie, Jenkins, McClain, RANDLE, J. Jones? Fells?) and the outside free agency pool (which the Giants never seem to win). I’m just saying, letting Eli go isn’t the worst thing for the future outlook of this franchise. Especially if the timing is right for him to leave with Coughlin, paying Eli his due diligence - if there is such a thing. There’s plenty of good young college QB’s (Hackenberg, Cook, 12 Gauge, Goff, Kiel, Kessler, etc.) that will be draft eligible in the upcoming drafts that would look mighty fine in big blue. 

I love the goof ball and I think in the end he will be a Giant, but I think Jerry Reese needs to look at this proposed deal long and hard before any ink is set to paper.

Seth Curry Signs With Sacramento

^That’s SETH not to be confused with STEPH ( Don’t worry GSW fans, you have Steph locked up until 2017). Seth Curry is the journey-man younger brother of Steph who’s played in 4 career NBA games with 3 different teams over the past 2 seasons (most recently with Phoenix). He’s spent the majority of his first 2 professional years in the D-League with Santa Cruz and Erie where he’s torn it up appearing in the D-League All-Star game both seasons. Last year in Erie he averaged 24 points, 4 assists, 4 rebounds, 1.5 steals and shot 47% from three in 43 games. 

I’ve never been an avid fan of Seth until I really got to see him play on a consistent basis in this past Summer League (for New Orleans) where he was practically running the show. In 6 games he averaged over 24 points (to lead all players), 4 rebounds, 3 assists, and 3 steals. The kid’s performed well at every level he’s played at and at 24 I think he’s finally ready to step into the shoes of dad and brother and be an everyday guard in the NBA.

This evening, Adrian Wojnarowski broke the news that Seth has signed a 2 year, $2 million contract with the Sacramento Kings where he’ll play 90 minutes away from his big brother, Steph. The signing will make Seth the 8th guard on the Kings roster. However, I think this guard is here to stay if he continues where he left off in Vegas (hopefully what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas won’t apply). Forget Rondo & Cauley-Stein, I really think Seth could be low-key, vital, signing for Sacramento and I think this team is now a legit playoff contender.

Time For Sandy Alderson To Make Something Happen

Cameron Maybin

I’m no proclaimed Mets superfan by any means but when I look at what could be with this pitching rotation, I see a World Series contender (if that doesn't grab the attention of you Mets fans then I don't know what will). The New York Mets (47-42) are 1 game out of the 2nd Wild Card spot (held by the Cubs) in the National League. It’s hard to imagine them out of the playoff scenario considering they may have the best pitching staff in the MLB that have a combined 3.23 ERA, which is good for the 3rd best ERA in all of MLB. But a good pitching staff is rather worthless when they don’t have hitters backing them up. Offensively, the Mets are currently last in batting average (.233), 26th in on-base percentage (.298), and 28th in total runs scored (310). 

A look at the Mets starters this year (average age: 27). ERA's are low
but W-L aren't sensational due to a lack of run support

It hasn’t helped that the teams best player, David Wright, missed 81 of their 89 games (back injury) in the first half of the season. If you’ve been following his rehab, a return any time soon doesn’t seem to promising and it’s still unclear if the 32 year-old will be the same .300 hitter that Mets fans are accustomed to. Best case scenario with Wright is a return around the playoffs that could provide the franchise with a spark moving forward. But first they have to get to the playoffs which will not happen unless Mets GM, Sandy Alderson, makes something happen by the July 31st trade deadline. I’m going to take look at 4 different players who’s names have come up as potential targets for the Mets that could help bolster them into the playoffs.

Troy Tulowitzki, Rockies, Shortstop, 30 years old, due roughly $20 million/year until 2021Tulo came out and spoke highly of the Mets organization a few weeks back and immediately he became a part of the Mets trade rumors. While Tulo has mummed all the talk, a move to NYM isn’t out of the question. Wilmer Flores has played 69 games at SS for the Mets this year but his .286 OBP is laughable compared to Tulowitzski’s .351. If Troy was acquired then Flores could be used as a utility infielder at SS and 2B, where he also has experience, behind current second baseman, Daniel Murphy, as it seems prospect, Dilson Herrera, needs a bit more time to develop in Triple-A before he’s the Mets backup 2B. Tulo has hit better than .302 5 of the past 6 seasons and better than .310 each of the past 3 seasons. He will cost the Mets a lot and I’m sure Colorado won’t just give him away for next to nothing but a potential infield of Wright, Tulowitzki, and Duda is frightening. 

Justin Upton, Padres, Outfielder, 27 years old, due $14.5 million this year and becomes FA at the end of this seasonUpton’s coming off his 3rd All-Star game nomination (went 1-1 with a steal). He’s only hitting .253 this season but he’s got some pop (on pace for 25 homers) and has proven that he’s still got some burst in him as he’s stolen more bases in the first half of this season (17) then the past 2 seasons combined (16). The Padres (41-49) aren’t completely out of the playoffs just yet so if the Mets inquire about Upton, Padres GM, A.J. Preller, will most likely have the upper edge in terms of what he gets in return. Upton is set to be a free agent at the expiration of this season and the Padres will most likely pay him if he’s willing to come back. However, the Padres haven’t been to the playoffs since 2006 and have since suffered 6 losing seasons since so Upton may not want to re-sign. He’s most comfortable in left field but has a lot of experience in right as well. If acquired, the Mets could bump Cuddyer (who I like but is only hitting .244) to a reserve outfielder role or do something (DFA, minors, trade) with current center fielder, Juan Lagares and move Granderson back to center, where he played primarily in Detroit and NYY, and have Upton play right. 

Carlos Gomez, Brewers, Centerfielder, 29 years old, due roughly $9 million/year until 2017Mets fans will remember that Gomez originally signed as an amateur free agent with and made his debut with the Mets back in 2007. He played 58 games that season as a rookie and showed promise every now and then but Mets fans never really saw him progress as he was traded prior to the 2008 season to Minnesota in deal that made Johan Santana a Met. He really emerged in 2013 as Brewer hitting 24 homers, stealing 40 bases, and getting an All-Star nod. He missed 28 games in the first of this season and his batting average, on-base percentage, and slugging percentage have all declined from over the past 2 seasons but he’s hitting .273 which is 17 points better than any current Mets outfielder...The Brewers are done for this season and with a group of good outfielders in the organization, Gomez could quickly be on his way out.

Cameron Maybin, Braves, Centerfielder, 28 years old, due roughly $8 million/year until 2017 (team option)I’ve been a fan of Maybin ever since his days as a Marlins prospect. He was the 10th pick of the 2005 draft who has great speed, a lot of range in the outfield, and is just learning to hit the baseball. Aside from 2008, in which he played just 8 games, he has a career high in batting average (.289) and OBP (.356) this season and at 28 may just be hitting his peak. The Braves know this though, and being a division rival of the Mets, may ask for a few of those dynamic pitchers that the Mets have in return for Maybin which I don’t think the Mets are interested in, but should listen to.

The Greg Gurenlian MVP Case

Brendan Fowler (Hounds) faced-off at about 61% during his time at Duke. In 2 games
vs. Gurenlian this year he is 19/63 (30.16%). Who says it's a young mans game?

The MLL regular season is wrapping up, the playoff picture is is coming into focus, and the MVP chatter is getting hot. Some of the obvious names in the mix are once again Rabil, McArdle, Pannell, Wolf, Abbott, Schreiber - all guys who are consistently getting it done on the offensive end in what what is an offensive league. In the 14 year history of the MLL MVP award, just once has a non-offensive player won the award (2002 in goalie, Greg Cattrano). The other 13 years it’s been attackmen and middies bringing home the hardware. But could that be different this year with the numbers that Lizards FOGO, Greg Gurenlian, is producing? The 31 year-old is having a historic year at the face-off x winning roughly 78% (77.68% exactly) of his draws, to date. The closest player behind him (min. 100 draws) is Mike Poppleton of Rochester who’s won 58%.

If that’s not staggering to you then this will be: in the league’s 14 year history, the highest face-off win % (min. 100 face-offs) in a regular season is just 64% (set by Greg Gurenlian, circa 2013). I’ll say it again, he’s winning roughly 78% this year.

Perhaps he’s overshadowed by a star-studded team that includes the likes of Drew Adams, Joe Fletcher, Ned Crotty, Paul Rabil, Rob Pannell, and a terrific supporting cast. Or maybe it’s that his position is, and has never been, the most glorified.

Gurenlian is re-writing the history books, literally. I will reiterate that MLL is an offensive league filled with explosive offensive players and until the league expands and evolves it will stay that way. What’s vital to winning in an offensive league is scoring goals. The Lizards currently lead all of Major League Lacrosse in total goals scored with 183. That’s 18 more goals or about 11% more goals than the 2nd highest scoring (goals) team in the league, the Ohio Machine who’ve scored 165 goals. While it helps that the Lizards are shooting at a high rate and have those offensive weapons, the offense wouldn’t have the ball if they weren’t winning faceoffs at such a high rate (the Lizards have 20 more possessions, via face-offs, per 100 face-offs than the next best FO team in the MLL). If anything, let this post just serve as an appreciation for a remarkable feat by the man they call “The Beast”.

Some visuals for you...

You can see that (other than Charlotte) there is a correlation between a teams face-off win % and their total goals scored.

Greg Gurenlian is no rookie to the MLL record books. Here's a look at the all-time top face-off percentages in a single season entering 2015.

*all statistics and rankings are of 7/16, 7pm