A quick history lesson: In the 20-year existence of the National Lacrosse League, two players stand out as the best the sport has seen, forming an anchor around which the entire league swirls.
Colorado Mammoth head coach and Hall of Famer Gary Gait, who retired as a player after last season, long held the NLL’s career points lead. His 1,091 points were by far the most scored. And his 596 goals are an all-time best.
Then, as if waiting to pounce on Gait’s records after he retired, Buffalo Bandits forward John Tavares in March surpassed Gait’s point total and can now brag of 1,136. Tavares is after Gait’s goals total, but his 548 goals are short of Gait’s record. They are the only two above 500.
These details make for a landscape of intrigue as Gait’s Mammoth meets Tavares’ Bandits in the NLL Champion’s Cup game Saturday.
Think: Pete Rose managing the 1986 Reds against Mike Schmidt and the Phillies – in the World Series.
Buffalo, a three-time NLL champion, topped the East Division and has edged through the playoffs as the No. 1 seed. Colorado, seeking its first title, has put up 31 goals in two playoff games, winning by only two goals combined. The Bandits beat the Mammoth 14-12 in April in their only matchup this season.
Tavares leads the Bandits and has compiled 95 points on the season. Colorado’s Gavin Prout has taken over as the team’s go-to scorer with 111 this season, including a 12-point game in a divisional semifinal over Calgary. Dan Carey (67 points) and Arapahoe High School lacrosse coach Brian Langtry (58) also kick in for the Mammoth.
The Champion’s Cup airs at 4 p.m. on ESPN2. And, in what seems like the usual aside to for-the-love-of-it minor pro sports, most of the players return to their day jobs on Monday.
Around the state
The major local universities may not have baseball programs, but that doesn’t mean this area is without top-notch college baseball. See: the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference Tournament. The nine-team league weeded to six teams for its double-elimination championship that started Wednesday in Grand Junction. Mesa State, the No. 1 seed, is still alive. No. 3 CSU-Pueblo won its first two games, including an upset of No. 2 Fort Hays (Kan.) State. The championship, for those who survive, is at noon Saturday at Mesa State’s Suplizio Field.
The couch
ON: More than a month into the season, with the Rockies above .500, most baseball fans still can’t name more than three players in Colorado’s lineup. No matter. Perhaps more surprising than the Rockies’ early season surge to the top of the NL West standings is how they’re doing it – namely, with pitching. Through Wednesday’s rubber game against St. Louis, the Rockies had allowed the second-fewest home runs in the NL. And the biggest boost to Generation whatever: When Rockies starters pitch at least six innings, the team is 16-8; 4-7 when they go fewer than two-thirds of a game. See how the Rockies fare against two of the game’s best pitchers this weekend, when they travel to Houston for a three-game set. Colorado’s Aaron Cook (3-3, 3.51 ERA) goes against the Astros’ Roy Oswalt (5-2, 3.62) on Saturday (FSN, 5 p.m.). And Jeff Francis (2-2, 3.16) faces Andy Pettitte (2-4, 5.66) on Sunday (KTVD-20, noon).
OFF: Not content to celebrate Mother’s Day over a big brunch and lots of coffee? Or maybe you’re looking for a way to keep from falling asleep after all that food? The Title 9K Mother’s Day Run at Boulder Reservoir on Sunday at 9 a.m. promises plenty: A lakeside course on dirt roads and wide trails, kids and women of all ages welcome – and you can run, walk, crawl, tow, whatever. Check out www.titlenine.com for more information.
What we’d like to see …
The Avs find some way to retain defenseman Rob Blake next season. Did you see Blake’s leveling of Anaheim’s Jeff Friesen in the third period of Game 2? The NHL might be faster than before, but the furious are still necessary. And bruisers like Blake are a hot commodity.
Weak in review
Phillies fans put on a show when San Francisco’s Barry Bonds played in Philadelphia last weekend, berating the Giants slugger with asterisk signs and calling him classless. Of course, that throng of fans in the outfield was there to grab a Bonds home run ball, because if you can’t beat him, at least cash in on his spectacle. The funniest bit of the series came from ESPN’s Joe Morgan, who said of the notoriously vocal Phillies fans: “Well, I’ve heard these fans boo their own players worse than this.”
