PLL gets ‘straight A’s’ for its inaugural All-Star weekend.
The Premier Lacrosse League is a little over halfway through its very first season, and this past weekend the league held its first All-Star game in Los Angeles. There was plenty of social media hype surrounding the events, and the PLL experience lived up to expectations. Here’s why.
Teams: The league’s top vote-getters, Matt Rambo and Trevor Baptiste, served as team captains. And it was great to have the teams drafted live on YouTube.
Jerseys: Adidas and the PLL did a great job with the jerseys. The tie-dye jerseys hit that dope look the players were looking for, and the look appealed to fans, too.
Game: The game, which had an All-Star feel, was a great game to watch, too. Team Baptiste (A.K.A Team Speeeeed) edged out Team Rambo, 17-16. During the action, PLL founder and player, Paul Rabil, made a ridiculous ‘around the world’ assist to Will Manny–a play that ranked #2 on ESPN’s Sportscenter’s top 10 plays of the day. It was also fun to see Blaze Riorden, who usually plays goalie for the Chaos LC, get some time at attack. He even scored a couple of goals. Goalie Jack Concannon of Team Baptiste and Atlas LC earned the MVP award.
Experimental Rules: The PLL experimented with several new rules. Goalies cleared the ball instead of facing off to begin the 2nd quarter and they did the same after scores in that quarter. To start the third quarter, instead of having the traditional faceoff, the referee dropped the ball from mid-air akin to the NHL’s protocol. I’m glad the league decided to experiment, but I hope the league keeps things as they are.
Skills Challenges: The Fastest Player Challenge was my favorite of the night. Danny Eich of Archers ran 8:59 with a curfew of 9, which crowned him the fastest player in the league. But, man, I thought Ryder Garnsey got robbed in the freestyle challenge! He had the best move of the night, scoring a goal with two sticks, similar to what JaVale Mcgee did in dunking with two balls in the NBA dunk contest a few years back. And, honestly, I thought Ryan Drenner was okay, but don’t believe he should have made it into the final round. Justin Guterding was better, but I think he also has room to improve. The competition was fun to watch and great for fans to see.
Social Media: Per usual, PLL’s media team killed it all weekend! Highlights for me were giving fans access to Saturday night’s ‘Players Party’ and conducting pre-game interviews on Sunday.
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I think the PLL impressed the lacrosse world, and I hope it will help draw more fans to watch the second half of league play. Mark your calendar: “The Road to Championship Weekend” continues this weekend in Denver!
