This was published on May 20th, but I guess with the Final Four going on, I utterly missed it.

Until recently, lacrosse — America’s other stick and ball sport — was rarely on TV and only its championship games generated much in the way of media coverage. It was mostly played on the East Coast, and it was often viewed as a game for private-school kids. Some of the game’s most electrifying athletes — Gary and Paul Gait; Casey, Ryan and Michael Powell — were little known outside core followers.

Here is a link to the article.  Below is an accompanying video.

Duke midfielder Ned Crotty does an ESPN filming segment. The takes from these segments were shown during the Final Four on ESPN.

Over Memorial Day weekend, I was commissioned by the Duke Athletic Department to chronicle their men’s lacrosse team on their Final Four trip to Boston, MA. Duke had beaten Navy and UNC to earn a place in the Final Four. A free trip with a team is always fun, but also a lot of work. The photography is non-stop except when sleeping or downloading photos. Still, I surely can not complain, nor could I think of anything else I’d rather be doing.

Duke did loose to Syracuse, so the trip was shorter than hoped. I can blame myself for that. I was sending a little friendly trash talk to my buddy and great IL photographer John Mecionis (whose son played for Syracuse).

The trip had some interesting moments. One of the more interesting moments were the times spent in the hotel lobby. While we were staying there, the 2009 Anime Boston convention was also going on. The costumes were interesting to say the least. I see that UVA also ran into the convention.

Thanks to the Duke team for letting a Tar Heel in their midst.

Here are some of my favorite photos in B+W and behind the scenes that came out of Memorial Day weekend.