New York-based club to start play in NLL in 2019-20
NLL ROUNDUP
PHILADELPHIA — A team in metropolitan New York will join the National Lacrosse League for the 2019-20 season.
The league made the announcement in a release Tuesday.
The team will become the NLL’s 13th franchise.
It will be owned by sports media entertainment company GF Sports and will play its home games at the renovated Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum in Uniondale, N.Y.
This will be the third time the NLL has tried its luck in the New York market. The Saints played at Nassau Coliseum from 1989 to 2003 before folding, and the Titans bounced between Madison Square Garden, Nassau Coliseum and the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey between 2006 and 2009 before relocating to Orlando.
“We are thrilled to welcome GF Sports, New York, and the great Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum on Long Island to the National Lacrosse League,” NLL commissioner Nick Sakiewicz said in a statement.
“As our 13th franchise, New York and the entire Metropolitan region represents our biggest market to date. Lacrosse is no stranger to this area, and we are very excited that this ownership and franchise will fuel the growth opportunity we know already exists here.”
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Rush promotion fails to score big win with all fans
SASKATOON — A promotion by the Saskatchewan Rush of the National Lacrosse League to get fans involved in a singalong of what has become a controversial Christmas favourite is being called silly and tasteless in some postings to social media.
Every home game of the Saskatoon-based club features a singalong and during halftime at an exhibition match against the Calgary Roughnecks last Saturday the lyrics to the 1944 classic “Baby, It’s Cold Outside” were projected on a giant screen, with fans urged to belt them out.
Rush players stood along the boards holding signs similar to the front page of a newspaper with the song’s title as the headline, while a penguin statue at the arena entrance was adorned with the title and lyrics.
Some comments posted later on the team’s Facebook site questioned why the Rush would get involved with renewed scrutiny of what some people have said are the song’s inappropriate lyrics in light of the #MeToo movement.
CBC Radio joined at least two other Canadian broadcasters last week in pulling the song out of their rotations this year, although the CBC has reinstated it after feedback from listeners.
Rush owner Bruce Urban says the intent was to poke fun at how overly sensitive society has become.
“You’re simply mocking the people who stood up to say, ‘Hey, this song seems a little creepy, especially given the current political climate,’” read one of the comments on the team’s Facebook site.
Another quipped: “Why not put this kind of effort into something that matters? There are a lot of homeless folks that could use energy like this to help them when it’s cold outside.”
One person said the promotion mocked those who say the song sounds “a little creepy,” especially given the current political climate.
“This display wasn’t about calling out a dumb piece of news. This was about a professional male athletics team letting it be known that conversations regarding consent are trivial and a joke. Maybe next time, have a little class.”
Urban, who was behind the idea, said the intent was to create some levity with what he called a “flirtatious, fun Christmas song.”
“For those people who are sensitive, I get it. I’m all for a movement that talks about proper and equal rights for men and women ... but we need to keep in the limits and not get carried away as well,” he said.
Early last week, Cleveland radio station WDOK-FM announced it would no longer play the song in response to listener feedback. Some took issue with lyrics where one singer is trying to persuade the other to stay inside, with exchanges that include, “What’s in this drink?’’ and “Baby, don’t hold out.’’
In Canada, Bell Media, which runs two 24-hour Christmas stations in Ottawa and Vancouver, said the tune would not be on their play lists this year. Rogers Media made a similar move.
Baby, It’s Cold Outside has been considered a holiday classic ever since it won the Academy Award for best original song in the film Neptune’s Daughter.
The Rush — reigning champions of the 11-team NLL — begin their regular season on the road against the New England Black Wolves on Dec. 28. They play their season home opener against the San Diego Seals on Jan. 5.
NOTES: Ahead of the start of the NLL season, Peterborough faceoff specialist Jake Withers
has signed a two-year contract with the Rochester Knighthawks, Peterborough’s Paxton Leroux
has signed a one-year deal with the expansion Philadelphia Wings and Peterborough’s Cam Milligan has been named to the Knighthawks practice player list .... Veteran Peterborough Lakers fan favourite Mark Steenhuis has agreed to a oneyear deal to return to the Buffalo Bandits