What: #56 See
a U of M lacrosse game
Where: Michigan Stadium
Where: Michigan Stadium
When: April 26th
Why: Living so close to the University of Michigan, I’ve
been privileged to experience a wide variety of sporting events on campus, and
as more varsity sports were added, I realized that there were still many that I
had not attended. Just this year, lacrosse was added, and lacrosse is a
totally foreign sport to me. Many youth lacrosse leagues exist in the area, but to my
recollection, this sport did not have any popularity when I was growing up, so
I stuck to the traditional soccer and track and field.
Having made the decision to see a lacrosse game, and with
the intention of seeing the Michigan women’s “Team One” play a game, an
unexpected turn of events transpired. A couple of months ago, I was asked to
work with a volunteer new to my place of work. It was immediately apparent this
volunteer was an athlete for the Wolverines; his entire wardrobe consisted of
nothing but maize and blue attire, adorned with block Ms, almost as if a
required uniform. After a few weeks, we started talking about his sport, and he
explained that he plays lacrosse! It ended up that JD was able to get tickets
for me and friends to see him play his last home game at The Big House.
Arriving at the stadium on game day, it is quite a contrast
to the typical football game day experience, but it was still a larger crowd
than I had expected. There were many youth teams there to see the game, and I
don’t think I quite understood the extent of the popularity. We came in during
the first period and our first impression was how frequently they score; I had
assumed it was much like hockey or soccer, with goals being a bit rare.
Instead, the first half of the game saw nearly 20 points scored! Also, I had no
vague idea of the rules, but there were video excerpts played on the video
boards between periods (some starring JD!) explaining what was happening. This
helped immensely! 
