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Philadelphia ran Denver off the field in the rain to win the PLL Championship, 14-4, and we break down why it was never close. We get into the Outlaws shooting 12% as a team, the constant turnovers on simple exchanges, the Mike Manley matchup on CJ Kirst, and a body language problem that looked a lot like apathy. CJ Kirst walked away with nearly every major award, Bill Tierney finally has a pro title to go with his seven NCAA championships, and Zach Currier once again made life miserable for Denver. We also get into the awards debate, including why Brandon would have swapped MVP and Attackman of the Year between Sowers and Kirst. Then it's our annual tradition: grading last year's predictions and making new ones for next season, from standings to stat leaders to the team we expect to be busiest this offseason. On the NLL side, we cover the Dipersal Draft and the Entry Draft and everything around it: Brennan O'Neill heading to San Diego, Michael Sowers getting picked by Vancouver, Joey Spallina's slide to Calgary, Ryan Steins to Colorado, and why Vegas might be the dark horse nobody is talking about. We also talk NLL expansion, how many teams the league can actually support, and Six Nations taking another Mann Cup. This is our last episode before a short break. We'll be back when the NLL season starts. Come hang with us in the Lax Lifers Club in the meantime Join Here

The PLL Championship is set, and it's exactly what we expected it would be before the season started, as the Denver Outlaws will take on the Philadelphia Waterdogs. We break down how Brennan O'Neill jump-started the Outlaws ten seconds into the semifinal and never looked back, and how the Water Dogs beat Boston with a nine-point combined game from Michael Sowers and CJ Kirst that still felt like a down day for both of them. Then we get into the matchup itself: who Gavin Adler lines up against, whether Denver's defense is finally whole, and why we can't agree on a pick. Before we got to the semis, we looked back at the teams that didn't make it. The California Redwoods and Maryland Whipsnakes both went home again, and we talk through what has to change for each of them heading into next year, plus where things stand with Rob Pannell's retirement. We also go through the PLL and WLL award finalists. Brett Dobson deserves to be in the MVP conversation more than he is, we've got thoughts on who got left out, and the WLL finalists look like they were shaped by one championship game more than a full season. Rounding it out: the Mann Cup kicks off Friday with the Six Nations Chiefs going for a fourth straight title, the NLL finally has real free agency and draft dates, and we get into where things actually stand with Ottawa and Philadelphia. If you want to keep up with all of this between episodes, the Lax Lifers Club is where our community lives year round. Join Here

We're back from an unplanned week off, and we are back with a super episode to make up for it. The Maryland Charm are your inaugural WLL champions. They went into Subaru Park and beat the California Palms 16-13. We break down how a team built for the field game finally proved it, why the halftime goalie switch to Jennika Cuocco looked insane and then wasn't, and Alex Aust Holman going from holding the iPad on the sideline all season to hat trick hero in the championship. We also get into what we'd change about the WLL heading into 2027, from the schedule to the playoff format. Over in the PLL, the Atlas are a mess. Worst defensive goals against average in league history, tense postgame press conferences all year, and now Gavin Adler going on Stick Talk to explain exactly why he left for the Waterdogs, including a claim that Mike Pressler didn't know the salary cap had gone up when he made his offer. We talk through what that means for Pressler's job and whether this roster, on paper, could still win it all next year. We also run through the PLL's regular season awards. Faceoff, goalie, midfielder, and coach of the year are fairly settled. Rookie of the year is a genuinely crowded field. And MVP versus attackman of the year turns into a real argument about whether Michael Sowers or CJ Kirst deserves to be the guy, including why we think the "CJ broke the goals record so he should win everything" logic doesn't hold up. We close that out with a preview of this weekend's playoff games. Canada and the US played for PALA gold, and Canada scored the last four goals of the game, including Alex Simmons' game winner with ten seconds left, to steal it from the Americans. We look at what, if anything, from these rosters carries over to next summer's world championships, and it turns out the answer is almost nothing. We close out with the Ottawa Black Bears reportedly headed for a dispersal draft, which would put Jeff Teat back on the market, plus the Madison Taylor situation getting more complicated after the Big Ten's new rule on professional athletes. If you want to keep up with all of this between episodes, the Lax Lifers Club is where our community lives year round. Join Here

MLL Throwback Weekend takes over the show. We go team by team on every uniform and helmet: the Outlaws' translation of the old MLL template, the Hounds' chrome gold helmet (best in the league, no debate), the Lizards' white and green miss, and why Boston's red jersey and silver helmet felt more Cornell than Cannons. Then the actual lacrosse: Boston beat the Whipsnakes in overtime on a Marcus Holman two-pointer, and we break down Emmett Carroll's brutal final-play blunder that nobody can fully explain. The Archers held off the Chaos, and Tom Schreiber was back at practice, which changes a few things about who Utah brings into the playoffs. We also get into the nostalgia of it all. MLL Throwback Weekend drew big numbers, but we dig into whether that's really about MLL nostalgia or just Boston being a great lacrosse town, and why a one-time nostalgia pop isn't a reason for the PLL to start turning every franchise back into its old MLL identity. The Atlas locked up the number one pick in the 2027 draft with a loss to the Outlaws, and something about this team feels genuinely different, not just bad. We debate who should go number one between Shawn Lyght and BVB, throw out a dark horse name, and map out what the Chaos actually need heading into the number two pick. Dillon Ward got pulled from Boston's win over California after an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty and never came back, and nobody's said why. We also run through the weekend's roster moves, including two IR placements, a familiar face returns to the Waterdogs' goalie room, and a signing that says more about next season than this one. On the women's side, the Palms demolished the Guard 21-9 to set up a championship matchup with the Charm, and we argue out who actually deserves WLL MVP. If you want to keep talking lacrosse between episodes, that's what the Lax Lifers Club is for. Join Here

Denver went into Columbus down two of their best players and still walked out with a buzzer-beating victory. Brennan O'Nell looked like himself again with 6 points, and Ryan Terefenko's game-winner with four seconds left got overturned from no goal to goal on review. We break down what it means with Pat Kavanagh and Jared Bernhardt out, and why Owen McElroy might have earned himself the next start over Logan McNaney. Utah's goalie situation is a mess of its own. JC Higginbotham made his first career start count in a win over Utah, and we get into whether Colin Kirst gets his job back or has to earn it. That game also gave us the wildest scene of the weekend: an Archers-Whipsnakes shoving match that ended with three guys missing their helmets and Brett Dobson in the middle of it. CJ Kirst and Michael Sowers are still splitting hairs at the top of the MVP race, and we argue about what a rough shooting night from Kirst does to his case. The Redwoods put up 21 on the Atlas, the most points ever scored by a team in a single game, and Chris Kavanaugh's big performance reignited the "nine guys went ahead of him in the draft" debate. We push back on some of that discourse. Ally Kennedy and Team USA won their fifth straight World Lacrosse Championship, and we make the case that she might be the best lacrosse player on the planet right now. Then the PLL, WLL, and NLL announced the Global Lacrosse Games, a Sixes event replacing the Championship Series this December, and we spend a good chunk of the show arguing about how Team USA should actually build that roster. Plus a Syracuse five for five update, the NLL's new app, and a card show heist that has nothing to do with lacrosse but everything to do with our week. New episode of TRO is up. Come argue about all of it with us in the Lax Lifers Club. Join Here

This week the PLL set up shop in Denver for a rain-soaked, chaotic weekend, and we break down all four games. The Archers looked like the best team in the league, sweeping both the Outlaws and the Whipsnakes by a combined 32-19 and finally getting Trey LeClaire fully involved in the offense. The Waterdogs beat the Atlas 11-10 in Gavin Adler's first game against his former team, and we get into whether the Atlas, who keep losing games by one, are actually close or just playing out the string toward a top pick. The Outlaws were the story nobody wanted to be. They dropped their third straight first quarter and got run out of their own building 18-8 by the Waterdogs, with Brennan O'Neill sitting out an apparent knee injury that's now headed for re-evaluation. We dig into O'Neill's brutal 13 percent shooting season, a sideline play call that nobody on the field seemed to run, and a Lax Lifers debate we didn't expect to be having: should the Outlaws actually trade Brennan O'Neill and rebuild. Elsewhere, the Carolina Chaos beat Boston 13-12 in overtime on a Teddy Malone game winner, and we make our case for Chad Palumbo as Rookie of the Year, visor celly and all. We also break down the news that five Syracuse players, including Joey Spallina and Billy Dwan, have joined a lawsuit against the NCAA seeking a fifth year of eligibility for the class of 2022, the first class left out of the five-for-five rule. If it goes through, it could void PLL contracts and reshape how the league and college programs handle player rights going forward. We get into why we think it's an uphill fight and what a national title with a giant asterisk would actually mean. We close with Team USA's women going 3-0 at the World Championships in Tokyo and pointing toward a final against Canada, plus NLL free agency news on Will Malcolm and Alex Stathakis. If you want to join the discussion about any of this, that's what the Lax Lifers Club is for. Join Here

This week Rob Pannell passed Paul Rabil for the all-time points record in pro field lacrosse, and we get into all of it: breaking it with a goal instead of an assist, the Whipsnakes' 20-7 demolition of the Redwoods, and what it says that he did it in a blowout instead of coasting once the team had it locked up. That turns into a real Mount Rushmore conversation. Where does Pannell actually rank all time? We argue about Gary Gait, John Grant Jr, Mark Millon, Lyle Thompson, and Mikey Powell, and land on an Emmitt Smith comparison we think actually fits. On the field, the Utah Archers throttled Philadelphia 18-8 behind a Tre LeClaire revival, and we finally ask the question seriously: when does Brett Dobson get into the MVP conversation with CJ Kirst? Boston beat up on a New York Atlas team that once again has more name recognition than results, and we debate who we trust more down the stretch, Utah or Boston. The WLL delivered one of its best games of the inaugural season. Maryland's Brigid Duffy and Boston's Rachel Clark both put up historic stat lines in the same game, records fell everywhere, and the Charm clinched a spot in the first ever WLL Championship. We also cover the Rochester Knighthawks bringing back their teal and purple colors, a report that other teams offered Ottawa as many as five first round picks for Jeff Teat, a scary injury to Carolina's Jack Rowlett, and the NLL's newest Hall of Fame class. If you want to keep arguing about any of this after the episode ends, that's what the Lax Lifers Club is for. Join Here

Denver walked into the weekend as ESPN's number one team in the league. They walked out 3-3, upset 15-13 by a Boston Cannons team that was under .500 coming in. We get into why this loss still doesn't shake our belief that the Outlaws have the best roster top to bottom in the league, and why a game where Jared Bernhardt, Pat Kavanaugh, and Logan Wisnauskis all had quiet nights at the same time is more concerning than the final score. The Waterdogs keep rolling. Their 15-13 win over the Redwoods pushed them to 4-2 and first place in the East, and CJ Kirst put together another performance that has us deep into the MVP conversation. We break down his pace toward 50 goals this season, which would shatter Marcus Holman's single-season record, and explain why we're still not ready to crown him the best all-around player in the world. The Whipsnakes rolled the Chaos 17-10, and Rob Pannell is three points from Paul Rabil's all-time PLL scoring record. We also cover the ESPN+ stream glitch that had the league sweating through that chase. The Archers put a beating on the Atlas, 16-5, and Mike Pressler's postgame comments about players not listening kicked off a rare public airing of grievances from the defending champs. On the WLL side, the Charm's 16-15 win over the Charging, saved by a last-second stop in net, (currently) knocked the Charging out of championship contention just weeks after they looked like a lock. We also spend real time on the new PLL Indigenous Heritage jerseys, and we do not hold back. We close out looking ahead to a three-day weekend of lacrosse at Fairfield, including Rob Pannell's continued chase for the record book and a WLL matchup between Boston's Guard and Maryland's Charm with real stakes attached. Join us in the Lax Lifers Club to keep the conversation going all week. Join Here

All-Star Weekend gave us the same story it always seems to give us: the women showed up, and the men did not. Team Izzy beat Team Humphrey 16-15 on a Marie McCool buzzer beater, and it was everything the PLL All-Star Game wasn't. The men finished 12-9, shot a combined 19% and 18%, and four minutes in, Marcus Holman told the country everybody was hungover. We get into why that game keeps missing and what we'd actually do to fix it. The skills contests didn't fare much better. A busted radar gun turned the fastest shot competition into a slog, the accuracy challenge is still not actually testing accuracy, and we pitch a few ways the whole weekend could be built out into something worth attending, fireworks included. On the field, the MVP conversation is heating up. CJ Kirst is doing things we haven't seen since Jeff Teat's record season, Dylan Ward and Brett Dobson deserve to be in that conversation too, and we argue about where the line is for guys who front-load their stats in one or two big games. Adam Lamberti's early draft big board is out, and it sent us down a rabbit hole about the Outlaws sitting on two first round picks next year, thanks to the trade that sent Ryan Cross to Denver. We also cover the Zach Carey report on Tom Schreiber and Grant Ament, and why an Olympic year retirement is starting to feel more likely than a return. We close out looking ahead to this weekend's slate in Chicago: five games including Utah-New York and California-Philly, plus win-or-be-in-real-trouble stakes in the WLL between Maryland and New York. Join us in the Lax Lifers Club to keep the conversation going all week. Join Here

Brandon's out this week, so I brought in Jackson Van Vlake of Empty the Quiver to help break down a chaotic PLL weekend. Boston beat California 15-12, and the story wasn't Boston, it was Owen Grant holding Dylan Malloy to one goal a week after he dropped seven, reportedly fueled by getting clipped in a social media post. The Outlaws throttled the Whipsnakes 13-7 behind their four Tewaaraton winners and what might be the best defense in the league. The Redwoods needed overtime to survive the Chaos, 14-13, on a Dylan Malloy game winner just hours after his quiet afternoon game. We spend a good chunk of the show trying to figure out who's actually the league's second-best team behind Denver, and it's a lot murkier than it looked two weeks ago. We also get into the Archers' rough weekend. A loss to the Waterdogs came with the most penalty minutes we can remember one team taking in a game, most of them completely unnecessary. Jackson, an Archers die-hard, doesn't shy away from it. We talk through what CJ Kirst did to Aidan Maguire, why Ryan Steins might be the steal of the draft, and whether the number one pick conversation around Maguire has gotten unfair to him as a rookie short stick defensive midfielder. The NCAA officially passed the five-for-five eligibility rule, and nobody, us included, fully knows what it means yet. We get into why guys like Bobby Van Buren could theoretically stick around college even longer and why Sean Light's decision might be the one that reshapes the whole thing. On the WLL side, the Palms blew out the Charging 16-9 to take over first place, and did it without their number one overall pick, who hasn't even suited up yet. We close out with All-Star roster replacements, the new uniforms, and a debate about what actually counts as being an "all-star" when you're a late add because someone else got hurt. If you want to keep the conversation going after the episode ends, the Lax Lifers Club is where we live between shows. Join Here

The Boston Cannons just cut Asher Nolting. A 4x All-Star, a 2x First Team All-Pro, a 2x AOTY finalist, and an MVP finalist, in his first 4 years in the league. One game into his season, two points, and he is gone. We get into why this feels like it has nothing to do with what is happening on the field, why it rhymes with the Connor Fields situation back in 2020. The Whipsnakes were up 10-3 on the Atlas and lost 16-14. We try to figure out if it is the biggest collapse we have ever seen in this league, land on the Brennan O'Neill Archers game as the one that might still top it, and Neil describes taking your foot so far off the gas that it ends up in the backseat. Connor Schellenberger is starting to look like he gets it. Whether that says more about New York or about Maryland is the real question. We also hand out the Dylan Molloy game. Seven goals to tie the single game record, back to back weeks of somebody doing it, and Brett Dobson calling him the closest thing to John Grant Jr. since John Grant Jr. We are not sure we see the comparison. We are pretty sure we see 2019 Matt Rambo instead. There is also a long, painful detour into fantasy lacrosse and the specific genius of benching every player right before he goes off. On the WLL side, the New York Charging keep doing what their name suggests. Madison Doucette set a league record with a 63 percent night, the Charm shot 21 percent, and we are running out of ways to explain how anyone beats this team. Plus the All-Star rosters dropped, voted by the fans, off two games, and we get into why that is a problem. Snubs, visa issues keeping rookies out, Trevor Baptiste making it as a face-off All-Star after playing two games, and the hot seat debate between Brian Holman and Chris Bates. We close on the Hall of Fame, Joe Tsai going in as the first contributor, and whether that is fair. If you want to keep the conversation going after the episode ends, the Lax Lifers Club is where we live between shows.Join Here

The biggest name in the sport went down. Charlotte North tore her Achilles in the fourth quarter of the WLL game in Charlotte, and she is out for the season and the women's world championship later this summer. Neil was at the games, didn't know who it was at first, and ended up being the ones to break the news to a crowd of little girls waiting in autograph alley to meet her. We get into what it means, why it stings for a league still finding its footing, and the case for why a pivot might actually be good for the WLL long term. The defending champion Atlas are in a full blown free fall. Three straight losses, last in the East, worst score differential in the league. Everyone wants to blame Jeff Teat being out and Gavin Adler being gone. We don't buy it. This roster still has three PLL MVPs on it, and we get into why the "missing guys" excuse only goes so far when you're sitting at the bottom of the barrel. The MVP race is heating up and the early favorite might surprise you. CJ Kirst dropped his first career sock trick in a Water Dogs blowout and leads the league in points per game. We run through the whole board: Dylan Ward, Michael Sowers, Mike Siselberger, Trevor Baptiste, Brett Dobson, and a Brett Maycar long shot. If the season ended today, we tell you who we'd actually vote for. Plus the Utah Archers keep doing the impossible on defense, Mac O'Keefe ties the single game goal record, and we ask whether any of it is real or a Carolina-shaped red herring. Chad Palumbo had his coming out party. Matt Rambo scored a goal for the first time in roughly 600 days. The rookies have arrived, and we make the case for expanding game day rosters. Also a fully unplanned pineapple segment, because that's just where we ended up. New episode out now. The Lax Lifers Club is where we keep talking lacrosse all week. Join Here

The waiver wire went absolutely haywire on Tuesday, and we break down the two biggest moves of the day. The Atlas claimed Matt Rambo off waivers using the three-games-unprotected rule, and he will suit up for New York in Charlotte this weekend. We get into why it happened, whether it makes any sense at all, and what it says about a defending champion that is already in scramble mode without Jeff Teat. Then the Outlaws signed Ryan Croddick from Princeton and immediately flipped him to the California Redwoods for a 2027 first round pick. Brandon had a reaction. We also get into the 5-for-5 eligibility question and what it actually means for the value of that pick. Before any of that, we go through the full Week 3 slate from Baltimore. Joey Spallina's pro debut was everything you wanted it to be: five points, zero turnovers, and his first goal assisted by a familiar face. Rob Pannell passed John Grant Jr. for second all-time in professional field lacrosse history. Jim Stagnitta broke the all-time coaching wins record and had a moment postgame that was hard not to appreciate. Denver took down the defending champions 16-9, Wisnauskas dropped a sock trick, and the Waterdogs continued to look like a team that hasn't figured out what it is yet. The WLL might have already played the game of the season. Maryland Charm 18, California Palms 17 in overtime. Three goals scored in the final minute of regulation. We watched it, we talked about it, and we also get into what the one-game-a-week format is doing to the league's momentum, because that conversation needs to happen. We close with the Tewaaraton. Shawn Lyght of Notre Dame became the first defenseman in the history of the men's award. We talk about whether this is a one-off or a sign that the award is finally evolving, and what it meant that neither Spallina nor Kabiri was able to separate himself enough to take it. If you want to keep talking about this stuff between episodes, the Lax Lifers Club is where that happens. JOIN HERE

Princeton is national champion. We called it preseason. We are not going to pretend otherwise. We break down both semifinal blowouts, the championship comeback from down 3-0, and what it actually means that Princeton went 11 unanswered to lead Notre Dame 11-3 at halftime. We also get into what comes next for Duke (better than you think) and what the legacy question really looks like for that Syracuse senior class. Northwestern beat UNC 14-11 in the women's championship, and the conversation got hijacked by the rules. A crease violation reversed a goal. The shooting space call was a stretch. We get into both and why the issue is less about the refs and more about rules that just don't make sense. The Tewaaraton ceremony is tonight. We made our picks. Joey Spallina or Nate Kabiri on the men's side, Chloe Humphrey or Madison Taylor on the women's side, and we got into Reagan O'Brien's caused turnover numbers, which are genuinely absurd. We also talked about whether seniority should factor into these things at all, because it probably does even when it shouldn't. Jeff Teat is out for the season. Shoulder surgery. We get into what that actually does to the Atlas title defense, and then preview a Baltimore Weekend where a lot of rosters are finally coming together. Plus: UVA officially hired Kevin Cassese to replace Lars Tiffany, and Cassese said something in his introductory presser that raised more questions than it answered. The Lax Lifers Club is our Discord for the fans watching lacrosse year round. JOIN HERE

The Toronto Rock are your 2025-26 NLL champions. Two games, two wins, and a rookie class that delivered every time it was asked to. Sam English won MVP. Nick Rose finally has his ring. Now the real question: is this the start of something sustained, or just year one of a crowded league with seven teams that could realistically contend? From there, the NCAA quarterfinals are done, and the Final Four is set. Princeton survived Penn State in a game that came down to one quarter. Notre Dame hung 15 on Hopkins. Syracuse held on against a banged-up UNC team. Duke beat Georgetown by 10 goals, which nobody saw coming. We pick apart every game, talk Josh Yago, Joey Spallina, and give our Final Four predictions. Then the one that came out of nowhere: Lars Tiffany is out at UVA. We go through the full Matt Nestler timeline, the Jake Malesek extension report that briefly seemed to put it to bed, and then what actually happened. The parent influence rumors are something else if they're true. We get into coaching candidates, who UVA should call first, and where Lars likely lands next. Also: the WLL played its first ever regular season game. Charlotte North scores the first goal in WLL history but the New York Charging beat the Boston Guard. PLL Week 2 produced some standout performances and one blowout that made Philadelphia look worse than 19-5 suggests. Colin Kirst was at 80% in goal. The whole league is somehow 1-1. And quick hits on the women's NCAA tournament Final Four. The Lax Lifers Club is our Discord community for fans watching lacrosse year round, not just when the tournament's on. If you're the kind of person who watches a Tuesday night MAAC lacrosse game just because it's on, you belong there. Join here.