NCAA Lacrosse Redux

No one thought the Tigers would win tonight. No one thought they'd even be in this position. Picked by many to finish last in the AL Central, the Tigers found themselves in a one-game tiebreaker to determine who would win the division and win a spot in the playoffs. Their opponents, the Minnesota Twins, finished the season 16-4 as the first-place Tigers tanked, grabbing a share of first place on the last day of the season. With the hottest team in baseball playing in their home stadium, against a 20-year-old Tigers pitcher, everything seemed to be in the Twins' favor.

No one thought the Cornell lacrosse team would be playing in the 2009 national championship game, either. The lacrosse pundits, biased in favor of southern teams, unanimously chose Virginia to defeat Cornell in the national semifinal. Two days later, after a dominant 15-6 Big Red victory, they again discounted Cornell's chances against Syracuse.

Like the Tigers did tonight, the Big Red found themselves with the lead late in the game. Ahead 9-6 with less than four minutes remaining, Cornell let Syracuse claw back. An unbelievable turnover in the final seconds led to the Orange scoring the tying goal with four seconds left in the game.

In similar fashion, the Tigers blew each of their chances late in the game. Whether it was lining into a double play to end the 9th, making stupid fielding plays, or leaving the bases loaded in the 12th inning (with one out), the Tigers didn't seem to be able to put the game away. And the Twins, as opportunistic as the Orange lacrosse team, scored when it counted and celebrated the victory.

And this game was just as hard to watch as the lacrosse championship.

A professor told me a few weeks ago that he'd heard from people close to the lacrosse program that the players had a really tough time coping with the loss to Syracuse. Certainly we in the stands will never forget that finish. Nor will the struggling city of Detroit forget tonight's game, which deprived them of one of the few remaining things they have to cheer about.

It's been a rough summer.