This Level Of Sorcery Used To Get You Tried As A Witch Back In The Day
The sport of lacrosse changed forever the day the Thompson brothers stepped foot on the University of Albany's campus. Until then, you had coaches all across the country screaming at their kids to shoot the ball overhand. "Low and away!!!". Simply shooting the ball behind your back would be considered hot dogging it. Your coach would tear your ass into a million pieces if you went behind-the-back and missed.
But then the Thompsons came in and changed all of that. They proved that sometimes the fundamentals can suck it. Sometimes you just need to get creative out there if you want to make a play happen. That there's a place in the game for a 1-handed, underhanded, facing away from the goal shot.
I'm glad to see that Silas Richmond is now carrying the torch at Albany.
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But I'm also glad that Silas Richmond wasn't alive in the late 1600s. Because in no world should somebody be able to have their that position and end up scoring a goal. That's pure sorcery. His ass would have been burned at the stake.
That's the Thompson effect on the game, though. Silas Richmond is an incredible talent, don't get me wrong. But just 20 years ago it would have taken the greatest lacrosse player on the planet to be able to pull off a move like that. Silas Richmond isn't quite that. But he got to grow up in a world where the Thompsons showed that being creative is a skill, and he also got to grow up in a world where stick technology is crazy advanced. It's the perfect storm for a kid like that to pull off a move like this.
Here's to hoping that's not the nastiest goal we see during the NCAA lacrosse tournament that gets going this weekend after Albany just locked up in the final spot in the play-in. Clear your schedule for Saturday and Sunday. You're going to be parked on the couch for 12pm, 2:30pm, 5pm, and 7pm.