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This past week the Arizona
Sting defeated the Colorado Mammoth in NLL playoff action 16-13. With
the Mammoth loss, the career of Gary Gait was over. Gary Gait, who
announced his retirement earlier in the season, ended his career with 1,190
points during his 15 years of play.
(Read more about
Gary's Career Stats) Unfrotunately, the win the Sting (10-7) win
their first playoff game in their young franchise career at his expense.
Gary Gait scored one goal and added four assists to end his career with 592
goals. Gary's twin brother, Paul, came back from a three year hiatus
from the NLL to play with his brother. He recorded one goal in the
loss- the first goal. Gary Gait who is best
know for his "Air Gait" move during his college days at Syracuse in the
80's, leaves behind a legacy that some feel will never be relived.
Gary Gait is the Michael Jordan of Lacrosse taking the game of lacrosse and
introducing it to thousands of people.
(Gary's teammates comment on his retirement) Lacrosse which was
virtually unknown outside of Canada and the East Coast when Gary played
college Lacrosse, now is played in high schools all over the country. It
would be hard to talk about the growth of the game with out mentioning the
names of the Gait brothers.
With Gary Gait retiring what effect will it have on
the game of lacrosse? Though the Gait Brothers will always be involved
with lacrosse especially with their Gait lacrosse company, will Gary's
retirement have any ill effects on the game of lacrosse itself? The
answer has to be no. Gary Gait has already said that he will be
retiring to Denver when he is done playing in the MLL this summer.
(Gary playing in
Seattle this spring) With Gary staying on the west coast and in Denver,
lacrosse will continue to grow and you will see more and more players moving
to the west coast to help with the growth of lacrosse. Denver has been
one of the fastest growing cities when it comes to the number of kids
signing up for lacrosse according to US Lacrosse membership. With NLL
teams expanding on the west coast and the west coast expansion of the MLL,
it is easy to see the continued growth of this sport.
Lacrosse will continue to grow into the mainstream
and different players will come and go. The legacy of the "air gait" move
and the skill the gait brothers possess will never be forgotten. The
Mammoth will retire the famous number "22" and NLL will have a league
wide vote on whether or not to retire the number through out the league.
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