**CONTEST CLOSED. CONGRATULATIONS TO SARAH CORNELSON**
The Denver Outlaws, our very own Major League Lacrosse (MLL) organization, invited my family to check out a game by this top-rated outdoor professional team. It was a lively, entertaining, family-fun event for us and now you get a chance to win four tickets to see the Outlaws on Saturday, May 19th!
The extent of my family’s lacrosse knowledge going into the stadium was it’s a game played on a football field by men with sticks trying to make goals. That’s it in a nutshell but, the nuances and prowess of these athletes is captivating and it’s a game played outdoors during summer. Joy!
We didn’t need to know anything about the game to get caught up in the excitement. It’s easy to understand the age-old contest of getting a ball into a goal and this game is way older than I ever knew, hundreds of years old. In days of old, teams were made up of up to 1,000 players and games were played over three days. Things have changed a bit since then.
Ten players for each team chase a tennis ball sized orange sphere up and down the field. The little ball is rocket-launched between players who catch it in little baskets at the end of their sticks. Passing the ball up the field, they hurl it at goals not much wider than the goalie’s 200-plus-pound figure.
Watch out! Those sticks aren’t just used to pass and pick-up the ball, they are used as weapons too. The player holding the ball is relentlessly chased and often pummeled by their rivals sticks. It’s OK, they’re professionals but, if the Ref sees it they’re in the penalty box.
Their athletic ability is beyond impressive. Take a look at the calf muscles on #1, Josh Sims, the super scoring Outlaw player of the night. He scored five goals!
Over the course of four 15-minute quarters, the team racks up mile after mile of high-speed running, jumping and zig-zagging between defenders. How they know where their teammates are and can target those ity-bity baskets I’ll never understand, then again I’m visually challenged.
My kids were immediately the biggest fans jumping and cheering for goals, and there were many scored by the talented Outlaws. And who doesn’t love pounding your feet and clapping you hands to We Will Rock You! My 8-year-old daughter says her favorite part was seeing herself on the Jumbo-Tron.
And poor Mr. #27, chided by his brother and best friend seated several rows above us. We could feel the love when he reminded his brother where the goal was and shared with the crowd that they’ve seen him hike faster than he runs – snarky! All in good sports-heckling fun!
Home field for the Outlaws is Sports Authority Field at Mile High. Here’s a secret: I’m not a fan of crowds so I am in love with the size of the Outlaw crowd at Mile High. The spectators take up about ¼ of the stadium, every seat has a spectacular view and there no lines at the concessions or at the bathrooms – even at half-time!
Watching a professional outdoor lacrosse team on a gorgeous, 82F degree night, with the kettle corn, pretzels and soda just can’t be beat. Lucky for us the rain, hail, thunder and lightening started with only 2 minutes remaining and the game finished just as we were evacuated to the safety of overhangs. We still spied the supermoon between the clouds from our shelter.
My son was pelted by hail (don’t worry he loved it and it was more drama on his part than anything) and we were treated to a massive after-game light show courtesy of Mother Nature to celebrate the Outlaws smashing success!
Tickets for the Outlaws start at $10 and go up to $40 for on-field seating in the Corral. It’s windy in the Stadium so bring a light jacket and wear a hat that can keep you dry in case of another nature light-show.
Contest
Now it’s your turn to see the Denver Outlaws play the Boston Cannons, winners of the 2011 MLL Championship! Mile High Mamas is excited to giveaway a family four-pack of tickets to the Saturday, May 19 Outlaws game. Click here to enter. Contest deadline is May 15, 2012. Good luck!
Author: Heather Ruch
