Did you know that of all college sports, the men's lacosse final over the past five years has had the third highest attendance behind only football and men's basketball? This year's final between Johns Hopkins and Duke, which was played in M&T Bank Stadium, home of the Baltimore Ravens, drew 48,443 fans, which establishes a record for an NCAA men's lacrosse championship game.

There are plenty of reasons for this. Lacrosse is a very exciting, fast-moving sport with plenty of action. It combines the best aspects of both team and individual play, and is fun to watch. It's also a lot of fun to play, and is equally accessible to both boys and girls.

Lacrosse used to be a sport played primarily in the Mid-Atlantic region. That is beginning to change, in large part because of the exposure lacrosse has received from the ESPN family of networks, College Sports TV and others.

It's a sport I wish I had access to as a kid, and my kids have had fun playing with miniature lacrosse sticks. At a time when many of our kids are overweight and hooked on TV, computers and video games, lacrosse is a great alternative. Expose your kids to lacrosse and see where that leads.