Scratch that — I never thought it would happen. Not one month ago, I stumbled upon a phrase I told myself to memorize, because it perfectly summed up the answer to the question I get asked most often. That question is: “Why do you care about pro lacrosse so much?” The phrase is: “Duty is a weapon that does not break.” (Thanks, Kieron Gillen). The Premier Lacrosse League has absorbed Major League Lacrosse. It is being framed as a new beginning more than an end. But in reality, this is the end —at the very least of an era— of professional lacrosse as we knew it. We all should have seen it coming after the hazy ending of the MLL season that saw the Connecticut Hammerheads and the Chesapeake Bayhawks forfeit their playoff positions leading to a default championship game between the Boston Cannons and the Denver Outlaws. That’s not to take away from the resulting championship game or the teams, but in terms of ending a critical campaign…that’s not a conclusion that reads as a position of strength.