Odds are, you probably neither know nor care about the World Lacrosse Championships taking place in Manchester, England starting tomorrow (seems that lacrosse is huge in Manchester; who knew?). Thirty nations are participating. Well, make that 29, as the Iroquois National team is stranded in NYC.

Being citizens of a sovereign nation (which happens to be located in Upstate NY and Canada), team members carry Haudenosaunee passports. This has been good enough for the past 30+ years for traveling internationally, but now it seems that they low-tech passports don’t meet new high-tech standards, and, as the US government seems to be saying they won’t accept the passports for reentry, the British want a letter from the Department of State, stating that they’ll be allowed back into the US, or the team won’t be granted visas.

You’d think that would be simple enough (what with the Secretary of State being a former NY State Senator, the Vice President being an SU alum and lacrosse fan, and current NYS Senator Kirsten Gillibrand – among others – making personal pleas to the DOS to fix this stupidity), but unless somebody steps up by today, the Iroquois team (ranked #4 in the world, BTW), will be unable to attend.

The US has offered to supply temporary US passports, but, the team said thanks, but no thanks. The team has another flight booked for today. Hopefully they’ll make it.