In a hotly-contested battle raging all summer, the Rochester Knighthawks and the expansion Albany franchise have laid their eyes on the same prize: John Grant, Jr., the young Canadian prospect now eligible for the NLL Amateur Draft.

There's only one problem -- only one team can have him, and both clubs are claiming they possess the first pick in the upcoming draft.

In September 1997, the Knighthawks traded franchise player Paul Gait to the Syracuse Smash. In exchange, Rochester received several draft choices, the final of these being Syracuse's first-rounder in this September's draft. After the Smash finished with a league-worst 3-9 record in 1999, their pick became the highest selection. Since the draft choice now belonged to Rochester, the Knighthawks suddenly found themselves with first crack at Grant.

Adding John Grant would arguably push the Knighthawks into the role of the league's team to beat. Grant would join 1999 rookie sensation Casey Powell, as well as veterans such as Tom Carmean, Duane Jacobs, Randy Mearns, and possibly Darris Kilgour (who, at last check, was considering retirement), creating a formidable attack spread across several attack lines.

However, the right to choose Grant is also being claimed by expansion Albany, which backs its argument with a recent vote of the NLL's Board of Governors. In order to give an extra hand to expansion franchises, the board elected in May (at the same time the Albany franchise was approved) to award the first selections in the amateur draft each year to any expansion franchises. The first-year teams would then be followed by the existing teams, in the order they would have drafted if no expansion had been approved.

In years where more than one new franchise joins the league, a coin flip (or series of flips) will determine which club drafts first. However, with Albany likely to be the lone new entrant, the new policy guarantees them the first draft selection. Not waiting for the regular season to begin making waves in the NLL, Albany owner Herb Chorbajian has begun to prepare for Life With Grant.

Albany is just about foaming at the mouth contemplating how a dominant player such as Grant could potentially produce a jump start to both the franchise's on- and off-field successes. In his collegiate field lacrosse career at the University of Delaware, Grant opened in a clinic in how to dominate a game, leading NCAA Divison I in points (56 goals, 54 assists), setting a school record for single-season scoring.

The Knighthawks are crying foul at the change in draft order, though, claiming that the team was robbed of its rightful position in the draft and of its shot at adding Grant. Prior to the Board of Govenors' vote, expansion teams had always been inserted in the draft order directly following the winningest team that failed to qualify for the postseason, while all other picks were slotted based on the original owner's regular-season record. Thus, under prior rules, Rochester would select first and Albany fourth (following a selection originally belonging to Buffalo and one owned by New York).

Vowing an official protest from the very beginning, Knighthawks owner Steve Donner has finally secured such a hearing. On Monday, 2 August, the league owners are schedule to re-examine the issue, and possibly could reverse course. "Our feeling is that our two-year-old trade takes precedence over a new team's desire for the top pick," says Donner. "A majority of the other owners might not agree."

Regardless of whether the owners reverse their earlier decision or uphold the transfer of the top pick to Albany, the decison will not be accepted quietly. Rochester would continue to claim grand larceny, while Albany would argue that the league was taking away what it earlier gave. The loser of this battle may emerge with compensatory draft picks as a way to quiet the complaints, but that still may not be enough to make the controversy disappear. One looming question remains, though -- what if John Grant, Jr. is not the immortal he has been touted to be? What if he fails to live up to the hype? What if all the fighting is all for naught?