Wednesday, October 17, 2012

My Link to a Generation of Lacrosse Greats

Me, Bob Henrickson in the middle, and SU teammate and Hall of Famer Brad Kotz  in our team US National Team Swag in Australia, 1990
I had the opportunity to play with Hall of Famer Bob Hendrickson on the 1990 US national team. Bob had a long career, including All-American honors at Cornell University in many years as a club player for the New York athletic club. Bob, who hails from Manhasset Long Island, best be described as one of the smoothest  players I've ever seen. I see him as a cross between the slashing NBA's Hall of Famer shooting guard George Gervin nicknamed "The Iceman" and the Baltimore Orioles' Iron-man Cal Ripken Junior who consistently played well into his late 30s. Bob had a long career and when I played with him in 1990 he must have been about 36 years old and a practicing veterinarian in Manhasset. What he lacked in explosive speed in his later career he made up for it with excellent decisions and didn't turn the ball over. That's why he was a repeat national team selection.  Most importantly for me Bob was my link to a generation of lacrosse greats who he played with and against that I could ask him about. Players like Cornell's Eamon Mckneaney, Mike French, Chris Kane, Bill Marino, Navy's Jeff Long,  and Hopkin's Dave Huntley and Mark Greenberg. These are players I say play on ABC wide world of sports back when I first started playing lacrosse in the mid 1970s. Hall of them are in the National Hall Fame.

Cornell Members of the National Lacrosse Hall of Fame: http://apps.uslacrosse.org/museum/halloffame/list_by_school.php?school=Cornell%20University

Hopkins vs Cornell 1978 NCAA Men’s Lacrosse National Championship: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yFYvVAnPSGw

Hall of Famer Bob Henrickson:


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