Fred Opie scoring in a 1985 championship game loss to John Hopkins at Brown University
I played high school lacrosse in Michigan which, in the 1980’s, was the hinterland of the game. Back then, ESPN only showed the national championship on tape delay and that was all the DI lacrosse we’d see all year. With VHS tape rolling, I sat in front of the TV to watch the 1985 Syracuse vs. Hopkins NCAA Championship. Early in the game, an SU longstick named Fred Opie came down the field on a quick transition and passed it to attackman Tim Nelson. Instead of turning and heading to the box, he kept going toward the net. A quick pass to the crease and BANG! The longstick puts a behind the back shot in the net. Fred’s goal was an inspiration to me and countless other young lacrosse players. It showed creativity and courage. From that point on, I approached the development of my sticks skills as a defenseman in a different way. Gone was the premise that defenseman don’t really need to know how to handle the ball. With Hopkins winning the game, 11-4, Fred’s goal is somewhat lost to history. For at least one lacrosse player, it made all the difference in the world. Fred went on to represent his country and even wear the God awful bike shorts in the MILL. To me he will always be that SU longstick with the sick stick skills. Even today when I throw around with my kids in the yard, I shoot one behind the back in Fred’s honor.
Guess Blogger Sean Higgins.
*If you are interested in being a guess blogger, please send your story to me, Fred Opie, on Facebook I am especially interested in Syracuse lacrosse stories and photos during my playing days.
I first met Aaron Jones (AJ) in the fall of 1983 while visiting a coed on the campus of Cornell University. So here's the scene, I am a JUCO transfer in my first semester at Syracuse University in my junior year. AJ is freshman in his first semester at Cornell and we both play defense. Syracuse had just one it's first national championship in the spring of 1983 and Cornell may not have made the NCAA playoffs that year. I run into AJ at a African-American sorority party. I'm wearing a Syracuse lacrosse polo and he a Cornell one. I was surprised and happy to meet another African-American lacrosse player. AJ in classic Hempstead style, we'll talk about that later, sized me up and begin to talk trash about how Cornell was going to stomp on Syracuse in the coming season! I had never met anyone with so much brash for my life! It was the start of a long friendship that continues today. My junior year I wore # 2 #34 my senior year. A teammate had #7 and I could not talk him into giving it up! Aaron and I cracked up when we realized the number of times white folk confuse us saying “Aaron great shot in that 85 championship game at Brown," and “Fred great check on that youtube video.” I scored the goal and Aaron made the check! I guess all black lacrosse players look alike just like all Coach Mike West Genesee players play alike!
Gary Gait doing the Air Gait as a Syracuse Lacrosse in a playoff game against U Penn in the Carrier Dome
I played against the Paul and Gary Gait about three times in my career: 1990 world games and in the Cape Cod Classic following their senior year at Syracuse. They were big, fast, and had sensational stick skills. The trailblazing player entrepreneurs in the game of lacrosse are Canadians and US Hall of Famers Paul and Gary Gait. At Syracuse University the twin brothers revolutionized the field game with their introduction of innovative box lacrosse moves like their behind the back passes, trick shots, and rap checks not to mention Gary’s famous Air Gait move illustrated in the photo above. After sensational college careers at Syracuse in the late 1980s, Gary and Paul boosted advertising interest in lacrosse first as MILL players and then briefly in the outdoor league. But they, especially Garry, also leveraged their star status and created an attractive brand they used to earn contracts with lacrosse manufacturers, create, patent, and manufacture lacrosse products. They also introduced the mobile camp and clinic concept that has become the business model for the increasing numbers of players who make their full time living through lacrosse. Gary is now the Head Women’s Lacrosse Coach at Syracuse University and the program is flourishing under his direction making this year to the NCAA championship game. Paul is lives and works in Albany, New York where he still promoting the Gait brand.
Steve Koudelka (aka Kouder) from Long Valley, New Jersey was in my opinion Coach J’s greatest impact recruit during my tenure at Gettysburg and perhaps after my years but others will have to comment on that. According to Coach he had “like 50 schools recruiting him.” When I came to G-burg I was GA for the lacrosse and soccer programs working on my Master's Degree in history at Shippensburg University. I grew up in metro New York on Cosmos soccer in which that team had some of best in the world playing at Giant Stadium in New Jersey. I heard from then soccer coach Dave Wright (who is now the AD) about Kouder’s soccer ability. And it was perhaps coach Wright that discovered him and not Coach J? Kouder never played soccer at G-burg but he supposedly had game and he was a great hoop player too. His first year at G-burg he sat on the bench behind an All-American senior goalie Brian Sullivan (aka Sully). Another perhaps not so well know secret about coach J is that he works closely with his goalies drilling them on the fundamentals especially their footwork.Kouder worked very hard his first year and maintained a terrific attitude while waiting for his turn to play. His sophomore year he showed tremendous poise and leadership which is necessary for s goalie who is the middle linebacker on the defense calling the plays. Fortunately Steve had some great defenders in front of him particularly Billy Stedman who had great speed, size, and the ability to throw checks that he learned from another All American G-burg defensemen Braden Edwards. Brandon who graduated with Sully was bigger than Billy but Billy in my opinion was the better defensemen because he was faster, a better athlete, and smarter lacrosse player, and coachable. Both Billy and Branden earned first team All American honors their senior year, but they were different people and players. Now if I was in a bad neighborhood in say Baltimore City back then, if I had the choice between the two, I would want Braden to have my back, but if I wanted to invest some money in Latin America, I’d go with Billy. More tomorrow on Kouder.
Ric Beardsley #47 recalls "That field" where here played summer league in the Hudson Valley. As you will see below,
Here another story in our summer league series written by Syracuse All American Defensemen Ric Beardsley. That
field was narrow and I think illegal to be honest because it was so narrow. The
field served as a drainage field for the school grounds behind it and as a
result it had manhole covers on it. I used to try and run opposing attackmen on
to those man hole covers in order to try and make then fall. I am sure that
field could tell so many stories if it could talk because of all the great
players that played on it. It was a horrible field but it was like home for me
for all those years. I remember playing an alumni game on that field and
guarding Jim Egan the year he started @ SU and I de-sticked him like 5 times
and I was only a high school sophomore. . . he was so pissed! But at the end of
the game he was determined to have me play for SU and look what happened. Fans
would back their cars up to the field in the parking lot that overlooked the
field and sit on their tailgates to watch games. In high school I can remember
my father sitting and yelling encouraging things to me during my games . . .
That field is also the field where I learned to play the game @ all the levels
that got me to SU and made me the player I became. Summer league then was full
of sick players. College guys would bring their teammates from all of the top
programs as ringers so they had a shot @ winning the summer league
championship. That field will never ever be forgotten by me. The worst field I
ever played on but the best field to have played on.
Cole Bender, me my junior year (Fred Opie), Adam West behind me, and Matt Mitchell. Croton Point Park Field 1980.
It almost time for the start of high school lacrosse practice here in the Hudson Valley. This time reminds of my first year on the varsity team at Croton Harmon in 1980. The seniors I played with in my junior year were a hilarious bunch, especially Cole Bender and Josh Stark. They had a language of their own filled with nick names, expressions, and saying that was incredible to hear on bus rides to practice and on away games. To listen to them play the dozens (playfully bad mouthing each other and their families) would have us juniors rolling in laughter. And poor Mike Spotto, his classmates road that guy all season long giving him such a hard time but mike was a great sport and hung in there because he loved playing lacrosse and he was not a quitter. The entire bunch had a deep passion for the game of Lacrosse and they had allot of talent. Adam West for example, picked up the game late in high school, but the guy was such a phenomenal athlete that he was good for a couple of goals and assists every game—even after smoking a pack a cigarettes a day. And the rest of players like Matt Mitchell, Josh Stark, and Cole Bender had very good stick skills and a solid understanding of the game. Perhaps this teams greatest assest however, was toughness. These bad boys loved to hit and they took no prisoners; I always felt safe knowing they had my back.
This 1990 team including something like 5 Cornell alum. Paul Schomoler is hiding out in the back right of this photo
I really went through a tough time this morning thinking about what Paul Schomoler, his family, and friends have been through from his brother John's passing less than a year ago and now how those left behind are feeling with the sudden news that Paul had brain cancer last month and he died last Friday. You cannot prepare for such unexpected and sad news. My condolences to Paul Schomoler's family and the teammates and the players that he had coached who like me are grieving his lost. I played on teams with both John and Paul so this lost has hit me particularly hard. A teammate (and a coach) is
never easy to lose and they are many different things in your life at different
times: a friend and a competitor, a hug and high five, a rival then a mentor, a fellow traveler and a compass.
For those, like my wife, who can’t stand typos, watch out! I have severe ADD which kept me from moving forward with this blog for too long. My friend encouraged me to start blogging and just disclose my disability the same way I do on the first day of class as a college professor. Folks I regularly make spelling mistakes because of my disability. In order to get two books and several academic journal articles published I use a professional copy editor. To blog that would take too much time and money. So if you can overlook my typos, enjoy my musings.
Fred Opie is a Professor History and Foodways at Babson College and a contributor on the radio show The Splendid Table. His latest book is Zora Neale Hurston on Florida Food. Hurston did for Florida what William Faulkner did for Mississippi—provided insights into a state’s culture. The book is an essential read for lovers of history, cooking, and eating. For more on Fred Opie visit http://www.fredopie.com
