Goalie Win Championships

Travis Solomon in action in the 1983 championship SU vs Hopkins

Larry Quinn in action in the 1985 championship game SU vs Hopkins

 A hot goalie is key to winning a big game. One of the greatest goalie stories is Syracuse's (SU) Solomon who replaced starter Tom Nims who suffered a season ending separated shoulder early in the season in a game against Maryland in 1983. Travis played hot the rest of that season in root to SU's first national championship. He;s best describe as stopper with a great outlet space that helped cuse fast break its way into the finals. Hopkins won national championships in 1984 and 1985 with All American and later Hall Fame Larry Quinn in goal. I later played with Larry in championships with Long Island Lacrosse Club, Maryland Lacrosse Club, and the 1990 U. S. National Team. Larry made playing defense easy and also had a great outlet pass. His nickname was the Door and he shut the door on alot of great shooters. As a youth coach I recommend putting your best athlete, stick handler, and leader in the goalie position. He or she is your teams quarterback and they thus need to be both a great player and a great communicator.

Championship Game Stories: http://lacrossememoir.blogspot.com/search?q=championship

Larry Quinn: http://apps.uslacrosse.org/museum/halloffame/view_profile.php?prof_id=316

Interview with Coach Paul Wehrum Part 2

Part 2 of my interview with Coach Wehrum who I played for at Herkimer County Community College before transferring to Syracuse. Coach played on some great Cortland teams on attack. He played attack with a long stick.

When and how did the program at Herkimer turn the corner and begin to dominate your regional championship and Junior College Lacrosse?

“We turned the program in 1984 when we won our first regional championship against Cobleskill. That same spring you played in [the first of two national televised] National Championship games at Syracuse; that helped a great deal with attracting great players to come to Herkimer. Other players went on to other schools and the program kept building and getting better thereafter. Then we started winning one National Junior College Championship after another and the program just starting attracting better players year after year and those players went on to star at four year schools at the Division 1 and III levels”

Hall of Fame Week, Larry Quinn

I took this photo of John Detomasso and  Larry Quinn, at a pratice in Perth, Australia in  1990

Larry Quinn, a two time Division Player of the Year and Goalie of the Year, was a Fordham Law School student when we became teammates on Long Island Hofstra lacrosse club in 1987. I don’t ever think I a saw Larry panic during a game. He was like playing with a funny college professor of the game who inspired confidence in the defensemen in front of him. He was a high school All American at lacrosse at legendary Levittown Memorial which along with cross town rivals Levittown Division graduated a number of members of the National Hall of Fame such as Larry and Coach Bill Tierney. For four years at Hopkins I believe my club teammates John DeTommaso, Larry Quinn, and Brad McClain played on the defense for Coach Jim Tierney, who at that time served as the defensive coordinator of the teams I lost to at Syracuse in the national championship in 1984 and 1985! Thus I made it my business to pick their brains as much as possible and learn everything I could from them.  I have heard it said and I agree, that before the geographical expansion of the game, the Hopkins coaching staff probably had done the best job of all of the legendary college colleges of recruiting the perfect blend of hard-nosed players from the island, and on occasion, other points north of Baltimore, with players with superior stick skills in Baltimore County and other points south, west, and east of Baltimore. John and Larry one could argue are the best players at their respected positions to come off the Island. 

  

Team of Rival Part 1: http://lacrossememoir.blogspot.com/2012/08/lacrosse-team-of-rivals-part-1.html

Larry’s Wiki Page: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Larry_Quinn

Larry Quinn in the SU Hopkins 84 Championship:[Watch 11 min 11 sec] http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ftPZpBgTf64

Sports Illustrated Coverage of the SU Hopkins 85 Championship: http://laxbuzz.com/2010/12/24/lacrosse-in-the-1980s-johns-hopkins-mens-lacrosse-defeated-syracuse-11-4-to-win-1985-ncaa-mens-lacrosse-championship-sports-illustrated-june-03-1985/

Top Goalies of the Modern Era: http://24seven.laxallstars.com/woodys-top-5-goaltenders-of-the-modern-lax-era/

My College, Club, and U. S. Team Players and Coaches: http://lacrossememoir.blogspot.com/search?q=%22Tom%22

Removing Barriers On and Off the Lacrosse Field

Fred Opie and US National Team Players as the national anthem was playing before a lacrosse world championship game in Australia in 1990

The U 19 Lacrosse world championship is going on this week in Finland. It reminds me of my time at a similar world championship in Australia in 1990. As an African-American in Australia I felt like a museum piece with so many Aussies staring at me. Seeing an occasional aborigines on city streets warmly greeting me gave me a sense of solidarity with this ethnic group which like my own has a long history of struggling against marginalization. Their fraternal greeting as fellow blacks in a white controlled world said to me that they understood that we shared similar experiences.  It might be similar to the same way lacrosse players in North America greet each other when they come in contact in the spaces controlled by the big three—football, basketball, and baseball. Yesterday I heard a segment on the radio about an aboriginal music group called the Black Arm Band Company.  Like Woody Guthrie, Bruce Springsteen, Bob Dylan, and KRS1, their music is dedicated to raising people's consciousness about the injustices in their society. As the first African-American to make the US national team, it disturbs me how the current club lacrosse and tournament scene are building economic barriers to more people having the opportunity to play our game at every level.

U. S. National Team: http://www.laxmagazine.com/teamusa/men/index

The Black Armband Company:  http://www.npr.org/2012/07/04/156204104/aboriginal-musicians-band-together-to-expose-oppression

Lacrosse and Native American Sovereignty: http://lacrossememoir.blogspot.com/2010/07/iroquois-lacrosse-more-than-fun-and.html

Iroquois National Lacrosse and 1990 World Games: http://lacrossememoir.blogspot.com/2010/07/iroquois-pay-back-at-1990-lacrosse.html

http://lacrossememoir.blogspot.com/2010/07/iroquois-pay-back-at-1990-lacrosse_03.html

Team of Rivals Part 1

Brad McClain (right) covering Brad Kotz in the 84 Hopkins championship win 

John DeTommaso (left) covering Tim Nelson in the 83 Syracuse championship win

Fred Opie # 34 (left) scoring on Larry Quinn in the 85 Hopkins championship win

In her book Team of Rivals, Harvard Historian Doris Kearns Goodwin argues that Abraham Lincoln became one of the greatest U. S. presidents because he made his political rivals members of this cabinet and his closet advisors. I didn’t have as much wisdom and foresight as Lincoln but the same scenario happened when I joined the Long Island Hofstra lacrosse club in 1987. I became teammates with Hopkins rivals John DeTommaso “Deto,” Larry Quinn, and Brad McClain. Deto played at Farmingdale High School on the Long Island which continues produce great players year after year. At the time he had enrolled in Hofstra’s master of education program. Keep in mind I just lost two national championships in a row to John Hopkins when I played at Syracuse in 1984 and 1985 and now I am playing next to these arch rivals! We felt each other out at the first practice of the season and it was awkward to say the least. But slowly we gained confidence and mutual respect for each other and I still consider these guys friends. I went from not earning All-American honors at Syracuse to making the US national team in 1990. How do you explain that phenomenal improvement in ones game? As I will share in this series, playing with Hopkins rivals for several years made me a much better player than I was at Syracuse. 

Author Interview, Doris Kearns Goodwin, Team of Rivals: [Listen 20 min 7 sec] http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=93790272

My Club and US Team Coaches: http://lacrossememoir.blogspot.com/search?q=%22Tom%22

"The Hinterland of the Game:" Michigan Lacrosse in the 1980s

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.

Hobart's Ed Howard on Signing Autographs for the First Time

At the close of my interview, I asked Ed Howard if he ever experienced any racism on the field “I never experienced anything like that,” he says, but on two occasions (one at Adelphi University on Long Island and the other at Bucknell University in Pennsylvania) white opponents called his teammate and fellow Buffalo native Mac Nelson, nigger. “When I heard that, you know I got in there because” I was ready to fight, “I wanted some,” recalls Howard. It’s interesting to me that these incidents did not happen down south when Hobart traveled to North Carolina and Maryland at the start of the spring semester in the mid to late 1970s. No, the incidents happened up north where historically most of us assume white folks are beyond that stuff. What’s also interesting is a story Ed told me about playing in the North South All Star game held at John Hopkins University in Baltimore his senior year. In contrast with the racist slurs Nelson confronted on Northern college campuses, for the first time in his college lacrosse playing career, two boys asked for Ed’s autograph, “Two white kids,” says, Ed. The request “shocked me” remembers Howard years later. Ed never played post-collegiate lacrosse after leaving Hobart, that’s a shame too. “By the end of his career he was spectacular,” says Marc Van Arsdale, Associate Head Men’s Lacrosse Coach at UVA and a former Hobart ball boy in the 1970s. Coach Van adds, “I often thought that if he had continued playing after college he would have been a good bet to be a USA Team Player.” In 2003, Hobart inducted Ed Howard into its Athletic Hall of Fame. His bio for the event reads in part, “A stifling defenseman, . . . Howard was a four-year letter-winner and a member of the College’s first two NCAA Championship teams (1976-77).” The bio goes on to say, “During his career, the Statesmen posted an impressive 49-8 (.860) record, including a 15-0 mark and the Division II/III championship in 1977.” Ed lived in New Jersey where he worked as a senior executive for Chubb Insurance. 

Ed Howard Obituary:  http://thekimblefuneralhome.com/fh/obituaries/obituary.cfm?o_id=1511935&fh_id=13488


My Series on Hobart All American Ed Howard: http://lacrossememoir.blogspot.com/search?q=Ed+Howard

Was He the Best Player On Your Team? Part 3

Tom Nims 1983 

Tim Nelson 1983 championship game

Kevin Sheehan  28  hoisting the 1983 championship trophy at Rutgers Stadium 

I am rifting off of a question a reporter asked me about Tim Nelson who was just inducted into the National Hall of Fame. Was he the best player on the team? We had very talented Syracuse teams in 1984 and 1985 with lots of players making important contributions including Tim. There was All American goalie Tom Nims (West Genesee) the father of All American attackmen Kenny. In the goal, Nimmer, as we called him, operated like a Clint Eastwood character without the aggression. And his passing skills facilitated our fast break transition style in which defensive men and mid fields pushed the ball up field and scored goals. On defense we had big Kevin Sheehan (Baldwinsville, NY) who the team called Sheedog or just dog for short. I called him Chewie because he was so big and thick and had long hair like the star wars character Chewbaka. Kevin’s physical play, ability to dislodge the ball from an opponent’s stick, ground ball ability, and offensive threat made him a 3 x All American.  Jeff Desko (West Genesee, Camillus, NY), the younger brother of head coach John Desko a 79 SU All American and assistant coach during my years and Dave 2 x who All American, also played defense. Baby D [Desko], as some called him, ran like a gazelle and played tremendous position defense. I recall when he shut down Carolinas Hall Fame attackmen Mac Ford which earned Jeff first team All-American honors is sophomore year an honor repeated the rest of his career at SU. 

One Big Reason Why Syracuse Recruited Me

Tim Nelson against Army at West Point, 1985 

Perhaps the person that the Lord used the most to turn the attention of the Syracuse Lacrosse coaching staff was the big 6' 2" 200 pound attackman Tim Nelson (Yorktown High School). Our high schools played against each other back in Westchester in Section 1. We also played together on a Manhasset summer league team in the old Freeport Summer League after my first year in college. As a result of our shared history, Tim (Nellie) knew my game and knew it well. When I went to Herkimer as a virtual unknown player, he went as a highly recruited two-time high school All American who had played in two New York State title games to NC State. In the late 1970s and early 1980s the Wolfpack had a great lacrosse program that included Tim’s older brother Scott. At the end of his first year, State dropped their program and Syracuse offered him a scholarship. In his first season at Syracuse, SU won its first national championship in 1983, Nellie earned first team All American honors and he won the Turnbull Award as the best attackman in the country that year. During that championship season, I visited SU and ran into Nellie. He told me about the teams need for defensemen and then lobbied the coaching staff to recruit me based on what he knew of me as a high school player and my summer league performance. That’s the story of how I became a Syracuse Lacrosse recruit when most other programs and coaches showed no interest. 

The Nelsons of Yorktown Lacrosse: http://lacrossememoir.blogspot.com/2010/09/college-lacrosse-recruiting-series-part_18.html

UNC Hall of Famer Tom Haus

UNC’s All-American Defensemen and Hall of Famer Tom Haus 

UNC's 1986 NCAA National Championship team

I don’t remember much from my first game in a Syracuse University jersey in March of 1984. I know we won and I held my own against UNC players. But I clearly remember the dominating play of Hall of Famer and UNC defensemen Tom Haus that day. Tom was a big thick guy, about 6’2’’ 195 and he ran like a deer. One of his college teammates tells me he was a “terrific athlete and ripped but I never saw him lift weights at UNC.”  Haus wore heavy sweat pants and a pair of blue canvass Converse high tops. Haus covered Hall of Fame attackman Tim Nelson (Nellie) and stripped him of the ball and started fast breaks—I believed he scored one or two goals that day. Hause was striaght up nasty as a player! He ended his career at Carolina as a three-time first-team All-American and three-time Defenseman of the Year—still the only person to do that; Nellie did the same at the attack position. “The guy didn’t care about lacrosse and never really worked hard at it” says a former UNC teammate. “He was great at lacrosse all his life but it didn’t mean the world to him. He did not go hard in practice but he was a gamer." When UNC won the championship in 86 it was Haus that shut down Hopkins Hall of Famer Brian Wood in the semi-finals and UVA Hall of Famer Roddy Marino in the finals. He was inducted in the National Hall Fame in 2005 and UNC retired his #13 jersey. 

UNC Lacrosse Stories: http://lacrossememoir.blogspot.com/search?q=UNC+

Hall of Fame Series: http://lacrossememoir.blogspot.com/search?q=Hall+of+Fame

Tom Haus' Hall of Fame Profile: http://apps.uslacrosse.org/museum/halloffame/view_profile.php?prof_id=288

UNC’s Tom Haus Hall Fame Induction: http://www.goheels.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_LANG=C&SITE=UNC&DB_OEM_ID=3350&ATCLID=205487165

The Travel Channel's Man v. Food Special on Syracuse Eateries

Photo of the Original Dinosaur Barbecue in Syracuse, started in 1983.

Syracuse Lacrosse players, despite winning their first national championship in 1983, had very little star power on campus because the sport of lacrosse then did not have any of the national exposure that it does today. ESPN televised the championship games back then, several days after it was over and the champion already crowned and quarter and semi-final games never came on national television. As one of two African Americans on the team that fall, black folks on campus didn’t know what to make of me and that strange sport I played. When attended SU, the city of Syracuse was known for its college football and basketball teams and the Dinosaur Barbecue recently started by three bikers in 1983. Today the city is known for both the barbecue joint and a hot lacrosse program with many national championships, All Americans, and Hall of Famers. This Wednesday September 1st the Travel Channel show Man v. Food with Adam Richman will about Syracuse eateries dear to my heart. Here's a sneak preview of the show http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i1Qm8wqW36Y

All Black Lacrosse Players Look A like.

Aaron Jones  

Fred Opie 1985 vs John Hopkins 

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! 

Best Checks Videos:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C_ZgV-JkmHU&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KmQtx6a_6sY&feature=fvwrel

Behind the Back Goal and Coaching: http://lacrossememoir.blogspot.com/search?q=behind+the+back

Building Male Relationship Through Lacrosse: http://lacrossememoir.blogspot.com/2012/08/nurturing-healthy-male-relationships.html

Seeing Something That Others Can't See

Celebrating with Dan Pratt after a goal I scored in the 1985 NCAA Finals which we lost to Hopkins 

I've been talking about fall ball reflecting on my first days on campus at Syracuse University (SU) in 1983. My orientation to SU lacrosse happened organically with a very talented 1983 recruiting class. The class included Neil Alt (Towson, MD) Dan Pratt (Homer, NY) Gordie Mapes (Rush-Henrietta, Rochester), Todd Curry (West Gennee) Pat Donahue (West Gennee), Mike O’Donnell “OD” (Yorktown), Tom Nelson (Yorktown) Matt Holman (Summit, NJ), Mark Brannigan (West Genee, Cobleskill), Chris Bruno (Cobleskill), Matt Cacacciato (Fox Lane, NY, Cobleskill) Rhett Cavanaugh (Fox Lane, NY, Army) and Chris Baduini (Montclair, NJ) Some of us first met at the 83 championship team banquet in the summer following SU's victory over Hopkins. Simmie had us sit together introducing each one to the audience with some brief remarks. Coach made a lofty comment about my ability and that I would be a very special player. The comment put me in an awkward position with the other recruits and championship team members at the event. But early on Simmie saw something in me back then that other coaches didn’t. However what he saw remained hidden until I adapted to a new system and level of play and that’s exactly the role of fall ball for a new recruit. It gives you time to adjust to bigger and faster players who are better than what most players see in high school or in my case junior college.

Fall Ball Series: http://lacrossememoir.blogspot.com/search?q=Fall+Ball

My Syracuse Teammates: http://lacrossememoir.blogspot.com/search?q=%22Tom%22

Syracuse Lacrosse Community Mourns the Lost of John Schimoler (1962-2012)

Reunion of the 1983 Syracuse Championship Team at the NCAA Lacrosse Final Four in 2008  Above of #21 Paul Schimoler from top to bottom in 1984 and 1983. (photos courtesy of Derek Maltz)

My former Syracuse University (SU) lacrosse teammate John Schimoler (Class of 1985) died unexpectedly in his sleep at his home in Anne Arundel, Maryland on Sunday August 12, 2012. He had a fever and upset stomach the night before but the cause of death his yet undetermined.  Born in 1962, Schimoler grew up in Glen Head, New York in Nassau County, Long Island. “Schimolls” as his friends and teammates called him, was a 1981 graduate of St. Mary's high school in Manhasset where he was captain of the lacrosse team his senior year. He entered Syracuse as a member of a talented freshman class which included Fred Cambria, Brad Kotz (National Hall of Fame), Frank Lanuto, Derek Maltz, Emmett Printup, and Eric Jeschke. Kotz and Schimoler remained roommates during their four years at SU. Tim Nelson (National Hall of Fame) would transfer into that same class from North Carolina State (NC State) after that ACC school disbanded its lacrosse program following Nelson’s freshmen season. As a freshmen in1982 Nelson led the country in assist. “I'll never forget how nice he was to me when I arrived at Syracuse” says Nelson.  “It wasn't until August of 1982 that I knew I was going to Syracuse and had no idea where I was going to live . . .  the coaches brought me to the Sky Top apartments and I was told that I would be sharing a room with John Schimoler.” He adds, “John had no idea who I was but he unselfishly gave up his privacy to allow me to have a bed in his room and we laughed for the rest of the year!” Nelson says, “That's the type of guy John was, easy going and a friend to all.” A member of the second midfield in his sophomore year Schimoler contributed 12 goals and two assists when SU won its first national championship in 1983. Teammate Derek Maltz (his son is currently a starting SU attackmen), recalls that Schimoler a 6-2 190 pound midfielder “pushed members of the first midfield to be better players during practice” Kotz, recalled that “John’s nickname was Mr. P” because he enjoyed practice as much as games. He was a teammate that kept the team in rolling in laughter and therefore loose and relaxed because of "his ability to find humor in just about everything" says Eric Jeschke who ran on second midfield with Schimoler in 1984. Teammate Christ Burt, who like me arrived at SU in 1983, insist that Schimolls "was one of the funniest men I have ever" known.  I transferred to SU from Herkimer in the fall of 1983 and played two seasons together with John sharing locker rooms, icy cold world pool after practices and games, and lots of meals.  We talked regularly on those bus rides to and from class and away games. We also shared the agony of defeat losing three games between 1984 and 1985: two national championships and one regular season game all against John Hopkins. John's younger brother Paul was a standout goalie at St. Mary’s High School, Cornell, and the US national team. “John was extremely proud of Paul's accomplishments,” says Kotz, and played a role in helping Paul to develop into one of the best goalies of his era. “John would tell me stories about how they spent hours in the basement of their Long Island home with John pounding Paul with shots using tennis balls and small makeshift goal. When Paul made the 90 team that went to Australia, John felt like he made it as well” Today Paul Schimoler is the defense coordinator for the Dartmouth College men’s lacrosse team. A marketing major at SU Schimoler married and settled in Anne Arundel, Maryland becoming a committed and devoted husband to wife Jane. John was also a loving father of daughter Heidi (a college undergrad) and son Gunnar (a high school sophomore).  Schimoler worked in the construction industry in the Baltimore and Washington area. Perhaps only locals can testify to how he helped increase the quality of youth lacrosse in Anne Arundel County. His family, friends, and many teammates have too many great memories and funny stories to ever forget him. “John was an incredible friend, husband, father, and guy who loved the game,” said Kotz. "Every year he drove from Maryland to the Canadian boarder with New York to play on a SU alumni team in the over forty bracket and watch his son Gunner play on a U 15 team in the Lake Placid Lacrosse tournament. SU’s Kyle Fetterly wrote upon learning of Schimoler’s passing that he was “too young to go so soon, [and] God’s Speed [to you] John.” In the words of one of the program’s Hall of Fame Coaches, Roy Simmons Jr., Fetterly said one last time to John, “Head, Heart, and Hustle.” 

From the Schimoler Family: "In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to the educational fund established for John's children. Please direct to "Schimoler Family"  c/o Ellen Schimoler Kelly, 82 Lewis Point Road, Fair Haven NJ 07704.

Related Links:

http://www.nytimes.com/1987/05/23/sports/lacrosse-cornell-goalie-gets-his-shot-at-a-title.html [New York Times Article]

http://www.facebook.com/john.schimoler.9 [photos]

http://www.fanbase.com/John-Schimoler

Championships You Remember

Maryland's Frank Urso (left) taking a shot against Hopkins during a regular season game at Byrd Stadium in the  1970s

I saw my first live national championship game about 1978. Clay Johnson from my hometown played for Maryland and he was my hero. As a freshmen Clay had been talented enough to run second midfield for the Terps as they faced off against their across the beltway rival Johns Hopkins.  Both teams were loaded with All Americans.  Among them, Mark Greenberg on defense, Jeff Cook on attack, Dave Huntley at midfield; Dave played with day glow green Brine head, traditional pocket, and wooden shaft. I want a stick like that and later played with one.  Marilyn had Barry Mitchell on midfield, and many others that I just don’t remember. The game was played at Byrd Stadium in College Park, Maryland.  It was filled to capacity.  I remember walking into the stadium and making my way to my seats in the midst of an electric atmosphere.  I had recently started playing the game in eighth grade and watching a home town boy like Clay compete at that level made an indelible mark on my consciousness.  I think it was then that I decided that I wanted to be a Division I lacrosse player, as though that was a career; it sounds funny to me in retrospect.  What championship lacrosse game sticks out the most in your mind and why?  

You Will Be Better Off If You Finish

Buzz (Christ Burt, Lawrenceville Prep), Me, and OD (Mike O’Donnell, Yorktown) “trying” to cover Hopkins middies and attackman during our loss to John Hopkins in the 1985 NCAA Championship game at Brown University

After a crushing lost to Hopkins for the second year in a row in the 1985 NCAA Men’s Lacrosse finals, I stopped playing feeling burnt out and feeling like the sport had taken on too much importance in my life. Perhaps thats why some players never complete their degrees requirements; lacrosse was more important than their course work. They played four years of ball and now they are ready to move on. That happens all over the country in many sports. In my case, in May of 1985 I was nine credits short of graduating. We returned Syracuse from the championship game in Rhode Island on a long bus ride. I backed my car up on campus and returned to Westchester to take an anatomy and physiology course at Westchester Community College in summer.  Next I then registrared for a student teaching course at Pace University in White Plains; that’s all I needed to do to graduate. I was the first one in my family to earn a college degree. What a difference nine credits has made on my career opportunities. Complete your degree requirements you will be better off in the long term.

Building Male Relationship Through Lacrosse: http://lacrossememoir.blogspot.com/2012/08/nurturing-healthy-male-relationships.html

Syracuse Lacrosse Stories: http://lacrossememoir.blogspot.com/search?q=%22Tom%22

My Take On Youth Lacrosse Clubs: http://lacrossememoir.blogspot.com/2012/05/club-team-lacrosse-and-tournament-scene.html

Syracuse Lacrosse Swag in the 1980s Part 2

Former SU goalie from the 1983 championship team Travis Solomon with his son.

Syracuse University (SU) athletic department issued apparel gave students, especially football and basketball and after 83, lacrosse players, a pass port in many ways in the Syracuse metro area. It could get you dinner invitations at nice Syracuse restaurants and home cooked meals. It got you sandwiches and conversations with people who otherwise might not give you the time of day. In short, legit athletic department apparel from prestigious programs gives one a cool that wins friends and influences people. My official gear gave me an unsolicited but welcomed elite status on and off the field that I never had before. I say unsolicited because I just loved the game and wanted to win a national championship. That status and the opportunities that came with it would only increase as SU and Herkimer (the junior college I attended before SU) would win many national championships long after I had graduated from both schools.

Big 10 vs ACC Lacrosse Championship Game

Head Joe Breschi left celebrating a win 

Today the Big 10's University of Maryland faces off against the ACC's  Univeristy of North Carolina to decide the 2016 NCAA College Lacrosse national champions. Fred Opie interviews UNC Lacrosse Coach Joe Breschi about how he entered the coaching profession and his journey to becoming UNC head coach. The Tar Heels have not won a championship since 1991. [Listen Now 26min 50sec] https://soundcloud.com/thestudytable/the-study-table-joe-breschi

Like us on Facebook www.facebook.com/FrederickDouglassOpie?ref=hl and Follow us on Twitter https://twitter.com/DrFredDOpie

University Maryland Lacrosse Stories: http://lacrossememoir.blogspot.com/search?q=University+of+Maryland

UNC Lacrosse Stories: http://lacrossememoir.blogspot.com/search?q=UNC

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Staying in Game Shape in Lacrosse

In 1992 I was down in Guadalajara, Mexico getting ready for a MLC vs NYAC club lacrosse championship game at Hofstra University on Long Island. I did speed work, agility drills, and lifted weights while working at Gettysburg College from 1989 until my departure in the June of 1992 for Mexico. This kept me in very good playing shape. When I went to Mexico for the immersion program I had no lacrosse equipment but I knew I had a championship game back in the states in a week. So how did I stay in shape? First I found a gym where I could both ride a life cycle and lift weights not far from where I lived in Colonia Guadalupana. I don’t play anymore, but I still try and stay at hotels with gyms so I can work out. Second I ran most evening for 30 minutes or more and it was interesting to see the looks of the people in the different neighborhoods in Guadalajara that ran through. They were shocked to see me because of my height, brown skin, shaved head, and the simple fact that I was running between 9:00 and 11:00 pm at night. I can’t say I ever saw anybody else running at that hour. Plus when I first started going to Guadalajara in 92, you hardly ever saw black folks. I remember I would run past the a corner of the transit authority office and Gigante Supermarket in Guadalajara where prostitutes would try to get clients with scanty clothing and come ons; some were aggressive in trying to gain my attention as I jogged passed them. When I told my host mother about the prostitutes on the corner in question, she laughed and told me that they were male prostitutes dressed as women; I had no clue and was shocked at the disclosure. Road and stick work are so important in lacrosse but I was not concerned about losing my stick skills because I had spent so much time doing wall ball drills over the years that my muscle memory had me functioning at the subconscious level. In kind of like driving, after a while it becomes automatic. Even though I have not played since 1993 my stick skills are still relatively sharp as I play catch with children. Here is a tip Brian Kelley, the head coach at Calvert Hall High School in Baltimore, shared with me. If you want your children to develop both hands, set a policy that you will only have catch with them if they use their off hand. I tried it with my children and the improvement in their off hand is amazing.