Navy's Syd Abernathy Part 3

West Point's Michie Stadium 

I had the honor to see Syd Abernethy play my senior year in high school in Croton and his senior year in college at the Naval Academy in a quarterfinal NCAA playoff game at West Point in 1981. Before that game, I had never heard of him. In addition, it was my first time seeing an African American in game, and one who clearly was one of the best players on the field and one who played my position too—attack. Many people don’t know I was an attackman in high school.

West Point Lacrosse History: http://grfx.cstv.com/photos/schools/army/sports/m-lacros/auto_pdf/2011-12/misc_non_event/2012lacrosseguide.pdf

My Earliest Exposure to Lacrosse: http://lacrossememoir.blogspot.com/search?q=elliot

Croton and Yorktown Lacrosse: http://lacrossememoir.blogspot.com/2010/01/be-steve-mabus-in-your-lacrosse-world.html

Navy's Syd Abernethy Part 2

Me playing attack against Suffern High School in 1981 in Rockland County, New York 

When Syd Abernethy enrolled in the Naval Academy, the school had a reputation for great attackman including Hall of Famers Jimmy Lewis (Uniondale 64-66), Jeff Long (Irondequoit 74-77), Brendan Schneck (Syosset 77-78), and Mike Buzzell (West Genesse 77-80). Abernethy continued that tradition going on to start at the attack position as a sophomore. After Schneck transferred to Hopkins to play midfield, Abernethy, Buzzell, and Dickie Wheman developed into a triple threat on attack before Buzzell graduated two years later. Abernethy would earn honorable mention All American honors his junior year, “the next year I just outworked everyone, coming to practice early and leaving late,” says Abernethy, and his hard work paid off. I asked him if he ever experienced racism during his high school or college playing days. “No, people in Baltimore knew lacrosse and my performance on the field spoke for itself and I never experienced it on the lacrosse field,” says Abernethy. 

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Syd Abernathy Series: http://lacrossememoir.blogspot.com/search?q=syd

Listen to Our Podcasts and More: http://www.fredopie.co

Navy's Syd Abernethy Part 1

 Navy vs. Hopkins game circa 1978 

Syd “the squid” Abernethy gained his nickname for his patented head and shoulder fake at the attack position that allowed him to blow by defensemen and score bunches of points during his lacrosse career. A lot of young players today of all stripes know nothing about him. I witnessed his game first hand and I think his story is important for serious fans and students of the game. A tall well-built attackman with powerful legs and blinding speed, Abernethy was born at John’s Hopkins University Hospital in 1958. He grew up in Annapolis, Maryland where he first played middle school lacrosse at the Key school and then later for a Hopkins’ lacrosse alum, Dave Roberts, at Annapolis High School located down the street from the U. S. Naval Academy. At Annapolis High, he excelled both at athletics and academics where he achieved high school lacrosse All-American honors. His brother, who was three years older than him, played as a walk on defensemen at the Naval Academy for Hall of Fame Navy coach Dick Szlasa. Syd received offers to play college ball at West Point, Yale, and Navy and he chose to follow his brother to Navy in the summer of 1977. More on Syd and the role he played as part of Navy’s triple threat offense tomorrow.

Syd Abernathy: http://lacrossememoir.blogspot.com/search?q=syd

Guest Blogger Navy Coach Rick Sowell Parts1: http://lacrossememoir.blogspot.com/2010/04/rick-sowell-on-how-he-started-playiing.html

Navy Head Coach Rick Sowell on How to “Really Play Part 2:  http://lacrossememoir.blogspot.com/2010/04/rick-sowell-learning-how-to-really-play.html?spref=tw

Navy Coach Rick Sowell: http://www.navysports.com/sports/m-lacros/mtt/sowell_rick00.html

Wining Coach Sowell’s Way: http://www.americanathletemag.com/ArticleView/tabid/156/ArticleID/142/Winning-Beyond-the-Game.aspx

Interview with Coach Sowell: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XimZNwcXWcg&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OqphHerSL8I

Jim Brown, More than a Lacrosse

Front row: Bill Russell, Muhammad Ali, Jim Brown, and Kareem Abdul Jabar. June 4, 1967 press conference given by the top African American athletes of that time in support of Ali’s opposition to the Vietnam War draft.

Growing up playing lacrosse in the 1970s and 1980s, I never saw Jim Brown play. What I knew about him was based on seeing him on myriads of NFL highlight films particularly as Walter Payton came ever closer to breaking Browns all time rushing records and from my Dad. “That Jim Brown is bad!” my dad would often say, impressed by Browns black cool style and black militancy as he destroyed one color barrier and stereo-type in American society after another. Brown refused to accept racist customs and submit to white privilege and my Dad admired Big Jim for that. He like Malcolm X, Bill Russell, Ali, Kareem, and the two brothers, Tommy Smith and John Carlos, who gave the black power salute during the 1968 Mexico City Olympics, Brown would not compromise his views for fear that it would hurt his career and pay check. I met Jim Brown in 1984 when we (Syracuse) played Hobart College the Div III national champions in 83 in Manhasset High School’s Lacrosse Day of Champions on the island, a great event. This coincided with Brown’s induction into the National Lacrosse Hall of Fame in 1983. More on this tomorrow.

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

Jim Brown Stories: http://lacrossememoir.blogspot.com/search?q=Jim+Brown

Listen to Our Podcasts and More: http://www.fredopie.com/

Helping Boys Become Men and Girls Become Women

Fred Opie coaching 1 and 2 graders in Sleepy Hollow, New York 

 Too many club and high school coaches cannot resist the temptation to win at all cost.  They let their best players get away with poor choices instead of teaching them early on how to be a responsible women or man. Coaches need to focus on developing decision making, health relationship, empathy, loyalty, and skill development. Coaches focus on transforming boys in the men and girls into women instead of your win loss record. As a coach you are hurting your players and program when you play favorites and overlook unacceptable behavior among your players. Discipline even bench selfish and unruly standout players. In the long wrong you will do more to help that player succeed in the future. 

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

Listen to Our Podcasts and More: http://www.fredopie.com/

Coaching Series: http://lacrossememoir.blogspot.com/search?q=coach

Virginia Players Benched: http://laxunation.com/2011/04/shamel-bratton-dismissed-rhamel-suspended-indefinitely.

Tuft Players Benched:

http://www.bostonglobe.com/sports/2013/01/27/boorish-behavior-exposed-tufts-lacrosse-team/kUC9Q1AmvG2DqN9mJR53eL/story.html

http://www.tuftsdaily.com/men-s-lacrosse-players-benched-for-harassment-1.2805360#.UWwPI6J96So

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

Passion, Practice, and 10,000 Hours

1978 Croton Harmon vs Walter Panas at Army’s Michie Stadium

When I was in eighth grade my physical education Don Daubney, a University of Rhode Island grad, taught a soft stick and soft ball lacrosse unit in the Spring. He followed that up with a boys 8^th grade summer rec program that lasted about three or four weeks that I joined. The summer program culminated with a game against the Lakeland/Walter Panas rec program. Like my first game at Syracuse against Carolina, I was both scared and thrilled at the opportunity. The exposure and opprounity was critical to my lacrosse career. Just learn about the experience of an outlier like Bill Gates and you will see that exposure and opportunity are critical one's development. Gates logging 10,000 hours of practice on computers at a very early age in life. Malcolm Gladwell will tell you there is no mastery without passion and10,000 hours worth of practice.

My Series on Outliers: http://lacrossememoir.blogspot.com/search?q=Outliers

Excerpts from Malcolm Gladwell, Outliers, The Story of Success: http://www.gladwell.com/outliers/index.html

Interview with Malcom Gladwell on Outliers: [Listen Now 4 min 31 sec] http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hz4hPbHIZ6Y

How I Improved My Stick Skills: [Watch Now 4 min 2 sec] http://lacrossememoir.blogspot.com/2012/06/how-i-developed-my-lacrosse-stick.html