Lowe's Senior Class Award (lacrosse)

Copied from Laxpower.com. Two Cornellians and four total from the Ivy League, errr, Group among the ten; not too shabby:

Ten Finalists Named for Lowe's Senior CLASS Award

(Kansas City, MO) – Ten finalists for the 2007 Lowe’s Senior CLASS Award for men’s lacrosse were announced today and those names will appear on the official ballot for the nation’s premier tribute to college seniors.

This marks the first year for the Lacrosse division of the award, which will be presented annually to an NCAA Division I men’s senior lacrosse player who excels both on and off the field. The Lowe’s Senior CLASS Award first started with the sport of basketball six years ago and has now been extended to four additional NCAA sports including lacrosse.

The finalists are: Mitch Belisle, Cornell, Nick Bonacci, Dartmouth, Adam Crystal, Drexel; John Dunn, Colgate; Eric Heidenberger, Villanova; Zachary Jungers, Princeton; Tony McDevitt, Duke; Matt McMonagle, Cornell; Greg Rommel, Syracuse; and Drew Thompson, Virginia (see more detailed listing below).

These ten finalists will be placed on the Lowe’s Senior CLASS Award ballot for a nationwide vote beginning April 24 and concluding May 15. Fan balloting, available on the award’s official website www.seniorclassaward.com, will be combined with votes from coaches, media and sponsors to determine the recipient of the award.


The award winner will be announced and presented with his trophy during the semi-finals of the 2007 NCAA Lacrosse Championships on Saturday, May 26 in Baltimore, Maryland. The Lowe’s All-Senior All-America Team will also be recognized.


“These ten finalists are great representatives of the sport of lacrosse, their respective institutions and themselves personally,” said Bob Gfeller, Lowe’s Senior Vice President of Marketing and Advertising. “Lowe’s is pleased to salute these student athletes for their on-field and off-field commitment to excellence and look forward to making the presentation to thousands of lacrosse fans during the NCAA Championships.”

Finalists were selected from a list of 20 candidates based on personal qualities that define a complete student athlete. While the on-the-field performance thus far during the college lacrosse season was a factor in determining the finalists, the criteria also includes a high emphasis on the classroom, character and community service.

The initial idea of a special award for seniors was conceived by CBS sportscaster Dick Enberg, who was inspired in 2001 by the story of Shane Battier, who turned down offers from the NBA to return for his senior season at Duke despite the trend of college basketball players leaving school early. He led the Blue Devils to the national championship and earned his college degree during a sensational senior season.

ABOUT THE AWARD

An acronym for Celebrating Loyalty and Achievement for Staying in School, the Lowe’s Senior CLASS Award was launched in 2001 to honor the attributes of college senior athletes who remain committed to their university and pursue the many rewards that a senior season can bring. The award is managed by Premier Sports Management and CBS Sports. Sportscaster Dick Enberg is the Honorary Chairman. For more information, visit www.seniorclassaward.com.


MEN'S LACROSSE FINALISTS

Mitch Belisle Cornell D 5'10 190 Ivy Group



Nick Bonacci Dartmouth A 5'9 160 Ivy Group



Adam Crystal Drexel D 6'2 195 Colonial Athletic Assn.



John Dunn Colgate D 6'1 190 Patriot League



Eric Heidenberger Villanova M 6'0 180 Colonial Athletic Assn.



Zachary Jungers Princeton D 6'0 191 Ivy Group



Tony McDevitt Duke D 6'0 210 Atlantic Coast Conf.



Matt McMonagle Cornell G 5'11 165 Ivy Group



Greg Rommel Syracuse M 6'0 198 Independent



Drew Thompson Virginia M 5'11 185 Atlantic Coast Conf.

JasonN95
conceived by CBS sportscaster Dick Enberg, who was inspired in 2001 by the story of Shane Battier, who turned down offers from the NBA to return for his senior season at Duke despite the trend of college basketball players leaving school early.

What a profile in courage. Truly inspiring.

OK, maybe a little too snarky. But c'mon...an award to honor athletes for completing their education is exactly the thing that symbolizes my hatred of what the American collegiate sports machine has become. "Acheivement for Staying in School??" Why not give out a shiny gold star sticker to everyone who toughed it out vs. the big, bad pro agents? The fact that the NFL and NBA (along with increasing attention and importance on cable sports and ESPN) has tacitly transformed the US collegiate system into glorified draft-pool/minor leagues has become one of my biggest peeves. (no longer tacit with the NBA's rule of collegiate play prior to draft) Selling out academic integrity for bowl game gates, alumni donations, TV contracts, and merchandise sales to 11 year-olds thousands of miles from campus is a damn shame.

Yeah, I'm an idealist. And nobody, including myself, is blameless. I'm not really sure if I can fault the Schools-with-a-state-in-their-names for grabbing the golden ticket when it's basically being delivered to them by an all-sports consuming culture. All they have to do is make sure that a few key physical specimens get through the gate, sit at a desk for a few hours between their real jobs at practices/games, and pretend to be a student. Perhaps it is a crime that the Athletics departments are fattening up so much that they can buy fireworks for night football games (literally money to burn), while the athletes themselves aren't allowed to see a single dime from their work during that time. Too bad there's a reason that the NCAA has to produce those "something other than sports" ads that run endlessly during Championship season.

To defuse any hypocrisy, I'll even say that this behavior is affecting D-1 hockey to an ever increasing degree, Cornell and the other Ivies included. I do think there's a higher percentage of students taking advantage of the educational opportunities that their athletic abilities have presented them in this latter group, but that doesn't mean that there still isn't a problem oozing in.

With lacrosse, given that there's even less national attention (Duke aside), and lax schools as a whole are typically some of your higher academic institutions, I think this sport tends to be different. Also, consider that the NCAA seems to be considered the highest level of field lax in the nation. No pressure or money to turn pro early.

That ranted, I am glad that this award exists, and I do hope that the "off the field" component actually holds some weight. Congrats to Mitch, Matt, and the other nominees.

JasonN95
Copied from Laxpower.com.
These ten finalists will be placed on the Lowe’s Senior CLASS Award ballot for a nationwide vote beginning April 24 and concluding May 15. Fan balloting, available on the award’s official website www.seniorclassaward.com, will be combined with votes from coaches, media and sponsors to determine the recipient of the award.

A call to action!

See [lacrosse.seniorclassaward.com] for the voting page. Princeton's boy is currently leading by a significant margin, both Cornell men in the middle of the pack. You can vote for both Cornell men without voting for anybody else, and you can do it once a day (I presume by IP address).

RichH

JasonN95
conceived by CBS sportscaster Dick Enberg, who was inspired in 2001 by the story of Shane Battier, who turned down offers from the NBA to return for his senior season at Duke despite the trend of college basketball players leaving school early.

What a profile in courage. Truly inspiring.

While I'm with you a bit in spirit, I can understand college sports fans wanting to reward the kind of players that treat college sports as a worthwhile activity rather than a way station on the road to the NBA/NFL?NHL/MLB.

An award for this in lacrosse, however, is hilarious. The money quote:

These top athletes can't make it without second jobs
In 2005, Corno showed so much potential as a rookie midfielder for the Pride that he was one of only 10 players shielded by the team from the league’s expansion draft. Still, in a league where the average salary per season is about $13,000 and most rookies make closer to $6,500, Corno has had to work at the Pita Pit to make ends meet.

Start the stampede to file early for the MLL draft!

My favorite excerpt from the article, for the sheer balls of it:

Some jerk
The players may not think it’s the best arrangement, but at least one general manager sees overall benefits for the team... “The star players in our league who work don’t develop the egos that overpaid, pampered guys in the major pro leagues do,” said Trey Reeder, general manager of the New Jersey Pride, a Major League Lacrosse team. “They’re more grounded. Our stars understand that what they get, they have to work for. So there are benefits from a team perspective.”

So those benefits are grit and perspective, not the incredibly low payroll? "The slaves may not think its a great arrangement, but that bond they share leads to some inspiring music." [/overwrought comparison]