NCAA Lacrosse Quarterfinals vs UVA

[Swampy]

For those of you who haven't seen it, there's an interesting, more in-depth discussion of Cornell's lax recruiting on the Laxpower Cornell 2012 forum. A poster named "another fan" has a particularly interesting breakdown of the incoming class. It does look quite strong.

Two other things that stand out and are worth bearing in mind. (1) There is a difference between the published rankings and various high school AA lists versus who the top prep players actually are. (2) Lacrosse especially is a sport that can be learned and in which a player can improve tremendously in a short time with coaching tuned to the system and level of play: witness Doug Tesoriero's improvement at the X this year. The trick for any college coach is to discern a player's potential for 2-3 years down the road.

So in several sports, including our traditional focal sports and others that are quickly joining the traditional ones, we're coming close to winning the NC and have become regular contenders. We're almost there, and it's really frustrating to get so close without the cigar.

I think in lacrosse recruiting, winning one NC will put us over the hump -- both in the sense of knowing how to do it and getting a steady stream of players who can do it more than once every two decades.

[Jim Hyla]

SU Coach Desko on the slow down in lax, as reported in The Syracuse Post-Standard. There's a podcast here.

[billhoward]

http://cornell.edu/video/?VideoID=1256

Sidelines interview with Richie Moran

Am I crazy, or did Richie segue directly from the 1971 NCAA semifinal win over Army at West Point to the 1976 NCAA championship win over Maryland at Brown?

Those were quiet years following the NCAA title in 1971. Imagine what Cornell could have done in 1974 with its All-America attackman Jim Trenz '74 (transfer from Penn State) and soon-to-be AA sophomore Mike French had freshmen (Eamon McEneaney) been eligible.

[billhoward]

We're so quiet because you're using up all the internets.

That might even better explain the skips, stalls, and image quality of the hockey broadcasts. Say, have I told you about RPI's video quality lately?

[billhoward]

Too bad Bucknell didn't take down Virginia and then Cornell took down Bucknell and Denver. Then the 40th anniversary of the first, 1971, NCAA title game would again have been Cornell-Maryland. Virginia looked overpowering in bringing Denver and Bill Tierney back to earth. Duke looked terrible in losing to Maryland. Maryland had a bruising defense and that same slow-paced offense as last week. Virginia looks as if it's going to make Dom Starsia a happy man Monday. Virginia 14-8 over Denver (9-2 at the half), Maryland 9-4 over Duke.

[Swampy]

Too bad Bucknell didn't take down Virginia and then Cornell took down Bucknell and Denver. Then the 40th anniversary of the first, 1971, NCAA title game would again have been Cornell-Maryland. Virginia looked overpowering in bringing Denver and Bill Tierney back to earth. Duke looked terrible in losing to Maryland. Maryland had a bruising defense and that same slow-paced offense as last week. Virginia looks as if it's going to make Dom Starsia a happy man Monday. Virginia 14-8 over Denver (9-2 at the half), Maryland 9-4 over Duke.

Or Cornell take down Virginia.

I've got to give Starsia credit though. After imposing discipline on the Bratton twins, he held Colin Briggs out of the game yesterday for violating team rules. Either UVa has become scary good, or discipline has its benefits. Maybe both. ::twak::

[Jim Hyla]

Too bad Bucknell didn't take down Virginia and then Cornell took down Bucknell and Denver. Then the 40th anniversary of the first, 1971, NCAA title game would again have been Cornell-Maryland. Virginia looked overpowering in bringing Denver and Bill Tierney back to earth. Duke looked terrible in losing to Maryland. Maryland had a bruising defense and that same slow-paced offense as last week. Virginia looks as if it's going to make Dom Starsia a happy man Monday. Virginia 14-8 over Denver (9-2 at the half), Maryland 9-4 over Duke.

Or Cornell take down Virginia.

I've got to give Starsia credit though. After imposing discipline on the Bratton twins, he held Colin Briggs out of the game yesterday for violating team rules. Either UVa has become scary good, or discipline has its benefits. Maybe both. ::twak::

Or maybe one leads to another. Since the Bratton's exit was due to rules that the team voted for, having them around must have affected the team.

[Swampy]

Too bad Bucknell didn't take down Virginia and then Cornell took down Bucknell and Denver. Then the 40th anniversary of the first, 1971, NCAA title game would again have been Cornell-Maryland. Virginia looked overpowering in bringing Denver and Bill Tierney back to earth. Duke looked terrible in losing to Maryland. Maryland had a bruising defense and that same slow-paced offense as last week. Virginia looks as if it's going to make Dom Starsia a happy man Monday. Virginia 14-8 over Denver (9-2 at the half), Maryland 9-4 over Duke.

Or Cornell take down Virginia.

I've got to give Starsia credit though. After imposing discipline on the Bratton twins, he held Colin Briggs out of the game yesterday for violating team rules. Either UVa has become scary good, or discipline has its benefits. Maybe both. ::twak::

Or maybe one leads to another. Since the Bratton's exit was due to rules that the team voted for, having them around must have affected the team.

It's also interesting that two Ivy League grads are coaching tomorrow. Maybe there's something to this "let's put athletics in its proper place" stuff. (Now watch me eat my words when one of them is hit with a recruiting violation. The Courtney Yeardley Love tragedy did take place on Starsia's watch.)

[ugarte]

Too bad Bucknell didn't take down Virginia and then Cornell took down Bucknell and Denver. Then the 40th anniversary of the first, 1971, NCAA title game would again have been Cornell-Maryland. Virginia looked overpowering in bringing Denver and Bill Tierney back to earth. Duke looked terrible in losing to Maryland. Maryland had a bruising defense and that same slow-paced offense as last week. Virginia looks as if it's going to make Dom Starsia a happy man Monday. Virginia 14-8 over Denver (9-2 at the half), Maryland 9-4 over Duke.

Or Cornell take down Virginia.

I've got to give Starsia credit though. After imposing discipline on the Bratton twins, he held Colin Briggs out of the game yesterday for violating team rules. Either UVa has become scary good, or discipline has its benefits. Maybe both. ::twak::

Or maybe one leads to another. Since the Bratton's exit was due to rules that the team voted for, having them around must have affected the team.

It's also interesting that two Ivy League grads are coaching tomorrow. Maybe there's something to this "let's put athletics in its proper place" stuff. (Now watch me eat my words when one of them is hit with a recruiting violation. The Courtney Love tragedy did take place on Starsia's watch.)

Don Starsia was at the Pamela Anderson roast?

(Yeardley Love was the tragedy you're thinking of.)

[Swampy]

Too bad Bucknell didn't take down Virginia and then Cornell took down Bucknell and Denver. Then the 40th anniversary of the first, 1971, NCAA title game would again have been Cornell-Maryland. Virginia looked overpowering in bringing Denver and Bill Tierney back to earth. Duke looked terrible in losing to Maryland. Maryland had a bruising defense and that same slow-paced offense as last week. Virginia looks as if it's going to make Dom Starsia a happy man Monday. Virginia 14-8 over Denver (9-2 at the half), Maryland 9-4 over Duke.

Or Cornell take down Virginia.

I've got to give Starsia credit though. After imposing discipline on the Bratton twins, he held Colin Briggs out of the game yesterday for violating team rules. Either UVa has become scary good, or discipline has its benefits. Maybe both. ::twak::

Or maybe one leads to another. Since the Bratton's exit was due to rules that the team voted for, having them around must have affected the team.

It's also interesting that two Ivy League grads are coaching tomorrow. Maybe there's something to this "let's put athletics in its proper place" stuff. (Now watch me eat my words when one of them is hit with a recruiting violation. The Courtney Love tragedy did take place on Starsia's watch.)

Don Starsia was at the Pamela Anderson roast?

(Yeardley Love was the tragedy you're thinking of.)

Thanks. I am so out of it. ::blush::

[ugarte]

Well, at least we lost to the national champs.

Hmm. That didn't make me feel better at all.

[RichH]

Maryland breaks a tie with Cornell for a 5-game Final losing streak. Like Colorado College in Men's Hockey, Maryland is saving us from being "on the clock," as their last championship was in 1975.

From a write-up of the final:

College lacrosse may be transformed in coming years after the University of Michigan said May 25 that it will spend as much as $10 million on men's and women's varsity lacrosse facilities, joining Penn State and the University of Florida as traditional college athletic powers pouring resources into the sport.

The interest from state schools -- with their booster clubs, conference television packages and football revenue -- may threaten the dominance of private schools such as Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore and Cornell in Ithaca, New York.

The University of Florida spent $15 million on a stadium and fielded its first varsity women's team two years ago. The Gators were ranked as high as No. 2 this season and made it into the quarterfinals of this year's NCAA tournament.

[Al DeFlorio]

The University of Florida spent $15 million on a stadium and fielded its first varsity women's team two years ago. The Gators were ranked as high as No. 2 this season and made it into the quarterfinals of this year's NCAA tournament.

And were beaten by Cornell, 9-6, in Ithaca.::cheer::

[billhoward]

The University of Florida spent $15 million on a stadium and fielded its first varsity women's team two years ago. The Gators were ranked as high as No. 2 this season and made it into the quarterfinals of this year's NCAA tournament.

And were beaten by Cornell, 9-6, in Ithaca.::cheer::

After three starters left early with frostbite.

[Jeff Hopkins '82]

The University of Florida spent $15 million on a stadium and fielded its first varsity women's team two years ago. The Gators were ranked as high as No. 2 this season and made it into the quarterfinals of this year's NCAA tournament.

And were beaten by Cornell, 9-6, in Ithaca.::cheer::

After three starters left early with frostbite.

Cold as a gator's ...