One more week to go in the regular season . . . cue tears . . .     Maybe equating the end of the regular season to losing a love is a stretch, but it is to a lot of us . . . But then on to the District championships!   That doesn’t mean that all the good games are in the record books, because they are not. On Monday it will be Lake Brantley and Oviedo, as well as Creekside and St. Augustine.  Tuesday highlights American Heritage-Plantation traveling to Canterbury, University (NSU) traveling to Western, Saint Andrew’s going to King’s Academy, Jesuit to Cardinal Mooney, Benjamin at Oxbridge and Riverview-Sarasota going to Berkeley Prep, among others.  Wednesday has Gulliver hopping over to Columbus, Bishop Moore taking the bus to LHP and Viera going to Lake Bratley.  Thursday sees Maclay traveling to Creekside, Oak Hall going north to Ponte Vedra, Oviedo hitting up Melbourne Central Catholic, Newsome traversing I-4 to Jesuit, Western hosting King’s Academy and Jupiter hosting STA.  Friday has Lake Mary hosting LHP and Benjamin traveling to American Heritage-Plantation, Riverview-Sarasota hosting Plant and Bishop Moore hosting Cardinal Mooney! In other words, if you are looking to see a great game before playoffs begin . . . well, you really don’t have an excuse do you? #TAFTAG – Take A Friend To A Game . . . #LacrossePutMyButtInThisSeat . . .   If you need one more reason, here’s a modern political version:     That might be a stretch too . . . as so many of these are If you are in the Palm Beach area you can be excused for waiting for Saturday at noon . . . There’s only two teams that have truly separated themselves from the rest in the regular season.  That doesn’t mean they are a lock for the FHSAA Title Game, but they have had the best regular seasons of any in the state and THEY ARE MEETING SATURDAY at noon. I don’t ever remember this happening before.  Co #1’s Oxbridge and Ponte Vedra play for bragging rights . . . well, at least for a few more weeks . . . at Oxbridge at noon Saturday. There was an old saying that goes “Be There . . . Or Be Square”.  Not sure if that holds up in today’s world but how any one could miss that and call themselves a fan is beyond me.   Last Week’s Top 25 Poll   1t) Oxbridge – Right now these two teams are 1t) Ponte Vedra – head and shoulders above everyone else 3) Saint Andrew’s – Spring break . . . the schedule sets up nicely for them to get ready 4) Cardinal Mooney – right now they look like they can get to the Final Four 5) Bishop Moore – really coming on strong now, looks like they figured it out well.  Tough slate to end the season. 6) Benjamin – almost by default 7) St. Thomas Aquinas – hoped they’d show better at Coach Crowley’s alma mater 8) American Heritage-Plantation– wins AT LHP, that’s a big boy pants effort for this rising program 9) Creekside – how do they compete against the alpha dog?  We’ll soon find out. 10) Jupiter – offensive struggles need to be corrected 11) St. Edward’s – they keep winning while others do not 12) Lake Highland Prep – they really need to prove they can win a Top 10 matchup at this point There’s a space here to indicate how hard this is getting this season . . . Riverview-Sarasota really threw a wrench into this with their one goal win over Jesuit of Tampa 13) Oak Hall – okay, now prove you belong higher 14t) Riverview-Sarasota – these three schools 14t) Plant – are very close to each other 14t) Jesuit of Tampa – and I can’t choose among them 17) Newsome – spring break here 18) King’s Academy – fine against anyone not named Oxbridge 19) Pine Crest – OT win over Calvary Christian portends a great District 27 playoff 20) Berkeley Prep – the loss to Canterbury hurts 21) Stoneman Douglas – road game to Saint Andrew’s to end the season 22) Hagerty – nice road win at Lake Mary, always a feather in the cap 23) Steinbrenner – finally deserves recognition, they need to schedule better next season 24) SJP II – road loss to Benjamin knocks them back some 25t) Oviedo – loss to AH-Plantation at home 25t) Melbourne Central Catholic – schedule better next year, there’s no excuse at this point. Also Considered: Boone, Boca Raton, Bolles, Calvary Christian (Ft. Laud), Canterbury, First Academy, Fleming Island, Gulf Breeze, Gulf Coast, Gulliver Prep, Lake Brantley, Lake Mary, Maclay, Out-of-Door Academy, Providence School, University School, Western, Winter Park   First Intermission:  Our 1980’s Song Break! Since we had an early 1980’s song for last week, let’s go all the way to the end of the decade.  In December of 1989 one song stood at #1 for the last 3 weeks of the decade and we’ll go with that one; Phil Collins and “Another Day in Paradise”     And how appropriate.  As one who grew up on Long Island, went to college in the frozen tundra of Geneva, NY, and lived in Manhattan for 8+ years . . . anyone who thinks living in Florida isn’t paradise needs to move out . . . and when you miss this you are welcome back.   Cardinal Newman Girls I don’t get to talk about the Girls’ side too often.  I wish I was able to get some interns interested in talking about the Girls’ game and at least there are some Twitter/Web Sites that are stepping up to help out on the coverage they deserve. What caught our attention was a score this week that I had a hard time believing at first. ON THE ROAD. Cardinal Newman 19 – Vero Beach 6 That’s worth a reprise of an earlier picture we used this year . . . Ho Lee Cow Anyone who follows the Girls’ game in the state understands what that score means. Congrats to Hunter Zatorsky and his team/program.  I’ll be looking forward to the early round matchup with American Heritage-Delray to see how that turns out.  

And since we are talking about the Girls, let’s mention a fun college fact . . . Congrats to @amandaoleary5 and the Florida Gators for winning the regular season SEC Girls Lax crown with their victory Saturday over the Vanderbilt Commodores! Oh wait, they play in the AAC? Get it together SEC . . . you don’t know what you are missing!

  Key Games This Past Week   Monday, April 1^st Columbus 10-9 over Boca Raton Steinbrenner 13-12 over Alonso   Tuesday, April 2^nd First Academy 8-7 over Lake Minneola St. Edward’s 13-10 over Martin County Fletcher 10-9 over Providence Montverde Academy 12-9 over Oviedo Fort Myers 13-8 over Bishop Verot Lincoln 14-8 over Chiles Calvary Christian 8-7 Over Stoneman Douglas Fleming Island 11-10 over Bolles Winter Park 10-9 over Hagerty Ponte Vedra 20-7 over Creekside St. Thomas Aquinas 19-8 over University (NSC)     Wednesday, April 3^rd Gulliver Prep 13-10 over Miami Country Day Community School Naples 8-7 over Naples High West Florida 7-5 over Pensacola Catholic   Thursday, April 4^th Canterbury 13-2 over Cardinal Gibbons Maclay 14-9 over Chiles Saint Andrew’s 6-5 over Benjamin Lake Brantley 6-2 over West Orange   Friday, April 5^th Gulf Breeze 18-15 over Maclay Boone 9-8 over First Academy Melbourne Central Catholic 13-10 over Matanzas Windermere 11-7 over Windermere Prep Saint Augustine 15-7 over Fletcher Lake Mary 12-2 over Jesuit of Tampa Menendez 12-9 over Providence Cocoa Beach 15-13 over Viera Plant 12-5 over Steinbrenner Palm Beach Central 11-7 over Wellington Boca Raton 9-6 over Stoneman Douglas Ponte Vedra 10-8 over Bishop Moore Jupiter 18-8 over Lake Highland Prep   Saturday, April 6^th Gulf Coast 11-8 over Cardinal Gibbons Jupiter 11-3 over Lake Mary     Underdog Upset of the Week   This really came down to 2 games, one of which I wrote about earlier this week.  The Olympic Heights win over John I Leonard really was an upset but the thought of JIL being a favorite is almost surreal to me and really nowhere near as big a win as the one that happened Friday night in St. Augustine as Menendez took down previously ranked Providence School 12-9. Last season Providence defeated the Falcons 15-6 and there was no reason to think that wouldn’t be a similar outcome this season based on the scores each team put up so far, so congratulations to Menendez for their big win!   2nd Intermission: A 1980’s TV show scene that led to one of Hollywood’s longest relationships   https://youtu.be/InV0Kkh4Y30   For the kids today who might have watched the Back To The Future movies, they might not know that Michael J. Fox’s first real notoriety in entertainment came during the 1980’s as Alex P. Keaton, a Republican-loving character on the hit TV series Family Ties. What makes this scene so interesting is that the young lady he meets is Tracy Pollan, also know as Mrs. Michael J. Fox, as they have been married for many years . . . a rarity in the entertainment world.  They first met shooting this episode.   Colin Seeley Update   For those readers who missed the story on Colin, here’s a LINK I’ve reached out to the Viera contact I have and hope to bring you an update shortly. Meanwhile, there is a GoFundMe page for those who can make a small contribution and here’s that: GoFundMe for Colin Seeley   Video Submissions We received some videos from games played last week and here are a few:  

Big comeback district win for Winter Park @WPHSAthletics Lacrosse over Hagerty last night! Final score 10-9 @FloridaLX pic.twitter.com/GXSuVZWk0d

— Patrick Moore (@patrickcmoore) April 3, 2019

 

VIDEO: I don't think the officials believed Joe Taraboletti at first…

But the people at @ESPNAssignDesk should. 'Cause this is a surefire #SCTop10'er IMO ???? @PVSharksLax1 @PVSHARKSsports pic.twitter.com/oq7M9ocsAC

— Mia O'Brien (@MiaOBrienTV) April 3, 2019

  Thanks for those!   Okay, once again it’s time for . . .

Lee’s Useless Pop Culture Trivia!

  This week we’ll highlight another celebrity who played lacrosse at a pretty high level . . . How many of you CNBC viewers recognize this young lady?     Maybe that’s a difficult one, so here’s what she looks like now:     Yep, CNBC’s Kelly Evans not only played at Washington & Lee but was a PRETTY DARN GOOD player there.  Co-captain in 2007 as a senior, and she ranks 9th in W&L history for assists in a career! Not bad.   And now a word from our other sponsor . . .       If you are downtown in Boca after 6:30pm, 7 days a week, or even if you are suddenly driven by the desire to hop in your car and drive 3 hours to the location, here’s Boca’s hottest new dessert place . . . really, the only place you get FRESH, MADE TO ORDER, baked goods and sweets!  Take your date, your parents, heck, even your dog . . . they even DELIVER within a couple of miles!   Let’s not forget the important hash tags . . .  #TAFTAG #LacrossePutMyButtInThisSeat #GrowTheGame #LayOffTheRefs #SportsmanshipRocks #EnjoyTheGameNotTheBlame!   Wrestlemania 35   Tonight’s Wrestlemania 35 and the main event is the 3-way Women’s Championship between Ronda Rousey, Charlotte Flair and Becky Lynch. The first time the women are featured in the main event. For those with familiarity of the business, this is more than just a male/female political correctness issue. The main eventers of Wrestlemania are also PAID the most of any of the performers for the event and based on ticket sales and other income it would not be out of the possibility that each of the three will earn $500,000 or more for that one night’s work effort. Not bad. But the question will be whether or not the match will live up to what is usually conceded is the best Woman’s wrestling match of all time (or at least the best story told): The epic Akira Hokuto-Shinobu Kandori match from Japan, in 1993.  So, for those who wonder, here’s that match, from April 2nd, 1993.  The event was called All Star Dreamslam.   https://youtu.be/YrSQyoEfAvQ   We’ll see how tonight’s match stands up to that one . . . And Shinobu Kandori is now a member of Japan’s House of Councillors, their version of our U.S. Senate . . . making her maybe the highest ranking female politician ever to come from the wrestling ring. And a bonus trivia piece . . . how many of you remember Mick Foley / Cactus Jack / Mankind was a starting goalie for Ward Melville and was recruited to Cortland State to play the position?   Okay, to introduce this week’s Triple Crown Lacrosse FLN Top 20 Poll, here’s a forgotten wrestling entrance that was pretty cool . . . The Brood!    

The Triple Crown Lacrosse Top 25 for the Week Ending April 7th!

  1t) Oxbridge – Let’s Get 1t) Ponte Vedra – It On! 3) Saint Andrew’s – guts out the 2OT road win over Benjamin 4) Cardinal Mooney – Friday at Bishop Moore 5) Bishop Moore – will be fun and revealing 6) Benjamin – they must learn to finish better 7) St. Thomas Aquinas – Jupiter beckons 8) Jupiter – offensive struggles are being corrected 9) American Heritage-Plantation – not letting up on the schedule this week at all.  Benjamin game huge for where they truly are. 10) Creekside – well, they competed but Ponte Vedra looks like Dallas Carter right now 11) St. Edward’s – no surpises at all 12) Oak Hall – road trip to Dallas Carter coming 13) Riverview-Sarasota – they will face Berkeley this week 14) Lake Highland Prep – still need to prove they can win a Top 10 matchup at this point 15) Newsome – Jesuit is the final test 16) King’s Academy – continues their growth 17) Plant – needs to stop the bleeding 18) Berkeley Prep – two tough games to finish 19) Pine Crest – Boca Raton looms Tuesday 20t) Hagerty – Okay, Lake Mary loses to Hagerty by 1 goal and Hagerty loses to Winter Park by 1 goal – hence the tie 20t) Lake Mary – looks like they are getting it together at the right time, but likely can;t handle the best teams.  Great schedule gets them respect . . . something a lot of other teams below them need to learn 20t) Winter Park – see Hagerty 23) Boca Raton – wins over Stoneman Douglas and Western . . . rapidly improving.  Threw away a game against Columbus they fully controlled. 24) SJP II – after seeing then earlier they’ve really achieved this season 25t) Gulf Breeze – big time win over Maclay 25t) Melbourne Central Catholic – AGAIN, schedule better next year, there’s no excuse at this point. 25t) Out-of-Door Academy – I want them to know I’m paying attention Also Considered: Boone, Bolles, Calvary Christian (Ft. Laud), Canterbury, Columbus, First Academy, Fleming Island, Gulf Coast, Gulliver Prep, Jesuit of Tampa, Lake Brantley, Maclay, Oviedo, Providence School, Steinbrenner, Stoneman Douglas, University School, Western