Florida Lacrosse Showcase joins the fold.  To be fair to them, I’m still the only one choosing the schools so aim your vindictiveness to me, not the Showcase!   The Florida Lax Showcase Web Link   As always, let’s start with last week’s Poll . . . #1 – Oxbridge – should have no trouble winning out, going undefeated in Florida with a great resume #2 – Jupiter – the road win over STA was a dominating performance #3 – Bishop Moore – Friday’s home game against Benjamin will be a barn burner if last year’s was any indication, right Mr. C? #4 – Benjamin – gaining steam, the Best Damn District Final looms again #5 –  Ponte Vedra – Gonzaga (DC) comes to town fresh off a win over Boys’ Latin . . . ouch . . . #6(t) – St. Thomas Aquinas – why not? #6(t) – Saint Andrew’s – similar resumes #8 – Cardinal Mooney – I STILL want to see a HUGE CROWD on April 3rd!  #TAFTAG! #9 – Oak Hall – on cruise control again #10 – HB Plant – A big win over TJ and Belen Jesuit is coming to town #11 –  Winter Park – Friday WAS huge for the program as they move up #12 – West Orange  – not going higher unless they get to the Final Eight #13 – Lake Mary – did not take care of business at home #14 – Tampa Jesuit – all of a sudden struggling, will need to right the ship quickly #15 – Nease – who would have thought Maclay could forfeit a game? #16 – Belen Jesuit – STA loss hurts a little #17 – Lake Highland Prep – the unthinkable is possible, a losing record #18 – American Heritage-Boca – off all week, should run the table, going into the District as #2 seed #19 – Newsome – no change this week #20 – Canterbury-Ft. Myers – just keeps taking care of business #21 – Hagerty – big games still coming up #22 – Riverview-Sarasota – head to head win over Sickles wins the promotion #23 – American Heritage-Plantation – really coming on strong, needs to win out to stay here #24 – Sickles – needs the Newsome game to move up #25 (t) – Pine Crest and SJP II – the road OT loss to SJP II hurts but PC still has the better season resume   Just outside the Top 25 Gulf Breeze,  Creekside, Viera, Fleming Island, Buchholz, Lake Brantley, Stoneman Douglas   Unlike last week, this week was FULL of big results, and the Poll this week equals the stock market for volatility . . . Nothing on Monday . . . But Tuesday was:     Key Games on Tuesday #8 Cardinal Mooney stuns the state with their 16-11 win over two-time defending state champ and #6(t) St. Thomas Aquinas, outscoring the champs 6-1 in the 4th quarter #6(t) St. Andrew’s shows they are not ready to roll over as a program and takes down #2 Jupiter 9-8 in OT, after Jupiter scores twice in the last 28 seconds to take it to OT   Thursday American Heritage-Boca over Pine Crest 13-12 in OT Gulf Breeze 9-5 over Pensacola Catholic to finish their season undefeated   But then there was . . .   https://youtu.be/ahY_dkDOSV8   Actually, I thought that the Jamie Lee Curtis movie would pop up but this was the safest video I could find . . . Shows you how pathetic my knowledge of modern pop culture is. Well, Benjamin slips by Bishop Moore 5-4 on a short-hand goal Tampa Jesuit 10-6 over Belen Jesuit Cardinal Mooney holds on to back up their STA win with a 16-14 road victory at LHP Nease takes down previously undefeated Oak Hall 11-8 Ponte Vedra gives a great effort before falling to nationally ranked Gonzaga (DC) 9-6 Viera takes care of business with the 17-16 road win over Monterde Academy and should run the table after next week And STA head coach Terry Crowley takes over the all-time victory lead at 420 wins with a 14-8 road win at Stoneman   And on Saturday it was HB Plant over Belen Jesuit 14-7 Newsome in OT over ODA 6-5 on the road Whew.     The Underdog Upset of the Week   I really couldn’t find a big one this week.  A #8 beating a #6 at home really doesn’t count.  It was a great win for CM.  Program changing in many ways. One game I did observe and tweet out on was the American Heritage-Boca/Delray Girls, ranked #4 in the nation, lost a one-goal game at home to #17 nationally-ranked Bishop Ireton (Va.). Sometimes I get accused of not covering enough of the Girls game and I wish I could, as the athleticism of the Girl’s game continues to make it more and more attractive to watch.  I have 212 Boy’s varsity and club teams, 27 college programs at all levels, an MLL franchise (the Launch held their local training camp this weekend) and 200+ Girl’s varsity and club programs.  If anyone out there wants to contribute on the Girl’s side, PLEASE CONTACT ME!. But since I need an Upset of the Week, this one serves as well as any.   Sportsmanship It’s not just a word. It’s SUPPOSED to be the foundation of what we teach our kids in sports. Winning and losing are important too; I’m not one of those who thinks participation trophies are really worth much. I might be in the minority in today’s society on that but I firmly believe in this . . . LIFE IS NOT FAIR And it certainly isn’t in sports. Look at all those Hail Mary passes that win a football game . . . a 70-foot buzzer beater to win a basketball game . . . a hockey goalie stealing a game when outshot 50-12   Remember this from last year?  

By the way, the closest person to the shooter?  #15 Former Pine Crest star Michael Diener.  Started three years for Hofstra!   Heck, what about Rocky 2 . . . You can’t control the unusual moment in sports, and certainly can’t control a call the you didn’t get.  Sometimes you get the break and sometimes you don’t. It’s High School Sports . . .   But what you can do is simple: #WWCLWC Win With Class, Lose With Class We had both of those on display last week But unfortunately we also had the opposite.   Winning With Class, Losing With Class This is how it’s supposed to be done:  

Thank you to @OakHallLacrosse & @GonzagaLacrosse for a great weekend of competition! First class programs who honor our game #Brotherhood

— Nease Lacrosse (@NeaseLax) April 7, 2018

 

Hats off to Nease! They played great and earned it. Wood was a monster. Good luck in districts!

— Oak Hall Lacrosse (@OakHallLacrosse) April 7, 2018

  Unfortunately I also have a report of the ultimate way of Losing Without Class. I am going to hold off discussing it until I have better information.  I do know a report was filed with Gainesville and we’ll look to see how it plays out before I publish anything. I can say it was in my quadrant of the state and leave it at that until I get more info.   Students On The Field After The Game   Technically, it’s not really allowed according to the state’s rules. But I’m not against it as long as the occasion calls for it . . . AND the students do it the right way. The right way is pretty simple. Slowly run out/trot out/walk out on the field Go straight to your players And under NO CIRCUMSTANCES do you approach, demean, yell at or make crude gestures to ANYONE not associated with your team  (and not to your team either, in case there’s one moron who needs to be told that . . . ).  Not the refs, not the other team’s players or coaches. NO ONE. I saw one on a video last week.  I’m going to overlook it this one time.  Thankfully the player approached walked away. But be forewarned.  The next group of students who run out on a field and behave that way (thankfully it was only one knucklehead) and gets caught on video will get the full treatment.   #WWCLWC – WIN WITH CLASS, LOSE WITH CLASS It’s really not that hard.   While I’m writing this I’ve got the Penn State – Maryland game playing in the background. Many of us know about the ESPN broadcasts but there’s plenty of other ways to watch great college games this year. The B1G Ten Network broadcasts a Sunday night Game of the Week at 7:00pm most weeks. Maryland and Penn State is watchable at any time. When it’s Sunday Night after the Masters is over, it’s even better! BTW – way to go Patrick Reed!  One of my favorites!  And what a last round it was!  Speith with a 64, Fowler losing by one, Rahm in it until 15.  The Young Guns make me not really care how TW does in his comeback.   Key Games Coming Up This Week   First, remember, it’s the LAST WEEK of the regular season! #TAFTAG!! – Take A Friend To A Game #LacrossePutMyButtInThisSeat #WWCLWC   Tuesday Bishop Moore hosts Lake Brantley Fleming Island hosts Oak Hall Newsome hosts Sickles Oxbridge hosts Pine Crest   Wednesday Tampa Jesuit hosts Cardinal Mooney Lake Brantley hosts LHP   Thursday American Heritage-Boca hosts Stoneman Douglas Saint Andrew’s hosts Belen Jesuit   Friday Bishop Moore hosts Nease Lake Mary hosts Hagerty Oak Hall hosts Ponte Vedra Pine Crest hosts Canterbury Saint Andrew’s hosts Benjamin   Saturday Creekside hosts St. Augustine   Intermission Time   For some reason, whenever I get to the end of the season I think of a summer song that was recorded a couple of times in the 50’s and 60’s and was a #1 hit . . .     I’m mentioning this because I hope that we see a little less lacrosse in the summer.  Florida kids love playing this sport but too many of our kids are burning out at the college level and I think it would be a good idea if we find a way to police ourselves and cut down on the summer club play.  I’m not advocating cutting it all out by any means, but realistically it might be a good idea if kids only play twice a month on weekends at tournaments and find a way to do a little more training on their skills during the other weeks, maybe during the week.  Just a thought and a hope that we can get the kids a little more of a break during the summer. Maybe we can all get some thoughts together and provide a united front to the FHSAA as a way to adjust the fall schedule and the practice rules.  Find a way to do more in the November-January period and less in the preceding months.   Okay, I’m a little tired this weekend after the hotter weather . . . Stoneman-STA on Friday night, Launch Roll Out Party at 1:00pm on Saturday, PBA broadcast on Saturday night, and the Launch training camp Sunday morning for three hours . . . all out doors, so let’s get to the Weekly Poll!   But first, another version of what the 60’s could produce . . . 1967 – The Seekers with Georgy Girl!     Sorry kids, but I can listen to this stuff all day . . .   Weekly National Lacrosse Showcase Florida High School Media Poll for the Week Ending 4/8/18! #1 – Oxbridge #2 – Benjamin #3 – Ponte Vedra #4 – Cardinal Mooney #5 – Saint Andrew’s #6 – Jupiter #7 – Bishop Moore #8 – St. Thomas Aquinas #9 – HB Plant #10 – Winter Park #11 –  Nease #12 – Lake Mary #13 – West Orange #14 – Tampa Jesuit #15 – Oak Hall #16 – Lake Highland Prep #17 – American Heritage-Boca #18 – Newsome #19 – Canterbury-Ft. Myers #20 – American Heritage-Plantation #21 – Riverview-Sarasota #22 – Hagerty #23 – Sickles #24 (t) –  Gulf Breeze – #24 (t) –  and Viera – have to recognize the undefeated seasons – good going to both of you!   Just outside the Top 25 Creekside, Fleming Island, Buchholz, Lake Brantley, Stoneman Douglas, St. Augustine, Belen Jesuit, SJP II, Pine Crest  

#TAFTAG – Take A Friend To A Game!

#WWCLWC – Win With Class, Lose With Class

#LacrossePutMyButtInThisSeat