As the event approaches I wanted to share with our readers some of my personal memories of this series and also to post for you a 1978 Sports Illustrated article written after the 1978 game. I don’t have to tell most of you at this point where I went to school, it’s pretty obvious from my articles. My love of lacrosse really got its’ start in my freshman year of 1977, when I was witness to what most Hobart lax fans would agree was the best team in Hobart’s history.  And that’s not a short history, since Hobart first played a lacrosse game in 1898! Here’s a link to Hobart’s lacrosse legacy:  The History Of Hobart Lacrosse In 1977 Hobart ran the table . . . 15-0 340 goals scored . . . nearly 23 per game Hobart 24 – Syracuse 8 . . . no, that’s not a misprint Hobart 21 – Bucknell 5 Hobart 21 – Towson 9 Hobart 21 – Colgate 9 and in the very first game I witnessed . . . Hobart 33 – Rochester 1 . . . that’s also not a misprint. But there was a missing result . . . because of a snow storm. The Hobart-Cornell game was snowed out and not rescheduled. And both schools won their respective NCAA titles; Cornell in Division 1 and Hobart in Division II-III (there was one for both). For both it was their SECOND consecutive championships. For Cornell, their 1977 junior class had never tasted defeat.  Their freshman team in 1975 was undefeated and Cornell ran the table in both 1976 and 1977.   Which brings us to 1978 Imagine you’re a Cornell fan or player and you have never tasted defeat the last three years. But some lacrosse experts were not sure you were the better team in 1977.  It’s hard to imagine in today’s day and age but in the pre-ESPN world we actually debated things like this too.  It must have been pretty galling to have to listen to those who debated whether a Division II-III team was better than a D1 team was. But those debates did actually occur and because of it something very unique happened in 1978 . . . Sports Illustrated (in the pre-ESPN days they were the dominant force in sports journalism) decided they were going to cover the game as a feature story . . .something I am not sure they had EVER done before.  Maybe some feature stories (for example, then Hobart coach Jerry Schmidt was featured years before as a player in what I believe is still the only SI lacrosse cover picture) but nothing about a REGULAR SEASON game, and an early season one at that. They were not alone.  The next day the Rochester Democrat & Chronicle put the story on the FRONT PAGE. Approximately 11,000 fans turned out for that game.  Again, not sure, but maybe a record for a regular season game at the time.  Certainly quite the accomplishment for two towns that combined probably had no more than 50,000 residents back then, and probably about that many today too. And I was one of them in the stands. With a lot of of Hobart fans that made the trip down 96A, or 14 if you went through Watkins Glen, to potentially see history.   Here’s what happened according to Sports Illustrated     Hobart Cornell 1978 SI Article   Frankly, I think SI shortchanged Hobart a little bit in the article.  Something not mentioned in this was the second-half faceoff dominance by a freshman named Bill Sipperly, who won about 75% in the 2nd half and was a major factor in the comeback. Funny thing . . . 38 years later I can STILL visualize some of the goals, particularly the ones that got us ahead in the fourth.  Jerry Kraus ripping from up top.  McAdam from the side.  Darcangelo on the dodge. And the pain of not holding on at the end . . . similar to the pain when I read a little while back of the passing of Rick Blick. Life goes on.  Or sometimes it doesn’t . . . RIP Rick, you were my favorite to watch back then.  He would have been an ESPN Top 10 regular if they had it back then.     A funny story about this game.  A few years ago I was able to sit down for breakfast with Ernie, Jeff Goldberg and Chris Kane. Chris played in that game. For those of you who don’t know . . . Chris is in the Hall of Fame as a player and many consider him among the top 3-4, if not the best long pole, in college lacrosse history. That’s saying something. It was the first time I had met either Chris or Jeff. At some point in the conversation I brought the game up with Chris and told him I was in the stands and also remarked that the 1978 game was still my favorite sports memory of an event I attended in person (the Iona-Louisville 1980 game in Madison Square Garden was pretty close . . . if you ever read Jim Valvano’s autobiography you’ll know why that is also special). I then brought up the article in which Chris is quoted multiple times. He gave me a blank stare . . . he had no idea that either the article was written OR that he had been quoted. That to me was almost unbelievable. If I was quoted in SI it would be framed on the wall and I would have produced about 20 copies for family members. I probably would have put one in a safe deposit box too . . . But Chris never knew. Or maybe his personality just never really cared.  Those who know him know what I am talking about.   Still a funny thing . . .   For those who are still on the fence about going to this game . . . You will not believe the difference in the play that you will see in this one from what you are used to. Even if you regularly see Lake Highland, Saint Andrew’s, etc., play . . . this is a WHOLE NEW BALL GAME. You won’t see a dropped pass . . .okay, maybe two all game You won’t believe how much faster the passes are made or how much quicker the shot gets off. Or how fast the reflexes are. This is the best of the best. High School All Americans that can’t get on the field.   You won’t be disappointed.   The oldest and most played rivalry in College Lacrosse . . . first played in 1898 And now, first played in Florida.   DON’T MISS IT!