First, the really ugly . . . Approximately 280 days until the start of next season . . . Withdrawal setting in. But I actually slept in today. Bad trade-off. One Good thing . . . now that the season is over we can post the full broadcast of the Benjamin – Saint Andrew’s game that Wells did such a great job of doing the play by play of, with Jake Reed also doing a great job on analysis and your intrepid reporter chiming in with a couple of thoughtful observations. At least I hope you think so WHEN you watch it, not if. Try to ignore the uninformed comment I made near the beginning.  I’ve already forgotten about it. Mostly. But definitely make sure you DON’T FAST FORWARD AT HALFTIME or you’ll miss the highlight of my broadcasting career!  Not that it is so full yet.   Anyway. those of you who faithfully read my work know that I like to sneak a few cultural references in here and there.  Although if you are under the age of 30, meaning that almost all of the high school players in the country are younger than that (given the way recruiting is going there must be ONE PG school out there that is thinking of serving the over-30 market for players), you might not get some of them. And since I know pretty much nothing about current pop culture (my son got through the Sponge Bob years a decade ago and that’s as close as it gets for me) I was willing to search my favorite research source, YouTube for something that I could highlight for the younger audience of readers. And since I consider myself pretty good at researching it made sense to go to YouTube and put ‘2015 Pop Culture’ in the search box but the very first thing that popped up was a commercial for a cage that gets small dogs to ‘go’ inside the cage and while some readers might think that is pretty accurate for my predictions I don’t think upper management at FLN would let me go with that. So I went with this, which is something that popped up a couple of times on the first page and at least seems like something my high school readers might know:       Seems pretty funny, but I doubt I’d go see it in the theatre. I’ll leave it to the beholder to decide whether this is good, bad or ugly . . . as a former high school geek myself I liked the reference to us running things. I’m not sure how many modern adaptations of Cinderella this makes (how many of you high schooler’s reading this know that this is just basically Cinderella set in modern times?) but it must be something similar to the total number of goals scored in the FHSAA playoffs, male and female combined. So kids . . . don’t say I never think of you when I do these columns!   So, let’s recap this season and see how we started . . .   Hint:  It was pretty ugly as far as predictions were concerned!!  

First, my prediction for the Final Four: This year Barron Collier takes the next step and goes to Bradenton; they likely play St. Thomas but getting by Gulf Coast in the first round might be even more difficult  (okay, that was far off).  They will meet someone from the Southeast . . . yeah, that’s a cop out but how do you ever choose this Region this year?  Benjamin lost their starting defense and goalie.  Boca lost their starting defense.  So in all likelihood it will be a new Elite 8 matchup.  Is Oxbridge ready or still a year away?  Can Jensen find enough offense? No, I think it comes down to Jupiter versus Saint Andrew’s for the regional title.  It will be a beauty.  Maybe OT.  And just maybe transfer Davis Diamond makes the difference in this year’s SA team.  They could not score enough last year against the best teams.  If the offense is fixed the rest of the pieces are in place.  (Damn good on my part) Last season, after the loss to Boca, I wrote that it was déjà vu to me to my time at Hobart.  But Hobart came back to win it all the next year.  I don’t see that happening but there’s a sneaky feeling I have that we could see an SA run this year out of region.  But it will be really close and Jupiter has the better high end talent while SA has the better depth. In Orlando the song remains the same.  Only a 1980-style miracle keeps LHP from getting back to Bradenton.  Up north though there might be a tougher road.  Lake Mary came very close last year and little birdies are telling me that both Ponte Vedra and Lake Mary are much deeper this year than last.  I think PV eventually prevails but if there is one upset possibility out there this year it could be this one.  (Pretty much what happened if you accept the upset part) So we come down to Barron Collier versus Saint Andrew’s and Ponte Vedra versus Lake Highland.  Can Ponte Vedra finally prevail?  Max Parker has finally graduated and if he had a year ago PV might have won that game last year.  At the risk of again being serenaded on the field after the final by Brian for my lack of respect for northern lacrosse (yeah, Chris got in a few too as he was setting the over age 35 record for the 40-yard dash to avoid a Gatorade bath) I’ll go with Tom West to finally get over the hump and knock off the defending champs.  On the other side let’s go with the new kid in town, Barron Collier.  That sets up the final game between two schools that are 348 driving miles apart.  Which means that if they don’t meet on a neutral site this will be a rare occasion.  (Flat tire) It will also be a rare occasion because it will be TWO PUBLIC SCHOOLS meeting for the championship. That’ll be cool. Oh . . . Barron Collier wins a low scoring final 8-6 because it will be tough for PV to come back the next day after their emotional win over LHP.  (flogging imminent)

  Yuck. Deflate the football! Sorry, I hate the Patriots . . . trying to deflect your attention An old writer’s trick I can see it didn’t work.   Okay, something a little better   The Preseason Top 20!!   #1 – Lake Highland Prep – you have to go with the state champs this time  (got that one right on the button) #2 – Barron Collier – pretty much EVERYONE is back from a team that easily could have gone to the finals.  (Offense kept them from being a Final Four team but really threw a scare into St. Thomas in the regional finals) #3 – Ponte Vedra – they played LHP very well in the semis last year  (saved their worst lacrosse for late in the year and it caught up with them in the round of 16) #4 – Jupiter – arguably the best high end talent in the state, depth and a young midfield will be an issue  (couldn’t close the deal in the Final 8) #5 – St. Thomas Aquinas – some key losses but a lot of thoroughbreds return  (more like a number of Triple Crown winners with the year they had) #6 – Saint Andrew’s – IF the offense gets it together  (It did) #7 – Benjamin – IF the defense gets it together   (It didn’t) #8 – Gulf Coast – we’ll see if the harder schedule can be overcome  (by the time the season was over the injury list looked like an NFL roster) #9 – Oxbridge Academy – another year, another move up.  Their schedule also toughens a lot   (couldn’t win the big game) #10 – Lake Mary – Garrick Robinson might be playing possum this year   (was he ever, the surprise Final Four entrant) #11 – Maclay – too bad they play in a weaker area   (the schedule hurt in the Final 8 game but only one goal shy of Bradenton) #12 – Boca Raton – can they overcome the losses?  Plenty of offense returns.   (truly a tale of two seasons, faded badly in the second half) #13 – Jensen Beach – the offense needs to step up   (It didn’t) #14 – Columbus Catholic – a ton of seniors lost the last two years but Coach DeLang has built a consistent program   (also didn’t win the big games) #15 – Martin County – just have a sneaky suspicion that this team is ready   (they weren’t when they needed a big win) #16 – Pope John Paul II – have to replace two All-Americans, never an easy task   (slow start, good finish, until Districts) #17 – Bolles – Anthony Texeira is a special talent.   (He certainly is, gave PV a run) #18 – Lake Brantley – a fresh slate and one of the best juniors in America   (never really got it going) #19 – Seminole – a breakthrough year, can they continue the growth?   (They certainly did, just picked the wrong District to come out of this year) #20 – Hagerty – giving them a chance to redeem my prediction last year  (which they fumbled)   Others considered: Vero Beach, Providence, Melbourne Central Catholic, University School (Davie), Pine Crest, Palm Beach Gardens, Dr. Phillips, Plant, Gulliver Prep, Stoneman Douglas (A couple of really big misses there in Vero and Stoneman, both of which earned Top 10 status early and often.  And Newsome and Buchholz came out of the nether-world too.)   So, now that we are fully in the books, here is the final Top 20 Media Poll of 2015:   #1 – Lake Highland – no question here, avenged the early season loss in the finals #2 – St. Thomas Aquinas – two goals shy of a perfect record, a fantastic season #3 – Saint Andrew’s – really got it together in the second half, ran into a buzzsaw in the semis #4 – Lake Mary – another great second half and a worthy Final Four run #5 – Jupiter – had a 3-goal lead in the fourth in the quarters, toughest schedule in the state #6 – Stoneman Douglas – killed it all year, one goal shy against SA in the first round #7 – Ponte Vedra – so good for so long, something went awry late in the season #8 – Vero Beach – consistently good year.  Beat SA early, tough first round matchup against Jupiter #9 – Seminole – picked the wrong year to play Lake Mary in District, still a terrific overall record #10 – Maclay – just like the last few years, one game shy of the Final Four.  Would love to see them make a Southern swing next season #11 – Barron Collier – if the offense played as well all year as it did against STA this would have been much higher #12 – Newsome – great season, PLEASE Hillsborough County, CHANGE YOUR RULES #13 – Buchholz – one of the true Cinderella stories until a rough district final upset #14 – Gulliver Prep – sneaky good year down south, will be back next year #15 – Benjamin – defense could never get it going this year and difficult schedule kept them from getting a lot of traction #16 – Oxbridge Academy – maybe a year early for the top 10 preseason ranking, next year will be very intrigung #17 – Jensen Beach – defensively sound, offensively challenged #18 – Bolles – another sneakily good season against a VERY tough schedule #19 – Winter Park – just above Bishop Moore after the District final smackdown #20 – Bishop Moore – solid late season run until the District final   Also considered:  Oviedo, Boone, Pine Crest, Fleming Island, Cypress Bay, Lake Brantley   That’s it for everyone! Another great season in the books and we look forward to next year. Thanks to all the seniors who are moving on, the coaches, administrators, referees and parents for helping FLN to bring you the best in high school lacrosse in the state of Florida!