Another year another disappointing tournament exit (long post to follow) | Page 4 | Syracusefan.com

Another year another disappointing tournament exit (long post to follow)

I don't think replacing Donahue is that big of a deal. It's lacrosse the concepts are the same. Do you want a regimented drill sergeant who plays methodical offense or someone who plays uptempo and lets guys create. Whatever you're flavor you go find someone who grew up in that system. To me it's more about fresh energy and someone who can motivate players.
 
"Ill give Marr credit for seeing Fields and Ireland for what they could become instead of being part of the herd


I’m not sure I understand your point about fields and Ierlan. Fields was a highly ranked national recruit and two time AA. Ierlan was also a two time AA and All Greater Rochester player of the year in 2015 & 2016.

Those kids weren’t diamonds in the rough for anyone who recruits WNY consistently.
 
I’m not sure I understand your point about fields and Ierlan. Fields was a highly ranked national recruit and two time AA. Ierlan was also a two time AA and All Greater Rochester player of the year in 2015 & 2016.

Those kids weren’t diamonds in the rough for anyone who recruits WNY consistently.
Plenty of AA who blow. What other schools were recruiting them besides Albany ? While we are on the rumor mill, hearing Ireland might be joining younger brother at Cornell next year
 
Plenty of AA who blow. What other schools were recruiting them besides Albany ? While we are on the rumor mill, hearing Ireland might be joining younger brother at Cornell next year

I understand your point and I think AAs who have disappointed in college in the last 5 years are a byproduct of the 8th graders committing insanity.

Should hopefully get easier with the new rules to identify better developed players in the next 5 years (once the last of the early commitments cycle through)
 
I understand your point and I think AAs who have disappointed in college in the last 5 years are a byproduct of the 8th graders committing insanity.

Should hopefully get easier with the new rules to identify better developed players in the next 5 years (once the last of the early commitments cycle through)
Agree on the stupidity of early recruiting, besides making nutty parents even nuttier, kids at that age have little clue what is truly the right college and then there are wide variances in physically maturAtion.. The kid who stands out always catches the eye but my thoughts sometimes change when they take off the helmet. Not diminishing AA selections but too many to be select but and for some its more about a coaches willingness to fill out the paperwork and work his relationships m. Many times its those without that designation that turnout to be the best talents
 
I for one said pump the brakes on Quinn. I think he will be a very good player though.

I also think Cook contributes day 1. Cook seems to have the quick twitch reflexes and speed at which he can operate. High IQ player to

Plenty of AA who blow. What other schools were recruiting them besides Albany ? While we are on the rumor mill, hearing Ireland might be joining younger brother at Cornell next year

I’d be absolutely shocked if Irland left.
 
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Agree on the stupidity of early recruiting, besides making nutty parents even nuttier, kids at that age have little clue what is truly the right college and then there are wide variances in physically maturAtion.. The kid who stands out always catches the eye but my thoughts sometimes change when they take off the helmet. Not diminishing AA selections but too many to be select but and for some its more about a coaches willingness to fill out the paperwork and work his relationships m. Many times its those without that designation that turnout to be the best talents

There is definitely politics to some degree in AA selections.

I think those vaunted JHU, UVA and UNC recruiting classes haven’t translated to perennial FFs primarily because of the early commitment idiocy.

It’s usually early growers who dominate and then revert to the mean when their classmates catch up.
 
They went to the state championship game in early 90s (91?) for class B. Had to have been others? Ryan Cummings, some of the Holdridge brothers were good players.

Holdridge...when I was in high school, there was a kid named Holdridge who was constantly hanging around our practices at Barry Park...cannot remember if soccer or lax or both...
 
Yes. There was decent talent in the 90s. Ryan Cummings transferred back home to SU after freshman year at JHU, Jamie O’Leary played at Navy. Other guys from the early mid-90s played at Navy and Dartmouth.

We went to the state finals in 1991 and lost to a Yorktown team with 4 All-Americans (Dave Marr, Roy Colsey, Rocco D’Andraia and Jason Foley). They also had two young guys named Carcaterra and Kavovit (eventual AAs and SU players).

Edit - Yorktown had an AA at every position (AT, MID, D, G)

That was a long afternoon.

Wow. I had no idea we went to state championship game in lax...

Of course, that was post-graduation and pre-internet so I had no idea what was going on back in Syracuse...

We went to states my senior year in soccer...beat Marcellus in the dome to get there but our lax team was downright awful...the only teams we could beat were teams like General Brown and Whitesboro...Ludden & Henninger would annihiliate us...
 
I for one said pump the brakes on Quinn. I think he will be a very good player though.

I also think Cook contributes day 1. Cook seems to Have the the quick twitch reflexes and speed at which he can operate. High IQ player to



I’d be absolutely shocked if Irland left.

Me to, Ierlan was pretty grateful to Marr for the offer, seems highly unlikely he would bolt.
 
Holdridge...when I was in high school, there was a kid named Holdridge who was constantly hanging around our practices at Barry Park...cannot remember if soccer or lax or both...

There were MANY Holdridges and they lived less than a block away from Barry Park.

They were better at soccer than lax.
 
Wow. I had no idea we went to state championship game in lax...

Of course, that was post-graduation and pre-internet so I had no idea what was going on back in Syracuse...

We went to states my senior year in soccer...beat Marcellus in the dome to get there but our lax team was downright awful...the only teams we could beat were teams like General Brown and Whitesboro...Ludden & Henninger would annihiliate us...

1990-1991 was a great sports year at Ham. State champs in hoops. Lost Sectional finals (PKs) to Chittenango in soccer and state finals for lax.
 
Donahue is a excellent coach
Would hate to Donahue go.
As I recall, the last time SU was highly successful, it was directly attributed to the staff re-alignment which gave Donahue more responsibility, and others, less responsibility.
 
I don’t follow LAX that closely but from what I saw in recent games this season SU was bullied and physcially overmatched a LOT. Often it looked like men against boys. I don’t know how Desko is behind closed doors but his demeanor seems soft, cavalier, lackluster, etc. He doesn’t seem like a great motivator with any energy at all. Just my $.02 and I could be totally wrong.
 
The slide to and acceptance of mediocrity is never really apparent until the wheels finally come off. We are very close to being there IMHO. It is a combination of a lot of recruiting misses over several cycles, parity in D1 lacrosse and coaching. This thing needs to be shaken up. I think we have a good core group of players on defense but they lack discipline. On offense we continue to lack a feeder and a finisher until we fix that, wash rinse repeat. We need to stop running folks out there just because they've been in the program for some amount of time. You run the best players from start to finish every single game, period. If you don't produce, you sit. We are living in the past and it's time to change.
 
Plenty of AA who blow. What other schools were recruiting them besides Albany ? While we are on the rumor mill, hearing Ireland might be joining younger brother at Cornell next year
A. It’s Ierlan, not Ireland.
B. Had a nice conversation with his dad a couple weeks ago - said TD loves Marr and loves Albany. He also said his brother Chayse is brilliant and is planning on majoring in something he said he couldn’t even pronounce. He also had great things to say about the Hay kid coming to Syracuse- big lefty. Said he needs to get bigger, but has a great work ethic and is a great kid. Ierlan’s dad is an assistant coach at Victor.
 
A. It’s Ierlan, not Ireland.
B. Had a nice conversation with his dad a couple weeks ago - said TD loves Marr and loves Albany. He also said his brother Chayse is brilliant and is planning on majoring in something he said he couldn’t even pronounce. He also had great things to say about the Hay kid coming to Syracuse- big lefty. Said he needs to get bigger, but has a great work ethic and is a great kid. Ierlan’s dad is an assistant coach at Victor.

Camden Hay, Class of 2020.

Hopefully his games will be streamed online once Sectionals and States start.
 
A. It’s Ierlan, not Ireland.
B. Had a nice conversation with his dad a couple weeks ago - said TD loves Marr and loves Albany. He also said his brother Chayse is brilliant and is planning on majoring in something he said he couldn’t even pronounce. He also had great things to say about the Hay kid coming to Syracuse- big lefty. Said he needs to get bigger, but has a great work ethic and is a great kid. Ierlan’s dad is an assistant coach at Victor.

Did his dad mention if TD considered Syracuse or if the SU coaching staff ever reached out to him?
 
Did his dad mention if TD considered Syracuse or if the SU coaching staff ever reached out to him?

We didn’t talk about that - but he did say that TD is good friends with Danny Varillo and they text back and forth after games - hopefully he’s giving him some pointers.

He teaches at Fairport - big Blaze Rieorden fan. Talked a lot of RIT lax as well - apparently it’s the hot spot now for Canadian players. I checked - over half their roster is from Canada.
 
We didn’t talk about that - but he did say that TD is good friends with Danny Varillo and they text back and forth after games - hopefully he’s giving him some pointers.

He teaches at Fairport - big Blaze Rieorden fan. Talked a lot of RIT lax as well - apparently it’s the hot spot now for Canadian players. I checked - over half their roster is from Canada.
Funny that you mention RIT, if JeremyCuse ’s info on KD being target for West Genesee are real, RIT’s Shawn Wilkins would be my number 1 target for new assistant. He runs a creative offense that consistently puts up numbers. A lot of two-man plays and getting scores free up front. And as stated, he can recruit Canada as well as anyone this side of the Mississippi River.
 
I don’t follow LAX that closely but from what I saw in recent games this season SU was bullied and physcially overmatched a LOT. Often it looked like men against boys. I don’t know how Desko is behind closed doors but his demeanor seems soft, cavalier, lackluster, etc. He doesn’t seem like a great motivator with any energy at all. Just my $.02 and I could be totally wrong.
I too am a non-player who doesn't understand the nuance of the game but we seem to get pushed around and seem fundamentally flawed with a fairly poor feel for game situations and fundamentals. things that usually translate into success no matter what sport is being played.
 
I too am a non-player who doesn't understand the nuance of the game but we seem to get pushed around and seem fundamentally flawed with a fairly poor feel for game situations and fundamentals. things that usually translate into success no matter what sport is being played.
The grass is always greener on the other side, Cuse is looked upon more favorably by others than their own . Certainly was the case with many Cornell fans I spoke with who were happy and relieved to get by our talent. Perception is not always reality and context is always needed . College game is more geared to speed and finese these days, outright hitting is restricted which limits its impact. A few opponents had older squads with more physically mature players so they likely had a physical edge though overall season stats dont seem to support the viewpoint that we were pushed around by many. To the eye and that was reinforced after some rewatches , we tended to come out of scrums fairly well and do have some aggressive kids who play bigger than they are. Quickness in all sports is a great equalizer especially with the rule changes that pervades most sports including football. As far as mistakes, younger players do tend to make more mistakes than experienced ones, many will learn and return wiser, those that dont will cede to those that have. We also had several players adapting to new roles, they also will return with greater senses and the same should apply . 2018 was not the End of Times as enflamed by some, the base was firmed and 2019 could rather be the start of the Age of Aquarius where the formerly disenchanted begin humming the song Love Shack on their drive to the Dome.
 
The grass is always greener on the other side, Cuse is looked upon more favorably by others than their own . Certainly was the case with many Cornell fans I spoke with who were happy and relieved to get by our talent. Perception is not always reality and context is always needed . College game is more geared to speed and finese these days, outright hitting is restricted which limits its impact. A few opponents had older squads with more physically mature players so they likely had a physical edge though overall season stats dont seem to support the viewpoint that we were pushed around by many. To the eye and that was reinforced after some rewatches , we tended to come out of scrums fairly well and do have some aggressive kids who play bigger than they are. Quickness in all sports is a great equalizer especially with the rule changes that pervades most sports including football. As far as mistakes, younger players do tend to make more mistakes than experienced ones, many will learn and return wiser, those that dont will cede to those that have. We also had several players adapting to new roles, they also will return with greater senses and the same should apply . 2018 was not the End of Times as enflamed by some, the base was firmed and 2019 could rather be the start of the Age of Aquarius where the formerly disenchanted begin humming the song Love Shack on their drive to the Dome.
When there are a couple of hundred people in the dome for home games maybe you will stop being an apologist for mediocrity. Already the recruits now know little or nothing of the air Gait , 22 , Simmons years. It is approaching the same relevancy as the 44 , Heisman, NC, Schwartzwalder era in football. Maybe they should put some statuary up, that will help, I'm sure.
 
"The grass is always greener on the other side, Cuse is looked upon more favorably by others than their own . Certainly was the case with many Cornell fans I spoke with who were happy and relieved to get by our talent. Perception is not always reality and context is always needed ..."

happy to get by us ? they beat us twice ! more like they were happy to play us again.
 
Funny that you mention RIT, if JeremyCuse ’s info on KD being target for West Genesee are real, RIT’s Shawn Wilkins would be my number 1 target for new assistant. He runs a creative offense that consistently puts up numbers. A lot of two-man plays and getting scores free up front. And as stated, he can recruit Canada as well as anyone this side of the Mississippi River.

Link to RIT game vs #2 York College. RIT is number 1 but plays the second ranked team in quarterfinal. Talk about odd seeding by the NCAA...

 

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