BOTC - US Lacrosse Community Forum Forums NORTHEAST LACROSSE BOTC MAIN FORUM (LI, CT, WC) Boys Spring 2014 High School Varsity Lacrosse

Boy... I love being right- especially about Smithtown West and anyone who seems to be haters of the historically "ELITE" LI Teams...

My Comment from back in the end of March has now been proven insightful.

From March 27th on this board I wrote:
"To the guy who seems to feels slighted and wants to argue
that West Islip is not an ELITE Program....

First the definition- ELITE: the most successful or powerful
group of people.

Now the facts: Since the new millennium (13 yrs), there are
only 19 teams in the entire country that FINNISHED ranked in
the top 50 in the nation 10 times or more .

Six of those teams are from Long Island.

Four of those teams are Public Schools.

Garden City 11 times in the top 50 (out of 13)
Manhasset 10 times
Ward Melville 10 times
West Islip 11 times

The other two:
Chaminade 12 times
St. Anthony's 10 times

That is the only ELITE group on Long Island!

One or two sub par seasons doesn't take away from the recent
and Long Term success of Coach Craig's Squad. He'll have
them back.

Other teams have had some very good seasons, and others will
continue to improve; but they still have some catching up to
do to join that list. Don't let the facts get in the way of
your fantasy.

Now, as one of the other guys said - go get your shine box.

Thank me very much!"

Those comments now seem amazingly Prescient, I know, but I wrote them out of respect for the coaches like Scott Craig, Jack Moran, Keith Wieczorek, Steve Finnell, & Bill Cherry who always seem to get the job done on a consistent basis.

I especially like being right about Scot Craig having his team back. That is why Chaminade always plays WI. They are an ELITE program with great coaching. They'll have a another great year next year.

The Smithtown guy who wanted to say that WI wasn't elite needed a reality check.

Smithtown West = season over
WI ... still playing.

All joking aside... the ELITE teams earn their respect year in and year out, while the flash in the pan teams scream and cry for their respect in early season games.

For my next prediction .... Pequa (who hasn't lost since March) will beat SYO and roll the Suffolk team in the LI champs.
Also has a good chance of taking the state.

Thank me very much (again, joking).

As a PROUD Long Island lacrosse supporter, I LOVE this post!! Said perfectly.

Loved the quote too.
I'd like to add to that by saying that many big boys from MD were home watching these small LI kids on their big screens.

Should also mention that Zenker and Jones were some of the bigger guys on the field too.

No sour grapes here. MB could not have done better!

No sour grapes here. MB could not have done better!

Ha ha, Smithtown W
they never respect anyone

Go Smithtown west. We all know that was your game.

Congrats to the Suffolk Class B Champs - Rocky Point.

congrats to RP on winning title today vs long time rival MP 6-4

SE 15 WI 7

You grown men sound like kids heckling each other over 16/17 yr old kids . What are you going to do with yourselves in a few years when it's over ?

Whose crying now


Go Smithtown west. We all know that was your game. [/quot




Got any Kool aid to sell?

Go Eagles! Nice to see the next generation of the Reh family lax legacy continue on.

Lynbrook vs Rocky Point. Good matchup

Biggest asinine rant yet! LI Lax has changed if you haven't noticed. Suffolk A is anyone's game now. The "tradition" teams are done! And, good riddance.

EAST is BEAST!! (for now!)

Great talent+Teamwork+Respect=WIN!!

Can't wait!

So far Nassau County is 2 for 2 in Long Island Championship Games. How is the 3rd game going.

Both by one goal with an opportunity to tie up in final seconds.

Guess both counties are evenly matched.

Great lax today, good luck to the winners moving on.

Last game goes easily to Suffolk.

Why do some people just have problems when reality and truth smacks them in the face?

My comments (or rant) simply and clearly the stated reasons some teams are not yet considered ELITE.

I backed those comments with undisputable facts. In no way was any team disparaged nor were any group of boys slighted? Only the fans felt that way.

In fact, quite the contrary. I lauded several teams having good seasons....but they are clearly not ELITE. Facts back that up.

Fans can hope for their teams to do well; but a nice season does not make a team elite. especially a season where a team (or several) came up admittedly short of their preseason (and fan) expectations.

Sorry about this, but there are no Suffolk teams besides those listed above that are poised to even sniffing ELITE. For the Suffolk teams, that won't change for many many years. Why?...because WM & WI have been so good for so long. Assuming that those two teams will never ever have a successful year again is pure folly. So they will likely remain elite and it means another season that other teams will have to wait.

In Nassau, Massapequa is having another great season. They are top 10 in the country. They beat a nice team in STownEast for the Island championship.

So, the chiefs could be welcomed to a seat at the ELITE table very soon.

The Stowns and Nports...just not ready yet.

Dear Mr. President of LI Elite,

The only one of your so-called elite teams that even had a sniff of a championship this year lost badly in the county finals.
One day you will wake up and see that there is no elite anymore, it's any towns game! (well maybe not any, but several that will play hard every year, and some surprises)

Oh, and who was "rolled" in the LI championship? Great to see new teams earning that honor. Not one of your "elite". Guess your secret club is now defunct.

This shift is the best thing that ever happened to LI lax!

I saw that Smithtown East team yesterday and came away very impressed. They will be a force for the next three years at least with all the freshman on that team, 3-4 of which got a lot of playing time this year . I counted 9 freshman and 4 sophomores on the roster they handed out at the LIC. I can see them making a few title runs (county,LI, and state) in the next few years. Massapequa loses a bunch of talent, but returns a nice group of juniors and sophs. Could see a re-match next year. Finally, Smithtown West can not be put in the elite category in my opinion. All that talent the last 5-6 years and no hardware. Very good teams, but didn't get it done when it counted.

big difference between elite teams and historically elite programs - right now there are 3 elite teams on LI (Mass - Lynbrook and Babylon) - WM and WI are elite programs but were not elite teams this year

You make a very good point by distinguishing Programs from a team each year.

Well done.... but 1 year does not make a team elite.
There needs to be some consistency, don't you think?

For example, the Lynbrook team had a fantastic year. they have some very good players too. But wouldn't you agree that some of their success this year came (in part) because GC and Manhassett had less than expected years?

Elite - adjective
representing the most choice or select; best:

this season Lynbrook was "Elite" or the best -

and of course one teams success would be a direct correlation to other teams ability, (see Alydar and Affirmed) if not for Affirmed, Alydar would be considered one of the greatest race horses of all time, as it is he was not the best race house that year

West Islip - Garden City - Manhasset have fielded consistently elite teams over the last 20 years but not this year

Must read article for all HS lacrosse fan's - Kid plays lacrosse with one good arm and one paralyzed arm for Wm Floyd -

http://www.newsday.com/long-island/...turns-adversity-into-advantage-1.8272046

William Floyd senior Wesley Sullivan turns adversity into advantage

Originally published: May 30, 2014 10:27 AM
Updated: May 31, 2014 12:41 PM
By BOB HERZOG bob.herzog@newsday.com
Wesley Sullivan, a senior at William Floyd High

Wesley Sullivan, a senior at William Floyd High School in Mastic Beach, plays on the lacrosse team -- and also plays piano and bass guitar -- despite having Erb’s Palsy, a condition that has rendered his left arm virtually useless. He's seen at the school on Wednesday, May 21, 2014. (Credit: Newsday / Thomas A. Ferrara)
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Nothing can stop Wesley Sullivan from being a teenage version of a Renaissance Man.

He thinks positive when you think negative.

He's up when you're down.

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He can charm you with his upbeat personality and the force of his will.

"I'm the type of person to try and prove someone wrong," said Sullivan, 18, who has lived his life doing just that, as the list of naysayers who frequently have been skeptical of his athletic and musical goals is as long as his good right arm.

Sullivan -- a one-armed guitar-, piano- and lacrosse-playing senior at William Floyd High School in Mastic Beach -- was born with Erb's Palsy, a condition often caused by injury during birth to the nerves surrounding the shoulder that results in weakness or paralysis of the arm. The severity of the impairment varies. In Sullivan's case, his shrunken left arm and hand hang weak and virtually useless from his rugged frame. But in his world, it's a nonissue.

Sullivan, who lives in Mastic Beach, just completed his only varsity lacrosse season at William Floyd. He was a starter at defensive midfield and led the Colonials in ground balls. The team missed the Suffolk County playoffs by a single game.

Sullivan has been recruited to play next year at Briarcliffe College in Bethpage, an outcome that was nearly ruined by superstorm Sandy in 2012.



'I'm definitely stronger'

Sullivan was declared academically ineligible to play as a junior for failing a class.

"It's not that he was a poor student," said his coach, Desmond Megna. "He's a good student. He failed because of attendance. He was kind of displaced after the family lost their house in Sandy. It was a disaster. Lacrosse was pretty important to him and he couldn't play. That, on top of losing your house and not knowing where you're going to live from day to day, was a lot to handle for a kid. It was a tough time. He thought about quitting the sport. He talked about transferring."

Instead, Sullivan did what he always does: He turned inward -- to his Pentecostal faith and his family -- and looked outward -- with determination.

"I'm definitely stronger for what happened with Sandy," he said before a late-season game. (The family has returned to a different home in Mastic Beach.) "I used to get bent out of shape; call the coach, ready to cry. But I've learned to look at things in a positive way. If I don't, I'm going to be miserable. Whether it's my house, a game that we lose, my arm. If I don't think positive, I'll be negative, and that won't improve anything. Mentally, I've had to get over things. OK, I've got one arm: Deal with it."

On the lacrosse field, Sullivan has dealt with his disability by overcompensating.

"I made sure I got faster and that my right arm was stronger so I could push people away," he said. "When I get hit on the left arm, it hurts a little more because it's smaller and there's no muscle there. So I always lead with my right side. My left hand is on the bottom of the stick, and if it gets checked off, I'll use the elbow."

That resourcefulness has allowed him to play so well that often opponents and referees don't realize Sullivan is essentially a one-armed athlete. The level playing field applies at home, too.

"There is no pampering of Wesley," said his mother, Michelline. "None of us ever did it and we won't start. That's the way it's been for him since he was a baby. I have three other children. He's the third-youngest and he used to try to play that card. I'd tell him to pick up his toys. He'd say, 'Oh, I've got one arm.' I'd say, 'Take two trips.' He's mentally tough because I'm mentally tough. I told him, 'If you can handle me, you can handle the world.' "



Music and lacrosse

Wesley's world includes his considerable musical talents. He plays piano and bass guitar, which he can do by using a strap and playing a "righty guitar upside down, like Jimi Hendrix, with the [larger] E-string on top.

"People say I'm a jack-of-all trades," he said. "I don't read music. I play by ear."

He and some friends formed an indie-alternative group called Vanilla Coast that has played at the Manhattan nightclub Webster Hall and wants to perform next year at the popular South by Southwest Festival in Austin, Texas.

Music and lacrosse will follow Sullivan to Briarcliffe, where he is determined to pursue both. "One of my life's goals is to show kids with disabilities like me that they can do anything they want to," he said. "Any sport, any feat."

That helps explain the decision Sullivan made a couple of years ago when doctors told him about an intense surgery involving the spine that could possibly give him use of his left arm. He declined the offer.

"If I didn't have my condition, I wouldn't have the drive to do what I do," Sullivan said. "I wouldn't be Wesley if I didn't have only one arm."

This is ridiculous. Lynbrook won because they were better than the teams they played this year. Celebrate that effort instead of sulking about someone having an off year. Boo hoo. sw8bm8

Agreed they are talking about a Dynasty and using that as a term for Elite. They are two different words.

Dynasty (noun) - which describe a fact. Powerful group who maintains their position!

Finally someones got it right. The age of the Lax Dynasty=Over

Not one representing this year

Good riddance, it is now anyone and everyone's game!

Anyone's and Everyone's game-okay then I'm predicting Brentwood vs. Freeport in next year's Class A L.I.C.

Interesting thought. The clubs are now training and developing good athletes from all over the island, which has at least neutralized the coaching and training advantage once held exclusively in towns like Manhasset. Programs like Manhasset are also fraying at the edges from the drain of Chaminade, which has a cumulative effect when two or three probable starters leave every year. Very difficult to constantly fill all of those holes year after year.

Yes that is interesting, but not totally correct.

Manhasset is trying to keep their players home. This year they were significantly under represented (relative to prior years) on the Chaminade Freshman team, which means that the good kids are staying put.

GC is Trying to do the same...even though they do loose some each year.

If anyone believes that the Dynastic Elite teams of the past 15 or 20 years don't have a better chances than the rest in getting back on top (despite a lackluster 2014), then I'd like to know why and how.

Realistically, in this sport at the HS level, Coaching matters. Cherry, Finnell, Weiszoreck, Moran, Craig - These guys are hall of famers and will get their team going. I like their chances.

Whatever program makes Rotanz their next head will also go to the net level of elite.

Stop it!
GC and Manhasset were both beat by Lynbrook. So much for the "Dynasty" As for Rotanz, he did nothing for Smithtown West, in fact their rival across town loaded with Freshman and Sophomores got damn close to winning it all without having a so called elite program/coach.

Dynasties are DONE! You do know what happened to the dinosaurs?

GC NEVER PLAYED LYNBROOK...LYNBROOK BEAT MANHASSET TWICE

Another know it all on lax....get over self idiot. Dynasties!

Manhasset beat GC, fair to assume Lynbrook beats GC.

Never assume. Thats why you play the games. Teams match up differently.

How do you say Finell HOF. He has a lot more work to do before that ever happens. With the feeder system in GC a half decent lacrosse guy could win. Plus the divisonal teams he plays he will always be in contention. Look at the goals scored against good teams. Manhasset game was a joke. NO GOALS FOR 2.5 QUARTERS FROM A SO CALLED HOF COACH. These next 3 years will determine if he is a good coach because after next year big drop off of talent and size. The other guys on the list have more than paid their dues.

GC was not good this year, mediocre at best, Lynbrook great. No contest there! Sorry

So by that way of "reasoning", since GC beat St. Paul's of MD, does that mean GC would have beaten Boys Latin?? It's all how the teams play on any given day. GCs D kept them in the games, but they still won with a very competitive schedule. Don't think Lynbrook saw anything close.