america's game

http://sports.espn.go.com/extra/lacrosse/index

Quint Kessenich, a lynbrook high school alum (my alma mater), an espn college sports analyst and one of the greatest lacrosse players of all time (along with nfl hall of famer and fellow long islander Jim Brown), gives you an introduction to the sport of lacrosse on the page referenced above. i highly recommend you to the check it out. knowing the rules, positions and strategies involved in a sport is the first step to becoming a fan.

lacrosse is considered the oldest american sport, first played by native american indians hundreds of years ago, partly to settle disputes through sport instead of war. today, lacrosse finds its hotbeds in states like new york and maryland, although it's popularity is steadily growing. and although the perception is that it's played by mostly white, upper class kids, the diversity of its athletes is definitely growing along with its popularity.

tomorrow, on saturday the 24th, espn 2 will be airing the national semifinals for the ncaa division 1 championship. two perennial powerhouses in #2 virginia and #3 syracuse will face each other at 12 noon and then at 2pm, #1 duke plays #5 johns hopkins (rematch of last year's finals, hopkins won 12-11). if you like big hits, shots that reach 100 mph and really one of the best, untainted collegiate sports in america then it's a can't miss event.

one final thing: as many of you remember, duke was wrapped up in a scandal like none other a few years ago that cost them their season when they were ranked #1. at the time, three players were accused of raping a stripper, a black female from a nearby college. these three players, all white and from affluent families (one kid was from long island, one went to delbarton high in jersey) were accused of some awful things and issues of racism and eliticism were brought up. i am sad to admit that even in a society like ours, which is supposed to stand for innocent until proven guilty, it is rarely the case when it comes to public perception. and i, for one, am definitely guilty of that. i definitely believed that something terribly wrong occurred in that duke lacrosse house, and although we'll never know the truth, we can be sure that these three kids, along with the entire duke lacrosse team, were never treated fairly by the media and by me.

all that being said, i'm glad that the duke lacrosse program is sitting atop the rankings once again and playing for a chance at the national championship. it's definitely a little bit of redemption for that program (even though the three kids no longer are on the team and the coach got fired) and it makes for a great story, albeit a relatively untalked about one