Long Island? Upstate? Baltimore Remains the Lacrosse Capital of the World

     It is a truth universally acknowledged that Baltimore, Maryland is the epicenter of the lacrosse universe. Recently, many have suggested that this center may be moving to New York, specifically the upstate and Long Island areas.

     While it is true that Long Island's West Islip high school boys' lacrosse team consistently finishes in the nation's top ten, and Syracuse has won back-to-back NCAA National Championships (they were eliminated from the 2010 postseason in an overtime loss to Army last week), Baltimore remains the heart and soul of the fastest game on two feet.

     This year, "The City that Reads" hosts both the NCAA mens' and women's semifinals and finals, which will be played Memorial Day weekend. On Friday night, the women will take the field at Towson University's Unitas Stadium, just miles north of the city line. The next morning, the four mens' semifinalists will square off at M&T Bank Stadium in downtown Baltimore. The next day will provide a triple threat, as Ravens Stadium will host the DII and DIII finals on Sunday, and Unitas Stadium will host the women's finals. The weekend festivities conclude with the NCAA DI finals on Memorial Day. The tournament has been hosted at M&T for 2 of the last 6 years (the other seasons' finals were split between Foxborogh and Philadelphia), and has returned to Charm City for the 2010 and 2011 seasons. Additionally, Baltimore's M&T is home to not one, but two, major NCAA regular season double-headers. This year, Maryland and Duke and Princeton and Hopkins squared off in early March at the annual Konica Minolta "Faceoff Classic." A month later, Army and Navy matched up as did Hopkins and Maryland (the most historic lacrosse rivalry) at "Day of Rivals."

     In addition to hosting the tournament, the area has produced programs with great lacrosse traditions. In addition to the perennial powers (Hopkins, Maryland, etc.) the area is beginning to see upstart programs, like Towson's, and Loyola's, achieve real success. Last week, Loyola lost to Cornell in triple overtime, after charging back from a 9-2 deficit. Of course, Maryland looks particularly strong this season, and the men are seeded third in the tournament. The Maryland women's team has seen similar success, earning the #1 seed over the Northwestern Wildcats, who have dominated the women's field of competition for years. The Terrapins pose the biggest threat to the Wildcats' dynasty.

Maryland also serves as the geographic epicenter of the sport. This year, four of the top five seeds were assigned to ACC schools Duke, UNC, Maryland, and UVA, and while Maryland is certainly the northernmost school of this group, Baltimore's location in the Midatlantic still marks a halfway point for Atlantic Coast Conference teams.

     While lacrosse continues to grow and build a following across the United States (it is still most popular on the East Coast, although many programs in California and the Midwest are picking up), and tournament organizers have attempted to expand the sport's following by hosting the NCAA finals in various cities along the Atlantic coast, the tournament continues to come back to Baltimore. And in Baltimore, it's not all about college lacrosse either. In fact, the city consistently churns out some of the best high school players in the nation. As Boys' Latin and St. Pauls prepare to battle for the MIAA title this evening, many local teams furnish the sport's top programs with players.

     These high school players do not only continue their careers at local schools. Next year, a number of players hailing from Gilman, Boys' Latin, and other area schools will head to Chapel Hill to play for the Tarheels. Other destinations include Maryland, UMBC, Georgetown, Rutgers, and Dartmouth. Many junior players have already committed to schools including Dave Pietramala's Johns Hopkins, John Danowski's Duke University, or Dom Starsia's University of Virginia. Both the boys' and girls' high-school All America lacrosse games, sponsored by Under Armour (a Baltimore company), are hosted at Unitas as well. Last year Baltimore schools graduated some of the nation's top recruits, who now make major contributions at UNC, Harvard, Georgetown, and countless other schools. In women's lacrosse, Baltimore area schools are also strong.

     Both private schools, as well as public, annually send girls to extremely successful DI and DIII schools, where many start as early as freshman year.

So come Memorial Day weekend, the games at M&T will be hosted by a large number of area universities, and sponsored by a number of lacrosse companies, many of which are Baltimore-based. "Inside Lacrosse," the sport's premier publication, is also run out of the city, and the sport's national Hall of Fame is located on the Johns Hopkins University campus, just feet from the legendary Homewood Field.

     While the season is over for Dave Pietramala and the Jays, they are looking forward to the next couple years, which will undoubtedly be tough. Pietramala's extremely young crew will be without this season's sparkplugs Steve Boyle and Michael Kimmel, and will have to focus on rebuilding. The team will rely heavily on returning veterans Kyle Wharton, Matt Dolente, and emerging star and rising junior Tom Palasek. Palasek, who wears Kyle Harrison's legendary #18, finished the season with an unexpectedly strong performance in a disappointing 18-5 loss to the Duke Blue Devils last Saturday.

While Hopkins rebuilds, there are plenty of other area teams for one to watch and root for. As aforementioned, College Park has produced two incredibly menacing teams, whose resolves will be tested in the coming 10 days. Additionally, the smaller schools are emerging as future contenders, and high school and little league programs continue to reign supreme. While lacrosse may be wildly popular in certain areas of New York, it is a lifestyle in Baltimore.

     Here, it is easy to catch lacrosse fever. It is a social scene. It is an intense emotional experience. People who have never heard of lacrosse move to the city and fall in love with the sport. There are families of lacrosse greats and legacies, those last names you hear and immediately associate with the sport. And amazingly enough, there are, with increasing regularity, formerly unexposed children and adults catching the contagion. Players like Kyle Harrison have helped break the racial barriers that have historically pervaded the sport, and every day, progress is being made to similarly breaking down socioeconomic barriers in the sport, making it more welcoming, accessible, and inclusive. Baltimore's passion for the sport, and its positive relationship with both the sport, its players, and related organizations continues to benefit the city and its citizens as well.

     While there are lacrosse fans (and incredibly dedicated ones at that) living in New York, the sport is not an intrinsic part of the state's identity. In Baltimore, jousting may be the original "official state sport," but lacrosse is an ever-present force in the background. In Baltimore, a lacrosse "sub-culture" has emerged, as can perhaps be conveyed best through "Brantford Winstonworth," and his YouTube hit, "The Ultimate Lax Bro." This short was popular because of its satirical, yet to an extent realistic, portrayal of the lacrosse culture.

In Baltimore, lacrosse is held in the highest regard, and while it continues to grow elsewhere, this city will always be its home (even if the Iroquois first technically invented it in New York.) For all intents and purposes, Baltimore is where the modern game of lacrosse started. Next weekend, expect the officials at M&T Bank, as well as the citizens of Baltimore and NCAA players, to put on an incredible show, and to demonstrate again what makes lacrosse so great. The concentration of skill and talent coming to this area in the coming week is something only Baltimore could pull off.

I would like to dedicate this post to the late Yeardley Love, of Baltimore's own Notre Dame Prep, who played at the University of Virginia and was preparing to graduate this spring. (Photo Credit: May 2008, Jim Rogash/Getty Images North America,http://www.ncaa.com/sports/m-lacros/champpage/m-lacros-div1-index.html,Algerina Perna, Baltimore Sun,www.facebook.com .)