Be forewarned, the following post is something you will probably be totally uninterested in. Not that that’s unusual, but it’s also sports related, so it’ll be doubly dull to all you non-sports people, and even the sports people will probably not give a crap. Anyhow…

Today, the SU Lacrosse team returns to its rightful place in the NCAA National Championship game, bouncing back from a 5-8 record and missing the lacrosse playoffs for the first time in 25 years last season. The year before, that, they missed the final four for the first time in 22 years (during those 22 years, they played in the championship game 14 times, winning 9).

They made the finals with a double overtime win against Virginia on Saturday, and they’ll play Johns Hopkins at 1:00 today (on ESPN HD). It’s kind of fitting that they’re playing Hopkins, because 25 years ago SU won its first national championship against them. The team that wins today will be the first to win 10 national championships.

Back in 1983, lacrosse was considered a sport for the rich kids (despite the fact that it originated right here with the Hau de no sau nee, who consider the game – which they call iDeyhontsigwa’ehs – a sacred gift from the Creator).

The Onondaga Nation (one of the “Iroquois” nations, and the seat of the confederation that the United States was based on and the world’s oldest living democracy) were playing “field Lacrosse” with the local colleges and universities in the area, commonly playing Syracuse University, Colgate University and Army in the early 1900’s.

In 1932, the Olympics wanted to showcase lacrosse in Los Angeles. The Onondaga Nation team (undefeated against collegiate competition) was chosen to play – you guessed it – Johns Hopkins to represent the sport. Sadly, Hopkins won, but the USA Lacrosse association was intimidated enough by the Onondagas that they banned all native teams from playing field lacrosse (considering them “professional” players). That’s when they started playing box lacrosse, which is basically lacrosse in a hockey rink (without the ice, and with about a tenth the padding; not for the feint hearted).

Despite a lot of good teams and players over the years (including possibly the best lacrosse player of all time – not to mention perhaps the best running back and track star ever – Jim Brown; in 1957, SU was undefeated behind Brown and their All-American goalie Oren Lyons, Faithkeeper of the Turtle Clan of the Onondagas, international environmental activist, and friend of Stevie Van Zandt), SU lacrosse went more or less unnoticed as the USILA awarded national titles in lieu of a playoff system to the more ‘elite’ schools (quite often to – you guessed it – Johns Hopkins).

In 1983, SU was coached by Roy Simmons Jr, who’d succeeded his father (Roy Simmons Sr, who had coached Jim Brown and Oren Lyons) in 1971. Roy Jr is an artist, and he coached that way, allowing his players the freedom to express themselves in the way they played. They also had a tendency to knock people on their asses when they got in the way (more akin to the Hau de no sau nee style than what the rich frat boys were used to). So the lacrosse ‘elite’ dismissed (sneered at, even) Syracuse. But they went 13-1, and made it to the championship game for the first time ever.

At a banquet attended by both teams on the night before the game, Simmons was asked to say a few words. He took the opportunity to deliberately mispronounce the school name (he repeatedly referred to them as ‘John Hopkins,’ which is apparently the equivalent of saying the ‘Democrat Party’) and guarantee an SU win (at this point, Hopkins had been to seven straight championship games and hadn’t lost to SU since 1922). I think he pissed them off a bit.

Around here, we consider lacrosse to be “our” sport. Simmons was born and raised here, as was his assistant (current head coach, John Desko) and sixteen of the players (including the goalie, Travis Solomon, a member of the Onondaga nation). They weren’t just playing for the University, they were playing for ‘Syracuse.’

By about the halfway point of the third quarter, Hopkins was up 12-5, and their smug fans and coaches were full of smiles. Then SU went on a 9-1 tear, eventually going on to win 17-16, with Syracuse area players scoring 14 of of their 17 goals.

The popularity of the Syracuse style of play – once dismissed, and now copied – has made the lacrosse championship the most attended NCAA championship event (yes, that’s correct, more people attend it than attend even the basketball final four). Some 50,000 people will be at the game this afternoon in Foxboro, and ESPN even has the ‘sky cam’ in effect (more synchronicity. ESPN has SU alum Dave Ryan and former Johns Hopkins goalie Quint Kessenich calling the game). All for people who are regular size human beings who actually have to go to class once in a while and don’t get full-ride scholarships.

So, there’s your Syracuse lacrosse history lesson for the day. Let’s just hope SU can bring home another National Championship. We’ve had a couple tough sports years around here, and a win today would help take the sting out of going back to work tomorrow.

Happy Memorial Day everybody!

UPDATE: Foxboro, Mass — The Syracuse University men’s lacrosse team came all the way back from last season’s 5-8 record, defeating Johns Hopkins 13-10 at Gillette Stadium to win its 10th Division I national championship. The Orange became the second team in NCAA history to go from missing the playoffs one season to winning the title the next. The other team? The 1983 SU team, which was honored at halftime on the 25th anniversary of that special season.