Parity in High School?

[TheKOB]

Team Colorado knocks off Team Baltimore @ Vail...

http://www.uslia.com/news.php?action=fullnews&id=220

Look at the names of the colleges after the high schools the kids are attending from Baltimore, and then compare them to the guys from Colorado.....

[smooth87]

they're going to colleges near their home state.. same with the CO kids

[TheKOB]

UNC isn't near Baltimore.

[smooth87]

north carolina is two states south of maryland.. thats close.. its not like a kid from baltimore is going to texas, bc that would be pretty far

[Monkey grass]

I think the major thing I see out of that is that Baltimore kids get recruited easily being in the mecca of lacrosse for all intent purposes. Every kid they mentioned from the Baltimore team is going somewhere relatively big, yet they lost to kids from CO with no one going to a big time lax college. Now of course East coast schools arent going to travel to CO to get recruits when they have an easier time recruiting on the East Coast I just think it shows that lax is becoming very big and in a few years national recruiting will be needed because there are going to be great kids from all over.

[stegmakk]

maybe the MD guys just cant seal the deal...
I mean they made it to the finals last year and lost last year...
not taking anything away from the CO guys it sounds like they played GREAT...

[TheKOB]

north carolina is two states south of maryland.. thats close.. its not like a kid from baltimore is going to texas, bc that would be pretty far

You missed the point. I was saying that if a team full of D1 recruits gets beat by a team of guys from Colorado, that says something about the parity of the game. I know that the CO kids were on their home turf, and also were the cream of the state, and not the cream of a city (like B'more is a mere city when it comes to lacrosse) but it's very interesting.

I don't think the kids were going to those colleges just because. If they wanted to stay close to home (5 hours is close?) they wouldn't of gone somewhere where there was a D1 lacrosse program. Basically, I'd say it's a good chance that they were going to those schools (UVA, UNC, etc) to play lacrosse and not because it was "close to home".

[CTLaxer]

Altitude and hydration play a factor when you do anything in a place like vail. I'm not saying that's why b'more lost, but it definately played it's part. Also, don't count out the team co kids, a lot of them are going to some great d3 schools that have long traditions of awesome lacrosse.

[JedimasterKyle]

I know that the CO kids were on their home turf, and also were the cream of the state, and not the cream of a city (like B'more is a mere city when it comes to lacrosse) but it's very interesting.

Actually, most of those players were from Denver, not the state. Only Green Mountain is not close to Denver. So it was basically city vs. city.

[GCSLAXER75]

coming from a Long Island boy? typical. mad about the MIAA its all good

[lyonslax98]

summer teams have a lot of variables, like how good the coaching is, how often they practice, how seriously it is taken, and how many of the best players actually play. i know this isn't what the thread is about but i guarantee MD state champ school would beat CO state champs any day.

[DwinsChamps]

Keep in mind that Team CO had an astounding goalie in Austin Konkel. At a camp last summer, i watched Mike Law and the rest of the DU attack get robbed by him for about 20 minutes straight....if not for his amazing game, Baltimore has the win.

[TitanLax]

i read the article and originally thought how these colorado players were getting ripped off. however, i realized it mentions...
"For Colorado, the story of the first half was spreading the offense. Nine different players scored their first nine goals."
maybe they r a great team but don't have great individual players.
don't rip on me i know i may be wrong i'm just hypothesizing (ha!)

[twin58]

... i guarantee MD state champ school would beat CO state champs any day.

Maybe; maybe not. Depends. On what? Well, the poster just before you had this to say:

Altitude and hydration play a factor when you do anything in a place like vail. I'm not saying that's why b'more lost, but it definately played it's part.

The first time I ever got on a snowboard was at Eldora Mountain Resort. (http://www.eldora.com/) It's above Boulder, with a base altitude of 9,200 feet above sea level (ASL). The thin air does make a difference. Look at it like this:

The highest point in Baltimore is probably between 200 and 300 feet ASL. I'm just guessing. It's probably out somewhere near Towson, Loyola, and Boys Latin. The players board a plane near sea level and go to Denver airport. Altitude: around 5,000 feet. They get on a van. As they pass through Denver, they may look over at the state capitol, where one of the steps has a marker indicating that its altitude is 5,280 ASL. "Are we there yet?" No. They keep going, up and over the Rockies. The altitude at Eagle County Regional Airport (http://www.airport-data.com/airport/EGE/#location) is 6,540 feet ASL, but it's 35 miles from Vail. Vail is higher than that. Vail's altitude is 8,150 feet above sea level. (http://www.vailjazz.org/jazz/questions_new.htm)

If a team from Baltimore were playing a team from Colorado, the game were in Colorado, and the team from Baltimore had not had the time to become acclimated to the altitude, I'd be inclined to put my money on the team from Colorado.

[NorthernViking]

Also remember the best talent from Bmore is scattered amoungs at least 12-15 (maybe more) summer club teams. I don't know how many clubs team draw the Denver talent, but I would speculate that if you took the best of the best from Bmore, put them on one team and sent them to Vail; the score would not have been close.

Another factor, as previously stated, may have been the altitude. That provides a big advantage if the players have not become acclimated. The same could be said if the Denver team came to Bmore in July or August and tried to play in the heat and humidity here. Instead of the Bmore guys feeling like they are breathing through a straw, the Denver guys would feel like they were breathing through a hot wet sponge. Advantage Bmore.

Bottom line thought is it is good to see the sport, and potentially the talent pool growing all over the country.

[twin58]

... The same could be said if the Denver team came to Bmore in July or August and tried to play in the heat and humidity here. Advantage Bmore.

They'd probably collapse just getting off the airplane. Agree.

[TheKOB]

They'd probably collapse just getting off the airplane. Agree.

Actually, it's around the 80's or 90's in Denver during the summer. The main difference would be the humidity.

In that case, I'd say a MD team AND the CO team would be beat by an Alabama team on their home turf.

Please, these are just excuses. It's not like lacrosse is JUST an endurance test. If they were being that effected there, why wouldn't they just slow the ball down?

Also, any advantage that CO had due to endurance would show itself again when they came down closer to sea level.

Give credit where credit is due...if what you guys are saying is true, why did Towson beat UD at UD this past season? Also, why don't the Bronco's prevail at every home game?

[Petem0ss]

Keep in mind that Team CO had an astounding goalie in Austin Konkel. At a camp last summer, i watched Mike Law and the rest of the DU attack get robbed by him for about 20 minutes straight....if not for his amazing game, Baltimore has the win.

Saw him play in the senior showcase in St Louis & he is legit, he will compete right away for the starting spot at Denver.

[crlacrosse]

it may be the baltimore allstar team or whatever it was called, but many of the best players in that area stay with their school clubs over the summer so they get better as a team, and im not 100% sure how much the altitude would effect the players, but i guarantee it hurt them somewhat. Also, alot of the players on baltimore were probably trying to play for their own stats rather then the team, while colorado was content with anyone scoring, as long as they got the win, which leads to my next point. many of the baltimore players were probably thinking that they were going to roll over colorado, when all the colorado players saw it as a huge oppurtunity. If they were to play again, and baltimore actually felt like they had to prove something, im certain that baltimore wouldve won.