He's a bad man:
O'Neil was also nominated for LI's Player of The Year, as a sophomore.
More insane highlights:
O'Neil was also nominated for LI's Player of The Year, as a sophomore.
More insane highlights:
SIAP: #1 MLAX Recruit Brennan O'Neil (PSU Commit)
- Thread starter ColinPSU
- Start date
That’s great that the number one recruit is going to Penn State.
Caught a few of his matches while waiting for my son’s games at the huge Summit Classic tournament in Lake Placid NY back in July (awesome road trip if you ever get the chance!) ...
kid kinda stands out
kid kinda stands out
So, the question is, with basically no real future, beyond college, in the sport comprised of failed baseball players, why would anyone who was good enough to go wherever they wanted chose PSU when you could go to Johns Hopkins, Yale, Penn, Cornell, etc. and still play top level competition? Get the best education you can out of these sports that don't have legitimate professional futures (in the short-term), kids.
Who are you, Andy Bernard?
IIRC, his commitment was part of the rule change limiting coaching to speaking with coaches until 9/1 of the recruits’ junior year of high school (which was the genesis of Midnight Mania recruiting showcase.)
"Sport of failed baseball players" could not be further from the truth and the single worst description of a lacrosse player I have ever heard. That is like calling a football player a failed golf player. Entirely different sports that appeal to total opposite sportsman requiring different skills and athleticism.
I know that description rankles lax bros, but it’s historically accurate. Kids try baseball, and if they are successful (can hit and throw), they stay with it. If they struggle, they try lax and see if it’s more a fit for them because it’s less about acquired skill and more focused on running around.
Nowadays there’s also the element of attention span, so some decent hand-eye coordination kids are giving lax a try because it’s constant motion and over quickly, but, generally, those kids do both sports until they have to decide at an advanced age.
There is no real correlation between lacrosse and baseball that I'm aware of. My nephew is an up and coming lacrosse player and he maybe played one hear of t ball and then football and lacrosse, and not just lacrosse.
You are a useless tool!!! Where I grew up, you played lacrosse and if you weren't any good at that you tried baseball or golf or bowling or slow pitch, games more akin to your capabilities, tool!!
This sounds just like the Basketball/Hockey phenomenon. Kids try basketball then if they can't shoot or make a layup just decide to strap on skates. Because that's how "acquired skills" work.
Before attacking the kid’s choice, we might also want to consider that it came down to: which Program and staff he liked, which school environment he liked, intended major, etc. Shocking stuff, I know.
No, that’s not how “basketball/hockey” works. Both those sports are more "acquired skill" endeavors, with hockey obviously much more time/labor intensive.
There was just recently some news segment (ESPN maybe? I just had it on in the background as I was doing other things) about lacrosse - some adult decided to start a high school lacrosse program, and he had to start it with kids that never played the game before. Within a year that team was competitive at the high school level. You would never see that with hockey, or even basketball - advanced age kids who had never skated or dribbled a basketball suddenly becoming good at the sport almost overnight (unless you're a 7 footer in basketball).
Hockey and basketball, by contrast, are sports where the decision to play one or the other is made early on. We do see a couple of kids transition out of hockey and into basketball, but almost never the other way around. Hockey is a year-round sport by age 8 where I live (MA).
Lacrosse is more akin to football, where kids often don't start playing the sport in an organized fashion until their freshman year, because most positions in football don't require those "acquired skills" in order to succeed. You get yourself a generally athletic kid who likes/doesn't mind contact, and you can quickly turn him into a successful football player at most positions.
Lacrosse is pretty popular around here, but even the guy who runs our youth organization and played college lacrosse, will tell you that, when it comes to spring sports, if you have a dual-sport same-season athlete (lacrosse and baseball both being spring sports, first and foremost, here) and you are facing a time crunch in any particular year, you would give up lacrosse for that year, because you aren't going to fall behind in lacrosse the same way you would baseball. His sons do both, right now. I actually wish my kids would take it up, as they were able to throw, catch and cradle very quickly, and they're coordinated/fairly athletic so they would do well and enjoy it. But they just want to play baseball in the spring.
Last edited:
uh the Green Hornets would disagree with much of what you are saying. It looks in fact, they hired one the finest lacrosse players to ever play, to be in charge of their youth program. (Mole man, Michael Burnett)
ABOUT: The Green Hornets Boy’s Lacrosse Program began in 1969 and has continued to serve the proud lacrosse tradition Severna Park holds. The Green Hornets are committed to developing our community’s lacrosse players by giving them the opportunity to develop and achieve their goals as an athlete on and off the field. The Green Hornets staff is able to assist lacrosse players that are aspiring to compete at the highest level, as well as lacrosse players who want to learn more about the sport and have fun.
Green Hornets offers:
(See highlighted links below)
- Fall Camp/Clinic: Open to all Players. NEW Program! Register now.
- Select Teams: Require a tryout and play in the new Fall League, Spring League, and June Tournaments NEW Program! Register now!
- Spring League: Traditional “in season” rec & select lacrosse. Register now!
Director of coach and player development:
Mike Burnett
- National Lacrosse Hall of Fame
- UNC Chapel Hill Lacrosse Coach
- National Champion lacrosse player at UNC Chapel Hill (1981-82)
- Named one of the Top 50 players in Atlantic Coast Conference lacrosse history in August 2002
I don't follow - is lacrosse more akin to football with kids not playing until high school or is your anecdotal example of the youth organized coach and your kids playing (whether it's casual or not) exceptions to the rule?
Well, I wasn't clear there ... I was making the point that football often CAN be picked up and played well as a frosh, and that lacrosse is generally the same. But as to when people ACTUALLY pick up the game, that can be different.
And that was a comparative to baseball and other acquired skill sports. My sons could sign up for lacrosse right now (ages 9 and 11 in the spring) and do pretty well just based on athleticism and a few weeks of stick work. We've had lacrosse kids try out baseball after not picking up a bat in an organized fashion since age 6 tee ball (when they were at about the same skill level as other kids), and it's been ugly, despite them otherwise being good athletes.
Lacrosse is pretty popular around here now.
uh the Green Hornets would disagree with much of what you are saying. It looks in fact, they hired one the finest lacrosse players to ever play, to be in charge of their youth program. (Mole man, Michael Burnett)
ABOUT: The Green Hornets Boy’s Lacrosse Program began in 1969 and has continued to serve the proud lacrosse tradition Severna Park holds. The Green Hornets are committed to developing our community’s lacrosse players by giving them the opportunity to develop and achieve their goals as an athlete on and off the field. The Green Hornets staff is able to assist lacrosse players that are aspiring to compete at the highest level, as well as lacrosse players who want to learn more about the sport and have fun.
Green Hornets offers:
(See highlighted links below)
- Fall Camp/Clinic: Open to all Players. NEW Program! Register now.
- Select Teams: Require a tryout and play in the new Fall League, Spring League, and June Tournaments NEW Program! Register now!
- Spring League: Traditional “in season” rec & select lacrosse. Register now!
Director of coach and player development:
Mike Burnett
- National Lacrosse Hall of Fame
- UNC Chapel Hill Lacrosse Coach
- National Champion lacrosse player at UNC Chapel Hill (1981-82)
- Named one of the Top 50 players in Atlantic Coast Conference lacrosse history in August 2002
Uh, OK. Not sure what that informational disclosure was meant to prove, but it's duly noted.
Lacrosse is more akin to football in that kids with little to no exposure to the sport can pick it up at an advanced age and quickly succeed, if they're generally athletic. I hope that clears up your confusion.
Lacrosse is more akin to football, where kids often don't start playing the sport in an organized fashion until their freshman year,
those kids dont look like (and are not) freshmen. They start playing organized LAX well before the freshman year.
I cleared up this potential confusion ... (tackle) football often isn't played in an organized fashion until high school. And lacrosse is more akin to that sport (football) than other sports, in that you can pick it up at a relatively late age, and still transition into it successfully as long as you're generally athletic.
Yes, kids play tackle football at a young age. And they play lacrosse at a young age.
Understand now?
Simply complicated you just have no evidence to support your theory here with the exception of one example of a town God knows where that had leftover baseball players transitioning to lacrosse. I played division 1 lacrosse and I can tell you, empirically, that not 1 of my teammates ever played baseball or had even the slightest desire to. Hockey? Sure....Football? Sure, like sports. No lacrosse player has ever said "boy, I wish I was better at that slow sport my granddaddy played so I didn't have to get caught up in this lacrosse stuff." In "lacrosse" regions, as has been stated above( northeast, Colorado, and growing) kids literally never consider baseball. In my town, lacrosse was the preeminent sport in the town and many towns across this country. In my town, if you could not cut the 2 deep at lacrosse, you played baseball.
My kid is young, but pretty good at baseball. We gave Lacrosse a shot last year, and he liked it, but there is a definite overlap in time. As he gets older, there is no way to do both. I'm not sure its "kids who can't make it in baseball", but there is a point where its one or the other- plus the kids who are good at baseball at a young age, stay with baseball. Lacrosse seems like something you can pick up later with some speed and hand eye coordination. After playing baseball, catching and shooting were no real problem in lacrosse.
I wish lacrosse was a fall sport..... but that overlaps with football obviously.
No evidence? It's pretty much a nationwide phenomenon. Has been. Every town in this area, where I know parents who have or have had kids growing up in athletics, has experienced the same thing. MA, PA, NY, NJ, CT.
If you live in a pocket of exception, okey dokey.
Non-binding verbal made in 8th grade. You do realize he can change his mind at any point in the process until he signs his NLI, and probably even after.
Since lacrosse is so easy to pick up, I suggest your kids do so which will guarantee them D1 scholarships (I can explain lacrosse scholarships to you, if you’d like).
Going broader here, I’m not sure why kids who are really good at baseball still play in college given how few get to the majors. This latest point is meant as sarcasm.
Sorry, did you say where you live? Here in SE PA these kids are starting to play lax in third grade or earlier. People in this area would laugh at the "failed baseball analogy". The sport is picking up the best athletes at an early age in this area.
Hang on, you are suggesting in those states lacrosse teams are constructured of youth baseball kids that couldn't hack it? Okay dokey.
I put SimplyConstipated on the Ignore List quite awhile ago but decided to see who and what you were responding to -- an obvious reminder of why he's on that list.
I could easily be the best lacrosse player in the U.S., but I choose not to.
Eastern MA. Lacrosse is fairly popular here. 3rd grade is a late start for any sport, except tackle football, around these parts. You try to play baseball in 3rd grade, you’re 4 years behind. You already missed the first year of travel all-stars and AAU teams have already formed. Lax starts in 1st. You shouldn’t bother trying hockey after 1st grade.
Easy, lax bro.
I referenced being decent at the sport, picking it up late, not getting a D1 slot. No need to get worked up over basic truths.
And your last paragraph is off the rails. It’s awful sarcasm. Kids who are REALLY good at baseball often don’t even play in college. Regardless, who said anything about kids not playing in college? That’s silly. I mentioned parlaying a sport with no future (yes, I know about MLL) beyond college, no matter how good you are, into the best possible education. It’s not like football, where a stud can attend OSU and then make tens of millions of dollars, whereas if he decided to attend Yale, his likelihood of developing and getting that money would drop tremendously. Many of the top academic colleges play top level lacrosse, so you’re missing out on very little by choosing Penn over Penn State, for example. But you’re gaining a better degree.
Similar threads
