May 24, 2008

by Matt DaSilva, Lacrosse Magazine Online Staff

FOXBOROUGH, Mass.- Tony McDevitt stood on a faded hash mark between the 30- and 40-yard lines of Gillette Stadium, his lacrosse stick draped over his right shoulder like a knapsack. The musk of sweat-stained leather would linger like a ripe reminder of how close he'd come again to an NCAA championship, only to be denied by an all-too-familiar foe.

Then it hit him, the finality. And in the shadows of blue and red seats whose edges bore 48,224 behinds just minutes earlier, McDevitt could be seen smiling.

"This is the end to a chapter of my life," he said, "and it's finally over this time."

The scrutiny of the NCAA's decision to grant McDevitt and 35 other Duke men's lacrosse teammates from 2006 an additional year of eligibility, however, has only just begun.

A year ago, the press corps applauded when Duke's players left their microphones following a bitter loss to Johns Hopkins in the 2007 NCAA Division I men's lacrosse championship game in Baltimore.

On Saturday, the teams were the same, but the tone had changed.

In a press conference following the Blue Devils' 10-9 semifinal loss to the Blue Jays, former Boston Globe sports editor and current ESPN senior news editor Don Skwar peppered Dan Loftus and Matt Danowski, two of five players to accept the extra eligibility, about their fifth years.

It made for an awkward exchange.

Skwar: "Dan, when you made your decision to come back for your fifth year, what was your goal?"

Loftus: "I mean, I came back obviously to win a national championship, and a chance to get another degree from Duke University. I just love lacrosse. I can't get enough of it. I'm a lax rat. I love to see those guys, and when it's the last time you're ever going to see us play with them again..."

[Loftus pinched the bridge of his nose to try to stem the tears, as Danowski sat down beside him.]

Skwar (to Danowski): "I'd like to use the same question: when you decided to come back for a fifth year, what was your goal?

"

Matt Danowski: "To win a national championship. That's it."

Skwar: "So now that that has not been accomplished, how do you feel?

Danowski: "Pretty upset about it."

Loftus: "What do you think? I mean, what do you think?"

John Danowski: "Fellas, don't. Don't take the bait.

Skwar: "I just wanted to get your..."

Matt Danowski: "That's it."

It left an uncomfortable air inside the room, like family fighting at the dinner table. Duke head coach John Danowski, known as a wink-and-smile type, scowled at Skwar.

Hey, the good vibes could not last forever.

"The media did a good job all along hoping that Duke went away and tried to get people against us," Matt Danowski later said. "That's something we're accustomed to at Duke. Everybody hates Duke basketball; nobody wants to see them winning. Nobody wants to see Duke lacrosse win, either.

"You've got the guy who writes the article, 'Anybody but Duke,' and they're talking about the fifth-year advantage on 'Outside the Lines.' We're used to that stuff, but that guy (Skwar), to bring it up to that point, was just annoying."

Duke carried 12 natural seniors into the postseason, and the next wave of scrutiny awaits All-Americans like Zack Greer, the NCAA's all-time leading goal scorer, Brad Ross and Ned Crotty. Will they return for their fifth years in 2009?

Asked where he would have been Saturday had he not had the opportunity to play another year, Danowski said, "I don't know, sitting on my couch at home on Long Island? I threw all my chips in this basket."

McDevitt, for one, said he had no regrets about his decision, even though "we picked a pretty bad day to have our worst game." As for the relief of a smile, he added, "I think we have the most fun in Division I. We're not going to let our season be defined by one game."