A Tribute to Awesomeness

Admittedly, DBSF pays inadequate attention to periphery sports. Sports categorize as "periphery" for a multitude of reasons, but the most common indicators are a paucity of participating athletes of color (hockey), or absurd in-game rules (rugby). Periphery sports are different than action sports, which--with the exception of skateboarding--are played pretty much only by white people, and are pretty much exclusive to California (think wind-surfing, free-style rollerblading, wakeboarding, etc.)

So as to appease DBSF loyalists, whom hold tied to the periphery sports world, this mornings post serves as a tribute to an all-time periphery sport athlete. Perhaps few Maryland lacrosse players exhibited the dominance of Justin "Mr. Awesome" Smith from 1997 to 2004. At Dematha High School, from 97-00 Smith, a four-year starter on Varsity, earned all-American honors, was three-time WCAC first-team all-conference, and compiled 168 goals and 95 assists. After leading the Stage to the WCAC championships his senior season (in which he was also named the game's MVP) Smith went to UMBC where he amassed 35 points (24 of which were goals) as a freshmen and sophomore. Further, in a 2002 game, against lax powerhouse University of Maryland, Smith scored 4 goals and had one assist.

After two years at UMBC, Smith transferred to the University of Maryland (thus, making him not only Mr. Awesome but, also, Mr. Maryland) where he had 39 goals and 9 assists over two seasons; his junior season included the Terps going to the lacrosse Final Four at Ravens/ PSI Net Stadium. Over his college career, Smith had 16 mulit-goal games, 20 multi-point games, and 5 hat tricks. Although too modest to acknowledge his undeniable role as an all-time Maryland state laxer, DBSF will invoke the words of Smith to reflect on his phenomenal eight year career: "Meh, eh, meh yeah that was pretty awesome."