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We Showed Baltimore: The Lacrosse Revolution of the 1970s and Richie Moran's Big Red
In We Showed Baltimore, Christian Swezey tells the dramatic story of how a brash coach from Long Island and a group of players unlike any in the sport helped unseat lacrosse's establishment.
From 1976 to 1978, the Cornell men's lacrosse team went on a tear. Winning two national championships and posting an overall record of 42–1, the Big Red, coached by Richie Moran, were the class of the NCAA game. Swezey tells the story of the rise of this dominant lacrosse program and reveals how Cornell's success coincided with and sometimes fueled radical changes in what was once a minor prep school game centered in the Baltimore suburbs.
Led on the field by the likes of Mike French and Eamon McEneaney, in the mid-1970s Cornell was an offensive powerhouse. Moran coached the players to be in fast, constant movement. That technique, paired with the advent of synthetic stick heads and the introduction of artificial turf fields, made the Cornell offensive game swift and lethal. It is no surprise that the first NCAA championship game covered by ABC Television was Cornell vs. Maryland in 1976. The 16–13 Cornell win, in overtime, was exactly the exciting game that Moran encouraged and that newcomers to the sport wanted to see.
Swezey recounts Cornell's dramatic games against traditional powers such as Maryland, Navy, and Johns Hopkins, and gets into the strategy and psychology that Moran brought to the team. We Showed Baltimore describes how the game of lacrosse was changing—its style of play, equipment, demographics, and geography. Pulling from interviews with more than ninety former coaches and players from Cornell and its rivals, We Showed Baltimore paints a vivid picture of lacrosse in the 1970s and how Moran and the Big Red helped create the game of today.
From 1976 to 1978, the Cornell men's lacrosse team went on a tear. Winning two national championships and posting an overall record of 42–1, the Big Red, coached by Richie Moran, were the class of the NCAA game. Swezey tells the story of the rise of this dominant lacrosse program and reveals how Cornell's success coincided with and sometimes fueled radical changes in what was once a minor prep school game centered in the Baltimore suburbs.
Led on the field by the likes of Mike French and Eamon McEneaney, in the mid-1970s Cornell was an offensive powerhouse. Moran coached the players to be in fast, constant movement. That technique, paired with the advent of synthetic stick heads and the introduction of artificial turf fields, made the Cornell offensive game swift and lethal. It is no surprise that the first NCAA championship game covered by ABC Television was Cornell vs. Maryland in 1976. The 16–13 Cornell win, in overtime, was exactly the exciting game that Moran encouraged and that newcomers to the sport wanted to see.
Swezey recounts Cornell's dramatic games against traditional powers such as Maryland, Navy, and Johns Hopkins, and gets into the strategy and psychology that Moran brought to the team. We Showed Baltimore describes how the game of lacrosse was changing—its style of play, equipment, demographics, and geography. Pulling from interviews with more than ninety former coaches and players from Cornell and its rivals, We Showed Baltimore paints a vivid picture of lacrosse in the 1970s and how Moran and the Big Red helped create the game of today.
- GenresSports
368 pages, ebook
Published April 15, 2022
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
March 2, 2022
Before the 1970’s, college lacrosse was dominated by five schools, collectively known as the “Big Five” – Army, Johns Hopkins, Maryland, Navy and Virginia. Cornell University’s program was getting better as the 1970’s approached and went through their 1970 season undefeated. At that time a team had to selected by writers to win the national championship. Cornell did not gain the votes needed, which made their coaches, players and athletic department upset enough to call for a tournament. This led to a very successful decade of lacrosse for Cornell and that decade is captured in this excellent book by Christian Swezey.
Swezey is a well-respected lacrosse writer – his knowledge and the depth of his research shines in this book that is best described as a history book of the Cornell lacrosse team for the decade of the 1970’s. Just about any question or piece of information you would want to know about those squads can be found in these pages. There is much information on the two coaches of that decade – Ned Harkness, who also coached the hockey team, and Richie Moran. Harkness left after the undefeated 1970 season to take an NHL job, leaving the program to Moran.
That was a wise decision, as the book does a great job in describing Moran’s teams, his players and his coaching style for the decade. The book never goes too deeply into personal lives, whether Moran or star players like Eamon McEneaney, Mike French and Tom Marino. There are some sections which get very detailed, such the recruiting of McEneaney or even the description of what some of the players did in a hotel room before an NCAA tournament game (listing the Friday night TV programs they watched in the hotel room). This does give the reader a decent look at the person being profiled.
Unlike many books about teams or athletes from different eras, there is not a lot of text about the social and political climate of the time. Of course, since this is about a college sports team during the 1970’s there is some mention of the Vietnam war and the associated protests. But that type of commentary is not often found in the book. Instead, more is written about the sport of lacrosse and those changes, such as the introduction of plastic sticks, which were much easier for players to use and more affordable than the traditional wooden sticks. This was an excellent way to introduce the reader to the changes that were occurring in the sport during the decade.
But the best writing by Swezey is when writing about the action on the field and associated actions that occurred, such as the switching of Cornell’s home field from natural grass to artificial turf to accommodate the training and practice regiments of Moran. This led to better conditioned players for Cornell and combined with the outstanding skills of the players, Cornell ended up winning the NCAA championships three times in the decade – 1971, 1976 and 1977. Their championship games, especially the 1977 one against Johns Hopkins, is great reading for detailed, on-field action.
For any reader interested in the sport of lacrosse, whether a newcomer or a long-time fan or player, this book is one that must be added to their library. It doesn’t matter if the reader knows much about the history of Cornell lacrosse because it is such a great read about the sport itself that every person who likes the game will like the book.
I wish to thank Cornell University Press for providing a copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.
https://sportsbookguy.blogspot.com/20...
Swezey is a well-respected lacrosse writer – his knowledge and the depth of his research shines in this book that is best described as a history book of the Cornell lacrosse team for the decade of the 1970’s. Just about any question or piece of information you would want to know about those squads can be found in these pages. There is much information on the two coaches of that decade – Ned Harkness, who also coached the hockey team, and Richie Moran. Harkness left after the undefeated 1970 season to take an NHL job, leaving the program to Moran.
That was a wise decision, as the book does a great job in describing Moran’s teams, his players and his coaching style for the decade. The book never goes too deeply into personal lives, whether Moran or star players like Eamon McEneaney, Mike French and Tom Marino. There are some sections which get very detailed, such the recruiting of McEneaney or even the description of what some of the players did in a hotel room before an NCAA tournament game (listing the Friday night TV programs they watched in the hotel room). This does give the reader a decent look at the person being profiled.
Unlike many books about teams or athletes from different eras, there is not a lot of text about the social and political climate of the time. Of course, since this is about a college sports team during the 1970’s there is some mention of the Vietnam war and the associated protests. But that type of commentary is not often found in the book. Instead, more is written about the sport of lacrosse and those changes, such as the introduction of plastic sticks, which were much easier for players to use and more affordable than the traditional wooden sticks. This was an excellent way to introduce the reader to the changes that were occurring in the sport during the decade.
But the best writing by Swezey is when writing about the action on the field and associated actions that occurred, such as the switching of Cornell’s home field from natural grass to artificial turf to accommodate the training and practice regiments of Moran. This led to better conditioned players for Cornell and combined with the outstanding skills of the players, Cornell ended up winning the NCAA championships three times in the decade – 1971, 1976 and 1977. Their championship games, especially the 1977 one against Johns Hopkins, is great reading for detailed, on-field action.
For any reader interested in the sport of lacrosse, whether a newcomer or a long-time fan or player, this book is one that must be added to their library. It doesn’t matter if the reader knows much about the history of Cornell lacrosse because it is such a great read about the sport itself that every person who likes the game will like the book.
I wish to thank Cornell University Press for providing a copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.
https://sportsbookguy.blogspot.com/20...
May 21, 2022
How perfect that on the weekend of the NCAA lacrosse championship semifinals that I get to write about this book. And it's doubly fitting that the school that's the main focus of this book is Cornell who will be playing this weekend.
We Showed Baltimore by Christian Swezey indeed shows how the Cornell University lacrosse team infiltrated the tightly sealed lacrosse community to beat Johns Hopkins, one of the five major players on the scene in the 1970s. This book covers that magical period when Cornell rose through the ranks with incredibly talented players and a highly committed coach to become one of the most praised teams when it comes to lacrosse.
I've been a lacrosse fan since my son stumbled onto a team at age 7 and continues to play as a 17-year old in high school. I never expressed interest before this time, and I went to a high school in North Jersey that held lacrosse in high esteem. In fact, within the first chapter, my school is mentioned and one of the alumni, which I didn't even expect.
Although the human interest stories about the players and coaches grabbed me, some parts of the book moved slow. I liked hearing about the rise of lacrosse in different areas like upstate New York, where Cornell is located, and was surprised because I thought that Baltimore and this area carried the most weight. I knew that Virginia was a hotbed and Long Island, too. I never realized that New Jersey was just starting to come into their own with the sport.
I also found the fast evolution from wooden stick to plastic stick fascinating. It really revolutionized the way the game is played. Also, this contributed to the spread of lacrosse throughout the Northeast and made it easier to attract more players. I would have liked a lot more about the origin of lacrosse from the Native American population. That would be a boon to this book.
If you're a player yourself of any level, you may find the recaps of the games captivating. Maybe it's just me, but it was hard to envision the games with the dense information. I feel the same way about battle scenes--I have trouble following them. The pictures help, but it didn't resonate with me. Any human aspects surrounding the games were engaging and interesting, but sometimes, I found trouble getting excited about the games. Someone who actually played the sport may be more in tune with what the author was trying to express.
While I did find it slow as sometimes you'll notice during lacrosse games, the speed picks up just like a game in real life. Many parts kept me enrapt in the story, but other times, it jumped around too much. Either way, here's wishing Cornell good luck this weekend.
Thank you, Cornell University Press, for an advanced reading copy of this book in exchange for an honest review! It was a pleasure!
We Showed Baltimore by Christian Swezey indeed shows how the Cornell University lacrosse team infiltrated the tightly sealed lacrosse community to beat Johns Hopkins, one of the five major players on the scene in the 1970s. This book covers that magical period when Cornell rose through the ranks with incredibly talented players and a highly committed coach to become one of the most praised teams when it comes to lacrosse.
I've been a lacrosse fan since my son stumbled onto a team at age 7 and continues to play as a 17-year old in high school. I never expressed interest before this time, and I went to a high school in North Jersey that held lacrosse in high esteem. In fact, within the first chapter, my school is mentioned and one of the alumni, which I didn't even expect.
Although the human interest stories about the players and coaches grabbed me, some parts of the book moved slow. I liked hearing about the rise of lacrosse in different areas like upstate New York, where Cornell is located, and was surprised because I thought that Baltimore and this area carried the most weight. I knew that Virginia was a hotbed and Long Island, too. I never realized that New Jersey was just starting to come into their own with the sport.
I also found the fast evolution from wooden stick to plastic stick fascinating. It really revolutionized the way the game is played. Also, this contributed to the spread of lacrosse throughout the Northeast and made it easier to attract more players. I would have liked a lot more about the origin of lacrosse from the Native American population. That would be a boon to this book.
If you're a player yourself of any level, you may find the recaps of the games captivating. Maybe it's just me, but it was hard to envision the games with the dense information. I feel the same way about battle scenes--I have trouble following them. The pictures help, but it didn't resonate with me. Any human aspects surrounding the games were engaging and interesting, but sometimes, I found trouble getting excited about the games. Someone who actually played the sport may be more in tune with what the author was trying to express.
While I did find it slow as sometimes you'll notice during lacrosse games, the speed picks up just like a game in real life. Many parts kept me enrapt in the story, but other times, it jumped around too much. Either way, here's wishing Cornell good luck this weekend.
Thank you, Cornell University Press, for an advanced reading copy of this book in exchange for an honest review! It was a pleasure!
July 3, 2022
Just finished “We Showed Baltimore", an intimate and exhaustively researched story about the success of the Cornell lacrosse program during the decade of the 1970s. Christian Swezey’s game descriptions are wonderfully detailed, as are his profiles of the main characters in the Cornell saga (Coach Moran, Eamon McIneany) as well as the supporting cast of other Big Red players. To his credit, he also devotes a generous amount of ink to Cornell’s key opposing players and coaches. But his focus on the role that technological advances in lax equipment played (plastic stick heads replacing the venerable wooden sticks) is an equally important theme. Swezey interviewed an impressive number of individuals over the course of several years, and those first-hand accounts add to the flavor of this book. My only criticism is that Swezey sometimes repeats the same information in different places. Other than that minor annoyance, the rest of the book is excellent.
It was fun to relive some of those seminal games of the late 70s. I went to Washington and Lee from 1972-76 and vividly recall those memorable spring road trips up to Baltimore and College Park for the NCAA tournament games, especially W&L’s earth-shaking upset of John’s Hopkins in the 1975 quarterfinals. Though my Generals lost the semi-finals convincingly to those great Maryland Terrapin teams of 1975 and 1976, it was just a blast to be a part of it (never played, but was a fanatic follower of the sport).
Like other W&L freshman, I purchased a lax stick in spring of 1973 (an unwieldy, wooden defenseman stick) and broke my share of windows in the freshman quad! At a school as small as W&L (average class size of 400+ students), you got to know just about everyone, including the lacrosse players who lived in the same dorms, ate in the same dining hall, took the same classes and were even frat brothers and neighbors. The lax players I knew on the team were, without exception, great guys. I recall feeling very bad for them the day Cornell shut out W&L in the 1976 quarterfinals 14-0. I just kept thinking “how can Cornell be better than Hopkins or Maryland?” But the Big Red were invincible those two years (1976-77).
I kept that old wooden lacrosse stick until the day my wife and I sold our house three years ago. I ended up bequeathing it to our neighbor’s son who is now playing high school lax as a defenseman (no, he doesn’t use that old wooden war club!) He’s pretty good and might end up with a college scholarship in either football or lacrosse. When I gave him the stick, I told him some stories about lacrosse in the 1970s and urged him to keep the stick for inspiration. Now, I might just lend him this book as well!
It was fun to relive some of those seminal games of the late 70s. I went to Washington and Lee from 1972-76 and vividly recall those memorable spring road trips up to Baltimore and College Park for the NCAA tournament games, especially W&L’s earth-shaking upset of John’s Hopkins in the 1975 quarterfinals. Though my Generals lost the semi-finals convincingly to those great Maryland Terrapin teams of 1975 and 1976, it was just a blast to be a part of it (never played, but was a fanatic follower of the sport).
Like other W&L freshman, I purchased a lax stick in spring of 1973 (an unwieldy, wooden defenseman stick) and broke my share of windows in the freshman quad! At a school as small as W&L (average class size of 400+ students), you got to know just about everyone, including the lacrosse players who lived in the same dorms, ate in the same dining hall, took the same classes and were even frat brothers and neighbors. The lax players I knew on the team were, without exception, great guys. I recall feeling very bad for them the day Cornell shut out W&L in the 1976 quarterfinals 14-0. I just kept thinking “how can Cornell be better than Hopkins or Maryland?” But the Big Red were invincible those two years (1976-77).
I kept that old wooden lacrosse stick until the day my wife and I sold our house three years ago. I ended up bequeathing it to our neighbor’s son who is now playing high school lax as a defenseman (no, he doesn’t use that old wooden war club!) He’s pretty good and might end up with a college scholarship in either football or lacrosse. When I gave him the stick, I told him some stories about lacrosse in the 1970s and urged him to keep the stick for inspiration. Now, I might just lend him this book as well!
March 30, 2025
Well written sports story, the spread of modern lacrosse from an insular and regional sport, told from the perspective of a program that played a major role (Cornell university, my Alma mater). The beginning jumps around, but fairly quickly settles into a chronology with more flow. The human interest side also is well developed, which helps tell the story as well.
June 27, 2022
Just finished Christian Swezey's book "We Showed Baltimore" a historical recollection of the Cornell Lacrosse program from about 67 to 82 with Richie Moran the HC from 70 to 97. It was interesting and provided a step stone from wooden sticks to the beginning of the modern era of plastic stick heads. It was interesting.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews