Spring Break
The Daily OrangeDesko and lacrosse: perfect together
By Jeff Passan
Posted: 4/24/02, 2:46 AM EST Section: Sports
Desko picked up the game quickly, as he did almost everything. He was a natural athlete: strong like Secretariat, fast like NASCAR and analytical like Patton. A scary troika. He saw plays before they happened, diagrammed them in the Telestrator that was his cerebrum. If someone sneaked by him, no problem. Desko ground those sequoias until he was running side-by-side with the poor guy, and he whapped him good. Then he picked up the ball, jetted by everyone and deposited it in the cage his dad made of old pipes.
Some afternoons he brought out Dave and Jeff, his younger brothers, and let them try to run with him. Others he played catch with dad, while his mom, Alene, stayed inside, offering Kevin and Billy something to eat, or drink, or whatever. She loved his friends.
Because they were the ones looking after her eldest child, her painfully shy, responsible-beyond-his-years son. They all went to that first practice together and faced Messere, a short, stout intimidator who took over the West Genesee High School program in 1976 and has since amassed a 544-32 record. He demanded success. They complied. Messere stuck Desko at midfield. Let the hyena run, he figured. What good is he stuck at either end of the field?
Success begat more success, and Kevin and Billy and John won three section championships at West Genesee High School. Colleges came calling.
A guy named Roy Simmons Jr. rang the house one day. The name was familiar, sure. He coached the Orangemen, who went 3-8 the previous season. He wanted Desko to come to Syracuse University, join his buddies Kevin Donahue and Billy Udovich. He wanted to build a championship team with local kids, like his father, Roy Simmons Sr., had done from 1931 until 1970. And like SU’s first coach, Laurie Cox, had done from 1916 until 1930.
Desko visited SU only a couple times in his life, despite living just seven miles away. He saw a basketball game or two at Manley Field House, took in a few football games at Archbold Stadium.
Some afternoons he brought out Dave and Jeff, his younger brothers, and let them try to run with him. Others he played catch with dad, while his mom, Alene, stayed inside, offering Kevin and Billy something to eat, or drink, or whatever. She loved his friends.
Because they were the ones looking after her eldest child, her painfully shy, responsible-beyond-his-years son. They all went to that first practice together and faced Messere, a short, stout intimidator who took over the West Genesee High School program in 1976 and has since amassed a 544-32 record. He demanded success. They complied. Messere stuck Desko at midfield. Let the hyena run, he figured. What good is he stuck at either end of the field?
Success begat more success, and Kevin and Billy and John won three section championships at West Genesee High School. Colleges came calling.
A guy named Roy Simmons Jr. rang the house one day. The name was familiar, sure. He coached the Orangemen, who went 3-8 the previous season. He wanted Desko to come to Syracuse University, join his buddies Kevin Donahue and Billy Udovich. He wanted to build a championship team with local kids, like his father, Roy Simmons Sr., had done from 1931 until 1970. And like SU’s first coach, Laurie Cox, had done from 1916 until 1930.
Desko visited SU only a couple times in his life, despite living just seven miles away. He saw a basketball game or two at Manley Field House, took in a few football games at Archbold Stadium.
