Mr. [Brian] Langtry teaches humanities and literature to seventh- and eighth-graders at the Challenge School in the Cherry Creek School District near Denver, CO. Mr. Langtry...guides his students through lessons on the Middle East, China, the Russian revolution, and literature; he instructs through literature, bringing the study of Russian history, using such works as Animal Farm.

"I like teaching the Orwell books," Mr. Langtry says. "I encourage the kids to identify from the real people in the history of the Communist revolution, the characters in the book."

But sometimes, Mr. Langtry comes to class with a black eye.

So begins Weekend Warriors, a history of professional Lacrosse in the United States. As noted in last week's issue of The Massapequan Observer, Brian Langtry, a native of Massapequa, is one of the players profiled in the book. But he's not just any player. In 2006, he led his team, the Colorado Mammoth to the National Lacrosse League title.

Last season was the highlight of a professional lacrosse career that began for Langtry in 1998. In Weekend Warriors, Langtry tells of his growing up years in Massapequa. He started playing the game when he was "seven or eight." By the time he attended St. Anthony's High School, he already was an accomplished player. He also played football for St. Anthony's and in his own estimation was the team's star. In his junior year, he was already St. Anthony's starting quarterback. However, a leg injury ended his football career and Langtry began concentrating on lacrosse.

While still in his junior year at St. Anthony's, several big name universities, including Syracuse, Johns Hopkins, Brown, and North Carolina, offered Langtry letters of intent. But the Massapequa native chose Hofstra. His older brother, Rich, was already playing lacrosse at Hofstra, plus Langtry wanted to stay in Long Island, to be near his girlfriend. After letting Hofstra know he planned to join their lacrosse program, Langtry, in his senior year at St. Anthony's, scored an astounding 70 goals and 30 assists in a 15-game season.

In Weekend Warriors, Langtry said he didn't like the Hofstra program, claiming that it ran an offense that was too limited. That didn't stop him from being a star there. At Hofstra, Langtry was an All-American, the American East Conference Player of the Year, and the third-leading scorer in the nation in his senior year.

In 1998, Langtry was drafted by the New York Saints of the NLL. For the first two years, he was regulated to practice squad status. In 2000, he got some playing time and responded by scoring his first NLL goal.

That wasn't enough to stick with the Saints. The next year, he was cut and Langtry was temporarily out of the game. So he went back to school, earning an M.A. in Education from Dowling College in Oakdale.

He also played in the rival Major League Lacrosse league for the Baltimore Bayhawks, the Bridgeport Barrage, and the Denver Outlaws.

In 2003, he was back in the NLL, playing for the Colorado Mammoth. That year, he scored 28 goals and garnered 34 assists. His earlier lack of playing time in New York qualified Langtry for rookie status in 2003. As a result, he was named the NLL's Rookie of the Year.

Langtry followed up that year with another stellar performance in 2004, scoring 24 goals and 26 assists in 16 games.

Then in 2006, he led the Mammoth to the NLL title.

According to Sports Illustrated, lacrosse is the fastest-growing sport in the nation. Still, the salaries of NLL players aren't enough to make a living, especially, when in the case of Brian Langtry, you have a wife and two children. So, Langtry teaches during the week at the Challenge School.

Langtry's love of the sport is contagious. Jack McDermott, the author of Weekend Warriors, describes him as the "Johnny Appleseed" of lacrosse in his school district, noting that the number of lacrosse players in Cherry Creek has grown ten-fold since he began teaching there.

"Brian's attribute is his fierceness," teammate Gavin Prout told McDermott. "He is not afraid of anything. He's not afraid to miss a goal. In overtime, sometimes players get tentative because nobody wants to...lose the game. Not Brian. He's a gambler. He'll take the shot, and often he doesn't miss---that's why he has so many game-winning goals."