In memory of Tony Cullen

1957-2002

Lacrosse Loses Tony Cullen by Bob Lowe, NCLOA

Lacrosse official Tony Cullen lost his battle to brain cancer. He died Sunday, May 5. He is survived by a wife and 6 children. Cullen had a tremendous impact on lacrosse in a number of ways. Most recently, he was an official who had earned the respect of peers and coaches alike. Cullen spent many years as an official, and was widely regarded as one of the best in the nation. In 12 years as a college official, Cullen served as the head referee in 10 ACC Tournaments and head referee for five NCAA Division I title games. Aside from his work on the field, he did much more behind the scenes to help the game. He mentored dozens of referees who now often cite his mechanics and philosophy.

Revolutionary Lacrosse Thinker

Serving on the NCAA rules committee, Cullen continually sought to make lacrosse better. His rule interpretations were brilliant and, sometimes, controversial. As for rules, Cullen's philosophy was based on "advantage-disadvantage." For example, a loose ball in the crease is a play-on. Old thinking had the play-on end if a pass from the goalie was complete. Yet Cullen argued the play-on would not be gained unless the offended team had at least a free clear which would be the result if the outlet pass fell incomplete. Other officiating "Cullenisms" included:

Expanded Play-on: He pushed for play-ons to cover loose ball offsides infractions.

The "Trail Cone:" The trail official releases the single-side referee when he reaches the trail cone.

The Mistake Horn: When a crew makes a mistake, the referees give the teams a horn to substitute.

Cullen Made Lax Impact Elsewhere

Tony Cullen was also a stand out lacrosse player and coach. Cullen played lacrosse at Ithaca High School from 1973 to 1975. He started as a sophomore and was a captain his senior year. He was in the inaugural Ithaca (N.Y.) High School Hall of Fame earlier this year.

Cullen was a member of the Hobart College Division III national championship team as a freshman. He then transferred to Duke, where he became one of the top scorers in school history. Cullen currently stands first in career assists (114), tied for second in career points (220) and ninth in career goals (106). In addition, Cullen holds the single-game assist record (8) and single-season marks for both assists (52 in 1979) and points (90 in 1979).

Cullen later spent nine seasons as the head coach of the Blue Devils from 1982-90. In 1986 and 1987, he guided Duke to 11-win seasons marking the first two double-figure single-season win totals in school history. Overall, he compiled a coaching record of 71-54 with the Blue Devils and served as a coach in the prestigious North-South Game in 1989.

After leaving coaching, Cullen went into private business. He built a successful communications company that he later sold to a major wireless firm a few years ago.

Family Was First

In more recent times, Cullen devoted time to both his family and officiating. Cullen is survived by his wife, Kim, and their six children; Eamon, Rory, Megan, Kaity Shea, Quin and Ainslie. His mother Ursula, his brothers Tom, fellow MCOC members Terry and Tim and his sisters Connie Patterson and Krissy Bravo-Cullen, also survives Tony.

A memorial service will be held on Wednesday, May 8 at 3:00 p.m. in the Duke Chapel followed by a gathering in the Duke Sports Hall of Fame wing in Cameron Indoor Stadium. A second memorial service is also being planned for early June in Ithaca, N.Y.

"Tony mentioned to me several times that the support shown to him by his fellow officials and the other members of the lacrosse community greatly aided him in his fight," said friend and fellow official Kevin O'Leary." "Tony was recently inducted in the NC Hall of Fame (April 14, 2002) and he appreciated the efforts of the NC officials in retiring his jersey at the ACC Tournament. These honors were important to Tony because he was able to share them with his wife and children."

Bob Lowe, Sports Information Director
Greensboro College
www.gborocollege.edu