Inside Lacrosse Laxies Presented by Lax World: Brett Queener Is IL’s Personality of the Year Winner

Brett Queener's year included an appearance on IL's August issue coverLike Miss America, Brett Queener rolled around North America reppin’ his 2008 Personality of the Year crown to the masses.

The winner of the first-ever Laxie for Personality of the Year, Queener did it just as big in 2009, if not bigger. The Penn Yan, N.Y. native got after it in every way for lacrosse fans, hitting the NLL carpet as a transition player for the Boston Blazers, hitting the camps circuit around the country, winning the MLL All-Star Game Freestyle Competition, winning a second MLL title with the Toronto Nationals, hitting up IL’s cover in some sick Evel Knievel getup.

Long story short, it was tough to get away from the guy.

Fans, judging by the comments on our blogs, either loved or hated the guy. Most loved…others felt his game was more sizzle than steak, but when the votes were tallied, the landslide was clear: Queener took 57% of the vote, with Max Seibald coming in second at 16% and Paul Rabil (13%), Geoff Snider (7%) and Ryan Hoff (6%) finishing even further behind.

To celebrate his victory, we asked Brett to run down his year’s reign for our readers (and for good measure, we also included some helpful links to past stories and the ever-popular Queener Cam on ILTV). Enjoy and remember - try to have fun out there. Brett sure is.

Queener’s Year with the Crown

Hawaii was Sick
This was the first booking on my tour with the crown, so it was important for me to let everyone know what I was all about. From mudslides to shuffleboard, to flips off balconies, to throwing sticks over people’s heads/swapping sticks/back-breakers, it’s a trip I’ll never forget. (And it ended with a championship.)

Boston Blazers

Geoff Snider introduces himself to our Personality of the YearIndoor was something that had been on my mind my entire life. It was a position I’d never played, but a game I’d always thought was the pinnacle of lacrosse, so to actually make it was one of the best accomplishments of my life.

My first game on the road was in Philly, and I turned up the boards and made eye contact with a whole family of Wings fans and they all flipped me the bird. I knew I’d made it in the indoor world.

If you put my Facebook picture in there, also let it be known that I did knock Snider down the next game.

All-Star Freestyle Competition

I didn’t plan on doing the trick competition. The MLL called my house and left a message, and my dad called and told me I had to do it. I agreed before I had any idea what I was going to do. I figured it out the week before, and a few hours beforehand changed the plan when Alex Smith gave me the Gator idea — that got more of an “OOOOO” than clapping. The Michael Jackson dance was from Nick Weimer, a camper at Pfeiffer University, N.C., who taught me the basics to the Moon Walk. Two days later I did it in Denver and it was really bad because it’s tough to do on grass.

MLL Championship
The one thing I don’t like about my image is I get laughed off as a sideshow act. I love to play lacrosse, and that’s why I play. I play the way I want to, and if I couldn’t play that way, I wouldn’t.

It crushed me that I broke my hand [in the semifinal] because obviously I wanted to play. When the doctors told me there was a chance I could give it a go, I didn’t care whether I’d have arthritis down the road because there was nothing in the world I wanted more than playing that lacrosse game.

That game meant so much to me. I think it’s the ‘in’ thing to hate on pro lacrosse. Hate all you want — I know the guys around the league are proud people. As the crowned leader in the community of lacrosse, I need to spread the word that guys take their job seriously.

http://blogs.insidelacrosse.com/2009/11/17/inside-lacrosse-laxies-presented-by-lax-world-brett-queener-is-ils-personality-of-the-year-winner/