Howard Kaplan

Howard M. Kaplan

Sport:
lacrosse

Country Represented:
United States

Years Competed:
1928

Olympic Info:
Kaplan competed for the United States lacrosse team (the sport was an exhibition event) at the 1928 Amsterdam Games. He was a member of the Johns Hopkins University team that represented the U.S., and the Americans defeated Canada, but then lost to Great Britain, 7-6, on a controversial call. The player who scored the game-tying goal for the U.S. was ruled in the crease and the goal was disallowed, thus giving the British the victory. The next day, Canada defeated Great Britain and the Olympics ended in a three-way tie. Ironically, it was the U.S. who wanted the crease in the first place.

The Americans played by different rules than their Olympic opponents, who had no substitutions, offsides, or crease. The U.S. agreed to go along with the first two rules, but they adamently demanded a crease, which eventually was set at four feet around the goal (the Americans usually played with a six-foot crease). This demand came back to haunt them, but they still enjoyed their Olympic experience as one player said: "Nobody ever had as much fun as we did."

Birth and Death Dates:
unknown

Origin:
unknown