Cultures and Athletes Clash at Baltimore Arena "GOOOOOOOAAAAL BALTIMORE THUNDER ON THE POWER PLAAAAAY!" roars the arena announcer. A fat man runs around the upper deck to celebrate each Thunder goal. Uproarious cheers erupt for each fight. Gary Gait scores multiple goals behind the back, through the legs and off the wall (if he wanted to, he could). Dance music is blaring over the loudspeakers "We got the power" while the action builds. These are the sights and sounds of a National Lacrosse League game in Lacrosse Town, and also the best evidence that the NLL is both a positive showcase for lacrosse and at the same time, a criticized diversion from its traditions. There has always been argument among lacrosse enthusiasts over the professional indoor lacrosse and its effect on the field game. Youth and High School coaches all over Baltimore know the benefits of exposing their charges to the refined skills on display but in many cases fear the obvious bad habits and unthinkable behavior which might be picked up, as well. Bill Tanton and Quint Kessenich debated the issue in a recent issue of Lacrosse Magazine. Hundreds of people have written E-Lacrosse with contrasting opinions on the indoor game and whether we should cover the NLL at all. Because it is the only current professional lacrosse option, the greatest players in the game's recent history play in the NLL, players such as Tom Marecheck, the Gait brothers, Mark Millon. The NLL offers the outstanding college players a chance to continue playing, and pick up a paycheck for it. The checks are small in NBA or even MLS terms - $300 to $1,100 a game, but so are the crowds - 4,000 to 10,000 in Baltimore. Night after night, 30,000 pack Camden Yard to see the Orioles, who are always a good baseball team, but certainly not as domineering and exciting to watch as the Gait-led Thunder. Baseball is king in Lacrosse town. That is still a fact that the NLL's Baltimore franchise contends with daily. There are more lacrosse fans at any given Orioles or Ravens game than at a Thunder game. Count on seeing jackets bearing the names of the traditional field lacrosse High School powers like Boys' Latin, Gilman, or St. Paul's on small groups all over an Orioles crowd, but just look for one at a Thunder game. There are far more Union affiliation emblems present than crossed stick logos. It's not just the coaches they haven't convinced. Purists come of all ages. But, unfortunately, so do snobs. Baltimore's "elite" are not likely to slap down their Towson and Roland Park money to share close quarters with the screaming fat men in Harley-Davidson half-shirts and beer hats, regardless of the lacrosse issues involved. It's a shame, really. Every lacrosse skill present in the field game revered by the lacrosse purists and the snobs is turned to an art form in the NLL. The indoor game demands the very sharpest skills and that they be refined to an exact science performed in a violent microcosm. Scooping must be quicker, passes more accurate, shots far more accurate, etc., because the field and the goals are smaller and the opponents closer, faster and stronger. This is why I love the NLL. But the NLL actively markets their game toward the fans who have made the northern teams succeed, the hockey crowd, perhaps alienating potential customers in Baltimore and other field lax hotbeds. In many of the marketing strategies the violence is emphasized over the athletic aspects. This is why, as a purist, my love falters from time to time. The N.L.L.'s early predecessor, the Eagle League, was founded in 1986 by two aspiring businessmen who's original idea was to play some sort of "Rollercross" game with lacrosse on in-line skates. That idea was dropped but advertising for that League shouted the game's purpose as "not only to win, but survive". The NLL's marketing of the violence instead of the finesse and the personalities dilutes the game by turning it into more of a circus show than a sport, in the eyes of many. But while the NLL's southern teams want to win ball games, they are, in fact, really fighting to survive economically and will, like any business, gravitate to fulfilling the needs of the paying customers. |
 Lund on Lacrosse By Peter Lund 4/12/99 
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