Sports
SPORTS
Words by DeMarco Williams
What’s all the racket?
It’s coming from a fi eld in the northeast of the country, but we can’t seem to make out the grunts and rumbling. It’s not the New York Jets. Training camp doesn’t start for another couple of months. Can’t be the Boston Red Sox either—they’re on the road until July 4. So, what is it? Actually, it’s a lacrosse game, and thanks to high schools, colleges and Major League Lacrosse (MLL) spreading the word, the East Coast won’t be able to keep the exciting sport to itself much longer.
What began as a Native American peace-keeping activity involving up to 1,000 men has evolved into the amazing display of action, adrenaline and athleticism it is today for countless young men and women across the US. Still, to many outside of Providence and Pawtucket, the 400-year-old game is a relative mystery. The MLL, a league formed by Jake “Body by Jake” Steinfeld in 2001, is leading a charge to change all of that.
Getting hooked
“Even if you haven’t been reared on the sport, all it takes is one viewing and you’re hooked,” says MLL commissioner David Gross, a man who welcomes newcomers to his hard-hitting league of attackmen, midfi elders, defenders and goalies. “In the six years of the league, I’ve had only one person come up to me and say, ‘I went to a game and I didn’t enjoy it.’ And that person’s reason was that the game he went to had too much action!”
Since its six-team inception (Baltimore, Boston, Long Island, New Jersey, Philadelphia and Rochester), the kinetically paced MLL, which isn’t to be confused with the NLL (National Lacrosse League), has built on a grassroots following while alternative sports leagues like the XFL (football) and WUSA (women’s soccer) have fl oundered. After carefully planning its growth rate, the league is fi nally expanding to Chicago, Denver, Los Angeles and San Francisco this season. Such expansion is important, but spectator satisfaction is most imperative to the MLL’s ascendance.
“The elite players in our league,” Gross continues, “are no different than elite players in any other sport. These guys are absolute magicians with the stick. David Evans [Boston’s star attacker] can shoot a ball accurately at 109 miles per hour. A goalie can sometimes stop that. In baseball, there are 20-some odd yards from pitcher to catcher. The lacrosse guys are doing it from ten feet out.”
Catch it
The season runs through mid-August, with 12 games being broadcast on ESPN 2, including the all-star game (July 9) and the New Balance Championship (August 27). The MLL’s only wish is that the uninitiated get hip to its game. “Does it get frustrating,” Gross asks, “when you run into someone who doesn’t even know your league exists, and you’re going into year six? Absolutely! But the trade-off is that everybody knows the XFL existed, but it isn’t here anymore. We’re on the right track.”