Pinchin’ and Poppin’: Fashion Faux Pas for Lax Rats
By Rene Kozarsky
BYU Lacrosse Photo by Victoria Harris. All other photos by Dave Adams.
“It’s not how you play the game, it’s how you look when playing it.”
That was a line I used in college to my coach Tony Scazzero who used to make comments about my practice apparel. In the early 90′s, Texas A&M’s lacrosse team was mostly lax transplants from back east, but it did have it’s share of home grown Texan players.
But when I showed up for practice with a reversible Aggie practice jersey, sporting my high top Nikes, complete with the Jon Reese sockless look, I was greeted some strange looks. Thank God I had Jack Laporte, a senior defensemen from Baldwinsville NY, who took me under his wing my freshman year. He explained, that the rest of the team wasn’t used to what I considered the norm back home and then dubbed me “the yankee attackman.”
My point? What some think of as cool and cutting edge, others just stare vacantly at.
Yes, it’s the middle of the season, but the real big matchups are coming in the next few weeks, so with a sort of down week in the world of the Top 25, why not explore the guilty pleasure of lax fashion?
We all know there are certain unspoken rules of lax fashion etiquette and one that infringes on it may be never get to live it down. And we all have own personal rules too – I know you know what I mean. Let’s put some of my favorite MCLA personalities on the spot.
I remember having a conversation with Georgia Tech Ken Lovic last May in Dallas, where he voiced his dismay at teams that still use the word “lacrosse” on their uniforms. I could see his point.
22 guys running around with helmets and sticks, I think most folks could figure out what sport they are playing. In defense of those teams that still have that on their unis – even Cornell had the words Cornell Lacrosse when they were playing in the Final Four in 1987 and they were CORNELL!
But times have changed, and as Quint would say “The revolution has begun.” So if this one applies to your team, it’s probably best to try and get some more exposure before you do your next jersey order.
Another personal quirk that I have always found hilarious comes from former Gator All American Danny Hogan, who always pointed out which players had on low cut soccer cleats. When we would be at a scorers table together at any number of National Tourney games over the years, he would continually point out “there’s another one.” He joked that he underestimated the power of the soccer cleat until he was guarded by former Aggie All American Mark Lamb, who just happened to sporting such a pair, but he still thinks they look goofy.
My own personal hangup? Probably the pulled up socks.
I am from the Hudson Valley. When I grew up, the only people who wore their socks like that also had mohawks, came from a little hamlet west of Syracuse and won state championship games like big banks getting bailouts today – largely and often.
Then came this clan of Wildcat wannabes from Carthage named Powell and they started doing it. But when you are a Powell you can do and wear about anything you want on a lacrosse field so more power to them. But when I finished college and started coaching, I had to explain to many a camper that unless you fit the two above prerequisites, it was probably best to leave the socks down.
You see-we all have them. Most of them are commonly accepted. But what about at the team level with uniforms? To the common player, unless you are president of the team, handle the money, are in good with the coach, or happen to be minoring in fashion design, the chances are you out of the loop with designing and ordering the next batch of uniforms.
So what advice can I give on unis? Probably bad, since I dress either in a jacket and tie or some sort of Houston Dynamo top and cargo pants, take everything I say with a grain of salt.
But wifey has made me watch enough “Queer Eye” for me to get the basics of style and fashion, well enough to use with my lacrosse knowledge to see some patterns of what works and what doesn’t.
Rule #1 – Less is More
Always a good rule for anything. Let’s look at helmets-let’s take a standard Cascade lid of any recent design for example. You can use vent hole covers or stripes, or a back panel, and/or a decal. BUT DON’T COMBINE ALL OF THEM. Pick and choose what works best for you and your team.
Rule #2 – Consistent is proven
The comment I always hear about the MCLA is that it’s the “rest of the NCAA colleges.” The well known ones with big football teams. A lot of MCLA teams jumped on those common images and colors and mimicked their school’s football helmets.
Why is this a good idea? It builds a brand. The high school kid in Wilton, CT who doesn’t know anything about the MCLA sees a picture of a Michigan player on the Web and instantly knows it’s Michigan and that they have a lacrosse team (yes folks there are some kids that still live in that lax snob bubble).
I remember being at my first MCLA tournament as a fan in 2000 and seeing CSU warm up. Man those lids were simple and catchy. There aren’t too many lacrosse teams sporting horns on their helmets.
Rule #3 – Other people do have to look at them.
Cutting edge design can be cool, but be careful. Too much color, or a wacky font can cause headaches to fans and those up in the booth.
I remember when Oregon had their run to the championship game two years ago. They came out in these snazzy black unis. The looked cool during warm ups when I was down on the field, but I soon realized what all the grumbling was back in the Pizza Hut Park press box. You couldn’t read the two colors numbers of the players on the back of the jerseys.
Don’t worry Ducks, the MLL had the same problem with their summer showcase almost a decade ago. We all got through it, although I think there are still some fist shaped holes in the sheetrock in the broadcast booth.
Arizona has been a pioneer in pushing the envelope in terms of lax uniform fashion, mostly with good results. I especially like those 2006 Away jerseys. Classy.
And there are some we would all like to forget. When the aforementioned MLL had their showcase back in 2000, their Avante-Garde uniforms shook up the lacrosse world. After all who ever heard of lacrosse shorts not having braid s or bands down the sides (well JHU and UVA did back in ’94 for few games but that’s another story).
Cal Poly sported similar uniforms the next season. I am not sure if it was the design or the combination of the design and their green and vegas gold, but it didn’t work. Fortunately the nickname “X-men” didn’t last too long as Cal Poly went to a more traditional look with the “UCLA” shoulder stripes the following season.
Sublimation has been a God sent for many programs as it makes reordering a lot easier, but the niftiness of the designs can be addicting as FSU could tell you. The jerseys from the past two seasons aren’t necessarily bad, just busy. Their home jersey this year has a swift clean look (all white) and you gotta love the simplicity of the Seminole on the chest.
And then there is always tradition and in a sport that is so grounded in it-it’s probably a good way to go. When Michigan takes the lacrosse field there is absolutely no mistaking it. You take a native Hawaiian, who has never seen a lacrosse game before, show them some pictures of the Wolverines taking the field and there no doubt who the Maize and Blue are. A simple “M” on the chest, enough said.
BYU’s teams have also been the same way. Simple helmet and jerseys. (This year is no exception.) I especially liked the ones from a few seasons ago with the big tackle twilled “BYU” on the font. Now if the school can just decide on which color scheme to stick with I am sure that would make Coach Lamb’s job a little easier.
Stray Shots
– Anyone catch the NLL All Star game? East by a touchdown 27-21. Fortunately that missed extra point didn’t come back to burn them.
– Hofstra/JHU: This is the first time that I can remember a brother on a brother as starting keepers in a Division I lacrosse game, as the Gvozdens boys duked it out. Fortunately for him, big brother Michael came out on top. That would be a hard one for him to live down.
– Former UCSB head guy Mike Allan, who is now the Offensive Coordinator at Towson found his team in a defensive struggle for most of the game with the Terps over at Johnny U’s Stadium. The Tigers looked to be trying to put together a late game run to pull within one but an injury off the ensuing faceoff killed any momentum and the Terps went on to win 9-7.
Rene Kozarsky, a former MCLA player and high school coach, has been covering the MCLA since 2001 for various entities including Inside Lacrosse, USLIA.com, CollegeLAX.us and MCLA, The Lax Mag.
