The New York Saints or how I learned to love and stop hating the National Lacrosse League
by Marc Viquez
September 19, 2006 - National Lacrosse League (NLL)
Orlando Titans
I could not tell you how happy I was when I learned that the new New York franchise in the National Lacrosse League adopted the team nickname of the Titans recently. Although, I would have preferred the team being called the Saints, but I am sure there are copious amounts of reasons why they did not choose the Saints. Actually, I think the Titans moniker will do just fine. Afterall, I was still angry against the NLL for abandoning its traditional markets on the east coast for fame and fortune on the west coast.
It will be four-seasons since the city's last team, you guessed it the Saints, ceased operations. If you ask me indoor lacrosse belongs in the New York metropolitan area. I had a lot of memories invested in the New York Saints during their tenure in the league from 1987-2003. Whether it was the likes of Mikko Red Arrow, the tacky video graphics at the Nassau Coliseum or free mini-lacrosse sticks with a credit cad application; it was always a good time to see the indoor game.
With the additional of the Titans to the league the NLL will now be represented by four US based northeast teams in Philadelphia, Buffalo and Rochester, N.Y. It was not too long when all of the teams were a tight knit package soley on the east coast. My favorite team was the Saints and for 13-years I at least attended one game at the Coliseum.
The first time I heard about the Saints was during a commercial on TV one night sometime in 1987. The announcer was the same one who screams "Sunday, Sunday, Sunday!" or shouts out about Truckzilla's appearance at the monster truck car show at the Worcester Centrum. The Saints were playing in New Jersey at the time, but I would catch a few games on tape-delay at midnight on the MSG network, including the 1989 championship game loss to the Philadelphia Wings.
A couple of years later I made it out to my first game at the Nassau Coliseum in Long Island to watch my first Saints' game live. The Saints had relocated from the Meadowlands Arena in East Rutherford, N.J., after their championship season of 1988. I instantly fell in love with the game in person. The crowd was great and the Saints pulled out the victory over the New England Blazers. The next few years I would attend more games, including every single contest during the 1993 season. It is amazing how I convinced my folks to drive the 70-miles from out New Jersey home to Long Island.
When I began driving on my own I would pack my 1989 Pontiac Sunfire with a few friends and drive the trek myself to watch Sal LaCasio hold Philadelphia to only 4-goals in a 12-4 route, or sometimes down to Philadelphia where the Saints would usually get crushed down at The Spectrum and then later the First Union Center. However, many of my friends of both sexes fell in love with the game and heading out to the arena was the pretty much the only way to see a game. The games in Long Island were lo-key, would fluctuate between 6,000 to 12,000 fans, but were always entertaining.
Throughout the 1990's the league went from a league consisting of six teams primarily in the northeast United States to double in size to a 13-team league with teams coast-to-coast and live telecasts on NBC. The league even changed names from the Major Indoor Lacrosse League to its present name. My last game attended was in front of a few less than a thousand people in Columbus, Ohio, in January 2003. I had also spent the past two seasons covering the New Jersey Storm and could not fathom the idea why more fans were not pouring in to watch the team. I mean this was indoor lacrosse, not roller hockey.
Throughout these changes I felt that this was no longer my league and was horrified when the Saints ended their 17-year run in the league in 2003 and when lacrosse hotbeds such as Baltimore, Boston, and New Jersey were replaced with the likes of Denver, Anaheim, Calf., and Phoenix. It just felt strange like going back to college a few years after graduation and seeing the campus, but without the familiar faces.
These moves did turn out great for the league in order at establishing the sport in new areas throughout the United States. The game has caught on nicely in Minnesota, San Jose, Calif., and Calgary, Canada. However, the league did not feel the same without a New York based team. That will be changed this upcoming season when the New York Titans split their home games at Madison Square Gardens and the Nassau Coliseum.
Perhaps I could not have stayed mad at the league for too long since I did watch a game in Toronto, Canada, this past season. The Rock were playing, you guessed it, the Philadelphia Wings, who will be celebrating their 20th year of operation this January. The Rock were down by 7-goals, but were able to comeback and secure the victory in front of more than 16,000 plus at the Air Canada Centre. I was amazed how the city was able to embrace the team with coverage in the newspaper and on television. I never saw a blurb mentioned about the Saints in any newspaper.
I happened to be there on the night the team honored it's one-millionth fan. This person happened to be a man who no longer lives in the city; he does not even live in the province anymore, but on the coast of the Atlantic Ocean in Halifax, Nova Scotia. Jason Reid had been going games since the Rock were established in 1999, but his transfer out to Halifax, an almost 1,200 mile journey does not stop him from attending every home game in Toronto.
"They are the best damn team in Toronto. I am sick and tired of having to pay two to three hundred dollars a seat to see a decent team. The Toronto Rock is by far the best team in their league and you can come out for hundred dollars and see excellence on the floor. I love the game, the sport and it's pure. My buddies and me can come out and enjoy it a hundred percent. This is the best sport you can come out and see inside of three hours time."
I only hope we have fans like Reid in New York when the Titans begin their season in January. I would hate to see another familiar face leave town again.
National Lacrosse League Stories from September 19, 2006
- The New York Saints or how I learned to love and stop hating the National Lacrosse League - OSC Original by Marc Viquez
- Roughnecks sign pair of defencemen - Calgary Roughnecks
- Tim Booth signed by San Jose Stealth - San Jose Stealth
The opinions expressed in this article are those of the writer(s), and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.
