Volume 10 Issue1 - Letter from the Publisher

[stegmakk]

Carp carp carp...
I agree with much of what you say and youre a cool guy but come on...
Names on the back of jerseys is NOT going to be a huge impact on the fans.
All throughout my career I have never had a name on my jersey...why? The exact reason you stated. We play as a team. Reporters, media, and announcers get the team lists with player names and numbers. Most colleges hand out pamphlets with the rosters. HS...well just ask one of the lax moms standing on the sideline screaming her head off pointing out how biased the ref is against her son. The reporters, media, and announcers will let us know by PA who is doing what...and if there is none of this, there is always ourselves as the fan.
Besides...to the casual fan, what difference does a 22 or a powell mean verses a 34 or stegs? Nothing. If they are a casual fan and know about some amazing player named Powell, I am sure they know the 22.
It wouldn't be a horrible thing...names that is...but it is not needed. Personally I wouldn't mind keeping the mystique of the no named players and just the numbers. If they were added its no big deal. But it is not anything I would ever thought deserved a whole page of begging.

So what do you guys think...
Do we NEED names to grow lacrosse?
Am I being too old fashioned?

[SDS416]

Stegs, me thinks you took one too many shots to the head while wearing an old school leather bucket....Mr. Old Fashioned. :chuckle:

At the college or high school level, I agree that there is no need for names. High school lacrosse, quite frankly is so irrelevant in terms of this discussion that we should just take it off the table immediately. As for college ball, at that level its still as much, if not more, about the program or the school than the players themselves. You hear the respect given to programs with long standing history, not so much the players that were part of building it.

At the pro level, I think its different. We need to capture every opportunity to market the game, or the people in it. You are never going to get the recognition or following for a franchise that you might be able to get for one player. And all it takes is one guy to get the ball rolling. If we can draw a casual fan to a game or maybe a first time spectator, they shouldn't have to sit there and wonder, who the hell was that #9? Who was that #22? Instead we provide them with names, an identity, not just a number. It humanizes the game. Now that person can be sitting with friends discussing the game and say "Blank is a hell of a player", I'd go back to see him again. Maybe now that they know a name, they follow his expoilts in the local paper, online, etc. and it builds an interest in the game. To me its simply reaching out to the more casual fan and trying to draw their interest a bit more.

[stegmakk]

On the pro level...ok...they can wear names (they already so).
(Just a note...not all pro teams use names...helllo Yankees)
They not only do this for recognition, but also marketing. Who wants a replica jersey that doesn't have a name on it?

But does it matter that many NCAA and HS teams do not use them?
I think Carp's letter was mostly directed at NCAA

[SDS416]

On the pro level...ok...they can wear names (they already so).
(Just a note...not all pro teams use names...helllo Yankees)
They not only do this for recognition, but also marketing. Who wants a replica jersey that doesn't have a name on it?

But does it matter that many NCAA and HS teams do not use them?
I think Carp's letter was mostly directed at NCAA

Well, I only addressed your comments as I read them, not Carp's....I seem to have trouble getting my IL lately (I still haven't gotten the last issue yet, but apparently a new one is out already)...I'll have to read Carp's words when I get it (if I get it????).
For certain, the NCAA does not need names on the jersey. Lets celebrate the game and the heritage of the programs at that level, not the kids in the jersey.

[Mavido]

My highschool team has the names on the jerseys... not because of people being able to recognize us or anything.. but because the players think it is damn cool.

I dont think it matters, it should be on a team to team bais.. if one team wants them and another doesnt. Thats their choice. Doesnt harm or help anybody really.

[Hooligan]

Scratch the name, and increase the size of the number on the back. I agree with Stegs...the casual lax fan doesn't know all the names on the team...but they do know who they're looking for anyway.

But all in all, the name on the jersey, in most cases in pro lax, is the least of the problems. Some of those jerseys are so God-awful, that the teams should be ashamed at tossing them on their athletes.

[holyschnikes101]

Stegs, me thinks you took one too many shots to the head while wearing an old school leather bucket....Mr. Old Fashioned. :chuckle:

At the college or high school level, I agree that there is no need for names. High school lacrosse, quite frankly is so irrelevant in terms of this discussion that we should just take it off the table immediately. As for college ball, at that level its still as much, if not more, about the program or the school than the players themselves. You hear the respect given to programs with long standing history, not so much the players that were part of building it.

At the pro level, I think its different. We need to capture every opportunity to market the game, or the people in it. You are never going to get the recognition or following for a franchise that you might be able to get for one player. And all it takes is one guy to get the ball rolling. If we can draw a casual fan to a game or maybe a first time spectator, they shouldn't have to sit there and wonder, who the hell was that #9? Who was that #22? Instead we provide them with names, an identity, not just a number. It humanizes the game. Now that person can be sitting with friends discussing the game and say "Blank is a hell of a player", I'd go back to see him again. Maybe now that they know a name, they follow his expoilts in the local paper, online, etc. and it builds an interest in the game. To me its simply reaching out to the more casual fan and trying to draw their interest a bit more.
That is exactly what I think. At the pro level, it makes the people real. They can associate the people to accomplishments. I believe in college lax that the people who go to see games are the people who know. I could be wrong, but don't the colleges hand out pamphlets that have the rosters and things in them?

[ColtsLax]

bad call by the publisher, names should stay off the jerseys. Look, if the Yankees, the most prolific team in sports, doesnt need names, then lax doesnt either. Everyone knows that Derek Jeter is #2, just like everyone knows that #22 is going to be a gait, or a powell. If the player is good, it wont matter because people will just know.

And i dont get his Attack vs Defense thing. Is he trying to say that if relly good defenders had names then they would get more publicity? When you play D, you know your not getting any of the glamour, but thats part of the position. Its why i like playing there. Plus, we all know who Brode Merill is without a name.

[zak]

bad call by the publisher, names should stay off the jerseys. Look, if the Yankees, the most prolific team in sports, doesnt need names, then lax doesnt either. Everyone knows that Derek Jeter is #2, just like everyone knows that #22 is going to be a gait, or a powell. If the player is good, it wont matter because people will just know.

And i dont get his Attack vs Defense thing. Is he trying to say that if relly good defenders had names then they would get more publicity? When you play D, you know your not getting any of the glamour, but thats part of the position. Its why i like playing there. Plus, we all know who Brode Merill is without a name.
Yeah, good call guys, lets compare Derek Jeter to Mikey Powell. Because theyre pretty much even on the name-o-meter. Of course professional level lacrosse could use it, half the marketing in pro-sports is built around individuals. It would help if the people who dont spend their days posting on TLF could recognize some of these individuals.

[tallgreentree]

My damn admin account is messed up due to the hack we're trying to do for the mods, but allow me to retort (cough cough, ahem).

first things first... the stegg-meister thinks I'm a cool guy?

how 'bout that - little old me!

all I've got to say is, mack truck drivers everywhere - next time you see me in the road aim for the hips.

I'm ready.

(ha ha... just kiddin' buddy).

I think you're off on your point steggs. but I'm glad you brought it up.

about players not WANTING their name on their jersey? ... what?

you show me that person - I'll show you a player who is not good.

if it's tied and the game is on the line and you still want the ball - trust me. you are a person who is going to want the name on the back of your jersey.

that's a non-issue as far as I'm concerned. the real point is, having the names on jerseys is an asset to the spectator in the way that listening to a game's play-by-play is an asset to the spectator when you're watching a game on television. not to the same extent, but within this example it's the same service that's being provided.

you're right - it's not needed. and the impact of one person registering a play made by one athlete is a tiny little thing.

but it's a tiny little thing that would and should be happening MILLIONS of times over.

at this crucial window when the sport is getting thousands of new eyeballs looking down upon it each weekend, you need to do EVERYTHING you can to ensure that the personalities are being created.

the bottom line is, exciting game + educated spectator = growing base of passionate fans. they'll appear anyhow. but this is a catalyst that is too easy for us not to do.

you may not be focused on whether or not the sport grows, however. and that's fine - honestly, a lot of people don't. it's a legitimate perspective.

this argument of mine is predicated on a desire to see m and t sell out each year. my argument is predicated on wanting to see espn blow doors off with their ratings.

(by the way, I think you're a cool guy, too).

thanks for reading.

carp

[stegmakk]

I would like to see the NFL stadiums filled (and not just for D1 games...but thats just me) too. I will give you that the pros should get their names on their unis. For HS and college I still disagree.

Maybe I am just a D minded kinda guy. Granted there needs to be teamwork on the whole team but a team can have individuals playing offense, but if your defense tries to play as individuals you are screwed. That is a rant for some other thread some other time.

In HS and College I didn't play for the Stegs, I played for the name on the front of the jersey.

Like I said with HS ball. Why? To soothe an 18year old ego or so his parents and friends know who he is? Trust me...you can tell who is who at that level especially if you know the person. I go to some of the good HS matchups on LI (Port, Melville, WI, etc) and I either ask or pick up a printout if one is available. I've never heard anyone frustrated with not knowing who is who.

In college...now you have me thinking. At this point we are more mature and can grasp the whole team concept without needing to have it pointed out to us. However, I am still going to say no. When the TV action moves and zooms in close enough to even see the player's name on the jersey it is usually a stopage of play. And at this point do they not have the players' name on the bottom of the screen, or the announcer is yapping some oddstats or annecdotal story about how such a player wears 2 different color socks (I can't stand some announcers and their so called wit...alas...yet another rant for another time).

To summarize:
HS - Heck NO names
College - Maybe...not needed but wouldn't hurt (escept budgets of smaller schools maybe)
Pro - Definately need names (marketing reasons and more non lax fans watching)

[Admin]

Just got an e-mail out of the blue from Charlottesville....

Expect a small "addition" to the UVA uniforms for the play-offs this year.

Trust me, it will look awesome.