Hookem
04-22-2006, 09:44 PM
http://sports.espn.go.com/extra/lacrosse/news/story?id=2416805&lpos=spotlight&lid=tab5pos2
The most prolific scorer in the history of the National Lacrosse League felt more relief than elation the day after he set the record last month.
John Tavares got a double dose of good news in a 24-hour span. First, the Buffalo Bandits' forward notched the goal that put him ahead of the legendary Gary Gait. Just a few hours later, Tavares' wife, Katrina, who had watched the accomplishment from the stands, went into labor with their first child -- two weeks early. That prompted a wild, high-speed trip back to their home outside Toronto, where baby Justin arrived safely.
"It's usually a two-hour drive, but that night it was 50 minutes," Tavares said.
Though Justin's birth far overshadowed any between-the-lines developments, it's still worth noting that the unassuming Tavares has now scored 549 career goals and dished out 587 assists in 179 games over the last 15 years for a record 1,136 points, eclipsing Gait's mark of 1,091.
"I didn't handle the attention well," Tavares said. "I just wanted it to be over with. I'd just rather play my game. Maybe it's something I can enjoy later in life, but then it seemed to be a distraction to the team."
Tavares, 37, a mild-mannered high school math teacher during the week and a go-for-the-jugular jock on game weekends, is exactly the kind of Clark Kent character who seems to populate the indoor NLL. He's preparing to lead the Eastern Division-winning Bandits into the first round of the single-elimination playoffs against the Minnesota Swarm.
The league, which just completed its 20th season, is stocked with moonlighters who are the definition of working-class athletes: cops, firefighters, brokers, bankers, electricians and teachers like Tavares. They make a modest second living. The NLL's average salary is $14,000, with a ceiling of just over $23,000; rookies earn $6,000. The players are currently in the second year of a three-year collective bargaining agreement.
Pat Maddalena
Chuck Rydlewski/WireImage.com
A chiropractor by day, Pat Maddalena (right) is typical of the NLL's everyday appeal.
On the other side of the boards, the top season ticket in Buffalo this season cost $160. You can get into most arenas for $10, and at the Pepsi Center in Denver, where the newly retired Gait coached the Colorado Mammoth this year, $5 bought an upper deck seat.
Average attendance topped 10,000 for the second straight season and total attendance is expected to surpass one million this weekend for the first time in league history.
"We go after a very unique demographic that doesn't cross over with hockey and basketball," said Gait, the former Syracuse University, NLL and Team Canada star who hung up his stick after last season. "It overlaps more with arena football."
Five of the league's 11 franchises are operated by NHL ownership groups in the same cities, sharing a building and organizational resources. Reebok has a multiyear deal with the league to provide equipment, uniforms and footwear.
Commissioner Jim Jennings, a former minor league basketball executive who has helped shift the league's financial picture from marginal to stable in his six years in office, envisions doubling the number of teams in the next five to seven years, extending the season to as many as 40 games and gaining enough economic momentum to pay players full-time salaries. The league will add teams in suburban Chicago and New York City next season.
But Jennings said the NLL intends to keep ticket prices affordable to attract families and newcomers.
Jim Jennings
Chuck Rydlewski/WireImage.com
Commissioner Jim Jennings has led the NLL to a resurgence in his six years.
"There aren't enough lacrosse fans out there to fill our seats, so we have a real simple strategy," he said. "We entice people to come watch the game, and then they fall in love with it."
Colorado led the league in attendance with an average of 16,543 for eight home games. Five other teams drew more than 10,000 fans -- even Edmonton, which slogged through a miserable 1-15 season. San Jose (6,482) and Arizona (5,609) brought up the rear, but Jennings said all the franchises are financially healthy.
The league will stick to its 16-game schedule next season, and the day when a player will be able to make a real full-time living off the sport is still far off. For now, Tavares and part-timers like him are the standard-bearers, and his story a typically modest one that starts when he was 6 years old.
The son of Portuguese immigrants, Tavares grew up playing on the bare cement shell of an ice rink in Toronto.
"I'd steal my big brother's stick and go play," Tavares said between classes from the teacher's lounge at Philip Pocock Catholic High School in Mississauga, Ontario.
"My father was a carpenter. My mother was a seamstress. We didn't have a lot of money. Every summer it was the same routine. My mom would say, 'You're not going to play lacrosse. It's too rough and we can't afford it.' I think it was a $20 registration fee.
"There was an organization called St. Christopher House that helped keep kids out of trouble, and they had a team and a van. That's what kept me playing."
Indoor, or "box" lacrosse, which Tavares picked up as a kid, is preferred in Canada to the outdoor, or "field," game more common in the United States. Roughly two-thirds of the NLL's players are Canadian.
Tavares admits it's getting more challenging to "run around with 22-year-olds" as he gets older, especially since many of the athletes entering the league come from elite U.S. college programs. "You don't see as many bellies as you used to," he said.
"This is an old game, but we're pioneers. As long as the league keeps growing and I've contributed, I'm happy."
The most prolific scorer in the history of the National Lacrosse League felt more relief than elation the day after he set the record last month.
John Tavares got a double dose of good news in a 24-hour span. First, the Buffalo Bandits' forward notched the goal that put him ahead of the legendary Gary Gait. Just a few hours later, Tavares' wife, Katrina, who had watched the accomplishment from the stands, went into labor with their first child -- two weeks early. That prompted a wild, high-speed trip back to their home outside Toronto, where baby Justin arrived safely.
"It's usually a two-hour drive, but that night it was 50 minutes," Tavares said.
Though Justin's birth far overshadowed any between-the-lines developments, it's still worth noting that the unassuming Tavares has now scored 549 career goals and dished out 587 assists in 179 games over the last 15 years for a record 1,136 points, eclipsing Gait's mark of 1,091.
"I didn't handle the attention well," Tavares said. "I just wanted it to be over with. I'd just rather play my game. Maybe it's something I can enjoy later in life, but then it seemed to be a distraction to the team."
Tavares, 37, a mild-mannered high school math teacher during the week and a go-for-the-jugular jock on game weekends, is exactly the kind of Clark Kent character who seems to populate the indoor NLL. He's preparing to lead the Eastern Division-winning Bandits into the first round of the single-elimination playoffs against the Minnesota Swarm.
The league, which just completed its 20th season, is stocked with moonlighters who are the definition of working-class athletes: cops, firefighters, brokers, bankers, electricians and teachers like Tavares. They make a modest second living. The NLL's average salary is $14,000, with a ceiling of just over $23,000; rookies earn $6,000. The players are currently in the second year of a three-year collective bargaining agreement.
Pat Maddalena
Chuck Rydlewski/WireImage.com
A chiropractor by day, Pat Maddalena (right) is typical of the NLL's everyday appeal.
On the other side of the boards, the top season ticket in Buffalo this season cost $160. You can get into most arenas for $10, and at the Pepsi Center in Denver, where the newly retired Gait coached the Colorado Mammoth this year, $5 bought an upper deck seat.
Average attendance topped 10,000 for the second straight season and total attendance is expected to surpass one million this weekend for the first time in league history.
"We go after a very unique demographic that doesn't cross over with hockey and basketball," said Gait, the former Syracuse University, NLL and Team Canada star who hung up his stick after last season. "It overlaps more with arena football."
Five of the league's 11 franchises are operated by NHL ownership groups in the same cities, sharing a building and organizational resources. Reebok has a multiyear deal with the league to provide equipment, uniforms and footwear.
Commissioner Jim Jennings, a former minor league basketball executive who has helped shift the league's financial picture from marginal to stable in his six years in office, envisions doubling the number of teams in the next five to seven years, extending the season to as many as 40 games and gaining enough economic momentum to pay players full-time salaries. The league will add teams in suburban Chicago and New York City next season.
But Jennings said the NLL intends to keep ticket prices affordable to attract families and newcomers.
Jim Jennings
Chuck Rydlewski/WireImage.com
Commissioner Jim Jennings has led the NLL to a resurgence in his six years.
"There aren't enough lacrosse fans out there to fill our seats, so we have a real simple strategy," he said. "We entice people to come watch the game, and then they fall in love with it."
Colorado led the league in attendance with an average of 16,543 for eight home games. Five other teams drew more than 10,000 fans -- even Edmonton, which slogged through a miserable 1-15 season. San Jose (6,482) and Arizona (5,609) brought up the rear, but Jennings said all the franchises are financially healthy.
The league will stick to its 16-game schedule next season, and the day when a player will be able to make a real full-time living off the sport is still far off. For now, Tavares and part-timers like him are the standard-bearers, and his story a typically modest one that starts when he was 6 years old.
The son of Portuguese immigrants, Tavares grew up playing on the bare cement shell of an ice rink in Toronto.
"I'd steal my big brother's stick and go play," Tavares said between classes from the teacher's lounge at Philip Pocock Catholic High School in Mississauga, Ontario.
"My father was a carpenter. My mother was a seamstress. We didn't have a lot of money. Every summer it was the same routine. My mom would say, 'You're not going to play lacrosse. It's too rough and we can't afford it.' I think it was a $20 registration fee.
"There was an organization called St. Christopher House that helped keep kids out of trouble, and they had a team and a van. That's what kept me playing."
Indoor, or "box" lacrosse, which Tavares picked up as a kid, is preferred in Canada to the outdoor, or "field," game more common in the United States. Roughly two-thirds of the NLL's players are Canadian.
Tavares admits it's getting more challenging to "run around with 22-year-olds" as he gets older, especially since many of the athletes entering the league come from elite U.S. college programs. "You don't see as many bellies as you used to," he said.
"This is an old game, but we're pioneers. As long as the league keeps growing and I've contributed, I'm happy."