Why All the Fuss?

The NLL Boards are being overrun with talk about jersies, game worn, used, the spelling on the back, yadda yadda.

To get the skinny on the issue, Kevin M. Neibauer decided to seek out expert advice. Who would know better than equipment manager, Mike Fox?

Our old friend sits down and attempts to clear up some questions and explain the situation.



KMN-"Mike, what's the fuss? It seems that lately there is huge clamor over jersey's, why?"

MF-"The message boards lately have been going crazy about the jerseys. This year we made major changes in adding a real third jersey, the red one. and moving from a sublimated logo to a tackle twill logo then changing the gray one to white.

Everybody has an opinion and they are not afraid to state them. That is the fun and expense of the internet.

Recently, there was a post about Merrick Thomson's jersey, or at least the spelling. Yes, I sent the order in with the wrong spelling because, when we drafted Merrick I saw his name listed somewehere as with the letter "P" in it.

That was my fault for not verifying. We offered right away to fix it but he has been playing so well that he doesn't want to change it yet on the home whites. The other two jerseys are correct.

With Jason Crosbie, I had seen his name written three different ways so I went right to Jason for the correct spelling.

Another post a person stated that he "knew" that Geoff Snider wore a size 58 jersey. I was ignoring it but a fan saw me at Spano's and asked me questions about our uniforms. It wasn't until I was reading the post that I realized who they were arguing with and asked him to stop.

The other guy in the argument is Buffalo's equipment manager and he does things differently than I do, so he made several assumptions and now he knows how I do things.

I have a good relationship with all the managers on the teams that we play and will do nothing to jeopardize that, especially over a message board post. I read the boards but will not post on them."


KMN-"Do you personalize them? Or ship them out to be done?"

MF-"This year we changed the company that letters our jerseys, we went locally instead of shipping them back to Canada for lettering. We went locally so we wouldn't have the issue like we had last year when Geoff Snider signed and we couldn't get a jersey back from Canada fast enough with his name on it. Even though it was only one game, b ut like any story, when you read the posts it seems like he never had his name on it at all."


KMN-"How long does it take for you to get them numbered and lettered?"

MF-"It takes about a week to get a complete set done. I can get shirts done in a day if I need them."


KMN-"Are there any specific limitations on game day uniforms?"

MF-"Well, all game day uniforms must be approved by the league. This year that is easy since everybody is wearing Reebok. The goalies have their own section so we will address everyone else.

All uniforms must have numbers that are 10" high on the back along with last name along shoulder height.

NO tiedowns, strapping or alterations are permitted. Any alterations for ripped for re-stitched jerseys MUST be approved by the league.

I have seen sizes from 48 to 56 and heard about 58."


KMN-"Do the goalies prefer them loose or tight?"

MF-"All my goalies wear a goalie cut size 56G jersey. The league has rules that the jerseys cannot be taped down nor tight nor over a certain length."



KMN-"Does the league impose additional penalties if the sweater comes off during a fight or scrum?"

MF-"It isn't the fact that it came off, it is how and why it came off. A jersey that was sliced to come off easier in a fight is considered an illegal alteration becomes confiscated by the league. If the league suspects anything, the officials will look at the jersey when thay can."


KMN-"Do you usually bring extra jerseys on road trips?"

MF-"I pack all the uniforms for all 23 on the active man roster. I also pack an extra jersey for Snider, you know, just in case."


KMN-"What does the team do with last years stuff?"

MF-"Well, we have some extra equipment that we hold onto in case we need it the following year. The players get to keep their uniforms."


We then switch gears to go to a few other topics.

KMN-"What's the latest with the Barrage?"

MF-"The league is looking for venues for us to play our "home and away" home games. With just e-mails floating around, most have committed but some want to see where we will ahve to play to see if they can work out the logistics with work, family,etc."




KMN-"Any more movie projects?"

MF-"I recently spoke to the guys who hired me for the three that I did, and they are waiting like everyone else because of the strike. They are at a standstill, which is fine for them since they just bought into a nice business for sports teams and film media. So this gives them time to get everything lined up for when the strike is over.

I was asked if I wanted to go to Los Angeles for a while and help them but, I left Verizon for another telecom company and I just can't leave a new job."



The Wings and Mike are currently planning a video series for the team website. It will be a series of 30-45 and 60 second videos that will outline various features of Mike's day.

Stay tuned as details become available.


Kevin M. Neibauer
Thanks Mike and the Wings


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Introducing the LaxPhilly Local Five

By Tom Hoffman

The 2008 NCAA Lacrosse season is just about upon us. February 9 will start local action when Delaware travels to St. Joseph's. With the large number of top NCAA programs in the immediate area (within a two hour trip), we at LaxPhilly are going to start the LaxPhilly Local Five. What is the "Local Five"? It will be rankings of local teams (regardless of division), local players and starting this week, the top five local games that could have an effect on who travels to Gillette Stadium Memorial Day weekend to fight for the National Championship. With most polls, there will be discussions of what was included, what was left out, all the who's why's and all that fun stuff. Whether you're a field fan, or just a lax junkie, it is my hope that you will enjoy this look at all of the great lacrosse programs we have in this area. With that in mind, here are:

LaxPhilly's Local Five games of the 2008 season.

1. Virginia at Drexel (February 17)

In 2006, this was a near upset in the making. Drexel was tied early in the 3rd quarter before a Viriginia run put the Wahoos on the road to the NCAA title. In 2007, this was a huge upset as a late Drexel goal gave the Dragons a true signature win. And while Virginia returns a heralded offense, led by Senior Ben Rubeor and Juniors Danny Glading and Garrett Billings, along with top high school recruits Rhamel and Shamel Bratton, the Dragons have Goalie Bruce Bickford manning the nets for his Senior season, along with Junior attack Andrew Chapman. This game will be well worth the trip.

2. Salisbury at Widener (March 1)

The NCAA's current version of a dynasty, the Seagulls have only won 92 of their last 93 games and once again are Division III's title holder's. Widener schedules their non-conference games much like John Chaney did with Temple basketball: they don't back away from a top rated team. Last season the Pride stayed close in the regular season and didn't get embarrassed in the NCAA rematch in May. Can they knock off the lacrosse juggernaut? We shall see.

3. Notre Dame at Villanova (March 4)

The Irish, led by 40 goal scorer Ryan Hoff and Goalie Joey Kemp, are considered by some to be a top 10 team. Villanova is looking to rebound from a .500 season in 2007 and make some noise in the exciting Colonial Athletic Association.

4. Drexel at Delaware (April 9)

A matchup that could have serious implications on who wins the conference and who may get an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament. In 2007 Drexel won the regular season matchup while the Blue Hens took the rematch in the CAA tourney. Drexel wants to do what Delaware did in 2007, Delaware wants that and more.

5. Cornell at Princeton (April 19)

A matchup that could be for the Ivy League title. Cornell is looking to return to the Final Four and this time reach the title game while Princeton is looking for a return to their glory years. Look for low scoring and tight defense. Though a fun matchup to watch will be Cornell's Max Seibald up against Princeton's Dan Cocoziello.

Honorable Mention

A pair of intriguing games on February 23 when Drexel goes next door to Penn and Cabrini visits Widener. Cornell at Penn on March 29 could prove quite interesting as well. Villanova and Delaware had a wild shootout last season, they'll meet in Newark on March 22.

Our next Local Five will focus on some of the area's top players.

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Huntley Weighs in on the Wings Win Over Buffalo

As usual, Kevin M. Neibauer had the opportunity to catch up with Wings Head Coach, Dave Huntley.

A thrilling overtime victory over the Division rival, Buffalo Bandits, a huge game for Jake Bergey. The re-emergence of Geoff Snider.

KMN-Coach, the game looked like an easy one...but the third quarter things got away a little bit?

DH-"I think we hurt them a little bit physically, we ran real well, and we closed up a lot of the gaps, the thing you have to remember is that Buffalo is a real good team, they have been in the running for the last three or four Championships. Darris (Kilgour) and I used to coach together, and those guys were on the ropes, you could see that they were wobbling, but, like a true champion, they took their hits and they answered and came right back with some things. Our guys reacted a little different than last week's game, I don't think we finished last week's game too well, this week we finished well, Buffalo took a great shot at us, and we answered right back."




KMN- After having played arguably two of the best teams in the league back to back, how much maturity is this team showing?

DH-"We played a bunch of young kids, Jimmy Borell plased just his second game, Brett Moyer, the Ridley kid, played his first game, Thomson is just in his third game, Jamie Rooney...we played a real young line-up.

But, I thought tonight was about our veterans, I thought Rob Blasdell was absolutely fantastic. I think people look at "goals against", I don't think that tells the whole story."



KMN-Tonight was the first time this season that I have seen three shots in a row on him, you had a couple of defensive breakdowns.

DH-"We were not real good in our end picking up the ball, if you look at the goals that they scored, a lot were scored because we didn't pick a loose ball up, if we get those balls, that gets us goals up the other end. We have to do better than that. For whatever reason, we weren't real good at picking the ball up and they took advantage of that.

Fortunately, Blazer bailed us out on a lot of them, he was sensational.

Jake Bergey, all I can say is I'm glad I talked him out of retiring. That may have been the best thing I did so far as a coach."



KMN-Geoff Snider, to me, was the best player on the floor tonight, I don't think he lost more than four face-offs all night. Your thoughts?

DH-"What was terrific with Snides tonight was he just started right at the beginning, he wins the face-off and scored five seconds in. What i'm most proud of him is that he was pressing, it was starting to get away from a little bit, he took a couple penalties that were really not good penalties, and he bounced back, recovered from that and was terrific tonight.

We saw the Geoff Snider that everyone has come to appreciate."



KMN- Overtime, you win the draw and immediately call time-out. What was the thinking there?

DH-"It just the way I do it. I really believe the first shot wins, they got four guys back, we have a full thirty second shot clock. I have tremendous confidence in the guys we have on the floor. Athan made a great pick and roll, Jake got the ball, made a great finish and that was that."


KMN-3-0, all home games, all division games, did you catch a break coming out at 3-0? 2-1 would have been a huge thing, but 3-0 is even bigger.

DH-"I would have been happy with 1-2 if we played well. If we lost both these games to Rochester and Buffalo by a goal and played well, I would have been happy.

2-1 would have been fantastic, 3-0 is just gravy, but we have to take advantage of that.''


KMN- Road trip then Minnesota...a lot can happen in the next month.

DH-"Minneota is a young team like us and they play with a lot of energy. We have Colorado next week which I'm really looking forward to that, kind of reuniting with an old team that I was involved with. I look the team that we are bringing in Colorado.

Again, Colorado is a different kind of team than we played."


KMN-It seemed like your defense just swarmed John Tavares and Mark Steenhuis, neither one was real big factor.

DH-"Our defense played better than 14 goals against. It's just that when we put the ball on the ground, we didn't pick it up. If we get more loose balls, it would have been unbelievable. But again, to Buffalo's credit, they answered the bell and they tightened their defense up."


KMN-What is your feel for this team?

DH-"I would much rather win these games by seven or eight, than win them by one. But, I know that down the road, we are going to have to win one goal games."


KMN-How well do you and Lindsay Sanderson get along?

DH-"We get along great, many, many moons ago we played against each other. Over the years you lose touch with people. When I got hired to do this, it could have been a difficult situation, but he's been supportive, and we share similar values and similar passion. We're both having a lot of fun with this....."


Thanks Dave Huntley and the Wings.


Since the team is off for a few weeks then a road game, I have lined up several items that hopefully, will keep everyone's interest.

I have an Athan Iannucci and a Jason Crosbie interview. We are currently working on a Luke Wiles Question and Answer session.

Finally, on the Lax boards, there seems to be a lot of discussion about jersies. I don't know why, but old friend, Mike Fox is lined up to discuss the hows and whys of jersies.

Kevin M. Neibauer


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