Lacrosse, the kind of hockey with sticks invented by Native Americans, has gained special popularity in Virginia, the Mid-Atlantic and parts of the South. Or make that notoriety.
The game had been played for years at regional schools such as the U.S. Naval Academy and Johns Hopkins, but it only won broader popularity about 20 years ago.
In my neighborhood, kids with “Duke” on their t-shirts walk up and down the streets chucking the little balls from basket to basket. When I went to my 40th high school reunion at a Jesuit prep school near Washington, the showcase event was a lacrosse game which we won, beating highly-ranked Landon 4 to 3. Back in the late 1960s when I was a student, football was king.
But there seems to be something dark about the sport. A former Landon and University of Virginia lacrosse midfielder, George Huguely, faces first degree murder charges in the death of another Virginia lacrosse player, Yeardley Love. She was found beaten to death. Huguely’s lawyer says it was an accident.
Just a few years back, lacrosse got another black eye at Duke, when a Durham stripper hired for a party falsely accused three Duke lacrosse players, including one from Landon, of rape. That case with a travesty with the university quickly damning the players. The local prosecutor lost his job and lawyer’s license for bungling the case and helping ruin the boys’ reputations.
Even so, what is it about lacrosse?
True, football players at Big 10 schools get into trouble with booze and girls. But there’s something about lacrosse’s recent popularity that seems to suggest that it is the sport of the rich kinds, or the new rich kids. If you handle the ball well, you’re on your way to a name school in the region, such as Virginia or Duke, and then on to a great law or medical school and a lucrative career.
With that status in mind, maybe some of the kids think they are a little too special, a little too entitled. That might make some not hold back one’s temper with a girlfriend. Or do something tacky like hire a doped up stripper for an all-guys’ party.
When I watched the Landon game last month, I found it fast and interesting. But I wish it had been football on a fall day.
Peter Galuszka
