CITY WEEKLY / North Station
Sports fans, get ready for Boston's second professional lacrosseteam.
The Boston Cannons already play pro lacrosse here outdoors duringthe summer. The Boston Blazers will offer a winter lax fix startingin January at the TD Banknorth Garden.
In a city full of venerable - and these days highly successful -pro sports franchises, the Blazers will have to compete forattention. But with a roster of players eager to take the field for$10,000 to $30,000 a season, in one of the nation's lacrossehotbeds, team officials think they have a winner.
'There's such a large lacrosse fan base here in New England, andthe fan base keeps growing and growing,' said Randy Fraser, aBlazers assistant coach. 'Lacrosse has actually become the fastest-growing team sport in the entire country.'
According to US Lacrosse, the sport's governing body, there were18,242 pre-high school lacrosse players in Massachusetts last year,the third-highest for any state. And the popularity of lacrosse inthis area was demonstrated by crowds of 40,000 and more at the NCAAchampionships, which were held this spring at Gillette Stadium inFoxborough.
Of course, this doesn't guarantee success at the professionallevel.
'The growth of lacrosse should help lend some support, but thatassumes the people that play or have played lacrosse will alsosupport the league,' said Jay Gladden, an associate professor ofsports management at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst.'This was the initial assumption of Major League Soccer, and thatwas proven wrong.'
The key, Gladden said, is getting off to a good start. 'If thelaunch is unsuccessful, then this immediately gets associated withthe team brand. If the team is not high-quality, fans will disappearquickly - see the XFL,' said Gladden, referring to a short-livedfootball league.
According to team president Doug Reffue, the Blazers expect todraw more than the league average of 10,000 per game and beprofitable in its inaugural, 16-game season.
'We think the Blazers will fit right into the Boston sportsmarket,' Reffue said. 'But it will be important for us to find ourown voice in this market.'
Reffue said the Blazers plan to take a grass-roots approach tomarketing, which they hope will set them apart from otherfranchises. Unlike other teams, where the price of a ticket canclimb well over $100, the Blazers plan to charge from $9 to $62 perticket.
Additionally, players will become visible members of thecommunity and accessible to fans who want their autograph - orsimply a handshake. 'Having our players mix with the community is ahuge part of our business plan,' said Reffue.
This is actually the second go-around in Boston for the Blazers,which moved from Worcester in 1992 and folded in 1997. In May 2007,the Blazers were awarded an expansion franchise in the 13-teamNational Lacrosse League. Over the last month, officials haveassembled a roster through a dispersal draft, where players from adisbanded organization were made available to the rest of theleague, and an expansion draft, which let the Blazers pick oneplayer from a list provided by each team in the league.
In the June dispersal draft, the Blazers chose two players fromthe now-defunct Arizona Sting, including Dan Dawson, a 6-foot-5-inch forward who is considered one of the top talents in the leagueand looks to be the centerpiece of the Blazers franchise.
Through the expansion draft last month, the Blazers added 12players, including Mike Poulin, a Canadian goalie who spent lastyear with Toronto, and defenseman Mitch Belisle, a Cornell graduate.
For Poulin and Belisle, like most others in the league, playingfor the love of the game is much more than just a slogan.
Poulin plays in a summer league in Canada, in addition tobalancing a job in sales. 'I've been doing this for three years.There's a lot of scheduling involved. Someday it would be nice if Icould just play lacrosse, but right now I have to do both jobs.'
Belisle, meanwhile, gave up a job in finance to make lacrosse hisfull-time profession. He is now in the middle of his season with theLos Angeles Riptide of Major League Lacrosse and coaches when he'snot playing.
'You're getting paid for something you love,' Belisle said. 'Andyou're with a great group of people. Lacrosse is a game with asmall, tight-knit community.'
The Blazers will play what's known as 'box lacrosse,' whichFraser likened to fast-break basketball.
With a 45-second shot clock, and six men per team, instead of the10 on an outdoor team, each game averages about 25 goals, saidFraser. 'There's a lot of speed in box lacrosse and a lot oftransition,' he said. 'And like the NHL, we have fighting, too.'
Though no one knows what the crowds will be like, it isn't hardto find lacrosse enthusiasts who are looking forward to the season.
'I'll definitely go to a few games,' said Matt Lindsey, a 19-year-old lacrosse fan from Medway. 'I've only seen outdoor lacrossegames. But everything is more exciting indoors, right?'
