Friday, June 5, 2015

Long live the bucket helmet



My most vivid memory of attending the lacrosse final four come from an era when Hopkins and Syracuse were the giants of the college game. I was there for the 1983 Syracuse comeback to defeat the Jays 17-16, and I was at Delaware, sitting in the end zone at halftime in 1984 as Blue Jays headed to the locker room with a  "Remember the Alamo!" feel. Not content with a halftime lead, they spoke of 1983, and implored each other to keep the lead this day.

I still picture the Hopkins teams from the 1980’s taking the field for pre-game warm-ups in helmet, gloves, and gray half-shirts. After warm-ups, they’d return to locker-room to don the rest of their equipment and jerseys.

While we gain an appreciation for tradition and become more sentimental as we age, as a child I knew the Hopkins helmets were iconic, timeless symbols. Love the Jays, or not, those black helmets with alternating white and Columbia blue panels were amazing. And, they never changed...

...until technology erased the traditional form of the lacrosse helmet. No more panels. No more strings to "cut to." And now teams have multiple helmet design each season, not one design for multiple decades.

Long before LaxWorld came to Towson, my father would pick out his wooden crosse from Bacharach-Rasin. I wore an old youth Bacharach helmet for summer ball when I was in high school--neglecting any safety recommendations--which was great (it slipped on like a baseball cap), until a hit popped the chinstrap off and my front teeth went through my upper lip. (I came jogging off the field with a warm sensation on my chin and throat and dripping down my chest—my coach took one look and said I better head to the ER. Then he added, “You’ll have to wear a mustache the rest of your life to cover that up.” –thankfully that wasn’t true, the stitches healed up well.)


I miss you, Bacharach-Rasin. 

www.jimfenzel.com

At Homewood Field (pinball youth lax at the Lacrosse International)



1 comment:

  1. New technology erased the traditional form of the lacrosse helmet, but modern technology made lacrosse helmets very comfortable and safe.
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    ReplyDelete