College Athletic Apparel and Status On and Off the Field

Photo of me in SU lax gear spring 1984. Notice the old champion heavy duty sweat suit and heavy reversible jersey on top. On cold fall or early spring days, this was required gear when the hawk was out.

Recovery from knee surgery caused me to miss the first week or so of fall ball (off season practice). I spent those days in the training room doing rehab along with SU Quarterback Don McPherson who just came out of a doc Baker major reconstructive knee surgery. Once doc cleared me to play I went straight to Equipment Manager Kyle Featherly, a real lacrosse enthusiast, for the selection of my gear. It felt like Christmas time in October and I had cuse cool on my mind. For lacrosse junky like me this was nirvana! New Barach Raisen helmet with emblems (just one of them back in those days), gloves, and arm and shoulder pads all new and smelling and smelling like the inside of luxury car. And refurbished Adidas turf shoes and spikes hand me downs from coach Mac’s football program. Cuse coaches would not receive a shoe deal until long after my time in the program. Kyle also set you up with two sets of practice gear all champion products: shorts, reversible black and orange shirt (the mesh reversible that teams wear now were not yet invented), socks, jock, and a new thick 100% cotton navy blue champion sweat suit with orange lettering on the chest and right thigh that said Syracuse Lacrosse with your number. I selected number 2 because veteran teammate Frank Lanuto (Sachem) had my usual # 7. That sweat shirt and pants worn in any combination gave SU athletes, especially football and basketball and after 83, lacrosse players, a pass port in many ways in the Syracuse metro area. It could get you dinner invitations at nice Syracuse restaurants and home cooked meals, and at tail gate parties, great sandwiches and conversations with people who otherwise might not give you the time of day. In short, legit athletic department apparel from prestigious programs gives one a cool that wins friends and influences important people. My official gear gave me an unsolicited but welcomed elite status on and off the field that I never had before. I say unsolicited because I just loved the game and wanted to win a national championship. That status and the opportunities that came with it would only increase as Cuse and Herk would win many national championships long after I had graduated from both schools.