The U.S. National Team Helmet, The Ultimate Status Symbol In Men's Lacrosse
When we arrived at the location of the Freeport Summer League, the site of players wearing helmets from Cornell, North Carolina, Hopkins, Virginia, and the 1982 U.S. Men’s National Team blew me away. In lacrosse, and perhaps ice hockey, college and national team players play in summer leagues. Insurance and other factors make summer football leagues out of the questions. What’s different from say basketball or soccer is that in lacrosse one’s helmet and its emblems and insignias made it marker of social status and cultural identity at summer leagues and tournaments. In the early 1980s the site of an ACC team or National team helmet put the fear of God in the mind of an opposing team without such lofty head gear. Coming from Westchester and Herkimer seeing National Team player Vinnie Sombrotto in his helmet on the team we had to play in my first Freeport game both thrilled and terrified me. Manhasset’s Ray Crawford grew up with alum from his high school who played at elite college programs, “it didn’t intimidate me at all. For me it was like another game against kids from rival lacrosse schools like Port Washington or Garden City [high schools].” In retrospect the Lord used the Freeport League to say to me that I could hang with the best. Tim Nelson and I later became teammates at Syracuse University (1983-85). Similarly Vinnie Sombrotto and I became teammates on championship teams on Long Island Hofstra Lacrosse Club 1987-89, the now defunct Long Island Saints of the Major Indoor Lacrosse League (1989-90), and the U. S. National Team (1990). After games I often went with the Manhasset boys to their town for some outrageously good sandwiches at the famed Manhasset Deli. Still a important fixture in the community, the deli’s most notables are: the bacon and egg sandwich with ketchup, hot pastrami and mustard sandwich, chicken cordon bleu sandwich with honey mustard sauce, and the turkey sandwich with Russian dressing. The Deli was more expensive than most because they use very high quality ingredients to make sandwiches, side, and fresh baked goods. I can still taste and smell one of their hot corn muffins wrapped in that white deli paper. I would order one sliced in half and served with butter. The heat would melt the butter making the corn muffin the perfect consistency.
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