Shamrox eyes are smiling

Come inside the world of professional lacrosse in Chicago

By Paul M. Banks

“Everywhere they went, there were Irish people, or people that wished they were.” Morgan Freeman’s narration in “Million Dollar Baby” sounds like the Chicago area, especially the Southside, during this time of year. What better month than March, the season of pervasive shamrocks, to learn more about the Chicago Shamrox, a National Lacrosse League franchise currently in their inaugural season.

In a perfect storm of sports marketing, St. Patrick’s night will see the Shamrox playing host to the Rochester Knight Hawks. Given Chicago’s large Gaelic-American population, I can’t imagine a place where Freeman’s quote would be more appropriate. “Code Green Night” is expected to be quite a party.

The Shamrox are governed and part-owned by Kevin Loughery Jr., son of former NBA player, coach and announcer Kevin Loughery, who is best known in Chicago as the man who drafted Michael Jordan. Many NLL players have a hockey background, and most of the Shamrox players (20 of the 23-man roster) are Canadian; 19 hail from Ontario. Despite the fact that many NLL players sign one-year contracts and often change teams, the Shamrox already have an abundance of cohesiveness and team chemistry.

“We do have a lot of chemistry, as many of us have played on other teams together in the past,” said leading scorer Chris Panos. On this day, the Shamrox faced the league’s all-time leading scorer, the Buffalo Bandits’ John Tavares, and they came up just short. Panos spoke highly of his rival forward: “He’s a hall of fame player. Everything goes through him. He’s the catalyst. We couldn’t contain him tonight, and he got other players involved.”

Within the last couple of minutes, the Shamrox brought a three-goal deficit down to one. However, this momentum surge came too late, and Chicago fell to Buffalo 12-11.

“Realistically, we should be 4-2, but as an expansion team, the so-called experts picked us to be 13th,” forward Jason Clark said. “Right now, we’re sitting at third in the East with a big game next week.” Shamrox goaltender Brandon Miller, a two-time NLL Defensive Player of the Week, leads the league in save percentage at .794. Nearing the All-Star break of both the NBA and NLL season, both the Bulls and the Shamrox are within striking distance of their conference’s best record, which might lead to a very exciting spring for Chicago sports.

Lacrosse roads: A neophyte experiences an exciting game

Like J.D. on “Scrubs,” I was a “newbie.” Before taking this assignment, the only lacrosse players that I could name off the top of my head were fictional: Stifler and Ostreicher from the Great Falls, Michigan high school team in “American Pie.” The image of lacrosse recently suffered a black eye from the Duke University team. The media’s sensationalized over-coverage of the sexual-assault scandal did nothing to refute the inaccurate misnomer of lacrosse as a sport primarily for spoiled Eastern prep school kids.

But while attending a Shamrox match, one realizes firsthand how this sport truly offers something for everyone in Middle America. More than just a game, a night out at the Sears Centre in Hoffman Estates will “shamrox your world.”

“The majority of people that came to our opener probably never saw lacrosse before, and they were hooked because they’re back,” said dance team director Kim Brancamp. “You can’t help but get involved in the game. People are also returning because it’s such a tremendous entertainment value.”

On the Shamrox home page, www.ChicagoShamrox.com, is a prominent link entitled LAX 101. What sounds like a basic guide to Los Angeles International Airport is actually an outline of the sport’s rules and regulations. Similar to the NBA and Arena Football, the arena’s audio system plays high-energy rock/pop music with artists ranging from Blur, Led Zeppelin and Christina Aguilera to the numerous hits of the Beastie Boys. Unlike basketball arenas that play only song snippets during breaks, here the music doesn’t stop. They also borrowed a late-game tradition from another venue often filled with Irish sports fans (Fenway Park): the sing-a-long of Neil Diamond’s ‘Sweet Caroline’ shamroxed the house.

In between periods, the dance squad captivates the Sears Centre crowd. The unit is easily just as collectively beautiful and talented as the Chicago Luvabulls or Blackhawks Ice Crew.

“The fans enjoy the high energy of the game, and we just love how all the kids look up to us and come out on the field with us to take pictures,” said Brancamp, a former dancer for both the Minnesota Vikings and CBA’s Rockford Lightning. Shamrox games also feature an address announcer making clever comments about the action on the field as well as surprise appearances. On this afternoon Miss Illinois, Heidi Ekstrom, was an honored guest.

Shamrox games are extremely fan interactive. The organization’s hierarchy is very accessible and cordial. After each game, fans are invited onto the field for interaction with the players and dancers.

“The music, the announcers, it all keeps the crowd into the game,” Brancamp said. “We’re all a Shamrox family, and our goal is to bring everyone in. That’s why we go into the stands all the time; we want to make the fans part of our family.” In the words of assists leader Jason Clark: “We’ve put on two exciting performances for the crowd: a 15-12 win, and today was pretty exciting at the end, I believe. I love the arena, it’s a perfect place for indoor lacrosse, and the crowd has been great so far.”

To check out the fast-paced world of professional lacrosse in Chicago, remaining home games are on Feb. 24th, March 17th and 25th, April 1st, 7th and 14th. For tickets, call 1-877-Shamrox.

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