I’ve written on ESPN about players who wear glasses and goggles in the major team sports (and in the movies). But longtime reader Todd Krevanchi has discovered some seriously weird eyewear in the world of women’s lacrosse. They’re essentially goggle-masks, and they look pretty damn cool, in a Road Warrior-ish sort of way.
The strange thing is that male lacrosse players wear fully masked helmets, which makes this a rare case of a sport where women wear less protection than men. According to this Wikipedia entry, that’s because “most contact is forbidden [in women’s lacrosse], whereas in men’s lacrosse, full-body contact is an essential part of the game. As a result, women players wear much less protective gear — for example, only the goalkeeper wears a helmet.” The same entry indicates that the goggles (which are available in a surprisingly wide range of styles and brands) became mandatory in 2003; prior to that, many teams didn’t wear them.
Uni Watch Book Club: Anybody who likes Uni Watch should check out Julian Montague’s current book, Stray Shopping Carts of Eastern North America: A Guide to Field Identification, an eccentric little volume that has nothing to do with sports but everything to do with programmatic classification systems (which is what uniforms are) and minutiae obsession as its own reward. Seriously, it’s completely brilliant, and should appeal to precisely the same part of your brain that appreciates Uni Watch. Once you read it, you’ll never be able to look at a shopping cart the same way again.
Uni Watch News Ticker: Lastings Milledge’s huge necklace pendant, which he wore in his MLB debut on Tuesday (and became talk radio fodder on Wednesday afternoon), was conspicuously absent last night. … Good catch by Tom Safford, who writes: “Here’s a photo of the Marietta College Pioneers celebrating their win of the NCAA Division III World Series. Musta been the socks!” Indeed. … The flap over Ambiorix Burgos’s upside-down flag is, uh, raging out in Kansas City (and you thought the only thing that raged in KC was the crowd at Arthur Bryant’s when they run out of brisket). This page even includes video of a TV news report on the situation. Can it be mere coincidence that Royals GM Allard Baird was fired yesterday? … Anyone know the story behind the “ND” logo on Johnny Estrada’s backplate? … Anyone else think it’s sorta lame-o that Willie Randolph wears a Mets wristwatch during games? I’ve never understood why managers need to wear any watch, but wearing your own team’s timepiece scores particularly high on the dork-o-meter, like wearing a band’s T-shirt to their concert. Does he have a little Mets pen-and-pencil set on his office desk, too? Memo to Willie: When the big hand gets to the 12, that means it’s time to release Matsui already.
Paul,
I think I liked the a-holes title better…
Did anyone think the Mets could look any worse in their “outfits”? Their ugly uniforms have been well-documented here. Thanks to Willie Randolph for proving us all wrong. Willie needs some tips from some of the Flushing ladies on accessorization. Good catch on that one. The watch is squeezy-cheezy.
The “ND” on the back of Estrada’s mask is actually a “NO”. More information on the website link.
As a proud alumnus, it makes me sad that the men’s lacrosse picture does not feature a Johns Hopkins player.
These lax goggles aren’t a new discovery, they’ve been required for 3 years! Actually, most girls don’t like this new requirement, as getting hit in the eye by the ball isn’t a really a regular occurance, and the eyewear obviously affects your vision. And it doesn’t really protect in terms of contact, as women can’t check like men’s lax – you can’t take a hack at a player with your stick.
Hey J, I believe the current nat’l champs are the 17-0 Virginia Cavaliers ;)
can someone with any inclination expound on what happened at the ex lacrosse-factory that was Syracuse? Thanks.
The ND probably stands for No Drugs, and Johnny Estrada also has it embroidered into his chest protecter near his neck.
I thought Hingis had some kind of weird googles on the other day. Can you put that picture up so I can throughly exam again?
ahhh, the scroll down button still works.
Here’s a link
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Seeing “rookie” Lastings Milledge gave me an idea. Does anyone have any pics of some rookie baseball players wearing the clothes that are left in their locker after theirs get “stolen”. I remember seeing a few players in dresses after games and some in real funky looking mismatched outfits?All part of the initiation or “hazing” of the rooks. Just an idea.
Oops, sorry link doesn’t work
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I don’t know who this is
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There are also women’s lax goggles that are clear plastic like what Antoine Carr used to wear, but they’re not very popular because the lenses tend to fog up and can shatter if stuck by a ball or stick. You would see a bit better through them than the cage though.
Also, notice that almost all women’s lacrosse teams wear kilts, not shorts, putting it with field hockey in a weird category of uniform anomalies.
Just a quick note about the soon-to-arrive Uni Watch merchandise…if possible, make some socks available. Stripes, stirrups, with or without logo creep, whatever. So many of the sites I look on are team stores where they want you to buy a dozen or more pairs, and I’d rather buy them from you.
Glasses Wearing Hall of Famer in my book.
Al Arbour. Forget the Hanson brothers. Can you imagine a pro hocley player wearing tortoise framed glasses on the ice? I can.
AL ARBOUR.
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Now that’s a tough guy.
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Al Arbour is the essence of tough. Imagine glasses on a NHL player? Old school baby!
Tom O’Grady
a quick note for both paul and tom-o’g…
i’ll have you know you can get your yocco’s hot dogs and eat at the starlite diner all within 2 blocks of each other…
see you guys at the next uniwatch party!!!
Paul, I noticed a lot of Met comments in your entries. I hope that’s because you’re a fan.
Let’s Go Mets!
Could also just be that he lives in NYC so he sees a lot of them. but he might be a fan too.
(Go Stros)
Actually, yes, I’m a lifelong Mets fan. I don’t go out of my way to give them more coverage, but I tend to watch more of their games, so I notice more Mets-related things.
Or it may me that the only NL team you hear about is the Mets…and now the Astros. Tell me again, who has the best record in the NL? Some boring midwestern ballclub I hear…
Hi Todd- Being a hometown Windy City hot dog fanatic…hard to go wrong with a Super Dog from SuperDawg…
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And the graphics are tough to beat.
Tom O’G
Northwestern University Womens LaCrosse National Champions-
Props to the NU Wildcats Womens’ Champs for #1.) reaching the pinnacle of your sport and #2). having some really attractive looking uniforms (that flatter womens bodies) that the WNBA could learn a big lesson from…
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Donna Orander. if you want men to check out your sport…loose the baggy shorts…and droppy jerseys…
Tom O’G
There’s been a problem with eye injuries in ice hockey, and lots of players complain about wearing fiberglass shields….why not wear that lacross device?
I know that when I first saw the shields years ago I thought they were wussy looking…maybe after a few years this wouldn’t be so weird.
I watched a bit of woman’s lacrosse in collge, not much to do in misenheimer, north carolina, and i know of at least one school Queens University that did not wear the cages but goggles that closely resembled swimming goggles, but unfortunatley i can’t find you any pictures. Also I LOVE READING THIS COLUMN, before i knew that it was every other week i checked for a new one almost everyday on ESPN.
Gotta love the two-tone mouth guards the NU women are wearing. Makes them look like they’ve all had half their teeth knocked out.
In regards to the “wearing a band’s t-shirt to their concert” that-guyism…
The only exception is the Rolling Stones, but the shirt cannot feature any post 1985 tour dates, logo updates, or album titles.
Similarly, the only company brand you may wear while using a product of that company is Harley Davidson.
Given the faintly geekish aroma wafting from this blog, I’m pretty sure we shouldn’t be invoking the “dork-o-meter” to describe Willie Randolph. Even in middle-age, Mr. Randolph could kick all of our pasty-white butts at the same time and still check the time on his Mets wristwatch.
My daughter played field hockey for many years… that eye protector is catching on there too. We’ve seen a number of girls catch it in the face with the rock hard ball, especially since they are bent at the waist when the ball is in play. It’ll help prevent fractures.
Howie Rose just said on the Mets broadcast that Willie asked Lastings to take the pendant off.
not to beat the Johnny Estrada ‘No Drugs’ thing into the ground, but he used to have the phrase spelled out on his collar instead of just the ‘ND’.
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I have a watch fetish, so I noticed Willie Randolph’s Mets watch, too! In fact, before he began wearing that model, I’m pretty sure he was wearing the Gametime Sapphire Series Mets watch. It’s a really nice looking watch! (“Official Logo Embossed in Platinum Sapphire Crystal LensStainless Steel Case and Bracelet Citizen Quartz Movement”) The picture doesn’t do it justice at all! I own the ladies version and I love it!
I like link.
I’d like to see them make the playoffs.