By Bill Doyle - Worcester Telegram - 3/20/1989
The New England Blazers had just lost to the New York Saints, 11-6, at the Centrum yesterday to conelude their initial season in the Major Indoor Lacrosse League.
A tired Walt Cataldo walked into the Blazers’ lock. er room, reached down under a metal folding chair pulled a tooth out of his empty sneaker and popped it into his mouth. “It’s a safe place. I don’t want to lose it.
I’ve always kept it there during games,” explained Cataldo, whc had a front upper tooth knocked out playing ninth grade football for Billerica High School. “I’ve never caught any mouth diseases hiding my retainer in my sneaker.”
PLAY FOR FREE
Seconds later, Blazers’ general manager Steve August walked by with a different type of retainer — the final game check of the season. Cataldo, like all first-year MILL players, receives $100 a game.
“Actually, it’s $83 and something like 24 cents after taxes,” said Cataldo. “We have to drive down here, pay to park… But I’d play for free. It’s a lot of fun.” Cataldo reached into his pay envelope and pulled out three tickets good for free beers at the Marriott.
“These are what I really play for,” said Cataldo, his smile whole again. Cataldo led the Blazers yesterday with two goals and an assist. The 6-foot, 190-pound forward finished the season tied with teammate John Fay for the team lead in goals with nine.
BROWN GRADUATE
Cataldo, a 1988 graduate of Brown University, lives in Billerica, but he works in Worcester, selling computers for a Park Ave. Xerox company. He hasn’t, as yet, been hassled by autograph hounds while on the job. “No one knows me as a Blazer,” he said.
Cataldo did, however, convince one client to purchase a computer after promising to throw in a couple of Blazer tickets. So. the Blazers may be beginning to catch on. The Blazers enjoyed some success in their first MILL season despite a 1-7 record, which tied them with the Washington Wave for last in the league.
Their attendance dropped every game, from a high of an estimated 10,000 fans for their Jan. 14 opener to 6,702 yesterday, but they still averaged about 8,000.
That 8,000 places the team right about the league average and ahead of the 5,000-6,000 established MILL franchises in Baltimore and Washington each drew. Not bad for a 1-7 expansion team. Prior to the season, league officials had said the team would have to draw 7,000-8,000 to break even.
FRANCHISE SUCCESS
All eight MILL franchises are owned by league co-founders Chris Fritz and Russ Cline, Kansas City businessmen, so attendance is more important than won-loss records. “For the first year, the New England franchise has been a success,” said Mary Havel, MILL director of administration. “The response from the fans has been pretty overwhelming.”
Havel said the MILL plans to have the Blazers play at the Centrum again next season. As proof of that, Havel pointed to an exhibition game the Blazers and Detroit Turbos will play in Pittsburgh. April 22. “If we were going to fold the Blazers, we wouldn’t waste our time having them play in that game,” said Havel.
EYE EXPANSION
Havel said the MILL hopes to expand into Pittsburgh and Cleveland next year and play a nine-game schedule. Blazer officials spoke optimistically at a pre-sea-son press conference, but failed to back that up in the won-loss column.
“We underestimated how much experience in the box (the indoor court) meant,” said August. !any of the Blazers play outdoor lacrosse for the Brine Lacrosse Club, the Saints for the New York Athletic Club or the Long Island Lacrosse Club. “We’re very competitive with them outdoors,” said August.
There isn’t any offsides in the indoor game, and it took awhile for the Blazers to adjust to that. In early-season games, the Blazers would pressure the net with too many players and give up too many breakaways.
“Early on, we were the fresh new brat on the block and we got spanked,” said Blazers coach Ron Fraser. “We really started our season at mid-season.” The Blazers earned their only win in the second half of the season and played much closer games.
SUMMER LEAGUE
“It’s pretty apparent we didn’t know the game at the beginning of the season,” said John Gower, who scored his eighth goal of the season for New England yesterday.
Fraser said he hopes to organize an amateur summer indoor lacrosse league of eight teams or so in Beverly where the Blazers practiced once a week this winter. That would give the Blazers a feeding pro-gram for next year.
The Blazers played the Saints, the defending MILL champions, tough for most of yesterday’s game. Jack Piatelli’s goal with 11 minutes remaining pulled New England to within 8-6, but the Blazers’ season wouldn’t end in a blaze of glory.
Jeff Nicklas scored his fourth goal of the game with 7:33 left, and Don Borges and John Driscoll each pumped in goals to help the Saints sew up a berth in the MILL semifinals April 1 at Detroit. The Saints outshot the Blazers, 57-36.
