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My first two years in the league I had the honour and pleasure to play for one of the best organizations in the league, the Rochester Knighthawks. They have a sense of tradition and an air of confidence that does nothing but breed winners.

However, what I wasn’t prepared for was the hostility between two cities only a short 45-minute drive apart. The Bandits vs. K-Hawks rivalry is one of the best in sports.

The fans are die hard beyond belief, they are passionate and at any time willing to let everyone and anyone know who they cheer for. I saw a brawl in the HSBC Arena when Derek Malawsky dropped a league-record 11 dimes on the Bandits. Witnessed pandemonium after the Bandits knocked the Hawks out of the playoffs in Rochester, where they proceeded to have a “shirts-off” party at the post-game bar.

What more could you expect from two cities with such close ties?

 

It’s an all-out war and power struggle to see who can bark the loudest. This was never more evident than this past week when I was taking part in a live draft for Knabber’s fantasy league. Now, for those of you who don’t know Knabber that well, he is the CRAZIEST fan I have ever known. And I don’t mean that in a bad way. I mean the guy bleeds lacrosse, but I’m pretty sure if you gave him a stick he’d hurt himself!! With face paint, giant signs, furry slippers and president of the KREW fan club, he’s like a messiah! So his fantasy league had mostly Hawk fans in it, some who would have taken the entire Rochester team if they could have.  Throw in a few stray fans like myself and Bruce Barker and of course there had to be a token Bandit fan. The draft was going smoothly until one of the members, I will refer to him as Captain Obvious, chirps up and says, “John Grant is the greatest of all time, he is going to rule the NLL. Oh and BANDITS SUCK!”

I couldn’t help but laugh at this statement. Then it was like I was back in elementary school watching two self-proclaimed tough guys verbally duke it.

“ROCH SUCKS!”
“No, BANDITS SUCK!”

Back and forth for 5-10 minutes. Then it goes where it always tends to go when an internet fight breaks out.

“OK, here’s where I will be sitting, meet me there and I’ll kick your ass!”

I love how tough people get when they are in the comfort of their own home, miles apart from the unseen adversary. But don’t get me wrong, I have nothing wrong these tactics. It just goes to show the passion of the fans for their team. I just don’t think it needed to go that far.

I think this is where the Calgary-Edmonton rivalry will be very shortly. Having been apart of that rivalry as well, I have a strong suspicion it’s actually already there. Yukon Jack, the in-house announcer for the Rush does a great job riling up the local fans with his call of: “If you happen to see an ugly person beside you, don’t be alarmed, they are just from Calgary.”

Man, I miss the madness of the NLL already. The fans are what make this game so great. I have to agree with Snider when he talked about the passion and level of intensity the fans in Philly have. My first-ever game in the NLL was in Philly and I remember being interviewed and asked how I felt about playing in-front of such a hostile crowd.

“I’m stoked! What’s better than 20,000 people telling me I SUCK?!”

Thanks fans, it just shows you care! Haha. So fans, as Barks says, make some noise for your boys!

Keep up the chatter, show love for team, and leave the verbal diarrhea to Jimmy Quinlan and the other trash talkers in the NLL!

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