NLL Insider

Whether the San Jose crowd knew it or not, the Stealth game on Sunday night against the Rochester Knighthawks was a pretty big deal, but not for the obvious reasons. Yes, both teams are looking for their first wins of the season and things like standings are important and all….But still, something way more pertinent was going on within the confines of the HP Pavilion…and I didn’t even realize it until I was on my way to San Jose sunday afternoon. Well, I had an excuse…sort of. I was really busy…sort of.

What I’m trying to pass off as a ‘hectic’ week came down to finishing up a photo-shoot with my friend Kathryn. She’s a yoga instructor in LA and has some pretty crazy clients…like Snoop Dogg. I guess she threw some pics of our shoot up on her page. Sooo, check out www.kathrynbudig.com if you wanna see some other Verdict Photography work.

With my car pointed towards San Jose and with lacrosse back on my mind I start to go though the night’s line-up. Let’s see,… Rochester is in town. They are a perennial power, but have a bunch of injuries this year… No John Grant Jr…. Bummer, he’s awesome to watch, no matter what side of the ball you’re on. ….No Scottie Evans, another great scorer. Dude throws a mean hook. No seriously, ask the side of my face.

That’s a pretty tough duo to replace, Junior and Evie, but somehow Rochester does it. And they go all out. So with the Knighthawks in town you can expect to see the likes of Reggie Thorpe, Shawn Williams, Joe Walters, Chris Shiller and Shawn Evans. But still, Roch packs the ultimate 1-2 punch in all of lacrosse, ever.

You guessed it…The Gait brothers! For what might have been the first time and what could have already been the last, both Paul and Gary stepped foot in the HP Pavilion as members of the Knighthawks to take on the San Jose Stealth. Paul holds it down on the bench as head coach and Gary has shrugged off retirement to be the NLL’s reigning player of the week. I know that you get to a certain age and things aren’t supposed to impress you as much…but c’mon, ..that’s cool! It’s so cool ,in fact, it made me immediately call my mother and have her dig up an old photo of me with Paul Gait from back in ’97.

The more I looked over the picture the more a few things became clear to me. First – Paul Gait doesn’t wear sunscreen and Second – the broad influence that these two players, these twin brothers have had on the game of lacrosse and how lucky we are as players and fans to have these guys. Sorry to get all melodramatic, but this is coming from a guy whose Gait Bros. ‘Air Gait’ Poster took up prime real estate on my junior high bedroom wall. Who didn’t have a pair of PG22’s ?!? In all seriousness though, having the Gait’s would be like if basketball had Michael Jordan AND his twin brother who was just as good. It’s almost too ridiculous to think about, but in lacrosse, that’s our reality.

It’s about three hours before game time when I pull into the apartment complex where most of the Stealth players live. I swing by BC native Tom Johnson’s room to get his take on the night’s energy. I snap a few photos of Tom while he fixes his tie and gives his take on things.

‘Growing up in BC and playing around Victoria, the Gaits were everything…Everything.’

The same was true about Albany, New York, where I grew up. Located about 3000 miles away from Tom Johnson and Victoria, British Columbia, kids were saying the same thing…’the Gaits are everything.’

Jeff Zywicki and company swing over…’Bus is leaving…let’s roll.’ The players get into the HP about two hour prior to game time. I snap a few pics of the guys. You can tell the Stealth players have an edge to them tonight. Guys seemed real focused…I know for a fact they don’t want 0-3…who does?

I grab my camera and give the Stealth players some breathing room. I head down the corridor to where Rochester’s locker room spills out onto the turf. There’s one player on the turf. Stick in one hand, coffee cup in the other, number 22 on the shorts. Gary Gait is the first player on the floor – sipping coffee and gently tossing a ball against the boards. Gary turns and shoots me a smile just long enough for me to lift my camera to my eye and CLICK. Moments later the turf is a busy hustle bustle of action as both teams are out in full force for first warm-ups.

Feeling brave, I stay on the turf and continue to shoot the teams. I like the fact that I can navigate around my former teammates without being a distraction. Most photographers are not allowed super close access to the athletes, but my former player status definitely lets me get some interesting shots. I like to think that the guys can be a little more relaxed around me. The more I can be a non-factor the better. So, for now I watch out for stray shots and keep shooting myself.

I hit my usual positions right before pregame. I head to the locker room to catch Jeff Zywicki leading the guys to battle. The team looks determined, I think Rochester might be in for a tough one tonight. Once the fog machine kicks in, I make my way to the edge of the turf for player introductions. The combination of the fog, the red lighting the overhead spotlights makes this a great spot to shoot. I sit and wait for Eric Martin’s name to be called and wonder what intro dance move he might attempt to pull off. This time he just ran through waving his arms in the air yelling. Not his best effort to date…I gave it 7.5 – he was yelling real loud.

I snap the pic of Tom Johnson running through the fog. Take one look at the LCD screen on the back of my camera… I see that I got the shot and head up to my ‘secret’ shooting spot. High above the action on the catwalk I keep on shooting. I love the angle up here..it’s so different than how I am used to seeing it. Going from being IN the action to 100 feet above it is kind of surreal.

The Stealth explode out of the gate! Rookie Rhys Duch opens scoring only two and a half minutes into the game and the stealth keep their foot on the gas and open a 5-0 first quarter lead. From my vantage point I catch some sweet shots. I have Zywicki sneaking one past ‘Hawks goalie Derek Collins and rookie Alex Turner diving to no avail. My favorite shot of the night goes to Colin Doyle for his ‘no look’ beind-the-back pass while playing the point on the powerplay…smoooth!!

Mid way through the second quarter defenseman Eric Martin sticks a goal in transition to put the Stealth up 10-1. Then the wheels officially fall off…E-Mart gets cheaped big time after scoring and goes down. A few fights break out and I catch Mac Allen grabbing a hold of San Jose’s Mike Kirk. I zoom in and hope that Kirky can weather the storm. Later I snap a few over looking the benches. I catch Kyle Sorensen mid air jumping of the bench. That photo pretty much sums up Kyle to me…always ready to step up.

The second half is bogged down by Rochester’s 82 penalty minutes. Not exactly sure what the record for most PIM’s in one game is..but that’s gotta be close. With the game in hand for the Stealth I think back to that picture of me and Paul Gait from ’97, and it gets me wondering. Even if basketball did have Michael and his twin…it still wouldn’t be the same. Lacrosse fans are given unparalleled access to their favorite players. I actually watched Gary come off the floor following warm-ups. He snuck in two autographs and had time for a quick picture with some fans. When did MJ ever pull that off ?!?

Frank Resetarits finds rookie Alex Turner to notch the Stealth’s 16th and final goal of the night. The Knighthawks managed only 6 goals on the night and remain winless. I’m walking off the turf when I spot both Paul and Gary talking with fans. All of the sudden that stupid ‘6 degrees of Kevin Bacon’ game pops up in my head and I wonder what the number of degrees between the Gait bros and the average lacrosse fan would be? I realize that this is a weird time to bring Kevin Bacon into it, but I think it illustrates a point. Professional lacrosse is unique in the ‘fan experience’ department. Not many sports have great ambassadors like the Gait brothers and not many sports let you get so close to them.

As newer players fill up the NLL and the league continues to grow, I know that both Paul and Gary have left a lasting impression on the league and the sport as a whole. Where lacrosse is now and the direction it is heading in are no doubt linked with the twins. Now,… forever. So with one last glance at my 1997 Paul Gait picture, I think of all the other average lacrosse fans, like me and like the kids at the HP, that have photographic proof of ‘how many degrees’ from the Gaits they are. I bet there’s a lot of us.

To view Zach’s full photo gallery from the game, visit NLLInsider.com/Photos and click on the ‘Behind the Scenes: San Jose Stealth II’ gallery.

San Jose Stealth blogger , Zach Heffner, reunites with his former team for the 2009 NLL season. A member of last year’s regular season Western Division champion San Jose Stealth squad, Zach has since started his own company, VERDICT Photography, and looks to promote the team and the sport through his photographs.

Zach joined the Stealth after a stint with the Chicago Shamrox and is currently a player with the San Francisco Dragons after putting in two seasons with the Chicago Machine. An NCCA National Champion while at the University of Virginia, Zach lists winning a bronze medal with the USA National Indoor Team at last years’ World Indoor Championships in Halifax, Nova Scotia as his top lacrosse moment.

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