Lacrosse Literature

Hello loyal QuickStick following, Teague here. As a recent graduate attempting to enter the workforce during what has proven to be an extremely turbulent time, I have been looking for constructive ways to spend my free time. I can only refresh LinkedIn and Indeed so many times a day while trying to wrap my head around how an entry level marketing job requires 5-7 years of experience. I’ve been attempting to cut down on my screen time so I don’t go blind in a few years. After a little too much time spent on Hinge, Tinder, TikTok and Pokémon Go (caught a shiny DoDuo on Saturday) finding a way to find better way to entertain myself was much needed.

Like the scholar I am I turned to literature. I had a few books I wanted to read and began doing so once the pandemic started and my university to transitioned to online classes. I started with The Great Mortality: An Intimate History of the Black Death, and the Most Devastating Plague of All Time which was definitely an interesting choice to kick off COVID-19 and it certainly did a number on my mental stability. I have subsequently read a about 8-9 more books including such highlights as a 617-page tome about the history of the Panama Canal of which I retained little, Devolution: A Firsthand Account of the Rainer Sasquatch Massacre, and most recently the masterpiece of a biography Rasputin: Faith, Power and the Twilight of the Romanovs.

Now I know what you’re thinking. We don’t care about your weird reading choices. How does this relate to lacrosse? Well it doesn’t really, I just wanted to recommend some books. However, I recently thought it would be a good idea to combine two of my hobbies, I could read a book about lacrosse and share my thoughts with you in a QuickStick article. I’ve been itching for more lacrosse in my life these days and this seemed like a great idea, but I quickly ran into a problem. The Westport Public Library recently reopened so on my latest visit I made a beeline to the sports section to check out what it had to offer. I was severely let down. I found one book that looked to be the equivalent of Lacrosse for Dummies. I briefly considered reading it but seeing as the rules change every two years, I figured I’d try my luck elsewhere.

I ventured to my local Barnes and Noble and after checking to see if they had any of George R.R. Martin’s earlier work in stock (they never do), I was again underwhelmed by the offerings. The sports section of Barnes in Noble is separated by sport, which is convenient and could have been quite helpful, but it lacked a lacrosse section altogether. There was a sailing section and a “tennis and other racquet sports” section but no lacrosse. This revelation about the lack of lacrosse literature out there shocked me. There are certainly stories to be told and lessons to be learned regarding this great game.  I did some research and found a few titles I will be looking into but not nearly as many as I thought there would be.

In my opinion this is a huge missed oppouritnity by former players, lacrosse journalists and authors in general.  There is definitely a market for books about lacrosse made up of a growing fanbase that is starved for content. Whether it be recounting untold true stories from back in the day or placing a character in an intriguing story which features lacrosse, there are books to be written. The game is full of drama, a rich history and a wide variety of fascinating characters and large personalities. Compared to all the other sports novels and autobiographies there are I’d much rather read about lacrosse. I also think this is a great opportunity that has not been taken to attract interest in the game and help it grow even more.

So, where is all the lacrosse literature? Does it exist at all? Am I expecting too much from brick-and-mortar stores in an increasingly digital age? Probably. Am I unobservant and just missed it? Definitely a likely probability. But I can’t find any books about lacrosse and I’d like to read one. So, tweet me, slide into my DM’s and tell me what I’m missing out on. This is a #replyarticle. Please let me know what I should be reading, in the meantime I’m off to go start 1215: The Year of Magna Carta. That will be a fun book to talk about at parties if we ever get to have those again.