MAD ABOUT YOU: Gillette a Poor Host For Lax Writers

Dear Harvard Athletic Department and Gillette Stadium Staff,

I had been looking forward to covering men’s lacrosse against Cornell at Gillette Stadium all year—since I wrote the season preview in February, if not before then. But let’s just say my expectations were far from met as I found myself in the press box of the stadium that hosts one of the top teams in both professional football and soccer.

Yeah, I get it, it’s Harvard-Cornell lacrosse, not Pats-Jets, and there were only about 2,700 fans and maybe 15 media members present, so why would you actually do anything at all to accommodate anyone?

Want reasons? Let me count the ways.

One, Harvard has shown promise against a number of good teams and is in the process of creating a powerhouse program.

Not good enough? Two, Cornell is one of the top teams in the country, and the Big Red took on No. 1 Syracuse last night with the chance to improve on its No. 8 ranking.

I haven’t even gotten warmed up yet.

Three, this is the FIRST EVER lacrosse game at Gillette Stadium, and if one matchup isn’t enough for you to start making an effort, how about another one following Harvard-Cornell—Bryant defeated Merrimack in the second game of the doubleheader.

So let’s say that still isn’t enough for you to start making an effort, then let’s talk about my fourth reason, probably the best one for you to make an effort: Gillette is the sight of both the 2008 and 2009 NCAA Lacrosse Championships. Why not get a real-life run-through, a trial shot at making sure everything will run smoothly?

So what, you may ask, was done poorly?

Things started off fine as we entered the parking lot and were directed by a number of security and staff members to media parking—so far so good. But as soon as we walked into the stadium itself, well, that’s when things started to go downhill.

One of the cooler aspects of covering a game at a well-known stadium is the press pass you get to commemorate the trip.

I still have most of the passes I’ve received from covering football, and I’ll probably never get rid of the one from my 2006 trip to the Carrier Dome at Syracuse to cover the NCAA Men’s Lacrosse Tournament.

So what was so difficult about putting together 15 measly pieces of paper with pictures on them to hand out to the media? Apparently a lot, since you provided us with a wristband that could have just as easily been divvied out at Disney World.

Then I get upstairs. Being a football writer I’m accustomed to the friendly confines of a big press box—especially the amenities that usually come with a big press box. Well, at least they normally do.

To say you struggled to provide even the basic necessities is a stretch. No food (although we did get mini Pepsis that tasted like they’d been sitting in a shed for 10 years), no game notes until seconds before the opening faceoff, and no live stats until halftime (and even then sparse ones).

Pretty much the only thing we did have was internet.

And it doesn’t stop there. The supposed press conference we were to have took place in the hallway outside of the locker rooms as the Bryant and Merrimack squads pumped themselves up by screaming while passing by.

The only redeeming factor? Gillette itself.

The huge, beautiful, and well-maintained facility is going to be an awesome place for 40,000 screaming lacrosse fans to watch teams duke it out for the honor of being called the top team in the nation.

Let’s just hope by then you’ve figured out how to run things.

Sincerely,

Concerned Beat Writer

—Staff writer Madeleine I. Shapiro can be reached at mshapiro@fas.harvard.edu.