A little over a decade after the original National Lacrosse League folded in 1976, Kansas City based monster truck show promoters Chris Fritz and Russ Cline brought pro box lacrosse back to American arenas starting in 1987.
Unlike the original NLL, this league was played in the winter and was promoted the same way Fritz and Cline promoted monster truck shows. (Not unlike how Vince McMahon was promoting wrestling at the same time.) Loud music, big hits and spandex shorts!!!Eventually their single entity ownership model would give way to what is now the second incarnation of the NLL (Retaining many former MILL teams like the Philadelphia Wings, Rochester Knighthawks and the Buffalo Bandits).
This video was made as a pitch video for potential sponsors for the 1990 season outlining the league’s history, some cool action clips and their business plan and target demographics.
Watch for a cool New England Blazers commercial as it’s a crash course on how Fritz and Cline brought lacrosse back to America.
(Credit to the GetBenched YouTube channel)
Gary Groob has been involved with Lacrosse for the majority of his life, whether playing, coaching, or covering the sport for the media.
An avid fan, with a real drive about helping to “grow the game”, Gary became part of podcasts about the game in 2010. Through the podcasts, Mr. Groob was given an opportunity to write about lacrosse, and the rest as they say, is history.
Through many miles (flying and driving) Gary has made inroads with the National Lacrosse League, Major Series Lacrosse League, the Ontario Lacrosse Association, as well as the Arena Lacrosse League, covering the leagues, their teams, and players, working for, and in concert with all of them.
In the year 2020, Mr. Groob was made the media person for the Arena Lacrosse League, voted onto the board of directors of the Brampton Excelsiors Lacrosse Club, as well as being made administrator of the Lacrosse page “Global Lacrosse” with a membership of 9000 members in over 90 Countries. Gary was also made an administrator of Lacrosse History Past Present and Future in 2022.
Mr. Groob co-hosts a weekly Lacrosse show on Spanglish Sports World, and ZingoTV channel 250, as well as writes a weekly lacrosse column for La Portada Canada News (both in print, and online).
Gary also hosts a Lacrosse talk show and podcast for The Edge of Philly Sports Network, seen live Sunday nights at 9pm (ET), and archived on the Edge of Philly YouTube page, as well as Spotify.
Mr. Groob’s other sports interests include Hockey, Football, Boxing, Wrestling, and Baseball, competing competitively in Boxing and Wrestling for many years.
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