Most people outside the lacrosse community don’t know much at all about the sport. What little they do know about it is what they’ve seen in the mainstream media and sadly the media’s motto is “If it bleeds, it leads”. What this motto means is that major media outlets promote negative, fear-based programming to prey on peoples anxieties, grab their attention and drive ratings. It’s especially true in their treatment of lacrosse and personally, I’m sick of the media’s assault on our sport. Their major national news stories for the sport have been:
- Duke University lacrosse rape scandal (2006)
- UVA lacrosse player murders ex-girlfriend (2010),
- The NCAA study revealing that lacrosse has the highest rate of alcohol & drug abuse (2014)
- Just last month a Syracuse lacrosse player punched out a woman while breaking into her car.
This weekend the media dredges up the 2006 Duke lacrosse story on 60 Minutes, primetime TV discussing a black eye our sport endured almost a decade ago. I understand the segment will serve to highlight the integrity of Coach Mike Pressler and the re-birth of his career after being wrongfully forced to resign at Duke. That being said, every time an incident involving our game hits the media spotlight, it creates a ripple effect of “lacrosse bashing” afterwards.
You can rest assured it will happen again in the coming days after 60 Minutes airs its feature. Sadly, the public will focus on the negative instead of the positive and there’s a lot of good going on in the sport of lacrosse.
Here’s the rest of the story the media consistently chooses to leave on the cutting room floor but ought to be talking about:
- The NCAA’s Graduation Success Rate reports that men’s lacrosse enjoys the third highest rate (90.9%) of all student-athletes.
- Numerous lacrosse leadership programs instituted in inner cities across the U.S.
- Lacrosse-based charities like the Headstrong Foundation working to support families and raise funds to find a cure for cancer.
I propose it’s time we take control of the message and promote “what’s right” about our sport independent of the news media. If you’re as sick of the media’s assault on lacrosse as I am, join our campaign to have Hollywood shine a positive light on the game here: https://coachbru.com/Kickstarter