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Lacrosse Pop Culture References

Editor’s Note: This article by Ryan Connors, originally titled “Pop Culture Lacrosse References” was originally published on December 19, 2011, at 11:25 a.m. ET. It has been updated with minor edits and reorganized to include other lacrosse pop culture references. Given the current situation with the coronavirus, there’s a lot more time on everyone’s hands to watch a lot more television. Have a marathon to find all of these references! Is there a lacrosse pop culture reference that we missed? Let us know in the comments or tag us on social media (@LaxAllStars).

Lacrosse Pop Culture References

The Backstory

I was going for a run the other night. While listening to my iPod, Sam Adams, the rapper, came up on shuffle.  Adams is from Cambridge, Massachusetts, and went to college at Hobart and William Smith Colleges for two years. It was while he was at Hobart where he recorded his first single “I Hate College (Remix)”. Now, you may be wondering, “What does this have to do with lacrosse?”

I will tell you.

In the song “I Hate College (Remix)”, Adams says, “I felt lost saw some herbs all wearin’ Lacoste, couple dudes in pinnies musta played lacrosse”.

That inspired me to write this article about all the pop culture references that deal with lacrosse.

Everyone can agree that lacrosse has grown a ton over the last decade or two and the larger media world is even starting to pick up on this. The movie “Crooked Arrows” was one of the first major motion picture that was fully centered around lacrosse.

So, let’s dive into the list of other major lacrosse pop culture references.

Crooked Arrows lacrosse chewy
“Chewy” in Crooked Arrows.

Movie References

Sean Parker: Facebook, Napster, Lacrosse?

In 2010, David Fincher’s film “The Social Network” was released. The movie is about the creation of Facebook. There is a particular scene in the movie where Sean Parker (Justin Timberlake) and Mark Zuckerberg (Jessie Eisenberg) are talking about Napster. Sean Parker explains that he created Napster to impress the girlfriend of the varsity lacrosse captain so that he could win her over. I checked the validity of that story and couldn’t find how true it was, but nonetheless, even if Arron Sorkin made that part up, it is pretty cool that he chose to use lacrosse.

American Pie

My final reference is both the most famous and probably the most classic lacrosse movie reference “American Pie”. The 1999 comedy is about a group of seniors in their final months of high school.  What is the sport that they all play? You guessed it, lacrosse! A very old school version of early 1990s brand of lacrosse that is, but classic nonetheless. Chris Klein and Sean William Scott are both stars on the team, and the movie includes some good lacrosse scenes. Whenever movie buffs and lacrosse fanatics are on the same topic, “American Pie” always comes up.

I’d also like to point out that the goalie in the movie is a Mercyhurst alum.  Sorry, but I had to get that plug for Mercyhurst in. Although, now you have some extra trivia to impress your friends with.

Mean Girls: Leaving It All Out On The Field

The fictional North Shore High School Lady Lions Lacrosse team is featured at the end of the movie “Mean Girls”, when one of the main characters, Regina George, is shown to have joined the team based on the advice from her therapist that she should take up sports in order to let her anger out on the field. It’s safe to say she did just that.

Just to clarify, we’re not sure what version of the high school rule book they were playing by, but is probably based on a localized version of how athletes in the Midwest tend to play lacrosse (the story of the movie is based in Illinois).

TV References

Introduction

Lacrosse has made casual appearances on shows like “NCIS”, “Modern Family” (where Alex Dunphy plays lacrosse and is also considered to be the family nerd) and “Weeds”.

Archer: Growing The Game, Even Among Pirates

From a major motion picture all the way to a TV mini-series, I found lacrosse references. The main character, Sterling Archer, from the hit TV show “Archer” is a lacrosse fanatic. Archer is the top agent at a secret United States spy agency. He went to a very private and prestigious prep school and was an all-star in lacrosse while there. In years past, prep schools and lacrosse were synonymous with one another. Throughout the two seasons of the show that have been aired thus far, there have been a number of references to the sport of lacrosse. One of these was when Archer becomes a captain of a group of rebel pirates and establishes an intramural lacrosse league.

Teen Wolf: Two Cases Of A Double-Edged Sword

This past summer MTV even produced a new series called “Teen Wolf”.The premise of the series was about a young kid in high school who gets bitten and eventually turns into a werewolf. The big sports team that the main character is trying out for is the lacrosse team. Traditionally, the hero goes out for the football or basketball team to impress the girl. This time it’s the lacrosse team.

The Simpsons: Pointing Out The Obvious By Ignoring It

“The Simpsons” episode called “There Will Be Buds” aired on November 6, 2016. In this episode of “The Simpsons”, Milhouse’s dad, Kirk Van Houten, suggests that the local youth take up lacrosse in place of football after the football season is suspended due to concerns over concussions. Nobody wants to hear it, but eventually, everyone agrees to support the idea even though lacrosse also has a pretty high rate of its athletes sustaining concussions.

Also, Paul and Gary Gait get a shoutout in the show, which Casey Powell wrote about for LaxAllStars.

A youth team is formed, and chaos ensues. You’ll have to watch the episode to see what happens!

Seinfeld: Stirred, Only Slightly Shaken

Were you aware of this one? In the “Seinfeld” episode called “The Hot Tub”, Cosmo Kramer installs a hot tub in his apartment that leads to a whole slew of ridiculous consequences. During the episode, Newman stirs the hot tub with a wooden lacrosse stick.

The Daily Show: Real Recognizes Real

“The Daily Show”, which was hosted by Jon Stewart at the time, had an episode a number of years ago that actually saw lacrosse legend Oren Lyons make an appearance. The show included a climate change rally that was taking place in New York City and Oren Lyons was seen at the event standing next to celebrities like Mark Ruffalo and Edward Norton.

Blue Mountain State

Don’t. Just don’t.

Other Lacrosse References In Pop Culture

Good Mythical Morning

Good Mythical Morning” is a popular YouTube channel that has over 16 million subscribers. It featured a pair of STX gloves in one of its episodes.

Find Out More!

Take a look at our series called “Spotted” that has featured lacrosse being referenced in different advertisements, TV shows or is found in other places like Bill Belicheck wearing a Warrior Lacrosse sweatshirt. You can find that series by clicking here.

Bonus

Can You Find This Lacrosse Pop Culture Reference In This Song?

I found another musical lacrosse reference, but I am not going to share it with you.  Instead, I’m going to challenge you to find it and tell me what song it is, and what the lyric is.  I’ll give you a hint. There are two performers with one of them being from Canada. Leave a comment with your guesses. Good luck!

Let us know any references we have missed in the comments! Or, tag us on social media using our handle (@LaxAllStars).