LANGTRY WALKS THE TALK - By: Joe Beninati
I’ll begin by saying that before this week, I had rarely spoken with Brian Langtry. Other than the occasional “hey, good to see you, and good luck” down on the field before a televised MLL game, or the “hey, how’s it going, you guys are playing well” in a hotel lobby, there wasn’t much conversation. But I had heard that Brian was a very interesting guy, a guy who speaks his mind and shoots from the hip. Wow, were those reports accurate!
Each week in the summer Chris Day and Rachel Spates, from the MLL front office, organize a conference call that brings together coaches, players, and the ESPN2 broadcast team—announcers, producer, director, and graphics coordinator. It’s a great way for all of us to get a handle on the game we are featuring that week. The insights provided by the coaches and players lend themselves to several talking-points throughout the show. Normally the conference calls are all business, with some occasional light-hearted jabs exchanged….except for when Brian Langtry is involved.
The comedy routine began almost as soon as Brian called in this week. First off, we could hear young son Magnus giving his father all sorts of grief for not paying attention to him while daddy was on the phone talking to us. With that slight distraction, Brian was ready for our line of questioning. “So, what happened in the loss to Chicago?” I asked. Not one second later, his response was as subtle as a sledgehammer, “we played like crap and I sucked” said the man who could well be a MVP candidate this season.
Langtry was great throughout the entire phone call. He had our TV group in stitches. He gave us all the information we needed and gave it to us in a sometimes blunt, sometimes self-critical, and almost always humorous way.
Question: “so we here you had a tough shooting day against Chicago, what went wrong?”
Langtry: “well, I am not one to make excuses, but I broke my stick a week earlier, so I was breaking in a new one in Chicago, and I’m a real nut-case, and I let it get inside my own head and mess me up!”
That was just one example of about 12 where Brian gave us an honest answer, very much to the point, and funny. It was refreshing to hear a professional athlete be so glib. There were no pad answers coming back at us.
When Quint Kessenich asked to get Brian’s read on how lax fans in Denver have warmed to the Outlaw franchise, the midfielder took the opportunity to praise the fans, while at the same time tear down a small section of them.
“The fans here in Denver really hook-on to their pro teams,” Langtry said. “As for lacrosse, these fans got a great introduction to the sport from Gary Gait in the indoor game. With the Outlaws, we feed off the big crowds at Invesco, they give us energy.”
“There are a lot of transplants from back east living out here. They all played the game, and some of those Long Island numbskulls think they’re too good for us. All those gold chains they wear have given them a bad chemical reaction!”
It should be mentioned that Langtry is from Long Island. In fact, he and I went to the same high school, St. Anthony’s. It also should be noted that I was there 10 years before him, when the school was all-male. A point to which Brian responded “boy, did you miss out” when the school went co-ed.
Langtry has learned a lot about himself through his lacrosse career. Recognized as on of the top feeding midfielders in the game, he told us that wasn’t always the case.
“When I was younger, I was a black hole,” he explained. “You would pass me the ball and there was no chance that you’d get it back. Now I see the field a little better.”
I’d say his vision is pretty darn good now, and maybe good enough for him to talk his way all the way to a title shot. He’ll be mic’d for sound when Denver hosts San Francisco in Week 8 on ESPN2 and it promises to be entertaining.
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