For four years, Jon Hess '98, Jesse Hubbard '98 and Chris Massey '98 were Princeton lacrosse. The program took them in as freshmen, and they, in turn, took the program to new heights, in the process changing the face of the game.
Two years after passing through Fitz Randolph Gate, the three have not lost their love for the game — or the competitive drive that took them to the top of Princeton's record books.
The inseparable trio did have to separate after winning its third straight national title as seniors. But the game has brought them together once again as all three have found a place in the National Lacrosse League.
Two of those veterans of Old Nassau lacrosse are now playing at Nassau Veterans Coliseum — as members of the NLL's New York Saints. But it's only a part-time job.
Both Massey and Hess are on the Saints' roster and practice and play a few games a year, but they have other priorities. The indoor game doesn't especially suit their playing styles, but they keep playing, if only for fun.
The third member of the triad — Hubbard — has had quite a different post-Princeton lacrosse experience. Alongside the sport's legendary brothers, Paul and Gary Gait — who brought several national championships to Syracuse — Hubbard has flourished as a member of the Pittsburgh Crossefire, formerly the Baltimore Thunder.
Just as in any professional sports league, players have to be drafted for the NLL. It is not quite like its NBA and NFL counterparts, however. The 'Big Three' weren't exactly flanked by agents in the media spotlight awaiting their lucrative signing bonuses. The NLL draft amounts to a handshake, a sales pitch, an assenting nod and letter in the mail. Welcome to the New York Saints.
But it's been fun, Hess and Massey say. Fun, but different.
Indoor lacrosse — or 'box' lacrosse — is indeed a completely different game from the outdoor sport that they all grew up on. Massey likens the game to 3-on-3 basketball with lots of picking and fast-driving, bigger opponents and smaller goals. "It's a lot different from Princeton lacrosse, which is so regimented," Massey said. "It's kind of like people running around with their heads cut off."
For Massey, the NLL — and the Saints — has not been an overwhelmingly positive experience. Sold on the prospect of playing with Hess again and told that it would be just like Princeton, Massey does not consider the Saints a top priority these days. Massey played just four games last year and only one this season.
"I don't really like the indoor game that much," Massey said. "It's just hard to fit it in. Here they approach it as if you didn't have a job. The incentive really isn't there. I don't want to sound negative, but I am."
After working a full week in a Manhattan commercial real estate firm, Massey says that the evening and 8 a.m. Saturday morning practices can be taxing. "To sit through the usual ordeals of being on a team, you don't have the patience as much," Massey said. "If we were playing for millions of dollars, maybe I would have an incentive, but right now I want to go home, relax and wake up for work the next day."
"We're kind of disenchanted," he added.
Like Massey, Hess is not in the NLL for the money. He gets by on a budding investment banking career at Merrill Lynch. But as a consummate competitor, Hess has enjoyed his limited pro career. "I have a lot of fun with it. It's probably the most competitive thing I do," Hess said. "I treat it casually, secondarily."
After four years as Princeton's 'quarterback,' Hess has had to adjust to the bruising and fast-paced indoor game, playing more defense, almost as a midfielder. "For me, everything's hitting the fan," Hess said. "I've always been the little guy."
The league has not been a culmination of professional dreams for either Hess or Massey, but it has allowed Princeton's vaunted trio to reunite on the field. "I played in the first game against Jesse," Hess said. "When he saw me out there playing defense, he purposely came in and cross-checked me.
"He's doing very well. He's always been a pure scorer," he explained.
Very well indeed. In his first season with the Thunder last year, Hubbard was named the league's 1998-99 Rookie of the Year. Of the three Princeton teammates, Hubbard's style of play has most easily adapted to the NLL's fast-paced, high-intensity indoor game. In that season-opening game against Hess' Saints, Hubbard netted six goals with three assists.
Hess and Massey won't be making the NLL All-Star team anytime soon, but that never was their mission. Happy with their outdoor championship with the New York Athletic Club, their priorities lie elsewhere. "It keeps my competitive spirit going," Hess said.
But it's not the same as Princeton.
Read More
‘Gaza Solidarity Encampment’ at Princeton
Daily Princetonian StaffPrinceton students began a sit-in McCosh Courtyard early Thursday morning, joining a wave of pro-Palestinian sit-ins across the country.
Princeton students began a sit-in McCosh Courtyard early Thursday morning, joining a wave of pro-Palestinian sit-ins across the country.
‘Gaza Solidarity Encampment’ launches at Princeton, students arrested
Annie Rupertus and Miriam WaldvogelPrinceton students erected a tent encampment in McCosh Courtyard early Thursday morning, joining a wave of pro-Palestinian sit-ins across the country. Princeton Public Safety has issued its first warning to protesters, and at least two student arrests has been made.
Princeton students erected a tent encampment in McCosh Courtyard early Thursday morning, joining a wave of pro-Palestinian sit-ins across the country. Princeton Public Safety has issued its first warning to protesters, and at least two student arrests has been made.
In preemptive move, U. says encampment protestors will likely be arrested and barred from campus
Miriam WaldvogelStudents participating in an encampment on campus will be arrested and “immediately” barred from University grounds, Vice President for Campus Life W. Rochelle Calhoun wrote in an email to undergraduates on Wednesday morning. The move serves as an unprecedented pre-emptive response to the growing trend of pro-Palestinian encampments that have gripped peer institutions.
Students participating in an encampment on campus will be arrested and “immediately” barred from University grounds, Vice President for Campus Life W. Rochelle Calhoun wrote in an email to undergraduates on Wednesday morning. The move serves as an unprecedented pre-emptive response to the growing trend of pro-Palestinian encampments that have gripped peer institutions.
