Generations collide: 87-year-old goalie stands tall in Syracuse lacrosse legends game
Published: Sep. 25, 2016, 12:04 a.m.
Lindsay Kramer | lkramer@syracuse.com
2016-09-24-mjg-Legends4.JPG
Times and surroundings have changed since Chuck Marti manned a lacrosse goal for Syracuse University in 1948 and 1949.
(Michael Greenlar | MGreenlar@Syracuse.com)
Syracuse, N.Y. — Chuck Marti allowed three goals in one half of play in goal as a Syracuse lacrosse legends game rookie goalie in 2015.
Saturday, he surrendered four scores in that contest in the same amount of playing time.
"I'm getting worse. I'm slipping,'' Marti said.
Indeed, Marti is losing the battle of time, much like all the advancing aged veterans in the exhibition.
Then again, perhaps he should at least be given credit for a temporary standoff in that department. Marti's just a few days away from his 88th birthday.
Marti graduated with a radio degree from SU in 1950, a mere 66 years ago ("We didn't have television then,'' he said). He said he had never seen a lacrosse game before arriving at Syracuse. Marti was a soccer player and a boxer at the school, and in the latter sport he was also coached by the legendary Roy Simmons Sr.
Simmons, of course, was best known as an iconic lacrosse coach. In 1948, when Marti was a sophomore, the lacrosse's team's regular goalie became ill and Simmons was shorthanded.
"My buddies who were on the (soccer) team said 'Get Chuck. The (lacrosse) goal is smaller (than soccer),'' Marti recalled. "So that's why I started playing lacrosse. I thought God, I love this game. When they (his lacrosse teammates) saw who was in the goal, the defense got very tight.''
Marti, a New Jersey native, played two seasons on the Syracuse varsity, using the wooden sticks of that era and competing on the team's Hendricks Field.
After graduating from Syracuse he began a brief career in radio and then worked a much longer one in manufacturing. He then dabbled in real estate and now, instead of retiring, has become an actor. He's earned roles in TV series such as "Gotham'' and small parts in movies. He is currently filming a production called "Nick and Nicky,'' due out in 2017.
Last year, another former Syracuse player, Chris Baduini, asked Marti to come back for the alumni game. Marti, who said he has run 15 marathons, felt he was in good enough shape to both visit and play in the Carrier Dome for the first time.
"I'm a widower, so I don't have anybody I'm responsible for,'' Marti said. "But my kids think I'm crazy, grandkids (say) 'Papa, what are you doing?'''
Marti took a hard shot off his left arm on Saturday but otherwise looked and sounded a lot more fresh than teammates and foes half his age.
"It was hectic. The first couple goals...what was that? (He thought) 'My god, get with it.' Then I was OK after that,'' Marti said. "I felt great. I love the camaraderie of the guys. It's a close knit group. There couldn't be a nicer feeling. I'm just happy I survived.''
Marti said he plans on returning for next year's Syracuse showcase.
"I love it. I'm thinking, should I try it again? I think I'll do it,'' he said. "As long I'm around, I'll be back.''
Contact Lindsay Kramer anytime: Email | Twitter | 315-470-2151