Confessions of a Rock-it Pocket Disciple
I first started working with Flip in the summer of 1987 (if my memory serves me, which it may not). Actually my first work was helping him sand and finish custom hard-wood trophies he was making for the Vail Lacrosse Shootout. Those, in my opinion, were some of the nicest tournament trophies I've seen. Maybe it's because I'm not all that wild about the lucite ones that have been the norm for many years now.
Back then, the staple head was the Brine Superlight II, though the STX HiWall and Excalibur we're also in circulation. Brine also had the SL IV, Magnum, and Shotgun, but they were not very long lived or as prolific as the SLII. Flip probably has some of the old brochures stashed away somewhere, but the early pockets had more string than they do today. Also, we used to use the fat brown leathers that felt kind of oily. Of course those eventually gave way to the lighter more supple white leathers.
I remember that Lacrosse Magazine said that Rock-it Pockets had "more colors than a Santa Monica skateboard." This was after one of Flip's early trips to the Coaches Convention. I think I first went to the convention back in 90 or 91 when it was held in the big hotel just off the Jersey Turnpike in East Brunswick. From there it moved to the Glenpointe Marriot in Teaneck and I attended at least a couple there as well. I even went to one in Stamford CT.
Back to the Pockets. In the first year or two that I was stringing (and helping sell), I think we sold something like 200. I remember a decisive moment when Flip pondered whether "we'd ever get another order." A couple years later with vending at Vail and other events and return trips to the convention expo etc, we had a deal with Laxworld and moved the total sales to the 1000's. By the time I left RIP, in the winter of 94, we had several store deals working and were selling pretty much as many heads as we could string. That transition time also saw us find bulk distributors for the polyester string, sidewall string and the supplies needed for Custom Dying.
It was also in the early '90s that Flip designed what became Warrior's first head, the Cobra. In fact, Flip made the prototype out of wood and we actually strung it. This was also around the same time that the pocket known now as the "Pookie" was developed. Though, I know Flip has already written about that one.
Toward the end of my tenure at Rock-It Pocket, the most popular heads were probably the STX Turbo and Viper. Up until few weeks ago, I was still using an STX Dominator (circa 94) with an original Warrior Ti handle. I actually have another Dominator of that same era, that has only seen occasional use as a back-up. I will say, though, that the new equipment really does make a difference. I just got a Warrior Razer 2.0 from Flip and the guys and used it for the very first time in a game. I had 1 goal on 2 shots, and no drops or flubbed passes. If that isn't "Game Ready" then I don't know what is.
David Karpman was RIP's first employee. Today, he lives in NJ, and coaches lacrosse for the Roxbury Recreation program. |
