Beer Belly and No Action Can't Make Landry Bag It

Brian Landry is a senior in Quincy House and the second-string goalie on the lacrosse team. He has a beer belly and his teammates call him "Lunch Box." He played seventh defenseman on the team for his first two years and then moved to goalie when no one else showed up to back up starter John Consentino.

His playing time over the last three years can be measured in minutes.

Why?

Perseverance? Good times? Justifying his existence? He isn't really sure. He likes his teammates, he likes the game, he needs to sweat a few inches off his paunch. He says that he doesn't like to stand in the goal and have people shoot at him, but then, he says, "that's the challenge of it all,."

Landry isn't too fond of quitters. "Why do people quit sports at Harvard? Because they're prima donnas. Freshmen here want no-cut contracts."

He dismisses the frequently offered explanation that jocks at Harvard are sidetracked from their athletic careers by other interests. "Face it, jocks here aren't the brightest guys. They're not quitting the team for intellectual enlighenment. When things don't go well they quit. Like rats leaving a sinking ship."

Excuses, Excuses

He says he thinks that Harvard's reputation for "scholar-athletes" serves as an excuse for jocks who want to quit. "If you went to Ohio State, you couldn't say you were quitting to get into academia." he says. "And there's the scholarship incentive. Here guys can quit and not lose their scholarships."

So Landry sticks it out. He has never been a big time athlete or experienced the adulation-and the pressure-of big-time athletics. Kicked out of Exeter after only a year on the lacrosse team, he ended up at a high school that didn't offer lacrosse. He has never had any illusions about being a great player. He is content to sit on the bench.

After he finishes his lacrosse career, Landry will go to law school. "I'm not too sure where, though," he added. He just received his first rejection, which came from the University of Virginia.

Landry has a great deal of respect for his captain. Bruce Regan, and the man he plays behind Consentino. He feels that the mediocre record of last year's team was due to the players' "degeneration into party boys." According to Landry, Regan can keep that from happening again.

Landry describes Consentino as "the best goalie in Cambridge," and says he hopes the first-stringer stays healthy.

A Scary Moment

"The scariest moment of my life was when Consentino hurt his knee against Navy." Fortunately for Landry, and for Harvard, Consentino recovered and stayed in the game.

Landry got into the M. I. T. game on Wednesday. "I had the whole fourth quarter. It was all mine." He gave up three goals on seven shots on goal, ".500. Not bad for baseball." he said.