The Pittsburgh CrosseFire of the National Lacrosse League will begin its inaugural season on 8 January with a road game against the New York Saints. Although the franchise is new to Pittsburgh, it has existed the past thirteen seasons as the Baltimore Thunder. This week, Bruce Wawrzyniak, the vice president for public relations for the NLL, was in Pittsburgh promoting the CrosseFire and the upcoming season. Staff writer Paul Zeise talked with Wawrzyniak about the state of the league and the Pittsburgh franchise.

Paul Zeise: Why would the league move a team from Baltimore, a hotbed for lacrosse, to Pittsburgh, where the sport is relatively unknown?

Bruce Wawrzyniak: We've seen where professional indoor lacrosse can work in a place where fans are passionate about football and hockey. A perfect example of this is Buffalo, which is a blue-collar town very similar to Pittsburgh and they have both an NHL and NFL team but no basketball. They knew very little about lacrosse when it first arrived but the sports fans loved it and it really took off. We see the same thing here. This is a blue-collar sport that people will appreciate. They'll appreciate the rough element of it and they'll appreciate the similarities to hockey. We also know that Pittsburgh sports fans want a winner and with this team, that is already established. This is not an expansion team who is going to lose a lot of games; this team has won more games over the past two years than any other, so producing a winner is not going to be an issue.

PZ: Professional Indoor Lacrosse has already failed in Pittsburgh (Bulls 1990-93). What has changed that makes you confident it will work this time?

BW: Pro indoor lacrosse has changed so much since the Bulls were here that the changes which have taken place are what will make the Crossefire successful from day one. The Bulls were not a very competitive team and, frankly, they were owned and operated by two guys who were burdened with owning and operating every team in the league and they couldn't give it the time and attention that the people working for the Crossefire will give it, from the owner right on down to the equipment manager. And furthermore, the Bulls weren't a winner and, like I said, the Crossefire is already a winner.

PZ: The feeling, though, is that Pittsburgh is a major-league town whose fans haven't embraced minor sports. What are your thoughts on that?

BW: People in Pittsburgh might only view it as a minor-league sport only because we haven't done a good job in educating them on it and they are not as familiar with it as they are the NFL, NHL, NBA and Major League Baseball. What they will come to know is that this is just as major league as those because any time you go to a Pirates game, or Steelers or Penguins game, they are seeing the best athletes in the world at those sports playing for those teams and the opposition and that is what the NLL is. It is the best lacrosse players in the world playing in arenas like the Civic Arena, playing on teams like the Crossefire and their opponents, so this is certainly nothing other than major league. It is something that people need to learn about it -- that it is a major league.

PZ: Although the players are paid, they still must support themselves with full-time jobs. Does the league office envision a time when being an NLL player will be a full-time profession?

BW: We think so. If you talk to a lot of players right now, some of them feel proud to be pioneers to something that they know could eventually become what the NFL, when you looked at what the players had to do in the AFL to build it to what it is today. And we certainly work very closely with the Professional Lacrosse Players Association to make sure we have a good partnership moving forward so that the players can eventually be rewarded for their talents and make this a full-time profession.

PZ: What about indoor lacrosse besides the game itself will attract people who haven't seen it?

BW: Well, the fan base is similar to our player base. Teams have been successful because we have players from all different nationalities who come from all walks of life. We have guys who trade on Wall Street as their full-time job and then other guys who are scraping to get by on this and a job as a bartender. Our fan base is wide ranging as well. Also, this is a family-affordable sport. Parents don't need a baby-sitter and can bring kids to the games. And since the games are all on weekends, it will also give people something to do who want to get out of the house when cabin fever might be setting in.