Ben Projansky

Ben Projansky, known to teammates as Mental Ben for his spirited play, joined the Lions fresh out of New England College in 1995. A native Manhattanite, Projansky grew up in the West Village, just a few blocks from the Red Lion, from which the club was spawned. A flanker in college, he shifted to scrumhalf, where his prodigious vocal skills, honed on the streets of New York, were put to good use. Projansky led the A-side through some trying seasons with passion and heart, and would fill just about any position in the B game as well.

Mental Ben was hitting his playing peak when a nasty injury befell him. Playing center against Long Island in ’99, he sustained a nasty break of his tibia, and his playing days were over.

These days, Ben is 32 and married to Benji. He gets his running in by chasing around daughter Sadie, who turns two this summer. We shared a pint at the Lions tourney.

A PINT WITH: What brings you out today?
MENTAL BEN: Beautiful weather, seeing some guys I used to get beat up with, showing off the daughter.

APW: Do you see her playing rugby down the road?
MB: No, never.

APW: Any sports at all?
MB: Absolutely. Actually, she can play anything she wants. It would tickle me to have her play rugby.

APW: What position do you see her playing?
MB: Considering she’s good looking, she could play winger. Definitely winger.

APW: On a different note, you had one of the all-time horrible Lions injuries…
MB: Absolutely. I went against my better nature and passed the ball, back against the grain. Some guy fell and submarined me, snapped my leg. I had a spiral fracture, with a butterfly fracture of my tibia. As a result I have a rod in my leg from my knee to my ankle. It was six years ago, on this same island -- over there on Lions Park.

APW: When you come to Randalls, is there a shudder of anxiety when you relive the injury?
MB: Every time I come around rugby, I think, I’ll lose 20 pounds and I’ll hit the street and do sit-ups and push-ups and come back and play. Then I see some guy get hit, and I think, I wouldn’t be able to get up from that anymore. So I think it’s firmly behind me, but you never know.

APW: When you think of your best Lions memories, what comes to mind?
MB: There’s so many. There’s so many great memories. Lugging the shit from the Red Lion when [Chris] Ratay was holding the club together, humping the generator over to practice, way before we had anything like this tournament…We didn’t win a lot, but we played hard, and the wins were fantastic when we got them. The trip we took to Boston, where we picked up that Scottish kid in a bar the night before and convinced him to make the trip with us and play. Brandon [Dr. Demento] and I were screwing around during the game. The kid, Scottish John, shanks a kick and Brandon turns to him and says, "Way to go, motherfucker," and the guy scowls back at us. Brandon looks at me and says, "You know, some people just don’t know how to take a motherfucker." If you can believe it, Brandon meant it in the nicest terms.

And I think it was Bobby Pierson who was yelling something stupid, yelling at me for blowing a pass from the scrum or something, and Monte went over to him in the middle of the game and said, "Bobby, I just don’t appreciate the tone you’re taking with Ben." It was funny stuff.

APW: They called you Mental Ben. Why?
MB: I’d like to think it’s because I played at a passionate, fevered level. I wanted to win. But I also wanted the games to be played at our best level. And if they weren’t, it pissed me off. I’ve seen a lot of heroes in practice -- devastating hits in practice, then heads down and arms extended in the game.

APW: So the name has nothing to do with outbursts on the pitch?
MB: Refusing to come out, yelling "fuck you" to the coach, every other word out of my mouth being fuck, those type of things? Possibly something to do with it. But I was directing traffic. I needed people to pay attention.

APW: Being married to a woman named Benji, are there any jokes about your names you haven’t heard?
MB: No. Nothing that actually makes me laugh anymore.

APW: You have the distinction of being one of probably just two actual Village natives to play for the Village Lions. Did that make your time with the club more meaningful?
MB: Absolutely, absolutely. I grew up on 11th and Bleecker, right in the heart of the West Village. So it was great to be playing for the Village Lions. I wouldn’t have wanted to play for any other club. Seeing it turn into what it is today is bittersweet. I would’ve loved to have been a part of it, but it’s alright. It’s still there.

APW: You caught the Lions against NY/Manhattan. What did you think of the team?
MB: It looked like the Village Lions. A tying try in the last minute by a fat guy in spandex…It’s fucking incredible. That’s us! It was perfect.

APW: Are you impressed by the tournament?
MB: I…I’m…I…look, there’s tablecloths! It’s fucking incredible. Who’s ever been to a tournament that: 1. had tables and folding chairs…*padded* folding chairs, and 2. fucking tablecloths. That’s insane!

Quick Facts:

• Job: Director of Cost Control for a construction manager
• Birthplace: New York
• Residence: New York
• Favorite Beer: Bud. Red, white, and blue -- these colors don't run.
• Macarena or Electric Slide: I choose to exercise my right to the 5th amendment.
• Best Lions Memory: Scoring the winning try against Forest Hills B in injury time after our loss to their shitty team during the A game. I broke about four tackles and dragged a couple players in for the try. Eric, truth be told, I never saw you there, I was only looking forward. Sorry you got hit in the head.