Wings who live together say they play better together, too

Toothbrushes, used razors — and a beer bottle — are scattered across the bathroom sink. A cluster of red and black lacrosse sticks stands in a corner in a bedroom, adjacent to the water heater. The TV leans against the wall on a wooden dresser down the hallway in the living room.

It has all the elements of a man cave. But, because it’s the theme of an entire apartment, it’s more like a bro pad.

Frank Brown and Matt Rambo play pro lacrosse for the Wings, and they are roommates in one of the team’s three apartments in Center City. They, and teammates Anthony Joaquim and Blaze Riorden, also roommates, have lived at the corner of 32nd and Race Streets for six months because they all work locally as high school lacrosse coaches.

The average salary for players in the National Lacrosse League is around $20,000 a year, and most players work another job to make ends meet. So the Wings pay for three apartments for working players who might not otherwise have access to affordable housing. One of the apartments became vacant after the occupants were traded earlier this season.

Despite the bro pad atmosphere, Joaquim said the roommates are compatible, and his pet peeves are small.

“I have to keep it so tidy and neat every once in a while," said Joaquim, a native of Guelph, Ontario. “It’s not even that bad the way it is, but I just have to be a neat freak."

Rambo, a forward from Glenside, works as an assistant coach at Springside Chestnut Hill Academy. Joaquim, a defenseman, coaches at Westtown School. Riorden, a forward from Fairport, N.Y., coaches middle school at Springside Chestnut Hill, and Brown, a transition from Salamanca, N.Y., does promotions for the Wings.

"We want to take advantage of this opportunity and be grateful,” Rambo said of both the jobs and the living arrangements.

The guys didn’t know much about one anotherr before moving in together. Rambo, a player at La Salle High School at the time, met Joaquim when Joaquim played at St. Joseph’s University a few years back. Rambo also knows many of Joaquim’s former St. Joe’s teammates. Brown, who played for Hobart and William Smith Colleges, played against St. Joe’s and Joaquim.

The players often dine together at home. They go to the gym together. Since Rambo and Riorden play offense and Brown and Joaquim play defense, they often practice against each other.

“Me and Frank play defense, so we are little more vocal with one another than the other guys" on defense, Joaquim said. “I feel like it has helped us play better together and have a better connection and communication on the floor.”

Joaquim lived in the suburbs during his college days. Now, after having lived in the city, he has experienced being a tourist and a Philadelphian.

“I did have the opportunity [to see the city] at St. Joe’s.” Joaquim said. "I was like 20-25 minutes away. But, with us living here in the heart of Center City, there is so much to do. So we try to take advantage of us going to the [Art Museum] steps or just walking around and seeing the places.”

But they always return to their apartments and any issues that confront them.

“I have to put everything in place. He just makes fun of me for that,” Joaquim said of Riorden. “I don’t have a pet peeve against Blaze. He is pretty easygoing, as well. Easy to live with.”