It's that time of year again kids.  No, not March Madness.  Not spring training.  It's NCAA lacrosse season!

What the hell is lacrosse, you say?  Lacrosse is the greatest sport you have probably never heard of.  Take the speed and hard hitting of hockey and the high scoring and bone crushing hitting of football and you've got yourself a great time.  Before you football fans dismiss it out of hand as a preppy pursuit, let me point out that the great Jim Brown played lacrosse as an undergrad at Syracuse and is commonly regarded as one of the best to play the game.  He's in both Canton and the lacrosse hall of fame.

For anyone not from the northeast or Canada, here is a quick introduction.  Lacrosse, commonly referred to as LAX, was invented by the Native Americans as a war game.  Today, it is commonly played at schools up and down the east coast and has developed a following in Colorado and Arizona.  Teams have 10 players each -- a goalie, three defensemen, three midfielders and three attackmen.  Players have sticks with a net at the head so they can catch and cradle the ball while running.  Attackmen and midfielders generally use short sticks, while most defensemen use longer sticks to give them greater reach.  Like hockey, the field, which is slightly larger than a football field, is divided into two and then into three zones -- the defensive zone, the midfield and the attack zone.  A team must keep its four defensive players in the defensive zone and its three attackmen in the attack zone at all times.  Midfielders can roam anywhere on the field.  Again, like hockey, faceoffs are used after scores and penalties to gain possession of the ball.  Body checking and stick checking are permitted.

The NCAA men's season offiically got underway last weekend.  Because the sport's popularity is mostly limited to the northeast, there is a limited number of NCAA Division I teams.  The old guard consists of Johns Hopkins, Syracuse and Princeton, among others.  As lacrosse's popularity has spread, the number of contenders has also grown.  Most recently, Virginia and this year's preseason No. 1 Duke have become power houses.  Because of the small number of D-I teams, schools play each other more often and the rivalries are intense.  It also means ranked opponents tend to meet throughout the season.  On Saturday, Duke will take on No. 2 Maryland, while defending champion Johns Hopkins, ranked fourth, takes on No. 7 Princeton.

If you live near a university or college with a team, check out a game this spring.  There's a lot of great action to come between now and the Final Four over Memorial Day weekend.  If you're longing for the hard hitting of football, I promise you won't be disappointed.