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 yoursel####reat 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.
The return of one of the educated women. Finally!!!!
Lacrosse is a sport in which I don't understand why it is so overlooked. Like you said, speed and hard hitting of hockey and high scoring of football. Why do you think this sport is so overlooked.
Here in Western Kentucky I can't think of one single high school that offers a Lacrosse program. It seems that the sport is more popular in the northern states and eastern states such as you pointed out. Wonder why this outrageously exciting sport is yet to develop nationwide?
Nice history lesson. It's odd that Lacrosse doesn't have a better rep, considering that Jim Brown played it. You would think that somehow Jim Brown would give it some legitimacy. As you alluded to in your blog, it could be due to the lack of mainstream coverage- even I was aware that he played, but never put two and two together about the amount of athleticism involved.
CrSeattle -- Most likely money and competition. LAX equipment is expensive. And the travel associated with teams once you reach a certain level can really get up there. It's not as easy to learn and inexpensive to pick up as basketball and football. And it requires a large team so you've got to get a good group going before you can play.
Love the photo. That's one thing you miss in sports today is black and white photography. Color gives you more detail than you need and black and white purifies the image down to the essentials.
Great article on lacrosse. It's not big in the South, but alot of schools do have teams and the caliber of competition is getting better. Non-existant at the high school level, though.
Yeah, teams like Duke, UVA and UNC are still largely populated with kids from MD and NY. Hopefully as those colleges do well, more kids in those areas will be interested in playing.
Here's a scary thought to show you how big LAX is in MD. My highschool had a 3:1 girl to guy ratio. Why? Because a lot of guys who would have gone to our school went to private schools in the area to play LAX. A lot of them went on to D-I programs. That's a small area contributing a large portion of D-I talent.
I love LaCrosse. It is not an easy sport, but it gets very little attention. For the first time in my life I saw people playing in a park in San Diego.
By the way, DC, you haven't commented on my avatar pick for you? It is under my blog listed "Avatar Help Two"
I am a chick who lives for sports -- football, hockey, college basketball, lacrosse, you name it.
As a girl from Baltimore married to a guy from Pittsburgh, my football loyalties and love for my husband are put to the test every weekend. Fortunately, he's an understanding guy.
As is our dog, who loves his football, and my beloved Irish.
