#rule8

From Wikipedia

Lacrosse is a team sport of Native American origin played using a small rubber ball and a long-handled stick called a crosse or lacrosse stick, mainly played in the United States and Canada. It is a contact sport which requires padding. The head of the lacrosse stick is strung with loose mesh designed to catch and hold the lacrosse ball. Offensively, the objective of the game is to score by shooting the ball into an opponent’s goal, using the lacrosse stick to catch, carry, and pass the ball to do so.

Back in the day, Saint George dismissed lacrosse as a sport by declaring it “a faggot college activity” Well, I like to think we live in a more enlightened time, so we won’t be so crass.

That said, the rules must be applied. For the purposes of this entry, we are talking men’s lacrosse. Women’s lacrosse is an entirely different animal. as is box lacrosse (and we’ll tackle them at another time.)

Rule 1: Indeed, lacrosse is played with a ball. A very hard rubber ball that’s hurled  at an extreme rate of speed. Do not taunt happy lacrosse ball.

Rule 2: Well, technically you can’t use any part of your body in lacrosse. It’s all about your stick. That said, you’d probably want to avoid contact between the ball and your body, so we’ll give it a pass.

Rule 3: This is a game of competition on a field. The only Point A to Point B is from the face-off circle to the goal, and that’s rarely a straight line.

Rule 4: Lacrosse is not a genteel game. From the stick swinging to the aggressive hitting, there’s a lot of assault on the field. However, this is not the core of the game, so we’ll move on.

Rule 5: Whether cleats or good sneakers, most people own or have owned a pair of shoes that will let them take the lacrosse field.

Rule 6: Let me refer you to Rule 4 (or Rule 1 for that matter.) There’s definitely a chance someone’s leaving the field with a serious injury when you mix the projectile danger of jai alai with the brutal violence of hockey, all while wearing shorts.

Rule 7: Score more goals and you are the winner. It’s that simple (and it always should be.)

Rule 8:  Ooh…so close. The reality of the matter is, if standing in a field with a net on a stick makes for sport, we’ve got to accept lacrosse and butterfly collecting. That’s not going to happen.