Originally Posted by Anonymous
Originally Posted by Anonymous
Should get rid of the face-off. It is the only team sport i can think of that does not give possession to the team scored upon.... Rumor has it, Dr Naismith saw an early Lacrosse game and based basketball on that game, so he had a jump ball after every made basket, it was then changed. Have an opening face-off no need for it after that. There can be a designated spot at GLE where team must re-start game after score (after a whistle start) - with a 10yrd minimum space from team riding.


As I said earlier, the last thing lacrosse needs now is to become more boring. Take a look at the ESPN app, they don't even have the sport listed, they have WWE, FAKE wrestling listed, but no lacrosse. The sport needs everything it can to stay relevant to TV or it is going to become a sport in trouble at the NCAA level. The faceoff is exciting, it can be violent and fast, what people want to see. Notice how football doesn't get rid of the kickoff, it is the most dangerous part of the sport, but it's exciting and people want to see it. Sorry if that hurts, but it's true.


All sports are going thru this phase where people are trying to change the game.... kickoff in football, speed up rules in baseball, etc.... for large part, all of these rules fall into 2 buckets -- safety concerns or pace of play/speed up the game.
Lacrosse remains one of the quickest games out there, both in total time and in pace of play. The faceoff is not slowing down the game. Goal is scored and within 30 seconds (my guess, I'm not clocking it), everyone is set for next faceoff.
Now if you show me data around the overwhelming # of injuries resulting from the faceoff, then this could be considered.