Lacrosse is a highly exciting and under-appreciated game. A uniquely American game, It has its origins in native American ritual competitions, called "the little brother of war" by the Cherokee. The Iriquois sometimes played for days, with goals so far apart as to be out of sight of each other.
Fascinating game and I hope it gains in favor as time goes on.
It's gaining popularity. The first NCAA tournament lacrosse game west of the Mississippi is happening tonight.
It is.. I live here South Carolina where lacrosse is growing very very fast. Our rec leauge grew from about 200 kids last year to over 500 this year and they plan on adding more leagues next year. My son was in a lacrosse tournament this weekend and baseball coach came by and saw all the kids involved in the sport and said our sport is in trouble which is pretty big since South Carolina is still a big baseball state.
I had heard of LAX, but never actually seen it when I was a returning student (from the midwest) at SUNY @ Stony Brook. One of my room mates was a long-stick midi, and he didn't mind having someone with whom to play catch. He was surprised that I took to it as quickly as I did. He suggested that I come to a team meeting, and since at the time, Stony Brook was a DIV III team, I still had some eligibility, and was invited to be the 3rd goalie for the team, or I'd play defense during practices. While I never was any good, I loved the practices, and stood on the sidelines as a photographer for the school paper, so I was able to get some really great shots from the bench!
Unfortunately for me, that was the only year I was able to play. The women's basketball team went DIV I, and when a mens team goes DIV I, a female team has to do the same. In this case, it was just the opposite. So when the LAX team went DIV I, I lost my elligibilty, and had to stop practicing with the team.
It's an awesome sport, and a number of high schools in the Kansas City area are now playing. In fact, the local sports channel even shows some of the high school LAX games!
Mark