Here we go again with the Face Off

[FannOLax]

Eureka!!!!!!!!!!!!! The answer is in the woods, right where it's always been.

Woods, wooden crosses, wooden sticks, wooden ships on the water.... sooner or later, DMac, you always come around to mentioning them. I know they were used in the '70s, but believe they were gone from men's lacrosse before 1982. Anyone have a more precise timeline?

[DMac]

Way before '82, early 70s, but they weren't the perverted version of today's sticks.
Lot of people still used wooden shafts but not the heads.

[Typical Lax Dad]

Way before '82, early 70s, but they weren't the perverted version of today's sticks.
Lot of people still used wooden shafts but not the heads.

A friend’s son uses a wooden shaft and a traditional pocket. He is 14. It is all he has ever used.

[RumorMill]

Way before '82, early 70s, but they weren't the perverted version of today's sticks.
Lot of people still used wooden shafts but not the heads.

What kind of car do you drive? Still using a typewriter?… Damn technology.

[wgdsr]

Way before '82, early 70s, but they weren't the perverted version of today's sticks.
Lot of people still used wooden shafts but not the heads.

A friend’s son uses a wooden shaft and a traditional pocket. He is 14. It is all he has ever used.

nice.
played wooden shaft in h.s. and halfway thru college. some thereafter.
traditional from start until into my 40s, switched to mesh a while back after the 7th stick i transferred my best pocket to broke and died.
had son into traditional for a spell, and the wood veneer shafts from easton until they went out of biz. he loved them at the time.
now gotta buy the new carbon every year.

[Typical Lax Dad]

Way before '82, early 70s, but they weren't the perverted version of today's sticks.
Lot of people still used wooden shafts but not the heads.

A friend’s son uses a wooden shaft and a traditional pocket. He is 14. It is all he has ever used.

nice.
played wooden shaft in h.s. and halfway thru college. some thereafter.
traditional from start until into my 40s, switched to mesh a while back after the 7th stick i transferred my best pocket to broke and died.
had son into traditional for a spell, and the wood veneer shafts from easton until they went out of biz. he loved them at the time.
now gotta buy the new carbon every year.

Traditional is good for developing mechanics.

[DMac]

Earl Tupperware had only been around for ten years or so when I first saw a lacrosse stick, he hadn't inflitrated our lives as much as he eventually would. There were only wooden sticks when I played in HS. Went in the service, played again after I got out (yes, honorably), no one was using wooden sticks anymore (well, maybe cept for the boys down on the Rez). Everybody switched pretty quickly to the new sticks. Must say, as an attackman, I felt as if the defense had lost a little of its punch with the plastic heads. A poke check didn't have quite the same jolt as the wooden stick did. I kinda liked that part.They gave up some of their power but gained a lot in quickness and ability to deliver checks in rapid succession. Early on in the transformation things were pretty equally balanced with the D and O in the advantages both gained from the new technology....not so much anymore.

Don't have a typewriter anymore. Upgraded the Fax machine to one with voice command. Just gotta talk into it and it does all the rest. The technology today is mind boggling.

[wgdsr]

sticks nowadays def don't pack the pain and punishment they used to. not close and you don't have to worry about it unless they catch you in the wrong spot.
speed is what you need to worry about, checks can get there quicker.

the iroquois d using the wood in a world games in denver 5 -6 years ago was a whole narrative, think they banned it? by the champ round bc it hurt too much.

[RumorMill]

DMac, hope you picked up my sarcasm. Much respect! I appreciate and respect the tradition of the game, those that have played it from it's origin, before us, recently and now! Most of the time I feel i was born a century and change too late! I work hard to keep up with today's technology. Part of my sarcasm stems from the fact a lot of the naysayers of the current faceoff talk about wanting a faster game... yet it's the technology and advancement of the game that has made it faster and that includes the current faceoff. And I'm talking all parts, not just the equipment (but that too has made the game much faster and exciting). Advancements in training and conditioning, supplements and nutrition, if you're not advancing with the current technology and science then you're going to get left behind... same with the faceoff... oh wait, they're changing that. Carry on.

DMac, appreciate your service!

[DMac]

sticks nowadays def don't pack the pain and punishment they used to. not close and you don't have to worry about it unless they catch you in the wrong spot.
speed is what you need to worry about, checks can get there quicker.

the iroquois d using the wood in a world games in denver 5 -6 years ago was a whole narrative, think they banned it? by the champ round bc it hurt too much.

Yup. I felt as if the D's checks, slaps, and pokes, were more of a nusance than threat with the new sticks. Arm pads were plenty enough armor to handle what they could deliver but their swordsmanship was much improved with the lighter sticks.

Am right with you, RM, didn't miss the sarcasm, got a kick out of it.
Believe it or not, I do get it, the sticks were an absolute game changer.
It was all good until they let the technology get too carried away. Sticks
of the 80s era was as far as technology should have been allowed to go.
Gotta go, Dick Van Dyke reruns are coming on...hope Mary's wearing
something hot.

[Typical Lax Dad]

sticks nowadays def don't pack the pain and punishment they used to. not close and you don't have to worry about it unless they catch you in the wrong spot.
speed is what you need to worry about, checks can get there quicker.

the iroquois d using the wood in a world games in denver 5 -6 years ago was a whole narrative, think they banned it? by the champ round bc it hurt too much.

My friend told me back in the late 70’s, game shorts had a hip pad because defenders would just continue to pound on your hip bone until you couldn’t run if you didn’t have one.

[Can Opener]

Gotta go, Dick Van Dyke reruns are coming on...hope Mary's wearing
something hot.

DM me if they push the twin beds together.

[Typical Lax Dad]

Gotta go, Dick Van Dyke reruns are coming on...hope Mary's wearing
something hot.

DM me if they push the twin beds together.

Mary or Bewitched?

[ckstevenson]

The only "problem" I ever considered with the faceoff was that the player who clamps down on the ball and does not move it immediately is by definition withholding the ball. I never see that called though. Am I thinking about that incorrectly?

Other than being able to pick the ball up as if you're using tongs, that is the only "problem" with the face off, IMO. These guys absolutely and unquestionably have been clamping/withholding the ball and that's something that never should happen on a lacrosse field (other than with the GK but that's a different kind of war zone and he should be given a little extra advantage after being shot at). I don't like to see the rules changed so often anymore than anyone else, but frankly, I'm glad the committee is showing respect for the game and doing away with this nonsense.

After a clamp you get one step with the ball in your stick and then by rule it must be out. Like all rules, and with any refs, this will be called with some level of variance.

FOs in the last 3 years or so, IMO, have been far better than basically any prior years. I wish the NCAA would have adopted the PLL set of rules (or tried them out in fall ball like these proposed changes of no knee nor moto grip) instead of banning a legitimate technique.

[wgdsr]

it says in one continuous motion once you have it clamped.
that is not what has been called.

instead, we get exit strategies.

ftr, i think guys have been able to take as long as they want. i'm not sure i've ever seen it called that they're withholding. that's probably not true, but that's the impression.

[a fan]

Gotta go, Dick Van Dyke reruns are coming on...hope Mary's wearing
something hot.

DM me if they push the twin beds together.

You win the internet today

[kramerica.inc]

Poor TD. I feel for him, but...He complains on Twitter that there’s just 2 moves out of this new rule. He shows his youth and inexperience with that comment. If he thinks there’s just 2 moves, he will be in for a real long season.

There are about a half dozen unique moves. Each with slight variations. And their own counter. He will have to learn a new stance, new footwork, how to use his wings and I guess, just 2 moves.



With this stance, there’s the clamp, rake, lazer, scratch, top, punch, push, pinch and pop...

Can’t wait till he gets “lazy fingered” for the first time...he’ll know it when it happens.

[DMac]

Yup, the once Great Dane, now Bulldog, likes to call his own shots and have everything just the way he likes it (oh, but he transferred for the education) or he won't wag his tail. Yes, poor TD (Temperamental Dog) is doing a lot growling and making a fool of himself. Even I, as a non FOGO, knew that "only two moves" nonsense was a big load of krap. Go find a little squeaky ball to practice with, TD, I'm bettin' you'll figure out more than two moves if you go out in the yard and play with your stick and ball. Sulking, growling, and pouting aint gonna get you what you want....practice, practice, practice.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZdOsrqGIigY

[Catbird]

Poor TD. I feel for him, but...He complains on Twitter that there’s just 2 moves out of this new rule. He shows his youth and inexperience with that comment. If he thinks there’s just 2 moves, he will be in for a real long season.

There are about a half dozen unique moves. Each with slight variations. And their own counter. He will have to learn a new stance, new footwork, how to use his wings and I guess, just 2 moves.



With this stance, there’s the clamp, rake, lazer, scratch, top, punch, push, pinch and pop...

Can’t wait till he gets “lazy fingered” for the first time...he’ll know it when it happens.

This guy laxxed in the 90's.

Amen.

Just wait til he figures out how many moves can be performed JUST with the plastic on the outside of the head. Ball is gone before the other guy can even think the word clamp. I really liked the old STX Viper for faceoffs; big flat open sidewall, flexible (for its time), but maybe the Hi-Wall will make a come back . A few guys still used those into the early 2000s (thinking of Lou Braun for JHU and maybe others).

[pcowlax]

Yup, the once Great Dane, now Bulldog, likes to call his own shots and have everything just the way he likes it (oh, but he transferred for the education) or he won't wag his tail. Yes, poor TD (Temperamental Dog) is doing a lot growling and making a fool of himself. Even I, as a non FOGO, knew that "only two moves" nonsense was a big load of krap. Go find a little squeaky ball to practice with, TD, I'm bettin' you'll figure out more than two moves if you go out in the yard and play with your stick and ball. Sulking, growling, and pouting aint gonna get you what you want....practice, practice, practice.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZdOsrqGIigY

DMac, wow. Can’t tell from the time you posted this if you were still up and, uhm, experiencing some frontal release or just up and too tired yet to self edit. Read what you wrote about someone unhappy with a controversial rule change again there in the light of day.