The Face Off

[JustOneTime]

The face off is one of the most exciting parts of a game, two guys and their wings battling it out for possession. But the referees can take this exciting play and just stop it from happening. In my opinion the referee's have too much to say about this critical part of the game. I have seen so many violations called this year and I think it's a detriment to the game. I have seen many players just stand up after being called for a violation and asking the ref what did I do wrong. I think the rules committee needs to look into this as it's just too subjective.
Perhaps they should go to a hockey type face off where they just drop the ball. The two guys line up, the ball is dropped from a very low point and they get after it. There would be no more moving early penalties or issues were a guy is lined up improperly by a quarter inch.
What are your thoughts. Is this idea crazy?

[laxfanatic]

Better be careful or they will just do away with the faceoff and the goalie will just pick the ball out of the goal and go.
That would be AWFUL for the sport.

[Turnandrake]

Better be careful or they will just do away with the faceoff and the goalie will just pick the ball out of the goal and go.
That would be AWFUL for the sport.

Make for a faster game. FO to start the game and 3rd quarter that is it.

[SCLaxAttack]

We're back to this topic again?

No face off - the scored-upon team got possession behind their net - was tried in either 1979 or 1980. It was a one year debacle.

[10stone5]

At mid-field.
1979.

[DMac]

Does it need to be a faster game? Football, the god of gods in the world of sports in this country. About 15 minutes of football in a sixty minute game that takes three hours to play. Lacrosse, lot of action, not much stoppage, you're in and out of a game in two hours. Please, please, never do away with the faceoff, it brings a great element to the game.

[10stone5]

And yes,
the 1979 experiment was a complete FUBAR.

[xxxxxxx]

Oh God, not this again every two years people want to mess with the face off. It's fine some refs are rough and try to be part of the show, just put the ball down and blow the whistle.

[Njlaxx11]

Stop trying to change the face off.

[10stone5]

Here is a good SI Vault article on the year they removed
the face off.

https://vault.si.com/vault/1979/04/16/f ... ontroversy

On the day after the NCAA decision was announced last May, Blue Jay freshman Ned Radebaugh controlled 20 of 22 faceoffs to lead Hopkins to a 13-8 upset of Cornell in the national championship. Facing off was all Radebaugh did that day.

[JustOneTime]

I'm looking for a solution to take the ref out of the equation. I love the face off and don't want it to go away. I just hate that a team can get the ball if a ref spots some infraction before a whistle is even blown. It hampers the game IMO.

[SCLaxAttack]

At mid-field.
1979.

Your memory is better than mine. I hedged my bet on whether it was 79 or 80.

[10stone5]

At mid-field.
1979.

Your memory is better than mine. I hedged my bet on whether it was 79 or 80.

As somebody above said, they go through this here every
couple years and the subject gets beaten to a pulp

[youthathletics]

I'm looking for a solution to take the ref out of the equation. I love the face off and don't want it to go away. I just hate that a team can get the ball if a ref spots some infraction before a whistle is even blown. It hampers the game IMO.

Agree completely, and the only other team sport that does that is volleyball, but at least all the players on the opposing team have a chance to change it.

A thought.... which adds in layers of strategy, is that a team can only use the same player to faceoff a certain amount of times per qtr/game. Or they can not take two consecutive f/o's in a row. This way nothing changes with the procedures, it just helps level the field with possession control .....I suppose until some coach finds a way to recruit all the top F/O players.

[CU77]

Does it need to be a faster game? Football, the god of gods in the world of sports in this country. About 15 minutes of football in a sixty minute game that takes three hours to play. Lacrosse, lot of action, not much stoppage, you're in and out of a game in two hours. Please, please, never do away with the faceoff, it brings a great element to the game.

+1

[bearlaxfan]

Go to women's-style draw? No wrestling matches, less physical damage to the players, more open movement, probably with fewer game-stalling pushing calls (although I admit I like groundball scrums).
Might hurt specialists, and the faceoff schools will howl, and then adjust.
And we get to spill digital ink about the feminization of the game/society/species and how the 'y' chromosome is dying.

[GaitsRightHand]

I do not believe this has anything to do with the referee. It has everything to do with the Fogo and maybe even his faceoff coach (assuming he has one).

Ref's are trained to change cadences of the whistle so it is a guessing game for the fogo's. Making you react to the whistle, rather than guess when it's going to be blown. This leads to many infractions because some of the best fogo's are the best "guessers" also. This is year 3 of SNG faceoff's. So if you receive an infraction due to stance at the Division 1 level... then you deserve it.

I think the faceoff and its rules are better now than any other time in the past decade+

[FOGO_Daze]

The womens faceoff is stupid. THe best part of the Mens face-off is the potential score or fastbreak from the FO. It can dynamically change the game. That is exciting.

Bring back the knee down Moto Grip. But, bring the wings in closer like PLL.

[DMac]

The womens faceoff is stupid. THe best part of the Mens face-off is the potential score or fastbreak from the FO. It can dynamically change the game. That is exciting.

Bring back the knee down Moto Grip. But, bring the wings in closer like PLL.

No, the women's DRAW is not stupid, the ball comes out faster and cleaner often times than it does in the men's game. What exactly is the difference in the potential to score or fastbreak from the FO in the men's game v the draw in the women's game (hint, you've got the same potential in both games)?
Stand on your head, get down on a knee, use a Moto Grip, do it however you want but clamp and rake (rake being the key word there). Never again clamp, withhold the ball from play, ratchet your stick to pick the ball up in a gravity defying way (like tongs) while doing a 30 sec-1 minute crab dance. The rule changes were the right move, how 'bout we just leave the game alone now?

[SCLaxAttack]

I'm looking for a solution to take the ref out of the equation. I love the face off and don't want it to go away. I just hate that a team can get the ball if a ref spots some infraction before a whistle is even blown. It hampers the game IMO.

Agree completely, and the only other team sport that does that is volleyball, but at least all the players on the opposing team have a chance to change it.

A thought.... which adds in layers of strategy, is that a team can only use the same player to faceoff a certain amount of times per qtr/game. Or they can not take two consecutive f/o's in a row. This way nothing changes with the procedures, it just helps level the field with possession control .....I suppose until some coach finds a way to recruit all the top F/O players.

I'm totally against that.... You'd have to have similar rules for other skills. Once you score twice you can't shoot on goal again? Three CTs and no you're no longer allowed to check? Four ground balls per player max?