Grow the Game®

Lacrosse player touches pocket after goal
Share on facebook
Share on twitter
Share on linkedin
Share on reddit
Share on whatsapp

Hot Pot Of Lax: Lacrosse Players Touching Pockets

Beware, today’s Hot Pot of Lax is Nitpicky!!!!!

This week’s Hot Pot victim: Lacrosse Players touching their pockets after scoring a goal!

When Pull Strings became a major issue in college lacrosse, the rules committee in the NCAA made some changes, and a player is now not allowed to tug on their strings at all during game play, and if a ref asks then for their stick, they are forbidden from touching the pocket again until it has been inspected.  But players touch their pockets almost instantly after scoring, and this all happens before a ref has put their arms down signifying said goal has been scored.

A ref simply can’t ask for a stick fast enough!

I’m not saying that there are a lot of illegal pockets out there, or that guys are adjusting their pockets after scoring goals.  I actually don’t think that’s happening.  And that is why this Hot Pot is a little nitpicky.  At the same time, the NCAA rule about not touching your pocket after a ref has asked to inspect it MUST be there for a reason, right?  It can’t just be something that is thrown in there for fun.  At least I’d hope not.  So if it’s there for a reason, what is the difference between a player touching his pocket after scoring, and touching his pocket after the ref asked him for his stick after scoring?

Lacrosse player touches pocket after goal
What's going on behind the helmet?

If players didn’t touch their pockets after every goal, this wouldn’t be an issue.  But if adjusting your pocket before an inspection is illegal, shouldn’t it just be illegal to adjust your pocket at ALL after a goal?  At any other time in the game, the post-inspection request adjustment should be illegal.  But after a goal, before the ref has ever asked for the stick, the pocket has been touched, so this small rule simply doesn’t work.

Thankfully, the NCAA Rules Committee has shown a great willingness to look at their decisions and make changes.  Hopefully, they take a look at this one and either do away with the rule, or make it effective.

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

IN OTHER NEWS:

– Darien Beats Wilton 9-6 in FCIAC Semis (with Video) | Patch.com

– Michigan Adding D1 Lacrosse.  Major Newspapers are finally catching on.  FINALLY. | USA Today

– Maryland Boys’ HS Lacrosse News and Playoffs info | Washington Post

– Duke making a run at TWO Championships in 2011 | Charlotte Observer

– Does College Lacrosse need a shot clock? | Syracuse.com

– Denver is looking to be poised in Baltimore.  Tierney has been there before. | Denver Post

– Recovery from imjury inspires an entire team and town | Penn Live

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

LACROSSE VIDEO OF THE WEEK:

We’ve got FOUR videos of the week for you today, and they ALL feature the Slovakian National Team.  David Washo, who played in last year’s World Lacrosse Championship for the Slovakia Lacrosse team, recently asked Jen Butcher to put together some highlights from their games against Bermuda, Italy, Poland and Norway.  Jen did just that and the videos came out great!  International lacrosse… Growing the Game!

[fvplayer src=”https://youtube.com/watch?v=GS84wOG7qHM?fs=1″ splash=”https://i.ytimg.com/vi/GS84wOG7qHM/hqdefault.jpg” caption=”Slovakia Lacrosse highlights (vs Bermuda)”]

[fvplayer src=”https://youtube.com/watch?v=uGifiQ8EtN8?fs=1″ splash=”https://i.ytimg.com/vi/uGifiQ8EtN8/hqdefault.jpg” caption=”Slovakia Lacrosse highlights (vs Italy)”]

[fvplayer src=”https://youtube.com/watch?v=fDB08ILpqt4?fs=1″ splash=”https://i.ytimg.com/vi/fDB08ILpqt4/hqdefault.jpg” caption=”Slovakia Lacrosse highlights (vs Poland)”]

[fvplayer src=”https://youtube.com/watch?v=h3iDwNjDXVw?fs=1″ splash=”https://i.ytimg.com/vi/h3iDwNjDXVw/hqdefault.jpg” caption=”Slovakia Lacrosse highlights (vs Norway)”]