Lacrosse is an ancient American sport, dating from about 1000 C.E. In it's early days, lacrosse had a religious significance. A game could consist of as many as a few thousand players and the losing side sometimes paid with their lives. Fast forward to today and you could say the game still has that religious fervor if you live from Maryland to New England, that part of the country where three- year-old boys get little lacrosse sticks for Christmas. These days, the teams are a bit smaller - ten players on each side - and there's almost always some bloodshed - cuts and scrapes - but it's during play.Lacrosse is fast and furious requiring superb conditioning and a multiplicity of skills. If you can't stand soccer because you're always thinking "pick up the ball," you will love lacrosse. Currently, it may be the fastest growing team sport in the country. In Atlanta, many prep schools already playing the game now have competition from teams representing several public school systems. I expect the regional universities may raise their club teams to "official" status and join in NCAA play in a few years.
Thanks to ESPN, you will have an opportunity to see some top college games in April and May, including the men's NCAA Division I finals hosted by Harvard at Gillette Stadium, Boston. Check the schedule here. Most of games are on ESPNU; however, you can watch Virginia at Duke on ESPN2 on April 11 at 4:00 ET, the semifinal games on ESPN2 on May 23 at noon and 2:00 ET, and the championship match on ESPN on May 25 at 1:00 ET. Put those three dates on your calendar now. You'll be watching the "fastest game on two feet."Game photo: Daniel Steger
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