You're trying to tell me that the sport regarded as "the fastest on two feet" just released a rule that forces the players to go even faster? That's what I like to call quality entertainment ladies and gentlemen. The NCAA Men's Lacrosse Rules Committee (NMLRC) finally pulled the trigger and introduced a new 60 second shot clock, as well as brought back the infamous crease dive for this upcoming season of college lacrosse. Everyone is absolutely loving it.
Just to quickly explain these rules, every time a team crosses midfield (aka the 50-yard line), a 60 second timer will start, forcing the attacking team to take a quality shot on net before the timer ends, or they will be forced to forfeit the ball over to the other team. Essentially, you have a minute to score/hit the cage with a shot, or you're toast.
As far as the crease dive goes, if a player leaves his feet to dive towards the cage, and the ball crosses the goal line before the player lands in the crease, it counts as a goal. Obviously, players can't go "apeshit" and tackle the helpless goalie with their dive or it will result in a penalty. If it wasn't, lacrosse might as well be the WWE. But a dive is legal, and if players physically don't hit the goalie, they will be rewarded for their efforts.
Okay, so the NMLRC decides that they want Men's Lacrosse to be the most entertaining sport in the world, right? That's why they introduced the new rules. As I said, these rules make the fast-paced game even faster. The Players in a typical lacrosse game easily run 3 miles throughout the duration. Combining the new rules and the normal turnovers, saved shots, interceptions, and unforced errors that happen in games, and you end up making these players run even more at higher paces. Which is all complimented by good 'ol full contact hits and athletic dives throughout.
All that considered, college coaches might want to start recruiting literal horses rather than players for the future.
Strategically speaking, it will be interesting to see how coaches and players respond to such a game changer. Will coaches continue to bring in players that specialize in either offense or defense, or will they choose to take players who are equally talented on both ends? Will coaches still design set plays for their offense to run, or just trust their players to make smart decisions? Truthfully, I'm not sure what the answer to those questions are, it seems only time will tell as the season quickly approaches.
All I know is the rules committee took a sport that combines the physicality of football, with the finesse of basketball, and now added a little dab of pure unadulterated chaos. Sports this intense and exciting shouldn't be free to watch, so I encourage everyone to enjoy the rejuvenated sport on ESPN this upcoming Spring before it becomes a strictly Pay-per-view event.
