TEACH THE CAMERON CRAZIES THE SIEVE CHANT. I was doing a bit of rainy-afternoon channel-surfing and came across the Cornell v. Duke match in the men's lacrosse tournament. Cornell protected a one-goal lead much of the first half, then Duke appeared to put the game away with a flurry of goals (including several that the broadcasters referred to as long-stick shots). Cornell, however, battled back, tying the game with nineteen seconds remaining. Duke won the ensuing faceoff and scored the game-winner with three seconds.

The game allows the team on offense a bit more control than a soccer or hockey team has, although teams don't get the opportunity to engage in very set-piece play in basketball or football fashion. There's lots of room behind the net for Gretzky-style plays organized from behind the goalkeeper, who has to get the puck out of his crease in four seconds, and apparently has freedom to roam upfield on offensive plays. There are power plays (of thirty seconds or a minute) that the defending team can kill by running in circles in the attacking zone (apparently the team on offense is obligated to advance into the attacking zone in ten seconds, and the commentators referred to a pro league with a shot clock.) Although players wear helmets and pads and carry sticks, the opportunities for poke-checks are limited, and there are no boards to check players into.

It's not clear to me why this game has the reputation as a prep-school preserve. The outlay for gear does not appear to be as great as it would be for hockey, and practice opportunities seem to be limited to the great outdoors (no surprise given the game's origins). Duke will play Johns Hopkins at noon Central on Monday for the title. I'm unlikely to make time to watch that game, but if other matches pop up on television on quiet afternoons, I may watch them. It's enough like hockey to make sense to me, and it has more scoring than soccer.