lacrosse rules

Factual Questions
1

The wikipedia entry for Jim Brown (legendary football player and a Hall of Fame lacrosse player at Syracuse University) makes the following claim: “The rule requiring lacrosse players to keep their sticks in motion when carrying the ball was implemented to slow Brown down.” I did an online check of lacrosse rules but couldn’t find any reference to such a rule. Frankly, I don’t know lacrosse very well. Anybody know if a) players are required to keep their sticks in motion and b) if that rule change was made in the mid-1950s?

2

Here is a link to the wiki article in question.

3

Damn straight it does! Go Hopkins!!

4

Here’s another shout-out for Johns Hopkins (Go Blue Jays!). I don’t know about the “stick in motion” rule, but I remember my dad (Syracuse grad and superb lax goalie) telling me that Jim Brown used to place the stick with the ball in the net against his stomach and basically run through/over all the opponents. I don’t have a link, but I am fairly certain (from playing many years of mediocre lacrosse myself) that there is a specific rule against holding the stick against your chest. This may be phrased as “keeping the stick in motion,” but it does seem odd to put it like that. I’ll try to dig up a rule book somewhere.

-Tofer
'94 Johns Hopkins U.

5

Gee, I’d’ve loved to have seen that!

One of the fun things about Lacrosse is that you go directly towards the ball with your stick as long as the ball is in play. Someone’s kidney is between your stick and the ball? No matter!

QtM
JHU BA '79, MD '83
I saw the World Lacrosse Games in B’more in '82! (but I still don’t have anything useful to say about the OP, sorry!)

6

The reasons why I ask are because a) the lacrosse rules are fairly prolific online, and I can’t find any reference to a requirement that the stick be in motion, b) I have seen film footage of Brown playing lacrosse at Syracuse and haven’t seen any examples of him running with the ball cradled to his chest, and c) all of the references to the rule change he inspired are word-for-word identical, suggesting that they are just repeating the same anecdote over and over.

The fact that I can’t find any evidence for “a” is the thing that makes me doubt this story the most.

7

From the NCAA rules (pdf file here):

There’s no rule about keeping the stick in motion, but there are plenty about keeping the ball in play. I don’t know anything about Jim Brown playing lacrosse, but I can see how it would happen.