Sideline Chatter: April 2009
Why is lacrosse better than
baseball?
Someone once said comparing lacrosse and baseball is like comparing a regional oddity against the national pasttime. We beg to differ.
And apparently, so do you.
Through e-mails, laxmagazine.com and LM's Facebook page, you told us why you prefer split dodges over stolen bases, goals over runs, slide packages over the double play and hitting people over hitting a ball.
Score one for the Creator's Game.
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This Month's Winner: Dan Martinetion, Commack, N.Y.
Exhibit A: Sammy Sosa. Muscular homerun hitter misses games
because he hurt his back sneezing. Exhibit B: Wade Boggs.
Hall-of-Famer misses games because he strained his back while
putting cowboy boots on. Exhibit C: Kevin Mitchell was late
reporting to spring training because he hurt himself eating a
microwavable donut. (I'm not making this up.) Exhibit D: MVP Jeff
Kent broke his wrist while washing a car at a self-serve car wash.
Exhibit E: Marty Cordova burned his face in a tanning bed and had
to miss a game. Seriously.
Dan will receive a pair of men's adiSTRIKE Gloves, courtesy of
adidas.
Although baseball is "America's pastime," lacrosse was on this
country way before it. It was used to toughen Indian warriors for
battle, so saying baseball is older you cannot. Anybody that's been
to a baseball game or played baseball knows it's only an excuse for
guys to dress up in tight pants and smack each other in the butt.
Also it's like watching paint dry. Everyone is just standing there
doing nothing. Lax is the fastest game on two feet, nothing but
action up and down the field. Defensemen eating offensemen. Middies
and attackmen turning into human highlight reels, with the circus
goals and cannon shots from the two-point zone. If you are even
trying to compare baseball and lacrosse, then you don't deserve to
live.
-- Dave Greenleaf, Gloucester, Mass.
Those who can, lacrosse. Those who can't, baseball.
-- Corey Cotsonas, Loveland, Ohio
It's a faster-paced game that depends on an amazing amount of
teamwork and physical preparedness. The conditioning of lacrosse
players (men and women) is two to three times that of baseball and
softball players. Plus, the game is just much easier to watch as a
spectator, with amazing feats of athleticism happens on every
play.
-- David Lane, Rochester, N.Y.
Lacrosse is better than baseball because hitting a person and
running to the ball is better than hitting a ball and running to a
person.
-- Dan Bernstein, Germantown, Tenn.
What about lacrosse isn't better than baseball? The game moves
faster, is interesting to watch, calls for better all-around
athletes, and is just overall way cooler. Baseball moves slow and
is almost impossible to watch, whereas lacrosse is non-stop action
and just overall fun. It takes a better all-around athlete to play
lacrosse. It's not like baseball, where all you have to do is be
able to hit a ball far and you're automatically amazing. You have
to be able to do anything and everything in this sport. Lax is just
overall way more fun to play and do. Sorry baseball, you're too
slow for a fast-moving generation.
-- Zak Piech, New Providence, N.J.
When you put aside all the pride that goes into any sport,
lacrosse has something that no other sport has. Between
baseball and lacrosse, lacrosse has the ongoing movement of putting
a ball in a net. Lacrosse is more three-dimensional all the time.
When a batter is up to the plate, all the focus is on the pitcher
and batter. In lacrosse, those who are not up to bat with the ball
are also a threat. Once you open up your peripherals, you don't
have to run in straight lines to score. Lacrosse gives the
player more freedom to become creative from all angles. Once you
have the freedom of lacrosse to move the ball around, you can
become more creative in how you are going to score or stop the shot
from happening.
-- Anthony Newsberry, Dublin, Ohio
This country has evolved in so many ways, but there's a general
evolution from the kicked back, lazy days for Happyville, USA --
when woman still wore dresses all day, men still opened doors for
women, and the favorite past time was baseball. Those were calm,
lazy days. America now wants action. Suspense. A white-knuckle grip
on the seat. We enjoy more competitive, quicker, stronger, more
extreme, and truthfully, more brutal past times. Football has
overshot baseball as the favorite past time for several years now,
and there is another sport soon to take the lead as America's
all-time favorite sport: lacrosse. It's been around the
longest anyway, beginning with the American Indians, so why not be
the favorite? It's got the defensive styles of basketball,
the field set-up like soccer (goalie, three back, middle and
forward) and the ruggedness of hockey, only without the ice.
If you want to see speed, agility, solid rib-crunching body checks
and pure athleticism, you need to watch the nation's fastest and
fastest growing sport: lacrosse.
-- Nich Cloward, Orem, Utah
Lacrosse is never described as a past time, but it preceded
baseball in North America. It trained warriors for battle. Skill,
speed, and teamwork are the winning combination, and the action
never stops.
-- Neil Sagan, Boston, Mass.
Take it from somebody who has played both sports, lacrosse owns
all. Playing baseball, you just stand there and watch waiting to
touch the ball once. I've gone to games without participating. In
lacrosse, everyone is moving, thinking, anticipating, waiting to
make the move that will change the course of the game. Lacrosse
doesn't need players that can make the big hit and score the
winning goal; they need people who can think. That's what makes
lacrosse king.
-- Joe Reid, Dover, Del.
In baseball, you are always waiting for the ball to come to you.
Then you have to make the decision to go after it or not. On
offense, all you do is try to hit the ball with a wooden stick -
not very exciting right? Well, in lacrosse, you go for the ball and
half of the time you see bodies fly. That's good for if you are
aggressive. On offense, you are passing the ball a ton and
doing amazing tricks and fakes and jukes. Then you go in and shoot
a shot that will surprise the goalie. So I think it is your take on
which on is better.
-- Sam, Indianapolis, Ind.
Lacrosse players actually run!
-- Jim, Mahopac, N.Y.
Lacrosse beats baseball because there's no waiting for something
to happen. Lax is non-stop action; something's always going on on
the field.
-- Scotty, Flat Rock, N.C.
Lacrosse is so much better then baseball because in baseball, you
hit a ball, throw a ball and catch a ball. In lacrosse, you are
playing part basketball, football, hockey and soccer. Plus, you
score points by getting past a goalie. In baseball, you run
bases.
-- Micah Beutell, Cleveland, Ohio
Future Question: What's the most bizarre thing you've seen at a lacrosse game?
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