William George Beers

“ How determinedly, how earnestly they work; how they put their hearts into the pleasure, and even enjoy their own misfortunes; letting out the most demonstrative proof of sound lung and limb ever developed by field game, and realizing something of the rush and thrill of a genuine battle. Nature may send born poets into the world, but she never sends Lacrosse players; at least, not in any white community. There is nothing more amusing to a good player than to watch the first attempts of a tyro, with a crosse and a ball. ”

“ There are qualifications required of a goal-keeper in an eminent degree, which, owing to the singleness of his responsibility, are as imperative as a strongly woven crosse. If it does not need courage to stand at the flags, and fear no pace of a ball, which would kill a dog if it struck it, tell us what does? What needs more undivided attention, more promptness, self-reliance and coolness, than when your goal is crowded by four or five red skins, and your own men in a desperate attack and defence? ”

“ There is somewhat of an illusion, however, among spectators at a Lacrosse match. They see an excitable wavering game; the real play is not confined to any limit—it is far from Quakerish. They see twenty-four men on the alert for the ubiqitous ball—here and there they move out and in, while some run as fast as their legs can carry them. The ball flies through the air from one point to another; there are innumerable close contests and hard struggles in attack and defence, all of which appear in quick succession. ”

“ Every now and then there would break away from the rest some sinewy, subtle runner, who, winding and twisting like a serpent, would dash between the eager ranks of his rivals, avoiding every blow, now stooping, now leaping, now turning, quick as a greyhound and artful as a fox; and then, as the ball was shot between the crimson flags of the Montreal men, the Indians would give a war-yell that echoed again. ”

“ Every player yelled at the top of his voice, and with frantic leaps and dashes, chased and fought for the ball, tumbling over each other, kicking, and wrestling with might and main. The spectators roared with laughter; the garrison forgot all else but watching the sport. Several times the ball shot high into the air, and descending fell inside the pickets, much to the delight of the garrison, who then had a near view of the struggle. Gradually the body of players neared the fort, pell-mell after the ball. ”

“ From the red flags to the blue, the men are full of life—not one is useless—the grass has no time to grow where they run—and the result is an apparent amount of intense exertion, which the spectators invariably magnify.
Pity it is that gunpowder should rob us of such glorious fights as Hastings and Naseby, and, as Don Quixote laments, give men now no chance for individual valor; for what grand training Lacrosse would have been for sword and battle-axe encounter—for splitting helmet from crown to chin—for storming redoubts without fear of flying shot or shell ”

“ One grand element in Lacrosse is its native attraction and amusement to spectators—and how soon it converts them into players! The indefatigable running and fascinating contests between opponents wherever the ball goes; the excitement of dodging and of battles around the goals, are watched with breathless interest, while the frequent sudden upsets and somersaults would make even a Plato laugh, and the moroseness of an Antisthenes take flight for ever. ”

“ There is quite enough excitement in the quietest game without adding rough play to make it impetuous. Violent outbreaks of brute force are the death-blows to art, and not only injure the popularity of the sport, but tend to physical injury, sooner or later. Put a rough player where you will, and he shows roughness. In goal, he swipes at every ball; on the field, he has no regard for his friends or foes, but throws full force, and swipes without mercy. There is always sufficient calls for exertion in ordinary fielding, without resorting to deliberate rough and homicidal play. ”

“ I admit the pleasure of the good swipe in cricket, the excitement of the runs, the delight of blocking a treacherous slow ball, the rapture of catching out a good player, and the feverish anxiety of a close-run game, but still I hold that cricket cannot hold a candle to Lacrosse for variety, ingenuity and interest. ”

“ A word to goal-keeper. You must make up your mind, to endure reproaches patiently, and defeat bravely. Study to succeed; and, believe us, goal-keeping is a post worthy of practice, and infinitely more responsible in a hard-pressed match than all others. When the ball is sent whizzing outside of the goal, and your opponents shout “game,” when it is not game, we hope you will not feel as vexed as we do. It jars on our nerves like a false check to an old chess-player. ”

“ One objection to some field games is the intricate mystery surrounding the best parts of the exercise; and however much we admire the fine play we intuitively understand, it is disagreeable to know that there is a vast deal hidden, because of our theoretical and practical ignorance. A field game ought to be a literal sport: if it is encompassed by too much conventionality—if too much science makes it tedious and exclusive, wherein lies its literal recreation? The most of men have no sympathy with field games that can only interest when crack players make them lively. ”

“ Good players cannot be kept down, nor sent off fagging for others; they rise to the surface as surely as cork on water. There are none of the debasing accompaniments, the bar-room associations of other games; there is no beastly snobbishness about it. There is nothing missed by being late at practice; the game is always alive, and there is always an opening for late comers. A game can be played in a short time, and as much exercise got in half an hour as will do for a day. With a crosse and a ball any one can practice alone; any boy can amuse himself all day. ”

“ It is easy to understand the merit of each man perfecting his own play;—in fact, a good “Twelve” is always the result of individual progress: it is not that we deprecate, but the playing solely for effect and admiration; the attempt to monopolize attention in so far as possible, and for the sake of separate applause, sacrifice the science of Lacrosse to hard running. It is vexing to a side to see a man persist in carrying the ball, when a throw to another in a better position would have accomplished the object more surely. ”

“ A new player is sooner marked by his fielding and his sense of his individual responsibility, than by any particular point of play. The play on the field is conspicuous, and there never fails to every man opportunity to distinguish himself, if he can. To be a good fielder is, therefore, a sine qua non of every player; and men, ambitious of being on “The First Twelve,” have to “win their spurs” by indefatigable practice, and no kind of humbug. It embraces the leading and paramount part of the game, and the very pith of good play. ”

“ Who has not seen every part of the anatomy maimed by cricket and base ball, and eyes gouged out by racket balls. The worst accident yet known from Lacrosse was the fracture of the radius of an arm by a fall. No one was ever maimed for life, though it is hard to go earnestly into the game and entirely escape some slight skin cuts and scratches. Many players have their own blood upon their heads by persistent attempts to dodge when they cannot dodge; but after all no game is worth a fig if it has not some spice of danger. ”

“ We never knew a better hand-ball catcher than the above experimenter, but he is now thoroughly convinced, that hand-ball catching and goal-keeping are two very different arts.
Many crack players dread the responsibilities and dangers of goal-keeping. We have seen veteran fielders shrink up like the mimosa sensitiva at the very approach of a swift ball, which a trained goal-keeper would no more mind than a pea. A man may even stop balls well enough out on the field, but put him at goal, and confidence gives way to trepidation. ”

“ Not only do you lose the game for your side if you let the ball through, but your reputation, and peace of mind. Any other man may pass muster, but you are a sinner. And bright and soft eyes do not look at you graciously any more—a serious trouble, everybody knows, to young fellows unwed.
But let us smooth the way for your defence of goal. We like to go to the flags with shoes on instead of moccasins, and, if throwing at goal from short distances is to become the rule, we intend to wear leg-guards, as in Cricket, for why should we needlessly expose our shins to fracture. ”

“ GOAL-KEEPING.
No moment in the game of Lacrosse is of more intense and nervous interest, than the critical junctures of attack and defence at the goals. The fate of every game culminates at one or the other. No score can be made by any other play than that which puts the ball in, and then the score is not individual but collective. ”

“ The wrestling and leaping of hounds at play is not science. A cat can spring with more nimbleness than a Lacrosse player, and a young setter will get at a ball on the ground with his fore-paws or his teeth, however quick it may be tipped or frisked with a crosse—but that is not science. Science in a sport implies training and education of the intellect, a high use of the reasoning faculty, and a capacity to experiment and improve, and impart principles of knowledge to another. ”

“ It seems very pardonable to enjoy the laughable shipwreck of some overweening dodger and his excited checker, who make battering rams of their bodies, and send dodger, checker, crosses and ball all in a heap. It helps the circulation of the blood even to watch the varied changes on the field as the ball flies through the air, and twenty-four or more active fellows are alive to its career. ”

“ Nothing is easier than to draw up plans for a grand campaign, but the difficulty lies in carrying them out. Nothing is easier than to propose fine theories in Lacrosse; but, like the Fenian projects to take Canada, they look mightier on paper than they turn out in practice.
It is well understood by the best Lacrosse-players everywhere, that no position in the game is, or ever can be, absolutely permanent; that they fluctuate in accordance with the wavering destinies of the ball and the circumstances which grow out of these changes. ”

“ Let the bail through, and you may rest on your crosse, while your antagonists throw their sticks in the air, and “hurrah!” and your side look glum and blue. Point may be Point to perfection; Centre may be all that could be wished, and your fielders swift as the antelope, but of what avail, if you fail? Brave defence cannot compensate for loss of victory. What matters it, comparatively, if the ball passes any other player; nothing is really lost? Who blames a fielder if he evades swift balls?—but who forgives the goal-keeper? ”

“ Particularly at goal, a man wants to be shown fair play, or no good man will occupy that position. If you expect goal-keeper to restrain his desire to go out on the field, and lose the pleasures of a run, give him fair play in his own position. With a spirit of this kind, and an earnest desire to popularize fair play, in every part, our national game can never die; and the boast of an enthusiastic friend of ours will be fulfilled,—that one day “the sun will never set on our flags!” ”

“ It is a great mistake to suppose you can make good players by an immediate rush into hot games. There is no royal road to Lacrosse any more than to geometry; and though you may pick up what may seem to be a successful style by playing the game, ignorant of its principles, it will no more compare to genuine Lacrosse than sliding on a chip does to toboganing. ”

“ It may not be possible for one who has never handled a Crosse—even though he has witnessed many of the exciting matches of the present day, to conceive of the intensity and vehemence of the old game; but to a player who has tried his mettle against Indian wind and endurance, and experienced the exertion required in the present modified game, it is easier to estimate correctly the magnificent physical condition of the aborigine a century ago, and the unparalleled union of strength, agility and wind developed by, and necessary for, the primitive Lacrosse. ”

“ There are so few really good throwers in a club that they stand out as exceptions. There are many able to throw to any point from any distance when they have it all their own way; but the essence of good play is to be able to do this in the excitement of having an opponent at your heels; to have more ways than one, and to be able to throw accurately and quickly to any point, from whatever position you may happen to be in, when circumstances are such that you should not keep the ball. It is common to see men checked, while turning to the only position from which they are habituated to throw. ”

“ It is rarely you meet with players magnanimous enough to throw at goal in the way you would prefer, or a little slower than you would suggest. They may put the greatest amount of brute force into their most violent throw, and you must not budge or move a hair of your eye lashes. Have you ever had an opponent, noted for hard throwing, pick his ground ten feet from you, and send the ball whizzing from the lower angle down the netting straight at your face? ”

“ No goal-keeper can possibly count upon safely stopping them; and if they are not prohibited, in course of time there will be few goal-keepers without smashed faces, and Lacrosse will surely degenerate.
We feel we cannot better bring this book to an end, than by beseeching players not to cultivate rough and dangerous methods of play, merely because they are successful. If it is unfair and wrong in Cricket and other sports, why not in Lacrosse?—and where is the honor of taking advantage of little imperfections in the laws, and resorting to force, instead of cultivating accuracy and skill. ”