[dansaintandre]

Perhaps I have a germ of an idea to address the topics found in this thread...

There are two issues:
1. How to effectively officiate lacrosse games.
2. How to == learn to == effectively officiate lacrosse games.

"The leagues" [aka, players, coaches, teams, etc] make the rules. The officials are their to moderate and coordinate each game according to those rules. With luck, we get input to the rule making process so that we have rules that are enforceable in an objective, or minimally subjective, manner. Any officials candidate must learn the rules -- however they are -- at any point in time.

Lacrosse is a very fast sport. Period.

Anyone can watch a group of players chasing around doing things. After all, many of us are "spectators" at heart. Learning to watch and critically assess that same group of players within the context of any set of rules is hard. Period.

It seems that the statements I made to open this thread might be better stated as a plea for help in the process of learning how to watch and critically assess "the fastest game on two feet".