Page:Lacrosse- The National Game of Canada (New Edition).djvu/201

178 general rule is the reverse. If a red-skin should hold, trip, throw or push his adversary, he has to “face” on the spot where the offence occurred, and several repetitions by the same man puts him in disrepute.

The laws relating to spiked soles, holding, striking, pushing, &c., were necessary, because of the license to rough play, of which there was formerly too much to make Lacrosse attractive, to anybody who valued the use of his hands and head. The resignation of one of the best players of the first twelve of the old Montreal Club, who was passionately fond of the pianoforte, and found himself debarred from practice by maimed fingers, is not too old for recollection, and there are players carrying indellible reminiscences of rough play, who can testify to the injurious effects on the game, of the old manslaughtering style.

The perfection of checking is to check without hitting your opponent. Cultivate several styles of checking, as one cause of injury to the dodger, is attempting to apply one mode of checking to every style of dodging. A cool dodger is more likely to hoodwink you than a rash one, and you require to