Going beyond that restraining line
By TED FOX
Fox Sports ... Almost
I've been to one lacrosse game in my life, which left me with an inescapable conclusion: I didn't really get it.
Sure, I could tell there was a ball being thrown at a net, and when the ball went in, the team shooting got a point. But beyond that, I might as well have been Keanu Reeves at an acting class, I couldn't appreciate the art on display.
So what better way to learn about the game and the athletes who play it than asking Notre Dame senior defensive standout Tina Fedarcyk about the finer points of the sport?
Well, the finer points were: what cartoon character she's like on the field, which lacrosse rule should get the boot and why a Michigan cornerback deserved the 1997 Heisman Trophy. I just asked the essentials, starting with an explanation of which players can go where.
TINA: I play third man, which is defense. Basically, you have attackers, midfielders and defenders. You have a restraining line in lacrosse and only seven people can go across and play attack, and seven can go back and play defense.
Your attackers and your midfielders will go down and be on the attack, and then your low defenders, which is what I am, and the midfielders come down on defense.
TED: So you can never go across [the restraining line]?
TINA: I can go across sometimes, but it's not like I regularly do it. I can go across ... in transition or if I'm up ahead of everybody else.
TED: Do you think that's the most unique lacrosse rule ... or is there anything else that, just looking at it, is kind of goofy?
TINA: I think the things that are the most confusing are whenever there's a whistle, you have to stop. So everyone freezes. And that's kind of weird, because like in soccer, you can just wander around. But in [women's] lacrosse you have to stop.
TED: The differences between men's and women's [lacrosse] — [are] there differences in terms of the amount of contact?
TINA: Everything — it's like a different sport. Men can body check. Women, it's kind of like soccer, shoulder-to-shoulder. You can have contact ... but it's not as aggressive.
It's more of a finesse [game], that's what they say. You can turn that into being pretty rough, still.
TED: So we established that it's rare for you to score a goal, so when you do score a goal is there a lot of trash-talking in women's lacrosse?
TINA: (Laughs) Not really. I really wouldn't trash-talk when I scored a goal because it doesn't happen that often. And the next time down, I'd probably get pounded.
I say some things on the field that I shouldn't say; I get frustrated with the referees really easily because there's a lot of whistles and I think they're silly.
Our team — we talk to each other a lot ... I think that's intimidating to other teams.
TED: If you had to pick a cartoon character that represented you, that you think that you play like, [who would it be]?
TINA: I don't have the best speed, so I can't go with any of the speedy cartoon characters. I like the Tasmanian Devil, I guess, because sometimes I get very wound up and wrapped up in the game. I'll do dumb things, dumb fouls, and then Coach will have to yell at me. Once I'm in it, I'm very aggressive.
TED: When someone you're marking scores ... do you take that pretty personally?
TINA: Yeah, I take it personally. It's kind of like everything. Every time the draw goes, that's going to be my ball. Every ground ball, I think, `I'm getting to that.' When I don't get it, I get a little frustrated, but it makes me work harder.
TED: If you could change any one rule [in] lacrosse, what would you change?
TINA: I would change the stopping on the whistle. It would change the game a lot, but it's just such a frustrating rule.
TED: Do you basically have to stop dead in your tracks?
TINA: [Yes.] When the whistle blows, you stop, no matter where you are, if you're out of position, if your girl is like 10 feet past you, you have to stop.
TED: What are some of the different types of fouls that they can call?
TINA: Empty-stick check, you can't hit their stick when they don't have a ball in it; dangerous check, which is like checking their stick towards their face.
If you check them in the head, that's the yellow card. (Both laugh) Then you get kicked out. Yeah, I've got a few of those.
TED: [Lacrosse] isn't an Olympic sport yet, is it?
TINA: No. Curling is an Olympic sport but not lacrosse. It's very silly.
TED: When you're watching any other sport, can you identify more with the player who is on defense who doesn't get the credit?
TINA: Definitely ... when Charles Woodson got the Heisman Trophy, I was all about that. [It was] `Yes, defense!' I always identify with them.
Contact Ted Fox at tfox@nd.edu. The opinions expressed in this column are those of the author and not necessarily those of The Observer.
All Sports Stories for Tuesday, March 26, 2002
