I was first introduced to the game of indoor lacrosse in 2008, when I was assigned to cover the Buffalo Bandits for my newspaper. I had seen some games over the years, but I can't say I knew much about the sport and its history. I didn't even know that Canada played box lacrosse (same game, different name) over the summer. It seems that arena operators needed something to keep their buildings busy over the summer when hockey was out of session, and lacrosse was one of their solutions.
What I obviously needed at the time was a book that covered the history of the sport, with all of its particularities and quirks. "The American Game" now has come along to fill that gap - a little late for my purposes, but not for others.
The book by S.L. Price is something of a big sandwich with many ingredients, with the world lacrosse championships (if you hear or read lacrosse by itself without a qualifier, the reference is usually to the outdoor game) in 2018 and 2023 serving as the start and finish. They become the launching point for discussion about this sport's history. More than any other recreational activity, lacrosse has an extremely complicated history and evolution.
Is it our oldest game? Well, it's in the neighborhood. The Native population has been playing a form of it since the 12th century. That baseball and football newcomers in the neighborhood. The origin game had a spiritual aspect to it, and involved hundreds of people playing over vast stretches of land. Not only did it offer some pleasure, but it helped train people for warfare. French missionaries arrived in the 1600s and named the game lacrosse because of the shape of the sticks - which were always wooden and thus connected the player to nature. Organized versions of the game began with a club in Montreal in 1856. Once that happened, it was easier to make the game "portable" and demonstrate it to others.
A funny thing happened along the way in terms of the game's popularity. It caught on at elite colleges in the Northeast part of the United States first. The Ivy League was partly responsible for that, but other top universities in that region were involved as well. So we had the odd combination of the sport being played by relatively uneducated Natives (discrimination and obstacles have been part of their lives throughout our history) and rich white young males. That's created a tension that exists to this day. The sport has done well in the Baltimore area and Long Island; it's interesting that the indoor game as a viable commercial entity has failed in both places over the years.
There are all sorts of issues that have come up over the years as lacrosse officials have tried to grow the game throughout the continent and the world, and Price gives them a long look. The Native population is very proud about its role in inventing the game, but has had to battle to earn respect for that fact for many years. In recent years, the aboriginal population has tried to field a "national" team made up of people on both sides of the United States-Canada border. That's very different than any other model for the creation of a team, and it keeps hitting road blocks. For example, the Haudenosaunee team (it went back to its original name from the adopted Iroquois) has tried to use its own passports to attend international events, which proved difficult in some cases. You'll be hearing a great deal about that as we close in on the 2028 Olympics, which will host lacrosse once again.
Growth of the game shouldn't be restricted to white males, of course. African-Americans have been on the fringes of the sport for years. That's in spite of the fact that Jim Brown - still considered one of the greatest lacrosse players ever even though he's better known for football - was a heck of a role model in his play. Imagine taking one of the greatest physical specimens in sports history, putting him a contact sport, and giving him a stick. As the author points out, Brown was also ambidextrous in his shooting, so it's really tough to believe anyone could even slow him down on the field. But Blacks have been a small minority, and sensitivity is not a word traditionally associated with lacrosse players.
Then there's the matter of women, who are trying to find their way into the sport in increasing numbers. Even various tribes are split on that issue, as it goes against some ancient teachings. It really took Title IX to jump-start lacrosse in this country, and it has made some progress. We'll have to see how far it can move forward to becoming nationally popular, but there are already signs that its growth might represent a change of direction for attitudes within and outside of the sport.
The lacrosse culture also comes up here as well. Two famous incidents are covered here: the murder by a University of Virginia player of his ex-girlfriend, and a rape charge involving the Duke team that was later shown to be false. Surveys of college athletes in recent years have shown very high use of drugs and alcohol by participants. Officials have tried to change that, and the numbers are down a little. But that's allowed lacrosse to drop just below hockey around the top of the lists, rather than having a clear lead.
On a personal level, I was a little disappointed that indoor lacrosse wasn't covered better along the way. My bias as a Buffalo-based writer comes through, since the Bandits of the NLL average around 18,000 per game. But some top players do play inside and outside. The Thompson family, which grew up near Syracuse, gets plenty of attention here. They have been around the NLL for years, and two of the brothers wore Buffalo Bandits uniforms. Other players with connections to Buffalo pop up here, including Tehoka Nanticoke, Josh Byrne, Dhane Smith and Brett Bucktooth.
Price obviously put in many, many hours to write "The American Game." He talked to a great many people and learned about others, and it's certainly a comprehensive cultural history of the sport. That was the goal, I assume, and it was a success. The thought did come to mind than there's almost too much of a good thing here, as it checks in at 560 pages (although more than 100 of those are notes and sources). Maybe a little more editing was in order, and obviously this big of a book on lacrosse isn't exactly designed for a mass audience. However, those with an interest in the subject will find the book well-done and comprehensive.
Four stars
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