y four-hour officiating shift starts in ten minutes and goes until 11 p.m. Thanks to some folks who have established a business in New Jersey, teaching about 3,000 junior- and senior-high school kids the great game of lacrosse, lax junkies such as I get a chance to do our officiating thing through the fall and winter months. It's crazy when you think about the recipe.

Remember the scene in Lord of the Rings Part I when the Orcs and Goblins cornered the Fellowship in the underground chambers of the dead Dwarf King? That's a pretty good description of what winter lax is like. Imagine trying to officiate Frodo's dodges while the Troll is poking around. Add two old men in stripes with only the protection of two yellow flags and a blow-gun called a whistle. Throw them into a turfed hockey rink lined with nets and protective glass with 14 kids armed with hatchets 42" long. Suddenly, the value of life becomes immensely clear.

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