NCAA Backtracks on Motorcycle Grip; Shot Clock Still Happening

It's all but official at this point, pals and gal pals: A shot clock is coming for the 2013 season and a bunch of other stuff is getting some tweaks (with the exception of the motorcycle grip on faceoffs). Here we go.

The NCAA Men's Lacrosse Rules Committee published its recommendations this afternoon on a number of items. The proposals, which are expected to be accepted by the Playing Rules Oversight Panel when it convenes on September 21, 2012, affirmed, adjusted, and retracted the first-level recommendations that the committee made earlier this summer. Here are the big ticket items:

• The initial proposal to ban the motorcycle grip -- the double-overhand method that has become popular among faceoff cats -- has been retracted. This proposal had probably been the hotest topic since the initial release of the committee's recommendations, and the heat finally got to Jon Hind (the chair of the committee). I'll say this about the retraction: Faceoff gentlemen better be gentlemen and not abuse this. I'm done watching guys wrestle and cheat at the dot; this isn't an affirmation from the NCAA that this nonsense can continue.
• The committee rescinded the proposed fall ball requirement to keep faceoff players about a foot apart on the draw. This is good in the sense that concussions and separated shoulders are terrible things. This isn't rugby; let's keep it that way.
• There was some clarification around the new faceoff penalties: (1) The three violation rule applies to both pre- and post-whistle infractions; (2) On the third and any subsequent violation, the in-home is the player that needs to go to the box and feel shame; and (3) Violation by wing players before or during the faceoff will count toward the three-per-half rule (play nice, you guys!). This . . . this is going to take some getting used to.
• The shooting strings limitation will go into effect, although the committee has changed the restriction from disallowing stringing up to, but not touching, three-and-a-half inches from the top of the crosse to a square four inches. The committee pushed through this change for ease of enforcement reasons.
• Shot clock is in play as proposed with a clarification around the utilization of timeouts when the shot clock is running. I'm not going to detail it here because it is boring.
• The points of emphasis as proposed are still riding high.

So, that's that. What do you guys think? Excited for this stuff? The comments are yours.

Previous Nonsense

NCAA Rules Committee Proposes Lacrosse Changes and Stuff
College Lacrosse Rule Proposals: Stick Specifications
College Lacrosse Rule Proposals: Faceoffs
College Lacrosse Rule Proposals: Shot Clock
College Lacrosse Rule Proposals: Restarts
College Lacrosse Rule Proposals: Other Recommendations
EVERYTHING IS GOING TO BE FINE (MAYBE)