MLL faceoff rules

[Blue]

I am watching the LA Riptide vs. the Denver Outlaws game on ESPN2 when I noticed that on faceoffs, the fogo's are breaking the rules that I abide by. The things that I noticed are:

hand on the plastic throat of the head
foot on the line
stick butt on the line

I dont know much about MLL rules because i rarely ever get to see one and the only time I do is when they show them on ESPN2(I live in Alabama). My question is if the highschool and college faceoff rules are different from MLL faceoff rules which allows the MLL fogo's to do this.

[shrekjr]

Professional rules in all sports are much more lenient and/or ignored. It's more about entertainment and playing the game than procedural rules.

There are MLL officials on this site that can give you a more specific answer relating to MLL, but I doubt their answer will be much different.

[RockStar]

I've never met an MLL official, but I'm on first names with a handfull of NLL officials.

One opinion I've heard is:

"Faceoffs are boring, and most of the time, both drawmen, and/or at least one teammate on each side are cheating anyway....just blow it in, and get the game going"

There's truth to this.

The amateur referees among us may notice the F/O infractions. The casual observer doesn't, but does start getting ticked off if there's an immediate whistle and possession award after every draw starts. There's this perception that the referee is trying to make himself a bigger part of the show. Fans hate this!!

So, to a certain extent I agree - From the stands, and TV land, it's better when the refs let the two pros have a fierce battle for possession, even if one or both are twisting the rules a bit.

[eme]

MLL FO rules much like those of Fed: down-set-whistle.
Differences include:
home team comes down first at beginning of periods. After that, team that just scored comes down first.
FOGOS within a yard of the center X still playing the ball may not be touched/checked.
If a team is man down, team mayy not bring a player from attack or def. to play on the wing.
There is always a FO after a goal and at the start of a period. i.e. no worry about possession at end of EMO quarter, no worry about dead ball/live ball foul after a shot/goal. One could have a delay of game at center X and award the other team the ball and in that case there would not be a FO.