[Ads-l] Antedating of face-off

[ADSGarson O'Toole]

Here is citation for "face-off" in the lacrosse domain in June 1883.

Date: June 10, 1883
Newspaper: The Courier-Journal
Newspaper Location: Louisville, Kentucky
Article: Lacrosse: The Louisville Champions Defeat the St. Louis Visitors
Quote Page 7, Column 5
Database: Newspapers.com

[Begin excerpt]
THIRD GAME--West was again the lucky man on the face-off, but Campbell
was on hand, and down the ball came on the Louisville goals, but not
to stay
[End excerpt]

Garson

On Wed, Oct 14, 2015 at 4:25 PM, Dan Goncharoff <thegonch at gmail.com> wrote:
> ---------------------- Information from the mail header -----------------------
> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       Dan Goncharoff <thegonch at GMAIL.COM>
> Subject:      Re: Antedating of face-off
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> Publication is accessible through the NYPL. Lacrosse is the game.
>
> DanG
>
> On Wed, Oct 14, 2015 at 4:12 PM, Joel Berson <berson at att.net> wrote:
>
>> ---------------------- Information from the mail header
>> -----------------------
>> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
>> Poster:       Joel Berson <berson at ATT.NET>
>> Subject:      Re: Antedating of face-off
>>
>> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>>
>> What game is this?=C2=A0 Certainly not ice hockey, which doesn't have a
>> "ba=
>> ll"!=C2=A0 (Does it need its own antedating?)
>>
>> Lacrosse?=C2=A0 Likely, from the reference to the "best Canadian teams" in
>> =
>> the second quotation.
>> Or field hockey?=C2=A0 But I'm suspicious of the "pairing" of opponents
>> "al=
>> l over the field".=C2=A0 In those games, are offensive players allowed
>> into=
>>  the defensive half of their opponents at the time of a "face-off"?
>>
>> I assume "fowls" in the second quotation is a typo ... unless the "best
>> Can=
>> adian teams" were composed of their geese.
>>
>> P.S.=C2=A0 These days the excellent Native American teams would not be
>> slig=
>> hted.
>>
>> Joel
>>
>>       From: Hugo <hugovk at GMAIL.COM>
>>  To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU=20
>>  Sent: Wednesday, October 14, 2015 2:21 PM
>>  Subject: [ADS-L] Antedating of face-off
>>   =20
>> face-off, n.
>>
>> OED: 1889
>>
>> I found several antedatings in 1886, the earliest from August 1886.
>>
>> First, **Harper's Young People** (24 August 1886, vol. 7, no. 856, p.684):
>>
>> > When the ball is started, all the players, with the exception of the
>> goal=
>> -keepers, should be paired off all over the =EF=AC=81eld, each man close
>> to=
>>  one of his opponents. If the possession of the ball is disputed by the
>> two=
>>  players who =E2=80=9Cface off,=E2=80=9D let the others approach near
>> them,=
>>  but not near enough to interfere with their movements. They will each
>> seek=
>>  to =E2=80=9C tip" the ball with his stick or foot to some friend who has
>> t=
>> hus approached, and he will have a much better chance of securing it than
>> i=
>> f he had blindly rushed in and entangled himself in a =E2=80=9Cscrimmage.=
>> =E2=80=9D Of course a brilliant dash in between the two players will
>> someti=
>> mes secure the ball, but wait until you see the chance. Don=E2=80=99t
>> fight=
>>  for the ball blindly as if with your eyes shut. Use both eye to see and
>> br=
>> ain to calculate, and just at the right moment act with all the courage
>> and=
>>  strength that you have.
>>
>> http://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=3Dinu.30000093600660;view=3D1up;seq=
>> =3D700
>>
>> Interestingly, the second talks of a proposed rule change to replace
>> the face-off.
>>
>> **Outing : Sport, Adventure, Travel, Fiction** (August 1886, vol .8,
>> no. 5, p.581):
>>
>> > A new rule has been proposed in the United States Convention, which was
>> r=
>> eceived with some favor, and is worthy of consideration. At present, the
>> op=
>> ening play of a game, from the "face off" often results in an undesirable
>> s=
>> crim- mage. This is true even when the game is being played by the best
>> Can=
>> adian teams. It is a bad impression to give, as a first one, to an
>> audience=
>> . By abolishing it, the " face off" and all its finesse (for it has
>> somethi=
>> ng of skill in it), can be retained to be used in case of fowls, etc.,
>> duri=
>> ng the game.
>>
>> http://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=3Dmdp.39015014669165;view=3D1up;seq=
>> =3D593
>>
>> Hugo
>>
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