Contact Sports

Twelve years ago, Lisa Cocco was chatting in a friend's kitchen. Unknowingly, a floor above Lisa, her 5-year-old daughter was teetering on a narrow window ledge. Mandy Cocco was bravely practicing a fire-escape plan with a friend. It was one of Lisa's first indications that her oldest girl was not easily spooked. "I knew then to prepare myself," Lisa said. But when Mandy told her mom she wanted to play rugby, Lisa was surprised. "I told her, 'You are crazy,' " Lisa recalled.

If it were up to some of the Flyers, there would be no more checks to the head, whether they come from Scott Stevens, Bob Boughner, Darius Kasparaitis or any other NHL player. Given the number of concussions in the league and the fact that a sixth concussion may have ended the career of the Flyers' star center, Eric Lindros, perhaps the league's general managers will eliminate checks to the head. Such hits are legal when delivered with the shoulder. Flyers winger John LeClair said that Stevens, the New Jersey defenseman who hit Lindros on the chin with his shoulder in Game 7 of the Eastern Conference finals, was head-hunting even though the hit was clean by definition.

What high school girl would volunteer to spend the majority of her spring afternoons trapped in a cage? What athlete would choose a position so humbling that a 50 percent success rate was considered good? What sane person would wear less, rather than more, equipment to face a speeding, rock-hard ball aimed straight at her? The answer: the courageous souls who play goalie, the most demanding - and appreciated - position in lacrosse. "Once during practice, I put on the goalie equipment just to see what it was like," Moorestown coach Deanna Knobloch said, "and I was scared.

Even if Marc Young didn't have all the right moves his freshman year, he had seen the right movie. Young, now a senior at the Haverford School, was stretching with his lacrosse teammates three years ago. The guys were talking about movies, and North Shore, an obscure 1987 surfing film, came up. Young was one of the only team members who had seen it, and he was promptly nicknamed "Turtle," after one of the characters. "I wasn't incredibly fast, but I wasn't a real turtle," Young said with a laugh.

Jesse Ferguson became nauseous and vomited whenever he was punched in the left side of his face. Not a problem for most folks, who luckily don't have to fend off many jabs to the jaw. But it was a big problem for Ferguson, a professional boxer. "If I can't fight, I can't feed my family, said Ferguson, a veteran of 40 professional heavyweight bouts. After magnetic resonance imaging and brain scans showed nothing abnormal, Ferguson, 40, got in touch with Dr. Edward Williams, a Philadelphia dentist, a former athlete and an appointee to the Medical Advisory Committee for the World Boxing Association.

Think "rugby," and you probably picture a knot of gigantic, thick-necked Australian guys in striped shirts going at one another in the dirt for an oblong ball. Think again. Think five-foot, slender teenage girls going at one another in the dirt for an oblong ball. Those would be the Lady Dragons of Doylestown, a club rugby team of about 25 girls who decided in January they could show their male counterparts a thing or two about contact sports. "Hit first, hit hard, hit fast.

There's one possible explanation for the recent, misguided push in Harrisburg to scrap the state's mandatory helmet law and let motorcyclists ride with their hair blowing in the breeze: As once said in jest of a former U.S. president, maybe somebody's been playing too much football without a helmet. Without head protection, contact sports as well as any type of cycling can be harmful to clear thinking. So let's hope Gov. Ridge keeps his head clear (and well-protected) - and vetoes any such screwball legislation sent to him by state lawmakers.

Brian White was on his way to try out for the high school baseball team when he heard his buddies from the football squad calling his name. They were running around with sticks in their hands, bashing into each other and generally having a great time. So White never made it to the baseball field. He took a detour into lacrosse, and has never regretted the decision. "Picking up the ball and running with it, hitting people, it's a lot better than standing around at shortstop," he said.

Camden Catholic had to wait a little longer than most teams to begin its boys' basketball season, but when the Irish did, they showed no rust. Playing with a selfless style, the Irish cruised past host Eastern, 101-70, in last night's nonleague game between Olympic Conference teams. Camden Catholic, ranked No. 6 in South Jersey by The Inquirer, is expected to be a contender in the difficult Olympic National Division. Eastern, which is considered an Olympic American contender, dropped to 1-1. "We have high expectations this year," said Camden Catholic coach Jim Crawford, who has four starters back from a 20-6 team.

No one knows how the custom of tossing a bridal bouquet came to symbolize a marriage proposal for the lucky recipient. From what I observed at a recent wedding, my guess is that Darwin has more to do with it than fate. As soon as the bride lifted her bouquet into the air I witnessed a dramatic change in the single female guests. A moment before, these young women were politely sipping champagne. Suddenly, they were transformed into linebackers, scrambling for position, ready to elbow or knee anyone who got in their way. It was my plan to disappear discreetly, but my boyfriend gave me a hearty shove into the center of action.