Anniversaries sneak up on you.

Not only is this year the 20th anniversary of the inception of US Lacrosse, but also this edition marks the 40th anniversary of its flagship magazine. Founded in 1978 as Lacrosse Magazine, it is the longest running and most widely read lacrosse publication in the world.

The March 1978 cover featured a photo of Cornell’s Craig Jaeger leaping toward the goal in the previous year’s NCAA championship game. Wrote then-Lacrosse Foundation president Ben Goertemiller: “This first issue of Lacrosse Magazine is a tribute to the past and a sign of the future.”

Forty years later, we’re still looking to the future. Measuring the potential impact of the powerful Pac-12 Conference’s investment in lacrosse and featuring the innovators pushing the sport forward in the 21st century, the March 2018 edition certainly has a futuristic feel.

Still, in searching for some perspective from the past, I discovered a numerical quirk. Something really big seems to happen on the eights.

1908

Canada defeated Great Britain 14-10 in the Summer Olympics in London — the last time lacrosse was an official sport in the Games. FIL executives have identified Los Angeles in 2028 as the most realistic place and time for lacrosse to return to the world stage.

1948

Again in London, Great Britain and the United States played to a 5-5 draw at Wembley Stadium — the last time lacrosse was an Olympic demonstration sport.

1968

The first pro lacrosse league in North America, a box circuit called National Lacrosse Association, featured eight teams — Detroit, Peterborough, Toronto and Montreal in the East; New Westminster, Victoria, Vancouver and Portland in the West — and a 38-game schedule.

1978

In addition to the debut of Lacrosse Magazine, this was the year of one of the greatest upsets in lacrosse history, Canada’s 17-16 double-overtime win over the United States in the world championship in Stockport, England. The U.S., which had never lost a game prior to that and would not again lose a game until the 2006 final in Ontario, had defeated Canada 28-4 three days earlier.

1988

Air Gait! Syracuse star Gary Gait twice pulled off what still is considered one of the most spectacular moves in lacrosse history, leaping over the crease line and dunking the ball from behind the goal.

1998

US Lacrosse’s first order of business as a unified national governing body was to stage the 1998 world championship, which presented one of the greatest games ever played. Fans that left for the beer hall with the U.S. leading 11-1 midway through the third quarter slowly trickled back into Homewood Field to find Canada had closed to within 13-10 late in the fourth. The crowd of 10,793 reached a fever pitch as Canada scored three goals in the last 90 seconds to send it to overtime. The U.S. eventually won 15-14. Sal LoCascio made a record 32 saves, including five in overtime.

2008

Paul Rabil’s six-goal performance in Johns Hopkins’ NCAA championship game loss to Syracuse launched an unparalleled pro career still thriving today. When you think about recent Memorial Day weekend performances in the losing cause, Rabil’s is right up there with Maryland’s Brian Dougherty (1995), Notre Dame’s Scott Rodgers (2010) and Sergio Perkovic (2014) and Boston College’s Kenzie Kent (2017).

2018

What will be this year’s landmark occasion? We mentioned the Pac-12. On the world stage, more than 50 nations will play in the FIL Men’s World Championship in Israel, a first for the sport in the Middle East. The script remains to be written, but if the crazy-eights trend continues with some monumental moment, we will be honored to capture it in the pages of this magazine.