Now petitioning the NCAA for a new intercollegiate sport: SlamBall.
I need to give a shout-out to my buddies Nolan and Tahlor for telling me about this sport, which is played on a modified basketball court that features Plexiglas boards, like in hockey, and four trampolines arranged to cover the area inside the three-point line. Players launch themselves off the trampolines and throw down insane dunks. Sound good so far? It gets better.
The 4-on-4 game is played with four five-minute quarters, and each half is started with a “slam off,” which is like a jump ball except the ref bounces the ball off the court instead of throwing it in the air. The rims are padded so you can literally get shoved into them and not get hurt; the same goes for the padding surrounding the trampolines. Dunks and shots behind the arc are worth 3 points, and any other method of getting the ball through the hoop — lay-ups, jumpers, etc. — is worth 2 points.
One player on each team stays under his own basket as a “stopper,” and it’s his job to bounce up and down and shield the rim when the opponent is trying to score. The other positions are “handler” and “gunner,” whose roles are running the offense and attacking the rim, respectively. SlamBall even keeps track of stats: points, stops (similar to blocks, but there are many more ways to record stops in SlamBall), and of course, LBRS (loose ball recoveries).
Checking and tackling are permitted by rules in most situations, and when a player is fouled, a 1-on-1 “face off” ensues. Both players try to time their launches off the trampoline perfectly, with the fouled player trying to dunk the ball and the defender trying to stop that from happening. The players include former college basketball and football players, including Jelani Janisse, who played hoops at Kansas.
You know you want to play this game. Watching it is just as fun.
The 2008 SlamBall Championship aired on CBS at 5 p.m. Sunday in the middle of a day packed with exciting NFL action. I couldn’t resist watching when I heard the voice of legendary Gus Johnson — yes, that Gus Johnson, of March Madness broadcasting fame — doing the play-by-play. And yes, he gets just as energized by the high flying dunkers as he does by the NCAA Tournament. Joining Gus in the booth were Tom Tolbert — former NBA player and ESPN analyst — and Phoenix Suns center Amare Stoudemire. As you can tell, SlamBall is now legit, at least enough to grab some high-profile commentators and fairly prime TV time.
SlamBall has reemerged on the TV scene after five years of dormancy. The games were shown on Spike TV in 2002 and 2003 and, after a long wait, returned to Versus this August. SlamBall is part of CBS Sports Spectacular, which reminds me of ABC’s Wide World of Sports in that both broadcast a wide variety of sporting events. During the broadcast of the championship, SlamBall creator Mason Gordon explained how the game combines basketball, football and a “videogame mentality,” and it’s true. Watching real people play SlamBall is insane — it’s like watching the guys who do the halftime shows when they’re bouncing off trampolines doing crazy dunks — except in Slamball, the players also tackle each other and shoot 3-pointers, all within the rules of the game.
You can watch videos on the official SlamBall Web site — SlamBall.net — and I hope you will. They are fun to watch, because the game is so fast-paced, and players go by names like “Ice” and “Cheese.” (Imagine Gus Johnson yelling about “CHEESE GOING IN FOR THE DUNK!” You can’t resist.)
So, if anyone reading this can convince a few NCAA member schools to scrape together some money, buy some rectangular trampolines and Plexiglas boards, and set up Slamball courts on college campuses, I’m sure lots of people would be very thankful. There are plenty of college athletes who could put on a great SlamBall show. And by the way, the Slashers beat the Rumble, 48-46, to win the 2008 SlamBall Championship. I’m definitely going to tune in for the opening bounce-off to the 2009 season.
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