Slamball
Slamball is a variation of the game of
basketball that has been played in the
United States since 2002. Slamball games were aired on
television by
Spike TV from
2002 through
2003.
In slamball, two teams of four players each compete against each other. Each team has one handler (point guard), two gunners (guards) and a stopper (center/goaltender).
SCORING AND TIMINGShots may be taken from any area of the court, which is surrounded by
hard clear plastic walls. However,
slam dunks are worth three points, and shots taken from other areas are worth only two.
There is a three-point line. In season one, any shot from behind this line would be worth three points. In season two, only shots in the final minute of the game were worth three points.
Teams have a 15 second shot clock, after they pass half court. The games are four quarters of six minutes.
DEFENSEInside the three-point line are four large, rectangular trampolines. Offensive players use them to go for a dunk and defensive players used them to defend. There is no goaltending rule -- defenders can block over the rim at will. Even with this rule, defenders (called "Stoppers") are at an extreme disadvantage because they could not jump towards an airborne player.
While on defense, players are also allowed to "check" their opponents. They can only hit the offensive player if they are dribbling with the ball, only between the waist and shoulders, and not if they are in the air. At first, this rule was very confusing to understand but defenses learned to use this rule to punish players mid-court.
When a ball is touched by two players of opposing teams, this does not count as a "jump ball" situation as it would in basketball. Instead, the defensive team gets possession of the ball. There are no out of bounds rules, and players may bounce the ball off the glass without committing a turn-over.
When a defensive foul is committed, the player fouled has to jump off a trampoline, facing the defender, evade the defender's attempt at blocking him and try to score the three point dunk. No matter the result of this "Face Off," the offense gets the ball again.
Slamball is the creation of
Mason Gordon, who imagined he could create a variation of basketball since he was a teenager. Upon inventing a concept, he approached
Mike Tollin, a producer. Tollin did not like the idea immediately; however, after giving it some thought, he agreed to help Gordon, six months after their first meeting.
Gordon then set up the first slamball court, with
trampolines and a basketball arena. Gordon then tried to convince
street basketball players to test his new idea; he wanted to find skilled, strong players who could compete comfortably while jumping on trampolines. He found six players who were willing to practice for an average of fifteen hours a day.
First played in
Los Angeles, California, the game gained wide attention from street basketball players in the area, and within a year, 400 people had been enlisted as potential players. In 2002, slamball made its
television debut, on the
TNN network, soon after former
Philadelphia 76ers owner
Pat Croce had signed on as a major slamball partner. Soon, the game caught the eyes of other networks, such as
ESPN, which would sporadically report about the new game.Slamball also aired on the British television station
Trouble where it picked up a substantial British fanbase.
Having added two expansion teams and built a beautiful new court in Universal City, CA in the second season of Slamball on
Spike TV/
TNN , Slamball severed its ties with Spike TV, partly due to fans that complained about poor coverage of the rapidly growing sport. The 2004 season was held off and Slamball joined up with
Projekt Revolution, where the game was meant to be showcased in a nationwide tour of the U.S.; however, this did not happen.
Despite its popularity, slamball was never taken very seriously by the media, believing it to be a novelty "made-for-tv" sport. Detractors could also point to the fact that, for the 2003 season at least, the whole season was played in May and then broadcast in August, so results could possibly be altered. The sport's media coverage was, at best, limited to seconds-long shots of dunks on
ESPN Sportscenter and the
Best Damn Sports Show Period.
One site that did take Slamball very seriously was a fan site hosted by
Allsports.com. When the game was actually being played, the site was very active, featuring articles analyzing games, player interviews, an active message board, and chat room. The site featured a small but active team of writers, many of whom were young students, who covered the game as "fan reporters" out of their homes. However, as the activty of the sport died down, so did the community, as the site is virtually a ghost town as of 2006. It is still maintained however, at [
1].
*Bandits
*Bouncers
*Diablos (runners up 2002)
*Mob
*Riders (winners 2003)
*Rumble (winners 2002)
*Slashers (runners up 2003)
*Steal
The announcement of a twenty-three-city tour of Europe in around early February 2006 is the news most Slamball fans have been waiting for. There are little details as yet but more are expected in the coming months. Cities that the event is expected to go to are as follows:
* Brussels, Belgium
* Prague, Czech Republic
* Birmingham, England
* London, England
* Tallinn, Estonia
* Helsinki, Finland
* Paris, France
* Munich, Germany
* Cologne, Germany
* Budapest, Hungary
* Dublin, Ireland
* Milan, Italy
* Rome, Italy
* Vilnius, Lithuania
* Rotterdam, Netherlands
* Lisbon, Portugal
* Glasgow, Scotland
* Madrid, Spain
* Barcelona, Spain
* Stockholm, Sweden
* Gothenburg, Sweden
* Basel, Switzerland
Following the Europeana Tour, a brand new season is scheduled to begin in the United States once again placed on a network.
Trivia
* In
2005 in the movie
Back to the Future Part II, Slamball was listed as the favorite sport of
Douglas J Needles while
Marty McFly was speaking with him.
*
SlamBall the Magazine*
Official Slamball USA site*
Slamball European Tour Site*
SlamBall.co.uk Fan Site*
SlamBall Fan Site
