Summer really does give many students a ton of extra time to explore things they wouldn’t usually have time to do during the hectic school year.
I am a perfect example of that.

One night I found myself sitting around with nothing to do, which is not uncommon in the exciting town of Sussex, so I turned on the good ole TV and prepared to spend some quality time with the little fellow.

Flipping through the channels, I landed on something that looked like basketball, except there were giant trampolines under the baskets and players were flying through the air 17 feet above the hoop in attempts to dunk on each other.

I was immediately intrigued and got hooked on this amazing new show.

It turns out what I was watching was a new sport called Slamball.

Slamball is a cross between basketball, hockey and football. That’s right, all of those sports were major influences in creating this new sport.

At first glance, it seems to be mostly basketball, as the game is played on a normal-sized basketball court. However, the court has some major alterations, and each team has only four players.

First of all, the court is enclosed by plexi-walls to keep the ball in play. Secondly, under each hoop are three trampolines built into the floor that take up the majority of the area inside the three-point area.

These trampolines are what allow the players to jump and soar to the hoop at heights of 17 feet.

Just imagine taking off from the three-point line, getting a good bounce on the tramp and going in for a monster jam.

There is one catch, however: the other players are playing full-contact basketball, hitting you like they could in football or hockey.

There are no ticky-tack fouls or stupid hand-check fouls in Slamball. Pretty much everything goes, except for holding or tripping opponents. The only other time a foul is ever called is when a player goes for the man, not the ball, when both players are in the air. Most of the time, almost any contact is legal.

The other cool thing about no stupid fouls is when a foul is actually called, there are no free throws or long pauses in the game. The referees award the player who was fouled a one-on-one opportunity to score against the player who fouled him. According to the Slamball website, “This gives the defense a chance to affect the score in a penalty situation and makes the foul situation more personal.”

So even when a player commits a foul, he can still come back and have a chance of stopping the offense in the one-on-one situation. There are no freebies or easy shots in Slamball; everything must be earned.

Because of the rough and tough nature of this game, not just anyone is allowed to play. To qualify for a Slamball roster, a player must have college or athletic experience. Almost all the players have played college football or basketball, and some have even played some professional ball.

The average height of a Slamball player is 6 feet 4 inches, and the average weight is about 196 pounds.

While none of the players were ever huge stars in their respective sports, all are amazing and talented athletes–and pretty gutsy, if you ask me, to fly around on those tramps, taking full hits.

Many are probably wondering who the heck made up this crazy game. Slamball was an underground alternative to basketball that started surfacing sometime in the late ’90s.

Tollin/Robbins Productions eventually discovered it in association with Telepictures Products, a part of Warner Bros.

Another part owner of the league is NBA owner Pat Croce of the Philadelphia 76ers. Croce, known as a crazy, always-up-for-something-new kind of guy, has become a huge supporter of Slamball.

“I love the NBA, but this Slamball really gets my juices going,” Croce said. “It’s an element of basketball, but because it has hitting, a guy tries to duke you, [so] you whack him.”

The new Slamball season is only six weeks long this year, as there are only six teams.

The first four weeks are for inter-league play, and the playoffs start in week five. Only teams with the four best records are involved in the playoffs. Semifinals games are played in week five, and week six is the championship.

The six teams are the Rumble, Steal, Bouncers, MOB, Diablos and the Slashers.

Five of the six teams have coaches with basketball backgrounds; the coach of the Diablos has a background in football.
All in all, Slamball is definitely worth the time of sitting down to watch. I know I am going to try to catch every high-flying, hard-hitting game I can.
Slamball airs on TNN Saturday nights at 8 p.m.