Sunday, May 04, 2008
Dodgeball's a big hit in Blacksburg
Christian Trejbal
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From the RoundTable blog
Shouts echoed through the hallways of the Blacksburg Community Center the other night. In the gym, green balls hit arms, legs and stomachs with a thwap. Fans watched from the side. It was dodgeball night.
The sport that so many elementary schools banned is experiencing a renaissance among adults, especially after the 2004 movie "Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story."
The overprotective nannies of education fretted that fragile young psyches could not handle the cutthroat competition. Safety and self-esteem paranoia trumped fun.
The men and women who play in Blacksburg seem to have survived their youthful dodgeball without any scars.
"It's been very popular," said Jack Leahy, the Blacksburg Community Center supervisor. "Most of the time we'll have one or two teams on the waiting list."
It has been so successful that recent renovations at the community center took dodgeball into account. "When we put in the new gym floor, we actually marked it. That side of the gym has dodgeball lines," explained Dean Crane, parks and recreation director.
The league's 12 teams play a round-robin season. The spring season will wrap up soon. Registration for the fall one will take place in September.
On Wednesday, Hobbes, one of the teams tied for first place in the standings, squared off in a seven-game match against third-place Average Joes. Foam balls whistled through the air, sometimes cutting out a surprise arc. Players dove to the floor and rolled from danger. Dodge, catch, throw and dodge. Survival demanded ninja-like skills.
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Players called themselves out. The league does not use referees, only a scorekeeper who runs the clock for the seven-minute games that start with six-on-six. Playground honesty and sportsmanship survive into the grownup world.
Hobbes won five of the games.
Russell Drumheller cheered his teammates from the sidelines during one game. During the day, he is a mechanical engineer and Virginia Tech graduate.
"It's dodgeball, and we don't have to take it seriously," he said. "My brother and I just come out and goof around."
They still want to do well, though. "We recruit baseball players because they can throw," he revealed.
The best place to watch a match isn't at the gym. Blacksburg's public access television station, WTOB, broadcasts games of the week. They air three times per week and are also available in streaming video on the town Web site.
WTOB station manager Chip Herman said the dodgeball videos draw as many viewers as town council meetings.
The professional recordings feature play-by-play and analysis by Tom Booth and Jed Castro.
"Everybody loves dodgeball," Castro said. He shows up at the games in a variety of costumes, often as a masked wrestler.
He and Booth infuse their commentary with humor, making the broadcasts a joy to watch. They are both Tech graduates who now work for the university's athletic video department.
"We have pretty good chemistry," Castro said. "If there is ever an ESPN 8, The Ocho, we'd be perfect for that."
Short of a massive ESPN expansion, he hopes their dodgeball announcing will land them a radio show.
Viewers beware. It is easy to lose half an hour watching the frenetic action and listening to Castro and Booth. Bosses frown on doing that at the office.
Dodgeball is not an essential town service. Neither, for that matter, is broadcasting the games. Yet they are two of the little things that make Blacksburg exciting and fun.
Trejbal is an editorial writer for The Roanoke Times based in the New River Valley bureau in Christiansburg.
