A Slammin' revival
Maybe you remember the first incarnation of the TV-made sport called SlamBall. Probably you don't.
But it's bouncing back. Bigger and bolder. And probably bloodier.
Tryouts for what its creators hope lead to a 2008 season in June include a stop on Sunday from 8 a.m. until 6 p.m. at the Oakwood School in North Hollywood (11600 Magnolia Blvd.). The only other tryouts are April 8 in New York and April 10 in Bradenton, Fla.
A brief primer: Think of basketball on trampolines. A human video game. Full contact, like hockey.
They want 64 players to fill eight teams for a season to be played later this year. If you make it past the audition you'll be invited to a training game from April 11 until the draft on April 24.
Former Philadelphia 76ers owner Pat Croce is the commissioner. Mason Gordon is the creator. They don't have a TV network lined up yet to cover this -- it was on Spike TV when it first came out in 2002 and 2003, but it may launch as a Webcast only. Mason (as he explains in the video above) took the game overseas after its TV partners wanted to make it more scripted like pro wrestling. Now it's back as a "legit" sport.
==More info at www.slamball.net.
==A recent New York Times story on the sport's regurgence at this link.