Someone give Vince McMahon a call. Dodgeball has thrived in gym classes and video games for too long. It's time it went prime time, with a pro league providing an outlet for all those great talents who languish in the third grade. The great arms, the great dodgers, they would all get another chance in Major League Dodgeball. We would have to settle on a ball to use. The gray foam one used in grade school probably wouldn't do. We would want something lightweight but still solid enough to inflict pain. There would be two ways to play: Team Dodgeball, with two or even three or four teams going at it at once with several balls in play. And All-Star Dodgeball, with individual players fighting it out to be the Dodgiest Dodger of the them all.-- dredcat7, Mar 03 2001 Dodgeball USA http://www.dodgeballusa.com/mostly baked, I'd say [innerlemming, Mar 03 2001, last modified Oct 04 2004] With celebrities http://www.cnn.com/...all.reut/index.htmlBecause isn't everything better with celebrities? [PotatoStew, Apr 24 2002, last modified Oct 04 2004] Dodgeball World http://www.wncsport.com/dodgeball.htmThe Official Website of The Dodgeball League [waugsqueke, May 22 2002] USDL Inaugural Season http://usdodgeball.com/Aha! It's reality now! [WordUp, Oct 04 2004] Excellent idea. My only concern is that Dodgeball generally doesn't involve a lot of strategy, and therefore might be a little dull for spectators (whose interest is very important for pro sports). Maybe if the rules were adjusted slightly: say only two or so people on the team are actually allowed to oust people by hitting them with the ball. Then strategy would come into play as the other players try to get the ball to their teams "hitmen" or whatever you want to call them. Teams could also try to set up plays whereby they oust the opposite team's hitmen (who would only be ejected for a set period of time, rather than permanently).-- PotatoStew, Mar 03 2001 Those are nice ideas. I think strategy would develop as passing came into play, and teams thought about how best to get the ball back after throwing it an opponent. This would involve hitting an opponent at a spot that would give a good bounce back, or deflecting the ball off an opponent and to a teammate.-- dredcat7, Mar 03 2001 ...Brooklyn Dodgers...-- beauxeault, Mar 05 2001 Boston Beaners... of course, once the league is formed they'd be the Baked Boston Beaners.-- pnewp, Mar 05 2001 we had a dodgeball league going at school during lunch period. it was "all-star" dodgeball, so to speak. i was the poster child for our sport. i am a great follower of the game and would love a league. all types of people played, from preps and jocks to geeks. but i am here to say that the spectators did not love dodgeball for strategy... they loved it for the cut throat throws, the outstanding dodges, the exertion of energy that players put into dodgeball. the only strategy may have been certain kids, or cliques bonding together in "alliances", to better their chances of victory, by not having their friends throw the ball at them. so if you didnt win, your friend would.i, have found myself doing things that would usually be physically (nearly) impossible, in attempts to dodge the ball. i think if this idea catches on, it will not be the strategy people want to see, but the intense action of the dedicated players. <dan>-- dastardly_dodging_johnny, May 24 2001 I'm all for this. It *has* to be more interesting than soccer. [pnewp]: Wouldn't that be the Boston Baked-Beaners?-- angel, May 24 2001 i think dodgeball would make a great team sport and would be fun to watch. if you think theres no strategy involved you should play Super Dodge Ball Advance for the Game Boy Advance. i started a league in my neighborhood using rules from this game.-- coolguy5170, Jul 15 2001 Has anyone ever seen the movie "BASEketball" from the creators of south park, its not what you're talking about but its damn funny-- kaz, Sep 04 2001 Hmm... you could complicate the game a little for interest. Maybe merge it with "American Cricket" somehow...-- RayfordSteele, Feb 08 2002 i love dodgeball, and im trying to start a league in my school. if there was a major leaugue for dball i would play for free. dodgeball would just have to go through the process every sport slowly went through to get the popularity and players. i have a rule book for a specified game of dodgeball, complete with sketches and diagrams, AND plays. dodgeball has the potential to be what every popular sport is, and my book notebook explains how. email me at zombies_ate_my_idols@trustkill.net for a printout of it. and if you are from eastern PA, email me anyway.-- Brooke Schwartz, May 22 2002 ...and add a funky scoring system like in tennis, and you're done! Great idea!
P.S. Passing adds a lot of strategy (e.g. flipping the ball to a teammate who then instantly beans it at the opponents; or planning several moves ahead so you can return the ball quickly after receiving it.)-- phundug, Apr 04 2003 (See link.) Look for *this* on ESPN2 in the fall.
I think dodgeball could involves loads of strategy. Now I know in elementary school, no one game a damn who they targeted; it was basically a bouncy bedlam. However, in order to get someone out, I'd imagine professional teams would concentrate their fire on one particular target. Because it would be impossible to dodge this many balls, teammates would have to set a "screen" and attempt to catch the balls hurled at the teammate, or at least the ones he could not dodge. Also, one teammate could hurl a ball to serve as a target off of which another teammate banks a shot.
I know major league dodgeball exists in East Asia, as my Taiwanese friend informed me when I inquired.-- WordUp, Jun 21 2004 random, halfbakery