BOING!

So late last night I was flipping through channels on the television, speedily moving past the dead zone in the middle where there is seldom anything I would stop to watch. As the Spike network flashed past (the cable channel formerly known as TNN, now that Spike Lee dropped his ridiculous lawsuit), I was certain I'd seen a glimpse of a fellow dunking a basketball. Not unusual, except that this guy's waist was about rim-level. Now, having grown up in North Carolina, I've seen my share of flashy dunkers - Jordan, Stackhouse, Vince Carter, Grant Hill, et. al. - but I'd never seen anybody soar that high.

When I turned back, I discovered it was something called Slamball, full-contact basketball played on a court with four trampolines built in at each end of the floor, heavily padded rims, and hockey-style plexiglass walls around the court. The rules, well, there didn't seem to be too many. Guys check each other into the boards, they bounce eight or nine feet in the air soaring toward the basket, while the defenders do the same in an attempt to block dunks with mighty body crashes waaaay up in the sky. And these are some big guys playing it.

At first I thought, "Just what the world needs. Another ridiculous 'extreme' sport." But after watching for a few minutes, I couldn't change the channel. It is an amazing, acrobatic, insanely entertaining spectacle, though it seems like injured ankles should have been occurring every other play. In fact, I didn't see a single injury, which seemed to defy the laws of both physics and anatomy. The official rules, photos, and video clips can be found here. Apparently, this is the second season, and I'm unsure how I'd not managed to hear of it previously. Though it makes me feel a bit the sucker, I'll sheepishly admit that I'm hooked.