Big Fish in a Small Pond
Submitted by TeamEvil on Sun, 09/10/2006 - 22:54.
Humor
The Origin of Team Evil
We began late in the summer of 2004, when like most new leagues riding the Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story wave, Sports Park Complex decided to launch it's new Dodgeball League. Logan, founder of then Tucson Underground Dodgeball League - named in tribute to our Jacksonville Brethren the Jacksonville Underground Dodgeabll League, heard about it and contacted me during my summer school class. I got the message and in disbelief drove the extra ten miles to the outskirts of our beloved city we call Tucson and was in awe.
PEOPLE were there to play DODGEBALL. Lots of people. Out in the middle of center field surrounding this batting cage like construction, dozens upon dozens of people were watching twelve people running around, Dodging, Diving, Ducking, Dipping and...Dodging a barrage of four foam coated purple balls. Not quite what we were used to, but it was Dodgeball none the less and we were ecstatic to get a team going.
We watched as the local news crew interviewed and played some of the teams, we talked to the person that was in charge of the league, we attempted many times to enter with just a team of three people and we called just about everyone from our group to try and get in but to no avail, we had to wait until next week.
Eternity.
The next week came and we managed to scramble together a team of six players. Logan, myself, Mike, Brian, James and Jonathan, a friend of James. As we submitted our registration, we were dumbfounded when asked what our team name was. We scoured or brains for a suiting, yet humorous team name (it was Dodgeball after all) and we decided that since three of us were still in our Target uniform, we decided to call ourselves The Shattered Dreams. Much to the humor of the refs when announcing match ups such as "The Blazers vs...The Shattered Dreams" or "Ballz Deep vs...The Shattered Dreams" always with that reassuring pause. We did well in winning more games than we lost.
Due to the complications of having a life, we lost a few members and then picked more up as the Dodgeball on the outskirts of Tucson league found it's way into the Tucson Underground Dodgeball League. One month into the season, we decided that we needed to refine our team name as team had become refined from people that could just fill in the gaps to actual Dodgeball players.
It wasn't until I watched Shaolin Soccer that the perfect team name was revealed to me. We were to become Team Evil, named after the rival soccer team. I introduced the team name to everyone and it was a our new team name.
Goodbye Shattered Dreams, hello Team Evil. Our roster now included:
Logan, Steve, Rocky, Mason, Brian and James
We all dressed in black to get our point across. The new transformation from seemingly good to seemingly bad went well. We were known as Team Columbine for a for weeks but as teams got to know us and inquired as to how or why we got our name, they realized that we weren't so bad after all. We, like they were just having fun. We just didn't need to indulge in alcohol to do so.
About three forths into the season, our captain Logan was late. We were on the verge of forfeiting to "The Vanburen Boys" when Logan appeared in a black cape, a black mask, tights, ninja tabi boots and horns. The refs laughed as did everyone else, but they allowed play. During one game, I was laughing so hard at my comrade that I got popped in the chest from the opposing team. Logan found his place on the team as not only our captain, but our mascot and our Berserker. A very crucial position in Dodgeball we would learn down the road.
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y99/Octocorp/Dodgeball_EVIL.gif
We ended that league with a third place title but everytime we returned home (the PCC Tennis Courts) we were revered as Dodgeball Gods. We would often have Team Evil vs All and in a monumental Dodgeball battle, Team Evil took on 25 players of varying skill and won. The video can be found in the media section of www.tucsondodgeball.com.
The remaining 2004 and the beginning of the 2005 year for Team Evil was slow the movie wave finally dissipated. There existed Team Evil, but there was no reason for the team to exist.
Towards the end of Summer, Bladeworld, a local roller hockey rink/facility decided to host it's first Midnight Madness Dodgeball Tournament. This was an awesome chance for Team Evil to play other teams from around Tucson. There were a few problems though. Logan was away for the summer working as a councilor at camp, James was MIA and Brian was no longer on the team. We needed three more players lease we forfiet. When Team Evil called, Jeremy, Josh and Justin a.k.a "Stoney" answered. The roster was now
Rocky, Steve, Mason, Jeremy, Stoney and Josh. However there was a conflict with Rocky's work schedule we were going to be one man short for our first game. Dylan, Logan's younger brother and member of Tucson Underground Dodgeball League stepped up and helped us win the first game.
Rocky came in and Team Evil quickly dominated the other teams in its division. It was obvious who the final two teams were to be, long before the tournament was over: Team Evil vs. the reigning champions, The Shockers. It was a blowout, the Shockers, functioning as a cohesive tore apart Team Evil, teaching us a lesson that we have yet to learn. We may be good, but if we don't act as a team, we're helpless. However we left an impression on the other teams as well as our fans. The tournament can be seen in the media section of www.tucsondodgeball.com.
Tucson Underground Dodgeball League decided to host its own tournament as a way to bring Team Evil to life as well as provide its members a chance to play on a competitive level that few have been able to enjoy.
With the return of James and Logan, Josh and Jeremy were no longer needed, but their help was greatly appreciated and they were watched. Their team, Jeremy and His Technicolor Scapegoat almost took the title from Team Evil. It was then we realized that Jeremy and Josh were assets that we had to have on our team. With them came Max, another member of JAHTSG. During many of Team Evil's practices, he volunteered to help us out and he had a killer side arm throw.
Vegas 2005 was coming up and Jeremy, Josh and Max were only 17. We had a problem and scrambled to find three more players that were over 18. Rocky was unable to go and though his loss hurt us, we managed to find three more to pick up the slack. At that time, the current roster for Vegas was
Logan, Steve, Mason, Seth, Alex, Stoney, Andrew and Casey. A week before Vegas however, Bladeworld decided to have it's second Dodgeball tournament. We went with the ENTIRE roster (where Logan debuted as "Evil") and took first place. At that point, the roster was
Logan, Steve, Mason, Seth, Alex, Stoney, Andrew, Casey, Jeremy, Josh and Max. A total of 11 people. We were no longer a team, but a mob of Dodgeball fanatics representing the newly formed Tucson Dodgeball.
Team Evil went to Vegas and got their butts handed to them. Rather than playing against people that took Dodgeball as a past time, Las Vegas was packed with real athletes playing Dodgeball, something the team was not used to. The fact that they still hadn't learned to function as a team also hurt them. However, three of the members, Stoney, Steve and Logan tried out for the professional league and made finalist and to this day eagerly await participating.
When we returned from Vegas, we were still revered as heroes among our following. Bladeworld hosted it's third Turkey Shoot out Dodgeball Tournament and the roster was: Logan, Steve, Mason, Jeremy, Stoney, Josh, Max and Seth. We took first and regained some of our pride back.
The remainder of the year was slow and when a local YMCA hosted a dodgeball tournament, Team Evil was there and entered with a few candidates as we lost a few more members and like last summer, Logan was away at camp.
The roster was then, Steve, Mason, Alex, Michael, Nick, Dustin, Stoney and Dylan. Michael*, Nick* and Dustin* were in consideration. Jeremy had broken his leg over the summer and was unable to play.
A month later, in collaboration with the NDL, Tucson Dodgeball hosted the June 3rd Desert Madness Tournament, first out of the four stops during their Summer Tour. Old and new members came back and the roster was
Logan, Steve, Mason, Stoney, Seth, Casey and Alex. We played well, still working on the concept of team work and earned 2nd place.
About a month later, the Grand Canyon State Games hosted their Dodgeball Event in Phoenix and we decided to debut our Coed Team which consisted of
Steve, Mason, Stoney, Brittany, Jackie, Gabby, Dustin and Brendan. We did well, but still suffering from individualism, we lost to the first place seed and walked away with the Silver Medal. Not bad for a debut however.
Jeremy's leg healed, the Coed team regrouped and participated in a month long Phoenix league where we carpooled each wednesday night to participate and get some practice in.
The roster included: Logan, Steve, Mason, Jeremy, Seth, Brendan, Jackie and Brittany. We took first place and in a sense, renewed our passion for the game. The slow year was starting to pick up.
Coming up very quickly is Vegas 2006. We will not be bringing a full roster for the open team do to issues such as school, lack of funds and so forth, but we will be bringing a full roster for the COED division. Representing Team Evil and Tucson Dodgeball will be: Steve, Mason, Jeremy, Dustin, Brendan, Brittany and Jackie. It is our hope to show everyone back at home that this team has come a long way and though we will not be playing at full capacity, we will still do well enough to show we are a good team, despite our name.
Our history is rich, but so is our future.
* Written by Steve
The point of this was to give everyone and anyone interested an inside view of how a Dodgball team was or is formed. I know that to most of the readers, player names do not matter but as I know my own teamates (current and former) will read this, they deserve to be mentioned.
It is my hope that any readers can identify similar issues that exist or may arise when it comes to assembling a squad of players for a sport that's unique and heading in several directions and perhaps still inspired to keep moving on.
"Anyone can get a basketball or softball team going for a league. There are tons of them available. That's not difficult to do. What's difficult is getting a bunch of unique people together, to play a unique sport and best of all, keeping them together. You have more than just a team if that's accomplished."
You can find mention of us on www.tucsondodgeball.com and on our myspace page at:
www.myspace.com/evil_prevails
We began late in the summer of 2004, when like most new leagues riding the Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story wave, Sports Park Complex decided to launch it's new Dodgeball League. Logan, founder of then Tucson Underground Dodgeball League - named in tribute to our Jacksonville Brethren the Jacksonville Underground Dodgeabll League, heard about it and contacted me during my summer school class. I got the message and in disbelief drove the extra ten miles to the outskirts of our beloved city we call Tucson and was in awe.
PEOPLE were there to play DODGEBALL. Lots of people. Out in the middle of center field surrounding this batting cage like construction, dozens upon dozens of people were watching twelve people running around, Dodging, Diving, Ducking, Dipping and...Dodging a barrage of four foam coated purple balls. Not quite what we were used to, but it was Dodgeball none the less and we were ecstatic to get a team going.
We watched as the local news crew interviewed and played some of the teams, we talked to the person that was in charge of the league, we attempted many times to enter with just a team of three people and we called just about everyone from our group to try and get in but to no avail, we had to wait until next week.
Eternity.
The next week came and we managed to scramble together a team of six players. Logan, myself, Mike, Brian, James and Jonathan, a friend of James. As we submitted our registration, we were dumbfounded when asked what our team name was. We scoured or brains for a suiting, yet humorous team name (it was Dodgeball after all) and we decided that since three of us were still in our Target uniform, we decided to call ourselves The Shattered Dreams. Much to the humor of the refs when announcing match ups such as "The Blazers vs...The Shattered Dreams" or "Ballz Deep vs...The Shattered Dreams" always with that reassuring pause. We did well in winning more games than we lost.
Due to the complications of having a life, we lost a few members and then picked more up as the Dodgeball on the outskirts of Tucson league found it's way into the Tucson Underground Dodgeball League. One month into the season, we decided that we needed to refine our team name as team had become refined from people that could just fill in the gaps to actual Dodgeball players.
It wasn't until I watched Shaolin Soccer that the perfect team name was revealed to me. We were to become Team Evil, named after the rival soccer team. I introduced the team name to everyone and it was a our new team name.
Goodbye Shattered Dreams, hello Team Evil. Our roster now included:
Logan, Steve, Rocky, Mason, Brian and James
We all dressed in black to get our point across. The new transformation from seemingly good to seemingly bad went well. We were known as Team Columbine for a for weeks but as teams got to know us and inquired as to how or why we got our name, they realized that we weren't so bad after all. We, like they were just having fun. We just didn't need to indulge in alcohol to do so.
About three forths into the season, our captain Logan was late. We were on the verge of forfeiting to "The Vanburen Boys" when Logan appeared in a black cape, a black mask, tights, ninja tabi boots and horns. The refs laughed as did everyone else, but they allowed play. During one game, I was laughing so hard at my comrade that I got popped in the chest from the opposing team. Logan found his place on the team as not only our captain, but our mascot and our Berserker. A very crucial position in Dodgeball we would learn down the road.
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y99/Octocorp/Dodgeball_EVIL.gif
We ended that league with a third place title but everytime we returned home (the PCC Tennis Courts) we were revered as Dodgeball Gods. We would often have Team Evil vs All and in a monumental Dodgeball battle, Team Evil took on 25 players of varying skill and won. The video can be found in the media section of www.tucsondodgeball.com.
The remaining 2004 and the beginning of the 2005 year for Team Evil was slow the movie wave finally dissipated. There existed Team Evil, but there was no reason for the team to exist.
Towards the end of Summer, Bladeworld, a local roller hockey rink/facility decided to host it's first Midnight Madness Dodgeball Tournament. This was an awesome chance for Team Evil to play other teams from around Tucson. There were a few problems though. Logan was away for the summer working as a councilor at camp, James was MIA and Brian was no longer on the team. We needed three more players lease we forfiet. When Team Evil called, Jeremy, Josh and Justin a.k.a "Stoney" answered. The roster was now
Rocky, Steve, Mason, Jeremy, Stoney and Josh. However there was a conflict with Rocky's work schedule we were going to be one man short for our first game. Dylan, Logan's younger brother and member of Tucson Underground Dodgeball League stepped up and helped us win the first game.
Rocky came in and Team Evil quickly dominated the other teams in its division. It was obvious who the final two teams were to be, long before the tournament was over: Team Evil vs. the reigning champions, The Shockers. It was a blowout, the Shockers, functioning as a cohesive tore apart Team Evil, teaching us a lesson that we have yet to learn. We may be good, but if we don't act as a team, we're helpless. However we left an impression on the other teams as well as our fans. The tournament can be seen in the media section of www.tucsondodgeball.com.
Tucson Underground Dodgeball League decided to host its own tournament as a way to bring Team Evil to life as well as provide its members a chance to play on a competitive level that few have been able to enjoy.
With the return of James and Logan, Josh and Jeremy were no longer needed, but their help was greatly appreciated and they were watched. Their team, Jeremy and His Technicolor Scapegoat almost took the title from Team Evil. It was then we realized that Jeremy and Josh were assets that we had to have on our team. With them came Max, another member of JAHTSG. During many of Team Evil's practices, he volunteered to help us out and he had a killer side arm throw.
Vegas 2005 was coming up and Jeremy, Josh and Max were only 17. We had a problem and scrambled to find three more players that were over 18. Rocky was unable to go and though his loss hurt us, we managed to find three more to pick up the slack. At that time, the current roster for Vegas was
Logan, Steve, Mason, Seth, Alex, Stoney, Andrew and Casey. A week before Vegas however, Bladeworld decided to have it's second Dodgeball tournament. We went with the ENTIRE roster (where Logan debuted as "Evil") and took first place. At that point, the roster was
Logan, Steve, Mason, Seth, Alex, Stoney, Andrew, Casey, Jeremy, Josh and Max. A total of 11 people. We were no longer a team, but a mob of Dodgeball fanatics representing the newly formed Tucson Dodgeball.
Team Evil went to Vegas and got their butts handed to them. Rather than playing against people that took Dodgeball as a past time, Las Vegas was packed with real athletes playing Dodgeball, something the team was not used to. The fact that they still hadn't learned to function as a team also hurt them. However, three of the members, Stoney, Steve and Logan tried out for the professional league and made finalist and to this day eagerly await participating.
When we returned from Vegas, we were still revered as heroes among our following. Bladeworld hosted it's third Turkey Shoot out Dodgeball Tournament and the roster was: Logan, Steve, Mason, Jeremy, Stoney, Josh, Max and Seth. We took first and regained some of our pride back.
The remainder of the year was slow and when a local YMCA hosted a dodgeball tournament, Team Evil was there and entered with a few candidates as we lost a few more members and like last summer, Logan was away at camp.
The roster was then, Steve, Mason, Alex, Michael, Nick, Dustin, Stoney and Dylan. Michael*, Nick* and Dustin* were in consideration. Jeremy had broken his leg over the summer and was unable to play.
A month later, in collaboration with the NDL, Tucson Dodgeball hosted the June 3rd Desert Madness Tournament, first out of the four stops during their Summer Tour. Old and new members came back and the roster was
Logan, Steve, Mason, Stoney, Seth, Casey and Alex. We played well, still working on the concept of team work and earned 2nd place.
About a month later, the Grand Canyon State Games hosted their Dodgeball Event in Phoenix and we decided to debut our Coed Team which consisted of
Steve, Mason, Stoney, Brittany, Jackie, Gabby, Dustin and Brendan. We did well, but still suffering from individualism, we lost to the first place seed and walked away with the Silver Medal. Not bad for a debut however.
Jeremy's leg healed, the Coed team regrouped and participated in a month long Phoenix league where we carpooled each wednesday night to participate and get some practice in.
The roster included: Logan, Steve, Mason, Jeremy, Seth, Brendan, Jackie and Brittany. We took first place and in a sense, renewed our passion for the game. The slow year was starting to pick up.
Coming up very quickly is Vegas 2006. We will not be bringing a full roster for the open team do to issues such as school, lack of funds and so forth, but we will be bringing a full roster for the COED division. Representing Team Evil and Tucson Dodgeball will be: Steve, Mason, Jeremy, Dustin, Brendan, Brittany and Jackie. It is our hope to show everyone back at home that this team has come a long way and though we will not be playing at full capacity, we will still do well enough to show we are a good team, despite our name.
Our history is rich, but so is our future.
* Written by Steve
The point of this was to give everyone and anyone interested an inside view of how a Dodgball team was or is formed. I know that to most of the readers, player names do not matter but as I know my own teamates (current and former) will read this, they deserve to be mentioned.
It is my hope that any readers can identify similar issues that exist or may arise when it comes to assembling a squad of players for a sport that's unique and heading in several directions and perhaps still inspired to keep moving on.
"Anyone can get a basketball or softball team going for a league. There are tons of them available. That's not difficult to do. What's difficult is getting a bunch of unique people together, to play a unique sport and best of all, keeping them together. You have more than just a team if that's accomplished."
You can find mention of us on www.tucsondodgeball.com and on our myspace page at:
www.myspace.com/evil_prevails