NCDA Giving Back: VCU

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Imagine this: you and your family plan a set of trips throughout the year, with one blowout trip at to cap it all off. You can afford a few small ones along the way, usually just for one day, leading up to the final one; there’s one problem. You realize after those day trips that you don’t have the budget for the final trip! You and your family must now face the disappointment of not being able to take that big vacation.

Virginia Commonwealth’s dodgeball team has suffered with this problem since they joined the NCDA in 2012. The Rams were able to attend a few regional tournaments each year, but were never able to raise to funds to attend Nationals. The club has always wanted to attend, a few factors, primarily the money, always got in the way. With the help of a few donations and a deal with the NCDA, VCU’s fortunes would finally change.

Continue reading “NCDA Giving Back: VCU”

Sean Smith’s Way Too Early Predictions

Kevin Bailey and Jon Shaw have already given their takes on where they think each team belongs in the rankings for the 2015-16 season. While I have some similar views as to where some teams belong, I have some bold thoughts for what will come up this season.

Along with my “way too early” preseason rankings I will also give a ranking of where I expect each club to end up at the end of the season. Now obviously that is much too early, and there are a lot of factors that go into it, but I think I have a good idea of how next season will play out. I apologize for any misspelled names along the way

Note: If you have a ranking you’d like to post please get in contact with someone from the content team. We love getting more submissions and more activity from people around the league (Ohio, Kentucky and Illinois regions I’m looking at you). Continue reading “Sean Smith’s Way Too Early Predictions”

Opinion: State of the NCDA

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Before I say anything, let me say what I’ve said in the title: this is a personal opinion piece, not to be taken any other way.
The NCDA just completed yet another edition of the annual national tournament. Of the three I’ve been to this one was my personal favorite (no offense intended to Kentucky and Ohio State intended, this is just the happiest I’ve been with my team afterwards). I’ll mention things about Towson later on, but overall I wanted to share my opinion on the how I think the league is doing as a whole in hopes of generating some conversation in debate. Here we go: Continue reading “Opinion: State of the NCDA”

10 Years in the Making: The Rise, Fall and Resurrection of OSU

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The National Collegiate Dodgeball Association has had ten editions of its national tournament. Eight titles have been won by the state of Michigan but the first two, the inducting tournaments, were won by The Ohio State University.  Most people seem to forget that OSU took home those titles, having been lost in the shadow that was and still is the dominance of Grand Valley. This begs the question, was it Ohio State the changed which caused their fall from the top of the mountain, or did they fail to keep up with the evolution of the league? To answer this question we have to jump into our time machines and figure out what was the league really like during its early years. Continue reading “10 Years in the Making: The Rise, Fall and Resurrection of OSU”

BEAST IV Preview

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This Valentine’s Day marks the fourth installment of arguable the most important tournament on the East Coast every year. The Big East-Appalachian Super Tournament, commonly known as the BEAST, has played host to some of the best lineups in its previous three installments. This year, due to the Michigan Dodgeball Cup happening at the same time, there will not be another “top-tier” team (usually considered the four main Michigan schools and JMU) joining JMU’s home tournament this weekend. What the tournament does have though, are the three biggest teams on the East Coast, which has been gaining a lot of traction in a lot of people’s minds, in JMU, UMD and Towson, Ohio power Kent State, and NCDA newcomer Akron.

This tournament will give each team attending a great opportunity to learn a lot of things they have going for them, and what they need to improve on in preparation for Nationals in April. Going on that, here is a game-by-game preview and prediction of how I think things will go. Continue reading “BEAST IV Preview”

BOTM: November

10511392_10204366422100279_4913137558989160677_oNovember’s Baller of the Month is Maryland’s Steve Via. Via has been an integral of Maryland’s recent success, helping them to a stellar 6-3 record in the fall. With clutch catches, solid blocking skills, and emotional leadership, Steve has elevated his level of play to help his team in whatever capacity they need. While he is not the highest profile player on UMDs team, he is certainly making a name for himself as the year progresses. I got a chance to talk to Steve recently and pick his brain about a few topics. Continue reading “BOTM: November”

UMD Tournament Preview

Maryland will be hosting their annual fall tournament tomorrow on November 15th. There will be a record SIX East Coast teams attending this tournament. Both VCU and Penn State will begin their seasons this weekend and newcomer Stevenson University (based slightly northwest of Baltimore City) will enter their first ever NCDA event. Since this is very last minute I will keep this brief.

Predictions:
Sean Smith                               Kevin Bailey
JMU: 4-0                                   JMU: 4-0
TU: 3-1                                     TU: 3-1
UMD: 2-2                                  UMD: 2-2
VCU: 2-2                                  PSU: 2-2
PSU: 1-3                                  VCU: 1-3
SU: 0-4                                    SU: 0-4 Continue reading “UMD Tournament Preview”

2014 Fall Brawl in Review

This past Sunday James Madison hosted yet another tournament, this time dubbing it the Fall Brawl. With a small lineup of the three current East Coast mainstays, all three record affecting matches were about starting up old rivalries yet again. JMU won the day going 2-0, Maryland was in the middle at 1-1, and Towson came in last going 0-2. Continue reading “2014 Fall Brawl in Review”

Important Questions Heading Into 2014-15

With most schools starting up their seasons already, or in the next week or so, it seems like now is the best time to preview the upcoming season. Since teams don’t know much about themselves or each other, there are a ton of questions that can be asked about this season. Continue reading “Important Questions Heading Into 2014-15”

BOTM July: Joe Tobin

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[Towson, #5]

Joe Tobin has been a staple of Towson’s Dodgeball team since our inception into the NCDA. He was the first of us to successfully pick up on what pinching is, and since then he’s cannon of a right arm has been taking people out all over the place. Even when Towson has bad games, Joe has consistently been there to help pick us up or bail us out of bad situations. With his selection of July’s Baller of the Month, I had a chat with Joe to see how he feels about the nomination, among many other things. Continue reading “BOTM July: Joe Tobin”

Comparing Nationals Pools to World Cup Pools

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Photo retrieved from: http://hdwallpapermania.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/2014-fifa-world-cup-logo-hd-wallpapers.jpg

As I’m sure everyone is well aware of, the World Cup is underway. After watching the first set of pool play games and getting a better sense of how good every team is, I thought it would be fun to come up with some mock NCDA groups that could potentially mirror groups A-H in Brazil. Continue reading “Comparing Nationals Pools to World Cup Pools”