Housed at Michigan State\u2019s IM West, the Sports Arena is one of the most fair courts to play on. The gym walls are somewhat close to the baseline, with both sides covered with bricks. This leads to a very equal bounce back for rebounds for both teams. They also feature pullup bars, which according to Kent State\u2019s Kyle Fitzpatrick, is \u201cperfect to stretch out sore dodgeball arms.\u201d However, the other Spartan gym is not as fair. One side has a seating area behind the court, which leads to very minimal rebounds, while the other side has the wall about a foot behind the court, which leads to tons of rebounds for the attacking team. Fitzpatrick also says \u201cThere is practically a rainbow of different colored lines for boundaries and neutral zone lines, but the court is still funtioncal.\u201d The Sports Arena is the head court for the facility, and when MSU hosts a tournament the championship match is always down there.<\/p>\n
The Spartans don\u2019t have a great home court advantage, but they can usually fill out the bleachers of the Sports Arena. The Spartans are 6-5 over the past two seasons at the Sports Arena, but all their losses at home have come to instate rivals. The crowd is a bit more laid back, but Michigan State feeds off their home court and have only dropped 4 points to out of state schools at IM West the past two seasons. Kyle Fitzpatrick, says that \u201cthe Sports Arena has a unique energy about it…[MSU\u2019s] fan base is legit, and make it that much harder to swing momentum.\u201d<\/p>\n
IM West is one of the older gyms in the league, at being over 50 years old so there is some history at the gym, with every Michigan Dodgeball Cup and a Nationals being hosted there. Depaul\u2019s Zigmas Maloni says \u201cMaybe it was growing up in half century old gyms in grade school and high school, but walking around MSU\u2019s IM Sports West building is a blast from the past. IM West does have modern conveniences, but it\u2019s for the nostalgic reason that MSU\u2019s facilities help create a classic dodgeball atmosphere.\u201d Another feature of the Sports Arena is an overhanging balcony in the gym, which allows a great location for filming. One negative however of the Sports Arena is the \u201copenness of the court\u201d according to Maloni. \u201cWhile there\u2019s no crowded prison problem of some other courts, you can\u2019t get out of using ball shaggers for power cross court throws and rockets.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Housed at Michigan State\u2019s IM West, the Sports Arena is one of the most fair courts to play on. The gym walls are somewhat close to the baseline, with both sides covered with bricks. This leads to a very equal … Continue reading