In their second year as an NCDA member, the JMU Dukes proved that they are far from a one-hit wonder. Playing in and travelling to a plethora of matches, they did not just establish themselves as the top team in the East Coast, but across the entire league. I recently talked with the clubs new president Ben Sizemore to ask him about what to expect in the team’s future, topics about their past, and a few other items.
Season Preview: Grand Valley State University
Continue reading “Season Preview: Grand Valley State University”
Continuing Success: GVSU in the Ultimate Dodgeball Tournament
I’m sure most of you have heard by now that Grand Valley State is a really good dodgeball team. I know, shocker right? Well, not only are they dominant in the league, but they can go outside of the NCDA and continue their domination. Continue reading “Continuing Success: GVSU in the Ultimate Dodgeball Tournament”
BOTM: 2013 August
Wes Peters [CMU #27-C]
Wes has done a lot of things throughout his career at Central Michigan. He started off as a relative nobody his first season, a little overshadowed by the superstars that CMU had. Still, he won a NCDA National Championship that year at Nationals 2011. Central was the favorite heading into the 2011-2012 season, and despite not playing many games that year, teams started talking about CMU’s amazing catchers in Wes Peters and Brett Hadwin. The two were seemingly tied together with every discussion of great catchers in the league, but they both were proving to become top tier catchers. Wes tore his ACL in the spring of 2012, but not only played, but played well, on one leg at Nationals 2012. Continue reading “BOTM: 2013 August”
NCDAers Team Up For the Dodgeball World Championships
The National Dodgeball League is hosting the 2013 Dodgeball World Championship in Las Vegas, NV. This is the 10th tournament, and it will feature numerous individual tournaments within the Championship. It also will feature the entire regular season of the NDL. The NDL has a different ruleset than the NCDA, but it’s not too different to the point where the NCDAers will be fish out of water when they play.
Continue reading “NCDAers Team Up For the Dodgeball World Championships”
NCDA Teams Fare Well in Ultimate Dodgeball Qualifiers
Three NCDA teams sent players to the Ultimate Dodgeball Qualifiers at Skyzones across the country this past weekend, and two of them won! Grand Valley and Western Kentucky both won their local qualifiers, which means they will be waiting to hear back to see if they qualified for the Las Vegas Finals. Rochester Institute of Technology also competed, but finished second in their qualifier. You can check out my previous post on the tournament here.
Continue reading “NCDA Teams Fare Well in Ultimate Dodgeball Qualifiers”
OPINION: Thoughts on the Opening Rush
I was recently asked on twitter by Spencer Jardine (formerly of SVSU):
“@NCDASam So we just had two full seasons of the new opening rush. Any thoughts on one of the biggest changes in the past few years? Success?” -@Jardine77
Help Keep Your Team Healthy, Use Better Tape
One thing I noticed in the last two years of playing in the NCDA, especially at Nationals, is the amount of players who complain, moan, and gripe about how much their hand hurts after a full day of pinch-gripping dodgeballs. I have a potential solution. Continue reading “Help Keep Your Team Healthy, Use Better Tape”
NCDA D1 FBS Teams Preview
There are 14 FBS schools in the NCDA, and here’s a look at how their season is going to go (or at least how I think it will go!)
Dodgeball 101: Recruiting Tips
We here at ncdadodgeball.com have come up with some recruiting tips for you, one in the form of a slideshow and one in video form!
BOTM: 2013 July
Jonathan Shaw (TU #11-C)
Jon was a bright spot for a Tigers squad that was one of the most talked about teams, despite missing some of it’s key weapons at Nationals 2013. He leads not just through his words, but his play, and he’s got Towson on the right path towards becoming a dominant team on the East Coast. Shaw was an All-Star for the Brave Little Toasters at Nationals 2013, and also made the All-NCDA second team. With those personal credentials and the fact that he’s guided Towson to a Top 10 finish in just their second NCDA season, Jon definitely is a Baller to watch for in 2013-2014. Continue reading “BOTM: 2013 July”
2012 PACE Stats (Plus a Comparison to the 2013 Season)
Here are the PACE stats for the 2011-2012 season:
Continue reading “2012 PACE Stats (Plus a Comparison to the 2013 Season)”
Live-Blogging the NCDA Preseason Captains’ Poll Release
NCDA PACE Stats for 2012-2013
Check out the full spreadsheet here.
Anyone who knows me knows how much I like baseball. They also know that I am enamored with sabermetrics- that is, advanced baseball statistics. I regularly surf Fangraphs and Baseball-Reference, and I annually buy the Baseball Prospectus. WAR, OPS+, FIP, BABIP, and UZR are all words I often use in my vocabulary.
If you’re lost right now, go rent the movie Moneyball, or look at Bill James’ wikipedia.
My love of baseball statistics has led to me wanting there to be something, anything! to quantify the success a team has other than Wins and Losses. While we’re still a ways away from monitoring Kills, Catches, Blocks, Kill %, etc, I have come up with a nifty little statistic that I personally like- PACE.
2013 Dodgies
Watching the ESPY’s? Here are some of my picks for dodgeball awards for the 2012-2013 Season!