Policy Proposal – Timing of new rule/policy ballots

Policy Proposal by Brandon Meisel

The ballot for voting on rule changes must be dispersed to all voting teams no later than 3 weeks after nationals. If the eboard disperses the ballot after the allotted 3 weeks (even if just a day late), they lose their power to veto the newly passed rules for the upcoming year.

Rationale: I know the eboard, especially Felix Perrone, puts in an immense amount of work to make nationals happen, and this rule is not to be a dick and try and pile more on to them, I promise. The intent of this rule is to have voting on the new rule set occur when the opinions, and details of the rules are fresh in everyone’s mind. Last year we voted on the new rules months after nationals and the new rule proposals were made. Months of summer make you forget what the ins and outs of the rules are, and even how you feel about them. If we want this league to succeed we need the teams to be making informed decisions, with their thoughts/opinions on the rules, still fresh in their mind.

The rationale for taking away the eboard’s right to vote isn’t so that we can just pass anything we want to, but instead, it’s to really put the pressure on them to make this get done. Having the right to veto rules is a huge deal for the eboard, and I know they won’t want to relinquish that power, so they will surely comply with the 3 weeks rule.

Lastly, the rationale for the 3 weeks is so that it gives them a week or so to destress from nationals, and then get the rules together in whatever format that they so choose. Anything under 3 weeks isn’t enough time, and anything over 3 weeks is starting to be a little too long to have everything still fresh in the captains minds’.

BOTM: 2018 March

Evan Eschenburg – JMU

After a series of matchups and polls on Twitter, JMU’s Evan Eschenburg was the people’s choice, coming out on top over seven other talented and well-qualified dodgeballers.  Throughout his career, Eschenburg has embodied what it means to be a true JMU dodgeballer, which lead to him being one of the captains for this season.  Without a doubt, he has made a bigger name for himself this season and could even be placed in the league MVP discussion.  I had a chance to talk to him to congratulate him and pick his thoughts on dodgeball, JMU, and Fortnite.

Continue reading “BOTM: 2018 March”

Standings as of 2018-03-20

Standings are aimed to be released by the end of every Tuesday. 

In the 2018 Season, we have 52 technical upsets in 211 ranked matches (75.36% success rate) across 33 events.

The Gonzalez System is a computer ranking model similar to Elo and is a rating exchange system based on research performed by World Rugby. It has been adapted by the NCDA to the demands of College Dodgeball, but can be tuned and customized endlessly to incorporate accurate data. It has been used to help determine seeds for the Nationals bracket since Nationals 2014, and was used exclusively for the Nationals 2017 bracket.  Continue reading “Standings as of 2018-03-20”

The NCDA Hall of Fame: Who Might Make the Cut

About a year ago Jacob Leski asked me the following question: “If we had an inductee class for the Hall of Fame for the NCDA, who would be your 6?” I thought about it for a second, and then said I don’t know because I only really have a good judge of the people from my era. I then moved on and didn’t think about the question for a while. But it came up again by Kevin Bailey in his write-up for the 2017 All-Americans list, referencing both myself and MSU Dodgeball founder Aleks Bomis as potential first ballot nominees. So once again I thought back to Leski’s question, but then time passed and I didn’t think about it for a while. With the announcement of the newest inductees to the National Baseball Hall of Fame back in January, the thought of an NCDA Hall returned once more. So as another semester has passed and Nationals 2018 is fastly approaching, I thought I’d finally answer Leski’s question: Who do I think has earned a spot in the hypothetical NCDA Hall of Fame inaugural class.

Continue reading “The NCDA Hall of Fame: Who Might Make the Cut”

Chicago Dodgeball Open Preview

This Saturday, March 17, 2018 marks another battle in the Midway Conference with the top heavyweights: DePaul University (DePaul), University of Nebraska- Lincoln (UNL), and University of Wisconsin-Platteville (UWP). It is going to be a fun one and the league will be in for some good games.  Let’s take a look at the schedule.  The games will be played at the Ray Meyer Fitness Center ( 2235 N Sheffield Ave, Chicago, IL 60614) Continue reading “Chicago Dodgeball Open Preview”

Future Stars of the Michigan Region

The Michigan Region has historically been the best in college dodgeball, and this year looks to be no different.  In the past, the state of Michigan has earned up to 9 of the 15 1st-Team All-American spots, showing how good the top level of talent is in the region.  But unfortunately, as is often the case, the veterans on these teams seem to steal the headlines, making it difficult to learn enough about the up-and-coming talent in the region.  Well, time to give some of those young players the recognition they deserve.  I had the chance to ask a captain on each team who their young star are.  Below are the responses I received: Continue reading “Future Stars of the Michigan Region”

Women’s March Madness Baller of the Month Bracket

We are happy to announce that this month, along with our Men’s Baller of the Month bracket, we have put together a bracket with 8 of the top female ballers in college dodgeball for you to vote on.

The voting will take place on Twitter, and will begin later this week (Thursday afternoon) following the conclusion of the men’s bracket.  Below is the list of finalists, along with the official bracket showing each first round matchup.  Check our Twitter later this week for the first poll! Continue reading “Women’s March Madness Baller of the Month Bracket”

Rule Proposal – Shot Clock Mechanics

Rule Proposal by Kevin Frye

Shotclocks – be required to have a handheld stop watch (phone app, watch, etc) to count down time. (instead of guesstimating the seconds and pissing people off).

While doing so they should be speaking into a megaphone directed toward their team.

Instead of the annoying screaming Dodgeball player who gets exhausted screaming the shot clock and loosing their voice.

Reasons:

1. Megaphones are cheap, like $30.
2. No more “I couldn’t hear the shotclock”
3. No more “they’re counting too slow or too fast”
4. It would be a lot more professional

I believe if each team had their own team megaphone & stopwatch to bring to a tournament, things would be more professional and accurate.

Accurate + audible shotclock = happy teams

Thoughts?

Rule Proposal – Game Clock Format

Rule Proposal by Jude DuPart

Current: Two 25 minute halves (5 minute break in between), point is scored by eliminating all players on opposing team.

Proposal: 5 – 10 minutes periods. A point is scored by eliminating the other team OR Having the most players on the court at the end of the period. A team wins best of 5 but all points are to be played for record keeping (similar point system as exists) and to allow equal playing time. Additionally later points can be forgoed for sake of time or at discretion of captains.

One of the most antiquated policies in the NCDA is the game clock. Originally designed to ensure that everyone gets equal play time is getting cut short during games of extreme disparity and influences stall ball in close games. This makes games drag on and are not only boring, but stall growth.

This change would not only promote game speed (an incentive to actually throw a ball with the intent of getting people out, players stepping out when there’s no chance of scoring a point), but promote equal playing time of newer players (putting in B team for last two points after match is decided) and reduce the loss of enthusiasm from getting stomped 7-0. Additionally it would assist in keeping tournaments on schedule and would remove the need for an overtime scenario.

This might be unpopular because of the “comeback mentality”. I haven’t looked at the data but I doubt there are many instances where a team has been down 3-0 and won the match, but since this is a huge overhaul I’m interested to hear other opinions.

As previously mentioned this is a very loose proposal that has plenty of gaps. For instance, this does not currently as written address a tie in remaining players at the end of 10 minutes. But my intent is to start the discussion.

Policy Proposal – Abolish Graduation Eligibility Clause

Policy Proposal by Felix Perrone

Abolish the eligibility clause that allows seniors graduating in December to play at the succeeding Nationals. Only a couple of schools allow this, per policy, it isn’t fair that some schools would allow these students to participate and others do not. Plus it is a lot of extra work for the already overworked eBoard. If you graduate you should be done. This is a collegiate league, there’s plenty of other types of dodgeball graduates can play out there.