Spike Tv Power Block

MASON GORDON BOUNDS TOWARD THEIR RIM, a black basketball in his hands, ready to throw down a thunderous slam dunk. At the last moment Dion Mays, all six feet seven inches of him, rises up. The men collide chest to chest 15 feet in the air. Mays wrestles the ball from Gordon before they both fall to a trampoline below.

As his teammates start their own fast break, Mays leaps to his feet and pounds the Plexiglas wall that surrounds the court "Not in my house!" he yells at the retreating Gordon. "No way that shit's happening here!"

SlamBall just might be the gnarliest sport ever invented, a high-flying dunkfest interrupted only by midair crashes. It's a hybrid of street-yard hoops, gymnastics, and hockey; designed for a generation hooked on the antics of Jackass and the Madden NFL 2003 video game.

In this turbocharged cousin of basketball, two teams of four players each use trampolines built into the floor to soar and dunk--with quadruple the hang time that Kobe Bryant gets. (Slams are worth three points and perimeter jumpers two.) Defenders are allowed to check shooters everywhere except in the SlamZone; a power forward--size stopper like Mays sets up beneath the rim and can jump on the tramps to block shots.

As the handler (or point guard) of the Diablos, the six-foot-four, 215-pound Gordon spends much of his time getting upended or thrown into the boards despite--or because of--the fact he's the guy who invented SlamBall. In 1999, after he became frustrated with writing television scripts, Gordon decided to combine his twin obsessions, sports and video games, and tap the burgeoning extreme-sports market. While activities like skateboarding grew from the streets, developed by and for kids before crossing into the mainstream, SlamBall was packaged for TV before anyone could try it on the playground. Last year, the shows were taped in a small studio in downtown Los Angeles, then aired for six weeks on the TNN cable network. With a 0.4 rating--and higher numbers among African American males--SlamBall built a devoted following of young men who couldn't get enough of the hard-hitting action.

In May taping was moved to Universal CityWalk. (All eight teams are based in L.A.) Spike TV, the male-oriented successor to TNN, agreed to broadcast SlamBall for 16 weeks beginning in August. If the sport can expand its audience and deliver good ratings, the network may help bankroll its growth. If the ratings sink and its creator's other dream--transforming it into a recreational pursuit like snowboarding--fizzles, SlamBall could become the American Gladiator of its generation. Then Gordon might have to quit playing games and find a real job.

On this night Gordon's Diablos fall 62-53 to the defending champs, the Rumble, who are led by Mays and Jelani Janisse. Their passing attack around the rim proves lethal, delighting the 800 spectators who are jammed into a makeshift stadium at the far end of the CityWalk parking lot. Lured by free tickets, the audience of teenage fans and tourists stand and whoop at spectacular dunks. One youngster keeps screaming "Boing ... Boo-yeah!" the latter being the signature exclamation of Sports-Center anchor Stuart Scott.

After the contest, coach Ken Carter rushes to greet his players: "Rumble, young man, Rumble!" he shouts, pounding their chests with his fists. Gordon's disappointment, meanwhile, is short-lived. Wearing a high-voltage grin, his unruly hair matted with sweat, he joins his teammates and opponents in postgame embraces at center court. They leave the arena acting like a heavy-metal band, throwing sweatbands into the bleachers and signing autographs.

Before running off to watch game footage, the 28-year-old Gordon basks in the crowd's response. "This is pushing the envelope of sports," he says. "It's whatever you want it to be--there's infinite creativity."

IT'S A GREAT TIME TO BE IN THE action sport and video game businesses. Snowboarding and skateboarding are among the fastest-growing sports in the country The staid International Olympic Committee has welcomed BMX--or bike motocross--for 2008. The ninth annual X Games just concluded at the Staples Center. U.S. sales of video- and computer-game software reached $6.9 billion in 2002, approaching the film industry's $9.5 billion domestic box office gross.

For advertisers and network suits, extreme sports deliver the holy grail. "Traditional stick-and-ball sports have alienated young viewers with short attention spans," says USC sports business professor David Carter. "SlamBall is the next generation of made-for-TV sports, directed at an audience that wants a constant highlight reel."

Gordon grew up playing video games "where there would be this brutal collision and then the players would jump back up and go play defense 'cause they're just a bunch of pixels on the screen," he says from his Burbank office overlooking the Warner Bros. lot. "I wanted to, like, recapture that feeling. I knew that there was this whole culture that mainstream sports weren't catering to."

Born in L.A., Gordon lived in the South and Midwest before returning to Southern California in 1991 to "get on the radar of the local basketball scene" and win a college scholarship. An injury in his senior year at Palos Verdes' Peninsula High School ended that hope, and after a desultory season in junior college he shelved his sports aspirations and transferred to Claremont McKenna College.

Gordon figured he'd end up in law school, but after graduation he decided to give himself a year in the entertainment industry With two goals--"to date a wanna-be actress and attend a movie premiere"--he applied for a job at Tollin-Robbins Productions because his research showed that the company was understaffed. In I997, he became an intern, answering phones and taking out the trash.

He did go out with several actresses--"It was much easier than I thought," he says with a laugh--and went to his first premiere (the unforgettable Good Burger). He began to learn from director-producer Mike Tollin, who with his partner, Brian Robbins, creates programming that skews young (such as the WB hit Smallville). Tollin and Robbins are huge sports fans. One of their first features was the Academy Award-nominated documentary Hank Aaron: Chasing the Dream. Tollin recently finished Radio, adapted from Gary Smith's moving Sports Illustrated story about a white football coach who befriends a mentally disabled African American man.

Gordon wrote scripts for several TRP shows, including a pilot for comedian Nick Cannon. However, he grew discouraged watching his work get plowed through television's collaborative mill. True success, he gleaned from his bosses, comes when you create a project that you own.

In June 1999, he locked himself in a room at a friend's home, determined not to leave until he had come up with "something to believe in." Sketched on the proverbial paper napkin, the first incarnation of SlamBall came to Gordon in a flash. "It was like, I knew basketball, I knew football, I knew video games," he says. "From there it was simple: a live-action, human video game."

Gordon spent the next eight months tinkering with the idea. He continued to play pickup ball in gyms around Southern California, but now he had a mission: to scout potential players. He found imposing six-foot-eight David Redmond in the Valley and five-foot-ten-inch leaper Sean "Inches" Jackson in South L.A. "I was searching for guys with raw, almost uncontrolled athleticism," Gordon says. "I wanted people with drive and passion."

He winnowed his prospects to five before joining them on the court. "Dealing with the tramps was more of an adjustment than the hitting," says Jackson, one of the "Original Six" and a former Westchester High standout. "Once we got that down, man, then it got twisted fast. There was no limits."

Finally, Gordon pitched Tollin. "I was a whirlwind," he says. "I jumped on his desk, then bounced to his couch. I said, like, this would be a whole league of Kobe Bryants and Vince Carters."

Tollin deliberated, went away to shoot a film, then thought some more. He found himself impressed with Gordon's doggedness, despite his laid-back appearance--his usual outfit being baggy shorts, T-shirt, and And 1 sneakers--and his jaunty jock's strut. "He's a rocket scientist in a basketball junkie's body," says Tollin.

Instead of raising money to launch the sport, Tollin suggested, they should take advantage of his company's connections to sell to a network. "We decided to use TV as the growth engine," he says. "We sold the rights before it was even on its feet, when we were still in what I like to call our peach-basket era."

In 2000, Telepictures, a division of Warner Bros. (with whom TRP had a production deal), gave them seed money Gordon constructed the first prototype--a half-court model with one trampoline--then brought in Jackson, Redmond, and the others for practice. Three weeks later, at a warehouse in Valencia, Gordon showed his creation to Telepictures. "They went, 'Holy shit!' "he says, then advanced him enough funding to build a full-size court and cut a demo tape.

Telepictures had one suggestion. It wanted SlamBall to be scripted, like pro wrestling. Gordon and Tollin fought to "keep it pure" and won. So the Original Six and other recruits began scrimmaging at Hollenbeck Youth Center in East L.A. Full-court play required rule changes, including one that created the game's most exciting moment: the face-off. Instead of shooting free throws, the player who was fouled attempts to dunk on the opponent who committed the infraction.

According to former gymnast Jeff Sheridan, a mano a mano spirit took hold at Hollenbeck. "If you saw a guy do a trick, the next guy tried to outdo him," he says, "and the creativity went from basic dunks you see in an NBA game to more challenging--Can you do this dunk with a twist? Can you do this with a flip?"

In September 2001, Gordon pitched his idea to TNN executives. The network, which is owned by MTV's parent company, Viacom, was repositioning itself to appeal to the Maxim magazine audience: men ages 18 to 34. This summer, it unveiled a new name, Spike TV, and new shows that include Stripperella, with an animated Pamela Anderson as a crime-fighting stripper.

TNN paid Telepictures approximately $2.5 million for six one-hour "episodes." (The court alone cost $250,000.) "Slam-Ball is an innovative and breakthrough sport," says Scott Fishman, vice president of production. "You want to put on programming that has wow factor, that brings the audience back."

Tollin also persuaded Pat Croce, former president of the Philadelphia 76ers, to buy an equity stake. He brought SlamBall instant legitimacy, as well as his trademark frenzied salesmanship. "SlamBall has a chance to make an impact, especially among young people," Croce says. "We just have to take the time to grow it right."

THE SPORT ISN'T FOR THE timid--players have broken their jaws and torn their ACLs--and athletes aren't getting rich. They're paid about $12,000 for three months' work. However, the opportunity to extend their careers and be on TV has turned a skeptical bunch into true believers. Guys like the Rumble's Janisse, who played basketball at the University of Kansas. Or Sheridan, whose flip dunks have elevated the game (and landed him on the injured list).

Says Riders gunner Bryce Arledge, a fierce hitter who turned down modeling work to compete, "I'm a street baller, dawg. SlamBall is the real shit."

"Anything you thought about doing on a regular basketball court, you can go out here and overexaggerate it to the fullest," says Steal gunner Stan "Sh8ks" Fletcher. "You have to have the courage to go out there and do it, 'cause we ain't getting those little ticky-tack fouls like in the NBA. We're tearing each other up out there."

This year SlamBall lengthened its games to 24 minutes from 16. Spike TV added marketing muscle, a more experienced production team, and a ratings-friendly time slot after R.A.W. pro wrestling. Sponsors include Old Spice and Heineken. Several would-be investors have inquired about franchises. There even are celebrity spectators: Shaquille O'Neal watched with open-mouthed glee one night.

Taking a cue from the Tollin-Robbins school of hit making, Gordon has stocked SlamBall with compelling stories. Arthur Agee, last seen in the acclaimed documentary Hoop Dreams, made the cut, although he has gotten little playing time. With their productive NBA and ABA careers behind them, coaches Xavier McDaniel and Brian Taylor give the sport some cachet, if not star power. (Kobe Bryant's father, Joe "[Jelly Bean" Bryant, also has coached this year.) Rumble coach Kevin Carter, who gained fame for locking out his high school team's players for failing to meet academic standards, has become a Hollywood commodity: Tollin-Robbins plans to make a film about him.

Ultimately; if SlamBall is to stand on its own as a sport, fans must be able to read about it in the newspapers and kids should be able to play it at the local park. "They've got to develop their fan base," says USC professor David Carter, "and then find a way to serve it."

Gordon says he's devised a scaled-down, noncontact version of SlamBall for teens. He and Tollin also say that they are committed to expanding the sport whether or not Spike TV remains a partner. They may follow the traditional route of placing teams in major cities, or they may turn SlamBall into a touring act, a la Tony Hawk's extreme-sport shows--a less risky course that would allow time for the game to develop.

"Look, who'd ever thought there'd be snowboarding in the Olympics?" Tollin says. "Stranger things have happened."

At the least, Gordon says, he wants to produce a video game based on his human video game. He's also got "a bunch of sports" in the pipeline. "I'm testing out this one concept," he says, scribbling on scrap paper, "that's a combination of jai alai and dodgeball, with eight-ounce resin balls, and the ball is ricocheting around at 160 miles an hour like human air hockey It's pretty severe, yeah."

Mark Hanauer's work ("Swoop Dreams," page 60) has appeared in Forbes. Details,and the Los Angeles Times Magazine. Hanauer, whose corporate clients include Nike, Nautica, and Warner Bros., is preparing his first solo gallery show.

COPYRIGHT 2003 Los Angeles Magazine, Inc.
COPYRIGHT 2003 Gale Group

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