The Rebirth of Slamball

Published by Austin Kent on April 8, 2008

If you blinked you would have missed it, but with former-Philadelphia 76ers owner Pat Croce at the helm, no one will be closing their eyes when Slamball returns this summer.

The trampoline-fueled love child of basketball and football, raised by an extreme sports star and married to an acrobat is back, and don’t even think the eccentric-meets-electric entrepreneur known throughout the sports community for his relationship with Allen Iverson will be content to see the sport slip away a second time.

“I’m David Stern on steroids,” says Croce, when asked of his responsibilities as Slamball Take Two’s newly-appointed commish. “I will make sure that I lay the law down and [the players] know that. I did it with Allen Iverson, so I’ll do it with them.”

But don’t think Croce’s here with the sole purpose of breaking balls, at least not figuratively.

“I don’t think there’s any comparison whatsoever [to the painfully brief X-treme Football league created in 2001], XFL was just bastardized football,” said Croce. “Ours is not crazy basketball, it’s a combination of basketball, acrobatics and extreme action sports.”

Croce would go on to say that he hopes to break the mold of traditional sports much like the UFC did when it broke out on to the mainstream scene just years ago.

“[Slamball] is a different sport for a different generation,” he says.

After a five-year hiatus that saw Slamball creators Mason Gordon and Mike Tollin take their portable trampoline-laced court all around Europe and Asia in an attempt to generate publicity, Croce has officially jumped on board to help it grow.

“It was the summer of 2001,” recalls Croce of how he first became involved in the production. “I had just left the Philadelphia 76ers … A friend of mine, Mike Tollin, the movie producer/director, came to me with an idea that he and Mason Gordon were pursuing something called Slamball. He said ‘Pat you’ve got to come out to LA and see what we’re doing’.”

And so he did, not unlike renowned rapper of the time, Snoop Dogg, and All-Everything supercenter Shaquille O’Neal.

“I came out and I saw these guys,” adds Croce, “It looked like Michael Jordan every where. I said this is outrageous, I got captivated.”

And so Croce served as an unofficial spokesperson of the game up until 2003 when it silently vanished from broadcaster Spike TV. But without delving into the history of a sport that doesn’t particularly have much, focus on the man that creators Tollin and Gordon chose to lay down their laws.

The fitness fanatic emerged onto the sports scene as the first ever physical conditioning coach in the National Hockey League back in 1980. In the 28 years since, it’s been a whirlwind of job changes, promotions and incredibly well-paying business ventures that have put Croce in the position he remains today.

“I only pursue things I’m passionate about,” said Croce, “Because I don’t have to work. I was hooked [after seeing Slamball back in 2001], and I still am hooked, or else I wouldn’t be involved in it.”

The 53-year-old business magnate with enough time and passion to invest in two pirate-themed businesses in Key West, Florida, first became famous during his five-year tenure as the president of the Philadelphia 76ers between 1996-2001.

But can Croce contribute to a sport that obviously didn’t have the meat and potatoes to bounce its way into the public’s hearts for good the first time around?

“We will not settle for what we already had,” ensures Croce. “We want to take it to what we don’t even know exists yet.”

“We’re looking at all kinds of ways to take the sport to the next level. One of the ways is that we’ve engaged a consultant [Vance Walberg], he’s notorious for his dribble-drive offense that they’re using for [2008 NCAA national runner-up head coach John] Calipari’s team in Memphis … We want to see how we can make the plays more high energy and intricate.”

As players engage in tryouts for Slamball 2.0 this week everywhere from New York to Florida, Croce, Gordon and Tollin look forward to filming this year’s tournament in June and expanding to an all-out franchise mode in time for next season.

The sport still lacks a suitable network through which to broadcast their games, but the staff have their fingers crossed that the right deal will come around soon.

It is hard to ignore the hurdles that stand between Slamball and mainstream success, but it will take a lot more than that to kill the fire raging in the passionate Croce’s eyes and heart.

“[In five years, we hope to see Slamball] the same place you would have seen snowboarding or skateboarding or beach volleyball, where people like ‘Oh, are you kidding me? I want to see this in the Olympics’. I want to see this in the Olympics in 2012.”

“People have always said ‘You’re nuts, that’s impossible’,” adds Croce. “But remember I was a trainer who became an owner of an NBA franchise. Who’s going to tell me it’s impossible?”

This article was written by:

Austin Kent - who has written 45 posts on Hoops Addict.

As both contributing writer and assistant editor of HoopsAddict.com, Austin Kent has enjoyed covering the NBA game from behind the scenes since 2006. Additionally, he is currently the sports editor of The Brock Press and has written for a number of basketball websites and newspapers throughout Ontario.

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