By Lauren Gustus
Sports Editor
Odds are you didn’t have Pork Tornado, $50 of Applesauce, Blatz Attack, the Stinky’s or I Must Break You in your NCAA bracket this March. You’ve probably never even heard of them. But that doesn’t mean these teams aren’t bigtime. They are. In the Pepperdine Intramurals Basketball program.
The IMR basketball scene, a nightly affair at Firestone Fieldhouse for about three months in the spring, is hard to put into words. Technically, basketball season is over at Pepperdine, but one step into a buzz of activity in the gymnasium reveals multiple games floating back and forth at varying speeds.
“We have a wide variety of personalities,” Associate Director if Intramurals Curtis Eberts said.
There’s the A-league favorite Blatz Attack, according to Eberts, a team that’s so cohesive they’re even sporting matching jerseys. There’s the Water Polo team, which has a significant height advantage over everyone. In the coed league, there are girls who will take it to the hole and stick it to their male counterparts.
While a game on court one wrapped up last Monday evening, the team playing next ran around the perimeter of the parquet swinging their shirts over their heads getting psyched up for their upcoming game. In this league, players will occasionally talk garbage to the refs, usually their classmates.
Many players get rather involved in the proceedings, and it is not uncommon to see a group hang out at the Fieldhouse all night.
“There are gym rats,” Coordinator Ashton Hines said. “Guys who are here before and after the games.”
Eberts tried to put his finger on the emerging subculture of IMR basketball. “We have a really good group of teams.” Eberts said. “I think that it’s about sportsmanship, about having a good time. But it’s also about playing hard and experiencing good competition.”
With a sizeable number of students taking part in the A, B or coed league, the intramurals office tries to keep a handle on the bedlam, but acknowledges sometimes it isn’t easy.
“We really do try to cater to the students and do our best to let them play,” Hines said, “We try to be accommodating.”
Although the league leans more toward a somewhat flexible style, Eberts acknowledges there are some faults to that way of operating.
“I think the biggest difference for us is that we are a small school and everyone knows each other out there,” Eberts said. “We’re working with the team rosters, not letting teams pick up people. We’re trying to be more organized. Not cussing out the refs and stuff. I think we’re on our way.”
The intramurals office is also trying to get more ladies down to the court to do more than just cheerlead. A new rule, instituted this year, mandates that there must be three girls on the court at all times in the coed league.
“What I also want to do is provide a competitive league for the female athletes,” Eberts said. “I’m trying to increase the number of girls. Last year they didn’t even have a number.”
This spring the league contracted Campus Concepts, a company that locates sponsors. Target, Nestle’s Crunch and Centrum Performance vitamins are backing Pepperdine’s IMR league. The sponsors will award league champions the one freebie that college students will always get excited about: a T-shirt.
As for the team names, Eberts is unable to offer any insight as to their origins.
“Some of them are frats, some just make them up,” Eberts said. “I have no idea where they get some of these names. We have teams like $50 of Applesauce.”
Incidentally, you might want to put your money on $50 of Applesauce — they’re the favorite to win the coed league championship.
April 04, 2002