I am the Bobby Knight of Dodgeball Apr. 29th, 2008

So today I had finals at school.  I had an 8 AM test which meant I had to be at school at 7:30.  I got up around 5:30 even though I didn't go to bed until 3 AM.  I was just going to stay up all night, but dozed off along the way.  Luckily my alarm woke me up on time and I got myself together and made it on time.  I took my test without worries, as usual.  Then I ran my ass to the CLS computer lab to print out my last 2 papers due as my final exams for my other 2 history classes.  I ran back upstairs to the room I had just taken my test in to hand those papers into my Professor.  I had taken 3 of his classes this semester, so all my eggs were in one basket so to speak.  In the hallway was Nick, who had finished his exam and was waiting on Sean.  So Nick and I started talking, and I explained to him about the Dodgeball tournament I was signed up for later in the day.  I told him to show up since we might need some Subs or maybe another team would need a sub.  Supposedly, Dave had already turned in a sheet with our 5 man roster last week.  But I was unsure of those guys showing up, so I told him about the tournament in order to keep our roster intact as a back up plan.  Sean came out of the classroom after finishing his exam and then I hung out with Sean and Nick for awhile until Sean had to get to his next exam in the Science building.  Since Nick and I were just killing time, we wandered back for a cup of Joe, and found a couple seats in the Student Union and re-lived our exam and the questions.  Also we delved into philosophy such as Kirkegaard, which Nick had been told to read by Sean (The Philosophical Guru of my friends).  Although Sean is a Nitsche (sic) fan, he does enjoy his philosophy.  So as Nick was on the phone with his fiancee I noticed a sign, "Stress Free Student Zone."  I read the sign and realized they were giving away free food and massages upstairs in the Student Union.  So after Nick finished his call, I told him about it and we headed upstairs.

So, we walk into this very dark room and have our I.D.'s swiped at the door.  The room was pleasant, the shades had been drawn, and there were 5 massage chairs in the corner, Tom Petty playing on the television, and many tables with low lighting, paint, crayons, board games, and puzzles.  Thrown over the back of the chairs were free tye dye t-shirts for anyone to have.  Nick opted out of the massage and I opted in.  We took a couple of seats and relaxed.  Our conversation covered many topics such as marriage, religion, the atmosphere in the room, etc.  They called my number for the massage and it was great.  I enjoyed every minute of it.  Then the pizza arrived and I grabbed me some grub.  By that time, I had some other things to do such as drop books off at the Library, and when Nick and I wandered outside, Sean came strolling up from his exam.  We chatted a bit, they broke out for some lunch, since Sean hadn't eaten yet, and I made my way to the Library.  I dropped off my books, and left, when I ran into John.  That conversation immediately went into a topic of Communism since he is in my Soviet History class.  We discussed our final papers, and bashed the authors of the books we were forced to read.  Then I had to go meet Dave in the editing room where I was supposed to be earlier in the day to work on our final project, but I couldn't break away from free food, massages, and good conversations.  It is finals week, so what the hell, I say Relax!!! 

Dave was the captain of our Dodgeball team and after I found him, we headed for the P.E. complex.  The Dodge ball tournament started at 1 PM.  We signed in, and Dave went to change.  I started to get psyched for the game. I cranked up some Rise Against at first, but then switched to Pantera.  The rest of our team showed up, and I found out we could have up to 10 players, but only 5 could play in each individual game.  So we signed up our 2 new subs, and Dave added his little brother, who was also named Sean.  Tim showed up with his classmate, and we were set to go.  The tourney got off to a late start and we kept discussing the rules on the sheet we had been handed when we arrived.  We needed clarification on some of the rules, and this was a long process.  The rules kept changing. 

There were 6 referees, and we were in the 4th match against a team consisting of students whom were all ex-army.  I started to pump up my team by reciting Mr. America's Monologue from Homesick by Joyce Carol Oates.  Along with that and my other points of conversation, Dave's little brother said I was starting to scare him...Yes I can be a bit intimidating..Like you don't this???  Wathcing the first matches allowed us to gather a game plan and as our match got closer we had felt we were ready to take the field. 

The first game was bad, we lost it fast, but it was best out of 3 so as my team came off the field (I didn't play the first game).  I was pumped up and tried to motivate them and point out the tactics the other team was using.  The second match I jumped in.  I was knocked out about a minute in, but got a swing back in when one of my teammates caught a ball.  So I ran back in, but went out again when the other side caught one of my throws.  The end result of the game was a push, there were 2 players left on our team and their team when the clock hit 0:00.  So we went into the 3rd match, and my poor play in the 2nd match made me want to stay on the sidelines and coach.  This is when the magic really happened.   I was pumped and I juiced up the crowd and my team with my antics.  I went hoarse about midway through the 3rd match, but that didn't stop me.

By the 3rd match, I was noticing the Referees were focusing on my team's mistakes but overlooking Army's mistakes.  So I started rabble rousing them to watch the game.  I had said things like, "Hey Ref focus on the game, come on."  "He stepped over the line, He is OUT!"  "Come on Ref, Do your jobs" We won the 3rd match, and moved into a 4th match.  I had gotten the team pumped up by then, and people had started to come back into the gymnasium to watch our match.  I really hit the refs hard during the 4th match as they were really starting to screw things up and it was affecting our game.  The 4th match turned into a tie, so we had to go into a 5th match. 

This is when I was really running of at the mouth.  I have to say that I never said anything disrespectful, everything I said were about the rules of the game and how the refs were not making the right calls because their focus was only on our team, while the other team was getting away with stepping over the line, not getting off the field when their balls were caught, etc. It was becoming a travesty and I was just trying to argue our position with the refs rather than my teammates having to do it while they were playing.  Any distractions could have caused them to get hit and knocked out.  I was just trying to keep my guys on the field and focused, and the problems that arised I tried to take care of. Well, one of them complained to the Fraternity who was hosting this event, and the guy running it came over to me and told me I had to tone it down because I was distracting them from doing their job.  I said, "If they were doing their job, then I wouldn't be distracting them.  By me distracting them shows their minds are not on the field of play."  I had also said, "This is a game, I am being competitive and keeping my team pumped, I have every right to call it how I see it."  He told me I was going to have to leave because my distraction was considered harrassing the staff which is against the rules, at which time I responded, "This is not a legitimate game if the game is fixed and the rules are not being followed."  He told me to tone it down, and then a ref missed a call, and I yelled, "See man, they are not doing their jobs."  Jose then ran over to talk to the refs. 

Yeah, I know I was making a spectacle of myself, but I had involved the crowd, they backed me and I was stealing the show on the sidelines while my team tried to pull out a win.  Since I had been told to not yell at the refs anymore, I started pumping up the crowd...One guy saw an illegitimate move on the Army side, and yelled out,  at which point I said, "Whoa, tone it down over there, you can't yell at the refs, they will throw you out...They just told me to tone it down."  The audience really picked up after that, they couldn't believe I was being told to 'Tone it Down."  I was supporting my team and I had the audience in my back pocket.  We ended up losing the game, which I am sure the refs wanted anyway because I was really getting under their skin.  These guys and girls were Frat and sorority brothers and sisters, I knew they played sports, they acted like they had no energy.  Well I was pumping up the event from the sideline.  We left the gymnasium and one of the teams sitting on the sidelines asked me if I would come back and be their Coach when they played again.  This showed me that I was right for doing what I did.  If I had a chair during our matches I would have thrown it Bobby Knight style.  I feel like we were cheated and I always speak my mind.  I know I pissed off a lot of people today, but I also had a lot people riding behind me at the same time.  Fuck the establishment.  If you make a game, then play it by the rules, and keep it fair, otherwise it isn't a game.  I had fun either way, and I was just living in the moment and having fun.  I wasn't trying to offend anyone, but games bring out my competitive side and I do not play to play, I play to win.  Like I said, I never disrespected anyone, nor did I ever swear.  So in my eyes, the things I was saying all related to the match.  I had every right to complain about being cheated by the shitty calls.  Everyone knows I am a firecracker, if I offended anyone today, I can say I am sorry for that, but most of the teams and audience thought I was right, there were only a select few who thought I was over the top.  But the bottom line is if I was a real coach for a team, I would act the same way.  I was motivating my team and trying to keep the refs on their toes.  The event was poorly prepared, and they should have made sure the refs knew the rules.  As the games were in play, some of the rules were changing, that bugs me.  I don't play games if errors or cheating occur, because it is not a game to me anymore when those things happen.  And when I was told to tone it down, and then a ref made a bad call, it proved my point.  I was policing the police....And I would do it all over again the same way if given the chance...Actually I would add even more energy...Fuck the establishment...We played a good game and we would have won if the calls were in our favor, or at least legitimate...If you can dodge a wrench, you can dodge a ball...
From now on I am sure I will be recognized by many people that probably haven't had the pleasure of my company.  There were a lot of people there that I have never seen on campus, which means I have just broadened my cult following I am sure!!!

IT was another great day...On a different note, I got a callback for a show I auditioned for last night.  The call back is tomorrow night, if I get that part I will be back on stage for the performances taking place in June...Oh Yeah!!!  I am an actor, this is what I do, on stage or off...