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Angle Ball must be seen to be believed. But for those not at Taylor University, this article paints the picture.
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Angle Ball: The Sport of True Champions
by Jared Pike
"Oh, somewhere in this favored land the sun is shining bright;
The band is playing somewhere, and somewhere hearts are light,
And somewhere men are laughing, and somewhere children shout;
But there is no joy in Mudville-- mighty Casey has struck out."
Ernest Thayer, Casey at the Bat, 1888
Ah, but "somewhere hearts are light..." Which means that somewhere, people are playing Angle Ball.
Among the light (but competitive) hearts playing Angle Ball today are Dr. Jim Spiegel, a religion and philosophy professor at Taylor University. The regular Friday-afternoon players at Taylor have him to thank for bringing the game in 1993, building the equipment, and promoting it as the ideal sport. As such, other sports might have granted him the grandiose title of Commissioner, President and CEO, or Patron Saint of Angle Ball. But today (as with every other day) he's out there on the field, running and passing along with students and friends. "It's just raw sport," he says with a smile.
The rules of the game are simple. By throwing a handheld soccer ball, players try to dislodge a basketball from the top of their opponents' 10-foot-pole. Spray-painted circles on the grass around each pole indicate the only "restricted areas" on the makeshift field; a player cannot breach the opponents' circle. This means that while the defense can lurk inside their own circle, the offense has to gambol around it and wait for a good shot. The key factor in keeping the frenetic pace of the game involves tagging. Any player holding the ball who is tagged must dish it off to a teammate within three seconds. The "three-second" rule is never strictly enforced; as a matter of good faith, defenders simply grant a tagged player enough time to successfully get rid of it.And it seems that much of Angle Ball concerns faith... or philosophy, or mythology, or humor, or usually a quasi-combination. Since these are all Dr. Spiegel's academic specialties, he works very hard to incorporate them into the game he loves. For example, if a player converts a particularly impressive shot, Spiegel hearkens back to the fictional Ivy League Angle Ball heydays of the 1920's. His authored history of the game claims that it dates back to 9th century Morocco, where "its early incarnations tended to be violent." His fellow players appreciate these moments of tongue-in-cheek village-elderism, but Spiegel sums up the real game quite simply: "It's a moment of fellowship and release, in a game where you can exhibit real athleticism without being too extremely serious."
Ah yes, did we forget to mention the athleticism? Angle Ball is a sport in the truest sense of the word, and its participants hustle just as much as any other brand of athlete. "It combines the best of soccer, basketball, and football," says Spiegel. Passing skills are of utmost importance (since one cannot hold the ball after being tagged), as are running and shooting accuracy. Teamwork reigns supreme, and everyone involved in the activity works up a good sweat.
But aren't running and throwing also part of baseball? Can one not experience ideal teamwork in a simple game of hoops? "Basketball breeds ill will," declares Spiegel. He unrolls his theory of Angle Ball Supremacy just as he would postulate the existence of an omnipotent God. Laying out logical points, he suggests that most people, when growing up, are taught the basics of Little League or other sports. The seemingly weighty importance of baseball (or basketball, etc.) in one's life becomes an immovable part of the psyche, and violently awakens whenever the sport is played. Thus, even in pick-up or intramural games, participants tend to take their performances very seriously, becoming quite upset if they don't do well. "It seems that it's all set up for fights to break out," he says.
Angle Ball is different. "I've since discovered why, psychologically and sociologically, it remains lighthearted, even during a tight game," he says. He notes that no one grows up knowing the rules or (pseudo) history of Angle Ball. "Because they don't fancy themselves experts," concludes Spiegel, "anyone who plays has no expectations." Therefore, they are free to enjoy the "raw sport" and "fellowship" without having to worry about proving themselves worthy. Q. E. D.
Besides, try finding such a diverse crowd on outdoor basketball courts. Men and women participate equally successfully, as do students and professors, young and old, and jocks and intellectuals. This open-arms policy not only ensures an interesting mix of people to philosophize and outrun on the field, but it also shows why Angle Ball outshines other sports. "It can include good athletes and not-so-good athletes in a way that's very natural," he explains. "In basketball..." Spiegel is running his philosophical victory lap... "if you're playing full court and you start lagging behind, your team suffers. In Angle Ball, you actually help your team by staying behind on defense. So you can monitor the amount of exercise you want to get."
A perfectly diverse, ultimately customizable sport where no one gets upset. Surely this game must be a mythology of sorts.
For the record, the sport's real history is not as fanciful as it has been rumored. Rip Engle, head coach of Penn State's football team during the 1950's, saw a need for his players to practice vital skills in the off season. Thus he invented the game now called "Angle" Ball, which then spread throughout Pennsylvania. One of the people who knew about it became a philosophy professor at Belhaven College in Mississippi, where Jim Spiegel started his undergraduate work in 1981. "I saw some people playing this game," says Spiegel, and after he tried it out, he was hooked. After being hired by Taylor in 1993, he felt a need to start the Angle Ball frenzy at that campus. "I enjoyed it so much as a college student, I wanted other people to share in it." He discussed with a few of his students, and decided to institute a game.
For this first effort, he had to build some makeshift equipment. For each pole, he used two 5-foot PVC pipes stacked vertically, a funnel on top to cradle the basketball, and duct tape to hold it all together. A concrete block "anchored" each pole to the ground. Eyeballing the proportions, he spray-painted a 10-foot circle on the grass around each pole. The overall effect of the dumpster-quality equipment became so endearing, that the duct tape and cement blocks have remained an official component of the Angle Ball aesthetic.
Still, the original four-on-four games with Spiegel and his students fascinated passersby. "People would stare at us," says Spiegel, "but eventually, it became more popular." It became popular enough that 60-70 competitors would show up for Friday afternoon sessions. Another set of equipment had to be hastily built (though no one could tell them apart from the originals), so that dual games could occur. During finals week, Angle Ball games took place every day so that students could blow off stress (and occasionally, work). Angle Ball has taken place in the snow, in the rain, and most fascinatingly, in the mud, where true contestants are not bashful about sliding and wrestling for possession of the ball.
This passion has become an establishment at Taylor, and undoubtedly will continue to spread. Jon Stanley, former student body president, stands out as an exceptional player, as does current president James Kutnow. Says Spiegel, "When you have your student body president as an Angle Ball groupie, it certainly works its way into the culture."
I ask Spiegel about other notable Angle Ball players throughout history. "Let me look in the Angle Ball Hall of Fame," he replies, as he grabs for a sheet of paper on the corner of his desk. Quickly he retracts, obviously kidding about the sheet's existence. Spiegel's philosophy and mythology has hooked me, just as his game has hooked the students of Taylor.