Dodgeball: Basketball, Tiger Inn clash in finals

Rescheduling the tournament from its usual Thursday timeslot to a Saturday night had devastating consequences for some of the tournament’s traditional powerhouses. Because of the football team’s spring football game, few of its players showed up for the squad’s first-round matchup against Outdoor Action in the large division. And because of poor turnout, Cottage — one of this year’s favored teams — fell in its first-round game against TI by an overwhelming margin.

“Cottage is usually a lot stronger,” tournament director Steve Slovenski said. “They suffered from the football team having their spring football game.”

TI emerged from the huge division to reach the Final Four after taking down Cottage and reigning tournament champion Cap & Gown Club.

Meanwhile, the basketball team emerged from the large division without ever facing its biggest rival. In last year’s tournament, the basketball team fell to the football team in the division finals.

The larger teams were undoubtedly the favorites heading into the semifinals. The other contenders, however, could not be dismissed lightly. Another athletic team joined the basketball team in the Final Four, as the men’s water polo team won its division and prepared to face TI.

Meanwhile, the Figure Drawing Club — one of Princeton’s most enigmatic and least advertised activities — surprised all observers and ruined many experts’ brackets when it cruised through the medium division into the Final Four. Perhaps the club’s victory in a division that included both crew and the club ice hockey team should not be surprising, as the spatial reasoning and geometrical intuition needed to become an expert figure drawer surely aided the club in developing innovative tactics and befuddling its opposition.

“It’s always good to see new teams in the Final Four,” Slovenski said. “You don’t want the same teams to make it to the Final Four every year, so it was nice to see some upsets.”

But this year’s Dodgeball Tournament proved much like the NCAA tournaments of recent years. In the end, the favored teams took both semifinal matchups, with the basketball team defeating the Figure Drawing Club and TI taking down the men’s water polo team.

Given the conflicted allegiances of many players in the latter matchup, it seems that the men’s water polo players made the strategic decision to continue to the finals as TI members.

The championship game proved to be a rout, as TI’s all-star squad appeared to feel the effects from its grueling victory against Cap in the quarterfinals. The basketball team’s advantages in height and tactics were simply too much for the last eating club standing.

“I was surprised because it wasn’t that close a game,” Slovenski said. “Basketball had six people left when TI was all the way out … They all have the long arms, so they’re good at throwing.”

The basketball team’s victory sets up an epic showdown in next year’s large-division bracket. If the football team returns to form in 2010, the 2007 and 2009 champions will likely clash in the tournament’s primetime matchup and determine which Princeton sports team truly deserves dodgeball bragging rights.