Playoffs for intramural basketball started Tuesday evening at ETSU’s Center for Physical Activity on campus.
The playoff games Tuesday featured the fraternity and competitive leagues.
The women’s league began playoffs Wednesday evening, with men’s recreation league tipping off tonight.
One team that has emerged as a top competitor in the men’s recreation league is the Ducksquad.
The Ducksquad is seeded No. 2 in the playoffs.
The casual observer might think the Ducksquad takes intramural sports too seriously.
Each time team members come out to compete in any intramural activity, they are all clad in their team colors – green and yellow. Ducksquad fans can be seen wearing matching team shirts.
The coach paces the sidelines and a trainer stands ready to tend to an injury.
To them, however, it’s all just having fun.
“Priority one for us is having a good time, that’s the most important thing,” said team “coach” Dustin Blazer. “If we win in the process of doing that, then that’s fine, too.”
Becoming a member of the Ducksquad, however, is not all fun and games, Blazer said.
“Membership is limited,” he said.
“It involves rigorous training, devotion, time, hard work, and most importantly, asking to be on the roster.”
The Ducksquad heads into the playoffs with a 5-1 record.
The team will play the winner of a series of play in games for the opening round of the playoffs.
A loss knocked them from the top slot in the bracket and cost them a first-round bye.
“We played a good team in Philippians 4:13,” Blazer said. “They were a competitive league team and they proved why they played in the competitive league that night.”
Team member Steven Trentham was determined to not let the loss get him down.
“That loss, it just fueled the fire,” Trentham said.
“It made us wake up and realize that there are other teams out there that want to win as much as we do. “
The loss awakened team captain Travis Hall’s determination.
“We have to bring our best game with us Thursday night,” Hall said.
“We’re going to have to play good defense and rebound if we want to move on to the next round. The team we play will be warmed up by the time they play us. We’ll have to be ready.”
As much fun as the group of friends has, Blazer asserts that there’s more to being a part of the Ducksquad than just being on the roster.
“To us it’s more than just a name,” Blazer said. “As cheesy as it sounds, the Ducksquad is representative of our friendships with each other. We also want it to be representative of us as people. We want to let the other team know that we’re there to compete, but at the same time we try to show good sportsmanship in doing so.”
The Ducksquad will be watching the top part of the playoff bracket closely as they work toward the championship game.
“MBP looks like the favorite in the other half of the playoff bracket,” Blazer said.
“But the Flava Flav’s are a tough team. I believe they could sneak up on some teams in the playoffs.”
Blazer is ready to fire up his team for the competition.
“Like Lance Harbor once said, ‘I was lying in my bed last night’…”
Blazer paused for a moment to better articulate his thoughts.
“Well,” he said, “we just don’t want to lose on Thursday.

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