Hey, the Explosion play entertaining basketball

Published 9:00 pm Wednesday, April 11, 2007

EVERETT – Don’t bother telling 10-year-old Devin Steves that the Everett Explosion is minor league.

Steves was one of the announced 3,777 curious fans who took a peek at the Explosion Tuesday night at the Everett Events Center. In Steves’ hot little hands was a genuine Explosion T-shirt, one that exploded (get it?) out of some cannon-like contraption whenever one of the home guys threw down a slam dunk.

To Steves, that’s pretty major-league.

“They’re fun to watch,” he said. “I love it when they dunk. They’re really fast and score a lot of points. It’s just fun.”

That seemed to be the consensus in the Explosion’s home debut, a 139-94 International Basketball League West Division victory over the Vancouver Volcanoes.

Sure, for the majority of the players, their peak playing days are in the rearview mirror. Sure, eight on the roster are 29 years old and older. Sure, most know they have an equal chance at someday playing the NBA as they do being the next U.S. attorney general.

But hey, the guys know how to play and still have the athletic talent to unleash most of the acrobatics they did in their prime years.

Former Husky Donald Watts can still play at 30. Rashaad Powell, 25, can play at least three positions and fly down the floor on the fast break. They have a local flavor, with Darrell Walker, Brian Dennis and Corby Schuh. Antwon Jones and Chris Weakley are exciting backcourt players.

Coach Randy Redwine has a deep bench, which allows the team to maintain a fast pace the entire game. Now 2-0, the Explosion has outscored its opponents by 73 points.

The scores (Everett won its season opener 161-133 over Lewis County on Saturday) suggest a lack of defense. That’s not an incorrect assumption, but it also has to do with an offensive pace that rivals that of the old Loyola Marymount teams.

The guys can bring it. And as Steves said, it’s fun to watch.

I also have to credit the Explosion officials responsible for the production of the games, those responsible for the game’s environment. Part of my acclaim lies in the fact that they feed the media. I’m a devotee of bribery as much as the next guy. It was pretty good pizza, too. A little feta, a few artichokes, a little garlic. Not bad.

It’s also obvious that the Explosion loves Aaron Reardon, the world’s most physically fit county executive. He was introduced not once, but twice before the game, as well as given a chance to speak a few well-chosen words at halftime.

I was confused by the selection of pregame music, but quickly deduced that the Explosion is doing all it can to please almost everybody – thus the mix of rock, rap and country. I must have missed, however, the improvisational jazz, Mozart and polka.

The Explosion has all the expected amenities – the obligatory dance team, the obligatory borderline-obnoxious public-address announcer, the obligatory fan inclusion in various games during timeouts.

They have not one, but two mascots, which sets an IBL record as far as I know. They have Nitro, a golden-caped, manly man refugee from the Blue Man Group with gold-plated pecs and shoulders and black goggles. Before the game, he bursts out of exploding (get it again?) box. Later, he dunks with the help of a mini-trampoline, ala the old Phoenix Suns gorilla. It’s pretty cool.

The other is Boomer, a decidedly less threatening product of an unfortunate meeting between Olive Oyl and a Teletubbie. Boomer wears a yellow Explosion uniform and has a stuffed basketball for a head, which, naturally, explodes, in a way, in blue and yellow terry-cloth “flames.” Boomer’s great for the under-5 set, but not my cup of tea. I’m a Sponge Bob guy.

It’s difficult not to root for the Explosion’s survival, but it has much on its plate. Before the season ends in midsummer, it will have competed for the area sports fans’ wallet with Everett’s other three minor league sports teams – the Silvertips, Hawks and AquaSox. It will have to do so without the benefit of weekend home games and the resulting attendance boost.

But it’s pretty good basketball. And who knows? You might even catch a free Explosion T-shirt.

Sports columnist John Sleeper: sleeper@heraldnet.com