defended the playing field. In the first half of season one, Powerball was conducted on a half-circle shaped field with two bins filled with balls at one end and the scoring cylinders laid out on the edge of the circle at the other end. Each score was worth 15 points and for 45 seconds, the contenders would grab balls from their respective bins and try to score while the Gladiators attempted to stop them by any means possible (tackling, pushing the contender out of bounds, etc.) so long as they were not excessively rough with the contenders; if any Gladiator was determined to have violated this rule, the contender was rewarded with a score. In the second half of the season, the Powerball field was extended to take up the entire length of the arena floor and the layout of the scoring cylinders changed and one was placed in the middle of the field, with any ball deposited there worth more points. In addition, the ball bins were placed on opposite ends of the field and the contenders had to alternate which bin they chose balls from. The Gladiators were not allowed in these areas. Also, penalties for rough contact now resulted in a Gladiator being removed from the event and all tackling was banned; with the exception of the tackling ban, these rules remained in place for the remainder of the original series (Gladiators were forbidden to tackle above the shoulders, though). In the second half of the first season, goals in the four outer cylinders were worth one point and the center cylinder was worth two. After that, the scoring varied from 1–3 points for outer goals and 2–5 for center goals depending on the season and round of play. For the second season, the scoring cylinders were redesigned. The original season’s cylinders were narrow, flat-bottomed, and had a tendency to fall over during play. It was also possible for a cylinder to become so full with balls that it could no longer be used during a game, and on several occasions the weight of contenders and Gladiators falling on them would cause the plastic to break, stopping play while a replacement was brought out. The redesigned cylinders were wider and able to hold more balls, and a rounded bottom prevented the cylinders from completely toppling over with contact. The 2008 series' Powerball game was played for 60