Midnight Madness

The first thing I was told to do by my Orientation Leader as an incoming freshman was to go to the annual “Midnight Madness” event. I brushed off the statement at the time, as they explained that it was a big event with the intent of introducing everyone to both the men’s and women’s basketball teams, and due to my disinterest in basketball, I didn’t deem it to be very important that I attend.

Was this something I should have assumed?
No.
It was wrong and I was wrong.

This year, Midnight Madness was held on October 24th in the Gentile Arena, starting at 8 pm. On a streak of boredom, my friends and I decided that we should go and at least see what all the hype was about. It turns out that the first 1,000 people there received free t shirts (always a crowd pleaser) and there was free pizza as well. As I made my way up to the stands, I saw the ridiculously sized crowd that was in attendance to this event. Maroon and Gold was sported throughout the crowd, and I was once again reminded of the amount of support that these students show for their sports teams. LU Wolf was there, doing dances and pumping up the crowd. After a brief introduction from both coaches from the men and women’s team, each individual player said something about themselves, along with their year (a lot of them turned out to be freshman!) and their names. After the introductions, the festivities began.

Some of the events there included a dunk contest, a chance to win free tuition for a semester, as well as a chance to win a free trip to the Missouri Valley Conference in the spring. My favorite to watch was the dunking contest, partially because Sister Jean was just so darn cute as the guest judge, and in part because I will forever be astonished by the capabilities of Loyola’s athletes.

All in all, the point of this is pretty clear: Even if you don’t like basketball, go and meet the team. It sounds cliché,  but they actually do play better when you’re in the stands cheering at the top of your lungs.