By PATRICK DRISCOLL
Staff Writer
The annual MidKnight Madness event for the men and women’s basketball teams was held last Thursday to kick off their season. The athletic department puts on the event for students to meet the current season’s teams. The evening was filled with spirited entertainment leading up to the announcement of the team’s rosters.
There were intense games of musical chairs, a basket-shooting contest and a dance contest. The gym was filled to standing room only this year and the crowd was loud as people were cheering and screaming because they enjoyed and appreciated the entertainment the College has to offer.
I thought this year’s MidKnight Madness was a huge hit. Saint Rose alum Ilze Luneau came back to show students what she’s been doing since leaving the College. Luneau performs all different types of basketball drills and tricks all around the world. The crowd couldn’t believe the spectacular stunts she performed for the students. She has performed on many shows, including on Ellen and Jay Leno. Luneau, who played on the Women’s Basketball team from 1993-1997, came to Saint Rose from Latvia. She led her team to the NCAA tournament three out of the four years she played here at the College. In 2007, Luneau was inducted into the Saint Rose Athletic Hall Of Fame.
I was glad to see Luneau perform her drills and tricks. When I found out she was coming to MidKnight Madness, I was thrilled. When Luneau lived in Syracuse, she would do performances in the city parks for kids who didn’t know the game of basketball very well.
The shooting contest consisted of four people from the crowd each paired with one player on the men’s and women basketball teams. The cheerleaders went out into the crowd and selected four people to participate in the contest. The contest was a huge success because the contestants had fun making shots on the court. What was important to the contestant was not making a big deal of how many shots they made or missed, the important thing was having fun. For some of the contestants, it was the first time they held a basketball. They did the best they could in order to make the shots.
Musical chairs was very funny. It was fun to see the contestants fight over the chairs when the music stopped. When someone got eliminated, the other contestants showed respect because they enjoyed the entertainment. All of the contestants cheered for one another when fighting over the chairs. When a contestant got eliminated, everyone would laugh because it was a great contest. When it came down to only one chair and two contestants, the winner found a way to sit as fast as she could.
The dance contest consisted of eight students, who showed off their dance moves to the crowded gym. Nobody judged the way they danced because everyone knew they were just having fun. It ended in a three-way tie. The way the emcees determined the winner was how loud the crowd screamed for the best dancer.
The winners of these three different contests each received a prize. The prize consisted of a basketball, water bottle, t-shirt and a picture frame that says “Saint Rose” on it. The prizes were donated by the bookstore. The bookstore donates a lot of prizes for MidKnight Madness. The prizes that the bookstore donated were very appreciated by the students that participated in the contests.
The Golden Knights dance team did a tremendous job performing. They worked so hard to perform in front of so many people. As the dance team was dancing, everyone was cheering for them because they knew they worked hard on their performance. The Golden Knights dance team is usually a great hit when performing at events. The different dance moves they performed were phenomenal.
Prior to the event, the dance team was practicing everyday leading up to the event to ensure that every thing was perfect. During the fall semester, this is one of the very few performances for the Golden Knights dance team. The team performs at the basketball games during halftime. The Golden Knights dance team typically holds their own events in the spring semester.
The cheerleaders did a great job performing. They put their songs into one big remix. The remix was a great reflection of the kind of songs they perform to during basketball games. All of the cheerleaders are like sisters because they’ve all developed a close relationship through cheering. The cheer team performs on the court during timeouts of basketball games and sometimes during halftime of the games.
Knightz in Motion is yet another group that did a great job with their performance. Groove Phi Groove was great when asked prior to their performance at the event how they can perform with only three members, Tom Sanabria said, “don’t worry. We’re confident.”
Swing Phi Swing is a newly created dance group on campus. The group only has two members but they are hoping to expand in the coming years. The Alana Steppers did a great job performing; their performance was to music I’ve never seen them step to before.
The men’s and women’s basketball teams did a great job with their performances. Jim Malone, the announcer for the Saint Rose home games, introduced the women’s team first. After the women were introduced, they did their performance. Their performance was a dance they rehearsed in the weeks leading up to the event.
After the women’s team was done performing, Malone then introduced the men’s team. The men came out and made a straight line at center court. After the names were introduced, the men’s team had a dunk contest. As they dunked, the crowd went crazy cheering for them.
The gym was filled with over 1,000 students in the bleachers, some sitting and some standing. I thought this year’s attendance at MidKnight Madness was bigger than in the past. It’s a great event for students and faculty to come and enjoy the biggest event the College has to offer.
