[whmatthews]

SCAR, do you have any great Midnight Madness stories from your playing/coaching days?

No stories really. I hosted the one during LB and Dees' freshman year. That one was good because of the dunk contest. Blair, Woodson, Lightbourne and Dees had good dunks. Blair won it. Gabe Martin was there but was not 100% otherwise I don't think LB would have won it. Also my good friend Toby Mac made an appearance towards the end and was a judge during the dunk contest. I did my best, hype-man impressions but that is really not my forte. Hurricane Fan and GMTM helped out that night too. Prototype did a great job with the event though. It can be fun if done right and if it is not that long of an event. I think Ritchie is smart not to have it (yes we are on a 1st name basis ).

I remember that Scar, it was my freshman year and I played the game where you shoot FTs blind-folded and won, and you asked me my name and what dorm I was on. And I sat beside Toby Mac and Jerry during the dunk contest.

[Ed Dantes]

This is a terrible move, not having Midnight Madness.

OK -- McKay hasn't accomplished anything. Big whoop. What's wrong with having student life put on something in the minutes leading up to midnight (EVERYONE likes watching someone shoot half-court shots for money), then have the team come out, do a few layups / dunks, then get McKay on the microphone to introduce himself and his team?

What the heck is wrong with that? Dunton's strength was that he actually CARED about what people thought of him, and he WANTED to do whatever he could to generate interest in the team.

[SuperJon]

McKay says they haven't done anything to deserve hype yet. He doesn't want people to think we're going to be the best team in the world just because he's here. He doesn't want the extra hype. It's a good move.

[jmdickens]

This is a terrible move, not having Midnight Madness.

OK -- McKay hasn't accomplished anything. Big whoop. What's wrong with having student life put on something in the minutes leading up to midnight (EVERYONE likes watching someone shoot half-court shots for money), then have the team come out, do a few layups / dunks, then get McKay on the microphone to introduce himself and his team?

What the heck is wrong with that? Dunton's strength was that he actually CARED about what people thought of him, and he WANTED to do whatever he could to generate interest in the team.

umm student life doesn't always do the most entertaining acts....coffee house anyone

[TIMSCAR20]

SCAR, do you have any great Midnight Madness stories from your playing/coaching days?

No stories really. I hosted the one during LB and Dees' freshman year. That one was good because of the dunk contest. Blair, Woodson, Lightbourne and Dees had good dunks. Blair won it. Gabe Martin was there but was not 100% otherwise I don't think LB would have won it. Also my good friend Toby Mac made an appearance towards the end and was a judge during the dunk contest. I did my best, hype-man impressions but that is really not my forte. Hurricane Fan and GMTM helped out that night too. Prototype did a great job with the event though. It can be fun if done right and if it is not that long of an event. I think Ritchie is smart not to have it (yes we are on a 1st name basis ).

I remember that Scar, it was my freshman year and I played the game where you shoot FTs blind-folded and won, and you asked me my name and what dorm I was on. And I sat beside Toby Mac and Jerry during the dunk contest.

That is cool Will. I didn't know that was you. That was a pretty good night though in the old Multi Purpose center. I can't remember but was the old floor that we played on still there? I wanted a piece of that but I didn't know when they were pulling it out.

[Schfourteenteen]

umm student life doesn't always do the most entertaining acts....coffee house anyone

Anybody see how many people were at movie nite tonite? I saw about 50

But if they ever decide to do something good itl be during a football game

[whmatthews]

Nobody really ever shows up to Midnight Madness, and most who do don't care about watching basketball.

[LUconn]

Here's what Uconn is doing. Their midnight madness was always pretty good but I think it was more because of the star power than anything. But here is their night:

6:00 p.m. - FanFest Opens (weather permitting)

6:30 - Doors Open

6:30 - 7:10 p.m. - Autograph session with WBB and MBB players

7:30 - Women's Basketball Team Introduced

7:40 - Geno Auriemma addresses crowd

7:45 - Relay Race and 2-Ball Challenge

8:00 - 10-Minute Intrasquad Scrimmage

8:25 - Men's Basketball Team Introduced

8:35 - Jim Calhoun addresses crowd

8:40 - 3-Point and Dunk contests

9:05 - 10-minute scrimmage


Seems like a good amount of basketball miexed in with some crowd pleasers. One thing we didn't think of is we do have a WBB team too. They normally participate, so it's not just McKay I'm guessing.

[somethingbrewing]

This is a terrible move, not having Midnight Madness.

OK -- McKay hasn't accomplished anything. Big whoop. What's wrong with having student life put on something in the minutes leading up to midnight (EVERYONE likes watching someone shoot half-court shots for money), then have the team come out, do a few layups / dunks, then get McKay on the microphone to introduce himself and his team?

What the heck is wrong with that? Dunton's strength was that he actually CARED about what people thought of him, and he WANTED to do whatever he could to generate interest in the team.

umm student life doesn't always do the most entertaining acts....coffee house anyone

student life=

[Ed Dantes]

You know what bugs me? And here's my $.02:

I think it's ALWAYS cool when the lights go out in an arena right before they introduce a team -- you know, the place goes dark, the PA starts blaring "Final Countdown" http://youtube.com/watch?v=Sq6LkX1HRaY& ... ed&search= as the players are announced, show a little montage on the video screens... you know how it is.

But for some reason -- IT TAKES FOREVER for the lights to turn back on in the Vines Center. Like 20 minutes to reach full strength. That alone would deter me from holding Midnight Madness.

[LUconn]

I've said this in a thread before a few times. They were looking into getting "caps" for the lights that would cover them so they wouldnt have to turn them off. I don't know what ever happened to that.

[Ed Dantes]

Oh -- and when I was a sophomore...

They held midnight madness... at the stroke of midnight, the lights went out. We all went crazy -- like I said in the aforementioned post, it's so cool when this happens at an arena.

Of course, student life didn't exactly plan it that way. The Vines Center was programmed to have the lights go out automatically at midnight (curfew, you know). It took awhile for them to figure things out...

[El Scorcho]

Weren't we going to put some kind of motorized shades on those things so we didn't have to turn them off? I thought I heard talk of that recently.

[El Scorcho]

I've said this in a thread before a few times. They were looking into getting "caps" for the lights that would cover them so they wouldnt have to turn them off. I don't know what ever happened to that.

Good to know I'm not imagining things...this time.

[Rocketfan]

McKay says they haven't done anything to deserve hype yet. He doesn't want people to think we're going to be the best team in the world just because he's here. He doesn't want the extra hype. It's a good move.

They haven't done anything to deserve hype but we cut Mckay a big fat check which has built some hype no matter how you spin it......Mckay needs to get his tail in front of the student body as many times as he can. The reason we had huge crowds in 2004 was because Dunton initially won a lot of people over with his passion......if the coach doesn't care neither do the students.....and thats the Liberty Way like it or not.

John you talk so much about how you appreciate Rocco and how accesible he is on non-game days, games days and after games to show his appreciation to the fans. This to me is our chance to appreciate a new coach and hear him speak/to show a new passion for basetball.....if you don't want to garner any support for this team, this is the perfect move to make.

[kel varson]

McKay says they haven't done anything to deserve hype yet. He doesn't want people to think we're going to be the best team in the world just because he's here. He doesn't want the extra hype. It's a good move.

They haven't done anything to deserve hype but we cut Mckay a big fat check which has built some hype no matter how you spin it......Mckay needs to get his tail in front of the student body as many times as he can. The reason we had huge crowds in 2004 was because Dunton initially won a lot of people over with his passion......if the coach doesn't care neither do the students.....and thats the Liberty Way like it or not.

John you talk so much about how you appreciate Rocco and how accesible he is on non-game days, games days and after games to show his appreciation to the fans. This to me is our chance to appreciate a new coach and hear him speak/to show a new passion for basetball.....if you don't want to garner any support for this team, this is the perfect move to make.

You make a point about being accessible and fan friendly. I think that is good, but in the long run all the team needs to do is win and then people will come. Is there a bigger jerk than Bobby Knight?

[kel varson]

Oh -- and when I was a sophomore...

They held midnight madness... at the stroke of midnight, the lights went out. We all went crazy -- like I said in the aforementioned post, it's so cool when this happens at an arena.

Of course, student life didn't exactly plan it that way. The Vines Center was programmed to have the lights go out automatically at midnight (curfew, you know). It took awhile for them to figure things out...

I remember that was really funny. I kept thinking, "this dark thing was cool at first but it would be nice to actually see the players."

[SuperJon]

RocketFan, I agree Coach McKay would be great to get in front of the students, etc. However, I saw let him do it once the season starts. Coach McKay is getting out in front of people now. He's spoken at Flames Club meetings. He's speaking at the Game Changers devotional night on Thursday that's free for anyone on campus. Remember the hype last year regarding Brew and how it never panned out? We don't need to hype this team up as they greatest in the world before they even play a game.

[Rocketfan]

McKay says they haven't done anything to deserve hype yet. He doesn't want people to think we're going to be the best team in the world just because he's here. He doesn't want the extra hype. It's a good move.

They haven't done anything to deserve hype but we cut Mckay a big fat check which has built some hype no matter how you spin it......Mckay needs to get his tail in front of the student body as many times as he can. The reason we had huge crowds in 2004 was because Dunton initially won a lot of people over with his passion......if the coach doesn't care neither do the students.....and thats the Liberty Way like it or not.

John you talk so much about how you appreciate Rocco and how accesible he is on non-game days, games days and after games to show his appreciation to the fans. This to me is our chance to appreciate a new coach and hear him speak/to show a new passion for basetball.....if you don't want to garner any support for this team, this is the perfect move to make.

You make a point about being accessible and fan friendly. I think that is good, but in the long run all the team needs to do is win and then people will come. Is there a bigger jerk than Bobby Knight?

That even adds to my point.....what if we are not good right off the bat but you believe in the coach because you were able to see the fire with which he speaks. I mean if you like a coach we all know we give those guys a lot more slack than the ones we dont like. If that picture hasn't been painted clearly on this board, nothing has.

[Rocketfan]

RocketFan, I agree Coach McKay would be great to get in front of the students, etc. However, I saw let him do it once the season starts. Coach McKay is getting out in front of people now. He's spoken at Flames Club meetings. He's speaking at the Game Changers devotional night on Thursday that's free for anyone on campus. Remember the hype last year regarding Brew and how it never panned out? We don't need to hype this team up as they greatest in the world before they even play a game.

He needs to get sports fans on board and your average student if at all possible.....your not reaching a lot of kids at flames club nor at a devotional night. If you want to change the perception of our team, you need to be the face of the program to start....don't hype the kids just let us see a little athletism and desire.

[LUconn]

I think it's a fine line between "not hyping" and sandbagging.

[Hold My Own]

I LOVE the idea of not trying to hype yourself before you earn it...thats a great lesson and mentality for the team to have...however, I do think something like Midnight Madness is more for the students and fans rather than a "Look at us" type thing. I believe that the mentality RM is looking for can be obtained even with having a Midnight Madness...just keep your quotes to the paper very humble, dont allow your athletes to walk around campus like they run the city and I believe what you were striving for can be achieved


But again, I can not find any fault for his reasoning...I just however believe Midnight Madness should be done for students and fans and this is a great way to jump start a new era in basketball and a new persona like Football has...Football created an excitement well before ever they earned anything on the field....Rocco brought that through the door when he came and RM has the same potential and charisma that is needed for it...he's a great man and the right man

[SuperJon]

The thing that I don't like about Midnight Madness is that it's right smack dab in the middle of football season, over a month before the first game. I understand why they did that, but I think a pre-season pep rally in the form of a midnight madness the week before the first home game would be more beneficial.

[TIMSCAR20]

RocketFan, I agree Coach McKay would be great to get in front of the students, etc. However, I saw let him do it once the season starts. Coach McKay is getting out in front of people now. He's spoken at Flames Club meetings. He's speaking at the Game Changers devotional night on Thursday that's free for anyone on campus. Remember the hype last year regarding Brew and how it never panned out? We don't need to hype this team up as they greatest in the world before they even play a game.

He needs to get sports fans on board and your average student if at all possible.....your not reaching a lot of kids at flames club nor at a devotional night. If you want to change the perception of our team, you need to be the face of the program to start....don't hype the kids just let us see a little athletism and desire.

The perceptions of coach McKay will not be defined by having a Midnight Madness or not. People won't even care or be looking for it if it is not planned. If he had big ads all over campus for it and then canceled it, then it would be a PR hit. I think he is doing the right thing by not having it. When he has a team that he is comfortable with, he will have a big time New Mexico like Midnight Madness that we all will enjoy. Until then, he will have plenty of opportunities to shape public opinion.

[Hold My Own]

The thing that I don't like about Midnight Madness is that it's right smack dab in the middle of football season, over a month before the first game. I understand why they did that, but I think a pre-season pep rally in the form of a midnight madness the week before the first home game would be more beneficial.

Sure, I could care less if it was on the official day or not...I just think something needs to be done before the season to create the buzz needed...ask one of the dunk teams to come out do whatever you want to make it into a event. You owe that to the student body and fans