Christina Hinkle
Staff Reporter
On Tuesday, October 21, McDaniel hosted its first annual Midnight Madness event, where hundreds of students came out to show their school spirit and help kick off the start of the 2008-2009 basketball season. Although several schools within the Centennial Conference have hosted this event in previous years, this is the first time that McDaniel has decided to do the same.
“The turnout was much bigger than expected and the team as a whole was really happy with the success of the event and enthusiasm of everyone who attended,” said Senior Chad Arrington of the men’s basketball team. He said the team as a whole is hoping to make Midnight Madness an annual event and hopes it will be as successful in future years.
The event, lasting from 11pm on Tuesday until 1am on Wednesday, showcased the talents of the teams, both of which seem to have very promising seasons ahead.
It included events such as shooting contests and half court shots which encouraged spectator involvement. At midnight, the men and women’s teams took the floor to scrimmage one another, and were shown a tremendous amount of support from fans.
Senior Cristina Cone said that the event was “much more fun than expected,” and Senior Jamie Patterson agreed by saying, “many people were disappointed with the fact that the school has never done this before.
It’s awesome to see so many students supporting the athletic teams here and this is definitely a great way to get people involved.”
Overall, the event proved to be a huge success and is something that many students are looking to make a new McDaniel tradition. With the teams driven by hard work and student support, the season is off to a good start and both teams believe the season looks extremely promising.