Manhattan Madness: A Pep Rally?

Jeanette Settembre

With exceptionally cold winds blowing, huddles of students stood standing together in anticipation. It was as if they were waiting in line for a concert of some sort. The college atmosphere however, would say otherwise. 

 Outside of Draddy Gymnasium students waited for Manhattan’s annual “Manhattan Madness” neither a concert, nor sporting event, which may leave a non-Jasper pondering what all the hype was about. 

As the MC jazz band played modern day tunes such as Lady Gaga’s “Paparazzi,” and the standard fight chant, students began shuffling inside where they collected a free camouflage T-shirt laced in Jasper pride. Some students however, waited in line merely for the free t-shirt and did a complete turn around exiting the gym after they obtained their polyester prize. 

 It is the second annual year of the “Jasper Jungle,” a crowd of students, primarily freshman, cheering on the winter men and women's basketball teams. Since there was no actual sporting event occurring in the gymnasium, the gathering served more as spirited event. 

It felt almost as if students were attending a high school football game with a perhaps too peppy DJ belting out phrases like, “Lets of Bonkers!” Aside from watching the sweat of the announcers through a superfluous amount of fog, there was no legitimate athletic event occurring. 

Manhattan Madness essentially is a pep rally to kick off the winter basketball season. The teams are now legally allowed to practice on the court according to MAAC rules. The coaches and team captains made brief speeches to welcome in the new season and announce the first home game. 

Bleachers filled, with fog machines in full throttle, the lights darkened, illuminating an excessive amount of glow sticks. Each player from the men and women's basket ball teams were announced and paraded in a rather repetitive procession through lines of  Jasper cheerleaders and dancers. There was a brief ceasing of music from a technical difficulty where the jazz band picked up the lack of sound until the music returned.

Sophomore and basket ball player Kevin Laue said, “I thought Manhattan Madness was sick. It really pumped us up and got us excited about the season. Student activities put a lot of time into the event and the whole team really enjoyed it.” 

Following the welcoming introductions of the sports teams was a very brief cheerleading routine to get fans in a more spirited mood. Proceeding the cheerleaders, the Jasper dancers preformed a more intricate hip hop number. 

“I enjoyed the music selection and the event was fun, but the performances from the cheerleaders and dance team made me leave,” said sophomore, Olivia Fernandes. 

Freshman, Nicole Bullard, states, “I felt like the school made a good attempt to hype Manhattan Madness up but towards the middle it started to die down and it was time to go.” 

The remainder of the event included contests in which students had the opportunity to win prizes such as $50 in ACDs, an iPad, and the more elite prize, a white Jeep Grand Cherokee that was displayed on the quad. A number of students were picked to compete to win the prizes by shooting half court baskets, and playing games of knockout (a game in which students line up to shoot baskets until they miss a shot, and are eliminated) against their fellow competitors. One lucky student, who was actually celebrating his birthday, won the iPad after competing in a game of knockout.   

Sophomore and contestant in the running for an iPad, Ashton Parson, stated, “The only reason I went to the event was because I wanted an iPad. When I didn’t get it I got my things and I left with the only prize being a glow stick...which has already died out.”

A raffle was drawn for lucky students to get the chance of winning a white Jeep Grand Cherokee. For the second year in a row no one won the grand prize, and the vehicle was sent back to the dealership. The method used for winning the Jeep however, is a bit farfetched. Contestants (with no basket ball talent or background) were chosen to make a half court shot in order to win the prize. A female student was chosen, but she had a medical boot on her right leg which made it nearly impossible for her to make the shot. 

A new twist was added to the madness this year. There will now be a king and queen selected at each basketball game based upon the amount of school spirit they have. At the event there were two Lazy Boy black recliner chairs revealed. Every game a lucky king and queen will have the opportunity to sit in the best seat of the house; an honor almost as good as being king and queen of a homecoming dance.

Other colleges feature similar events, but are a bit more extravagant, especially depending on the size of the college or university. October generally marks the time when the madness begins. Georgetown University in Washington, DC for example, calls their event, “Midnight Madness” they actually had the familiar rapper Wale perform at their celebration. A number of other schools also call the event “Midnight Madness” as it became a recruiting tool and celebration to kick off the start of the basketball season. Normally, at the stroke of midnight programs around the country have their very first official practice. 

When asked about why MC’s event starts a bit earlier John Bennett from student activities states, “Originally the event formed nationally as a pep rally in which teams could start practicing at 12:01 am that day...overwhelmingly, the majority of colleges don’t hold “Midnight Madness” at midnight though (surprisingly enough!), except for the pep rallies found on ESPN for instance. Fordham’s was the same night as ours for instance, and theirs started at 9pm. Iona’s is this Friday, and theirs starts at 7pm.” 

On the contrary, a few smaller universities actually do hold midnight madness at midnight.  East Stroudsburg University in Pennsylvania celebrates the basketball sports teams and has a dance routine all beginning at midnight. Keene State College in New Hampshire also has a midnight ceremony with an actual basketball game. They have similar prizes and giveaways, as well as dance and cheerleading performances.

Bennett stresses that the school administration has no issues with the event starting at midnight, and says that if that is what the students would like to have happen for next year it can be done, “Personally I’d love for the time to move back to the original midnight.” 

Sophomore and Jasper dancer, Jessica Poulin, states, “I think Manhattan Madness was a great experience for the freshman to start off the year. It allows them to get involved in on campus activities going on in the Jasper community.”

Although the event may be targeted to freshman as a welcoming induction into a jasper tradition, Manhattan Madness still brought together a gym full of spirited students.