Spooks to tip off season at MAACness

By Joe Haubrich


Could the date of this year’s Midnight MAACness event spell doom for the men’s and women’s basketball seasons?

Tonight’s event, dubbed “Fright Night,” takes arguably one of the most highly anticipated campus events and casts a dark, eerie atmosphere over it.

“This year’s theme was picked with the date, Friday the 13th, in mind,” said Rider’s associate director of athletics and external marketing, Karin Torchia.

Torchia has worked on the MAACness team since 2000. She works closely with Cassie Iacovelli, the assistant dean of Campus Life, and adviser of the Emerging Leaders. The whole process of picking a theme for the event and then executing it begins in April. Many hours and many meetings, some of which take place during the summer, are needed to make MAACness such a memorable event every season.

Organizations such as the SEC, SGA, the Office of Campus Life and Athletics also contribute every year.

“It’s a pretty collaborative effort,” said Torchia. “This is one of Rider’s biggest traditions, so we promise not to disappoint.”

The event is a pseudo-homecoming for the University, celebrating its most popular sport, basketball. The tradition started with the 1991-92 season for the men’s team and was called “Cranberry and White Night.” Three years later, the women’s basketball team was included in the ceremonies. When Rider joined the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) in 1997, the name of the event was changed to Midnight MAACness because other schools had started similar traditions and the term Midnight Madness cannot be used without paying royalty fees.

The MAAC determines when all teams can have their first official practice. The MAACness event kicks off the teams’ practice schedule as the clock strikes midnight.

For the past few years, the MAACness theme has incorporated Rider’s conference title, MAAC, in its name. The past two years’ events were called “Lights, Camera, MAACtion” and “MAACaritaville.” This year’s title is an exception: “Midnight MAACness Fright
Night.”

“We’re going to be utilizing the SRC this year,” said Torchia. “Groups of about 20 or 25 will enter through the atrium and then meander through the halls, through the Hall of Fame, and then into [Alumni] Gym.”

The workers have hired a professional lighting crew and plan on creating a haunted house experience from the SRC to the gym. Without giving away too much, Torchia said there will be some surprises on the way.

Once people reach the gym, the whole environment will change. Alumni Gym will not be as full of decoration as it usually is in order to focus on the attraction of the night, the men’s and women’s basketball teams.

Students can expect free food, music and giveaways as always. Jamiyl Mosley is emceeing the event once again, and there will be performances by the Dance team, the Cheerleading team and the Bronc Band. The Cranberry King and Queen nominees will be presented as well.

This year’s theme does not lend itself to particular finger foods like it has in the past. Instead there will be foods that are easier to eat.

“McDonald’s is back this year and we’re hoping to have soft tacos from Taco Bell,” said Torchia.

Finally, the spotlights will shine on the men’s and women’s basketball teams. Team captains will speak before the crowd. This season, the men’s team is captained by juniors Jason Thompson and Kevin Hickman. The women’s team is led by senior Kara Borel, senior Monica Welborn and junior Kelli Sawyer.

The night is capped off with a three-point contest and a dunk-off.

The fliers around campus show off this year’s MAACness T-shirt, the brainchild of Rider’s Graphic Design Assistant Mike Scott. Athletics is really proud of the shirts.

“The MAACness T-shirt is one of the most popular shirts, next to the ‘Sixth Man’ tees,” said Torchia. “They go pretty quickly so we ordered twice as many this year.”

Still, getting one of this year’s shirts tonight may require getting to the SRC well before the doors open at 10:15 p.m.

If the anticipation is too overwhelming, students can check out the pre-MAACness events held in the Bronc Diner from 11:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m., sponsored by SEC. Sticking to the theme, there will be Tarot Card readers, a basketball “Pop-Shot” shootout, music, a costume contest and prizes.

“People should come out this year to show their support, if not for our teams, then certainly for the school,” said Torchia. “I’m just pleased that each year I work on this event, it seems to top the last.”

Hopefully there aren’t too many superstitious players on the teams because this year’s gamble to celebrate on Friday the 13th could be disastrous.