A 44-41 homecoming loss for the football team? Heartbreaking.
Two consecutive losses for a field hockey team that won 12 straight? Deflating.
A 6-0 defeat in the men’s hockey team’s first game? A reason for concern.
This past week gave Northeastern sports fans a reason to want to do homework. One of the most anticipated seasons in NU sports history hit an all-time low this weekend, but all was not lost.
Before Husky fans had a chance to overreact to the setbacks they got a small glimpse at the big picture: the basketball team’s Midnight Madness. Normally a very minor event in the grand scheme of athletics at NU, this year’s kickoff to the basketball season was what you’d expect from an athletics program on the rise.
“You’re never standing still,” Athletics Director Dave O’Brien said. “You’re either moving forward or backward and I think we’re moving in the right direction. Midnight Madness certainly reflected that.”
Any time you ask college students to attend a dry event on a Friday night, at the exact time their drunkenness should be at its peak, you can’t expect a huge turnout. I should know; I’ve been to the last three and the turnouts were nothing to brag about.
That said, this year’s event was as packed as one of 2004-05’s home games. Last year, it was obvious the athletics department made a concerted effort to bring more students to the basketball games and the freshman they got hooked to the team last season came back this year for Midnight Madness.
“As the campus becomes more residential it’s changing the culture,” O’Brien said. “One thing we’re trying to do is make part of that culture be going to sporting events.”
The man is right. His plan is reaching the point where the reward is more evident.
“If you get the freshmen involved, year in and year out they stay a little bit more involved,” O’Brien said. “Our attendance is growing and if you can get them to come out and show them a competitive and exciting product, they’ll keep coming out.”
Obviously, he’s not just talking about the basketball program, although currently they are the best example of this working.
Look no further than Coca-Cola sponsoring Midnight Madness and being more involved in the event – giving out free t-shirts and drinks.
Last year, the Athletics Department started a partnership with Qdoba, and while at the time I didn’t think much of it, looking back, that was a huge step. For one, the restaurant is decked out with Husky gear and hosts Husky Football Weekly with Coach Rocky Hager. But the best part is that they serve beer there; could this be the first step to bringing alcohol to NU athletics? We’ll tackle that subject at a later date, but the partnership is another sign of the athletics department moving forward.
Although the AD had no control over it, they, as well as the fans in attendance, reaped the benefits of an extremely entertaining Slam Dunk contest. Junior Bobby Kelly won for the third straight year by jumping over a student for a slam that could only be verbalized with the old NBA Jam adage, “boom shakalaka” (cheesy, but so true). His dunk, as well as runner-up Bennet Davis’ clearing of a ball-rack, sent the fans into a frenzy and the place was, pardon the pun, a madhouse.
So despite the football team’s heartbreaking loss, the field hockey team’s two straight defeats and the men’s hockey team losing their first game of the season, Midnight Madness packed enough punch to keep the NU fans from resorting to homework.
And although Midnight Madness was just the ceremonial kick- off to a season that doesn’t begin for another month, its legitimacy and success is a glimmer of hope and a sign of what’s to come here on Huntington Avenue, for all sports.
– Max Lederman can be reached at [email protected].
