Organizers anticipate tonight’s pep rally becoming annual tradition
In case students need another incentive to watch the undefeated men’s basketball team, they’ve got a good one tonight.
Vandy Fanatics and Vanderbilt Student Government are co-sponsoring Memorial Madness, an unprecedented pep rally that will begin at 5 p.m. in Memorial Gym, two hours before the No. 12 Commodores (15-0) host South Carolina in their Southeastern Conference opener.
“It couldn’t have been a better set up,” said senior George Huddleston, who teamed with fellow Fanatics Doug BeCraft and Kate Corvese and VSG athletics co-chair Marc Levit to organize the event. “We planned Memorial Madness with the hope of raising hype for the season, but the season has really raised hype for the event. Trying to publicize the event when the team does it for you has made our job a lot easier.”
Doors open at 4:15 p.m. for the event, a modified version of a more typical Midnight Madness that other teams hold to kick off the season. The first 500 students receive free Shan Foster replica jerseys, but the giveaways don’t stop there:
-One student will have a chance to make a half-court shot for $30,000.
-One student group will win 20 Southwest Airlines vouchers.
-Three students will compete in a 3-point shooting contest, with the winner receiving free books for a semester.
-Three students will take part in a hula-hoop contest, with the winner receiving a free year of tanning from SunTan City.
-Free pizza.
Jensen Lewis, a Cleveland Indians pitcher and former Vanderbilt great who will host the event, has already made a special request to Huddleston.
“He wants me to get David Price in the 3-point shooting contest, which there is no way I’m going to be able to do,” Huddleston said. “Maybe the winner will get to face Price, but we’ll see.”
Fans will also have the chance to watch video interviews with the Commodores’ four seniors —Foster, Alex Gordon, Alan Metcalfe and Ross Neltner — and a segment called “Who Knows Me Better?” in which pitcher Brett Jacobson will find out whom is he closer with — his coach, Tim Corbin, or girlfriend, Sierra Briggs.
Vanderbilt hosted a similar pep rally prior to the 2005-06 season called DoreJam, but it failed to generate much student interest. This time should be different. Huddleston said he has “no doubt that the student section is going to be rocking,” and both he and Levit said they are confident Memorial Madness will become an annual tradition.
“We are looking to establish Memorial Madness as a yearly spirit event celebrating men’s and women’s basketball, as well as Vanderbilt athletics as a whole,” Levit said. “A properly run Memorial Madness will increase spirit, improve recruitment and solidify Memorial Gymnasium as the best college basketball experience in the nation.”
Levit added that the format of the event could change next season depending on its success tonight.
“We will examine whether we should keep Memorial Madness how it is — as a pregame kick-off to the SEC season — or change it to a more traditional Midnight Madness involving both the men’s and women’s basketball teams in October,” he said.
—Jarred Amato can be reached at jarred.s.amato@vanderbilt.edu.
