Midnight Madness

[Taj79]

... and thank you for the stats. I can't believe david was that close on the freshman numbers just by guessing (as educated as it probably was). Nice job david.

What I meant by you being off was in the statement that Midnight Madness is a country-wide college tradition. I do not believe that to be the case and I stand by it. It may be a tradition for tradition-laden schools and if you want to include us in that listing, its your perrogative. No arguments here. Perception is reality. Once we get that going maybe we can trade the Bronze Boot for an Old Oaken Bucket or Little Brown Jug.

I am recanting my previous statement about the filling of West Pine. I believe 3,400 would certainly fill it to its rafters. The only time I can ever recall that facility full was at a Harry Chapin concert in 1978-79. Yep, stating such a fact really brings the "old" into perspective and makes david's "decades ago" comment really sting. Don't worry, you young 'uns will all get there too. I didn't believe it possible yet here I am. Oh well ...

I missed the Midnight Madness that got you "hooked." But your story reminds me of something else we did here in the real world. We had a townhall meeting where it was rumored that "60 Minutes" was going to show up. The night of the meeting, the hall was packed. Meetings that typically drew maybe 100 people on a good night filled an auditorium the size of West Pine. Was the issue that hot? Was the need for all these people to be there real? No ... exit polls conducted that night showed an overwhelming majority of the folks that came, came to see "60 Minutes." Half didn't even care about the issue under discussion. I'd argue that the lure of ESPN is what drew most of those folks to West Pine the night you mention. Brett Hull? A side show celebrity who has and had what to do with Billiken basketball? Maybe a cutie-pie to lure the female fan in the door? I am sure West Pine was filled that night because in your perception it was; therefore in your reality it was as well. Don't get me wrong ---- I'm glad it "hooked" you into being a Billiken fan. What year did you come out Bob? If you went to a Midngiht Madness and were lucky enough to be there during the magical Hughes year, then it was all worth it and kudos to you.

Midnight Madness is not something to ignore but if you're gonna do it, do it right. What you described sounds great. But given some of the discussions on here about other marketing efforts within the U, the late start of this seems to suggest a half-assed effort is in the planning stages. Anything worth doing is worth doing right, agree?

If the stats are right, and david's anecdotal statement is indeed true, then the lack of student participation still demonstrates the general apathy that this program is met with. I don't have the stats but anecdotally, I hear some of the folks on here commenting about how there are only one hundred or so total students at a given game. It seems to be reasonable to assume that if they won't come to the real thing, they won't come to some manufactured "event" unless its worthwhile in some way. If that's ESPN, then I'd offer that that's not real. How many "Midnight Madnesses" were done with the same effort after your first one?

If ... and I do not believe any of us are in a position to answer this ... but if you are serious about the state of the basketball program at SLU, you do all you can to make it work. The current state of the arena suggests otherwise.

[TheA_Bomb]

TAJ I attended SLU from 96 to 00. The midnight madness that was on ESPN was 96. I was half-crocked at the event that night as I was at alot of events. I snuck a few cans of beer in my backpack into West Pine and was slamming them in the Bathroom on the first floor and the Billiken came in and they kicked me out of the bathroom. I remember some local celebrities being there (Hull) a slam dunk contest.

No Midnight Madness is not rolling Toomer's Corner but it is something that colleges do and it can be fun. If the students want to do it then let them do it.

[billikenmetz]

Please post the date and time again for all of us who might try to make it. I really want to get down to the Lou for it. I won't give another goddamn dime to SLU, unless it comes in the form of supporting my Bills. Then I might give a couple of dimes...