Midnight Madness at Providence
PROVIDENCE, RI – College basketball fever is alive and well in the capital city of the smallest state in the country.
Friday night, Major League Baseball’s biggest rivalry was the big game about 50 miles north in Boston, before rain cancelled it. Professional sports are always at the forefront in Boston, but in Providence, the big game in town is Providence College and that was evident on Friday night. Instead of navy blue and some red like at Fenway Park, black was the color of choice in Alumni Hall as fans packed the arena for the Providence College Friars as they held Late Night Madness for the 20th time. It was not unlike a regular season game at “The Dunk” as the Dunkin’ Donuts Center is now affectionately known; the Friars routinely pack the building with screaming fans.
Of course, it’s only natural that one couldn’t completely escape pennant fever, being just a short drive from all the action. There were a select few fans with Red Sox or Yankees memorabilia, including a participant in one of the contests with his Yankees t-shirt. Seeing the jersey led a few fans to make a chant popular in Boston that won’t be repeated here.
The lower section of the arena filled up quickly, while the upper section was eventually about ¾ full by the time midnight rolled around. The crowd was active throughout, with many fans dancing in the seats and cheering their team on, and they gave plenty of support to the dance team and cheerleaders. The cheerleaders particularly impressed when four groups each held up a cheerleader, then each one tossed the cheerleader counter-clockwise to the group on their right.
A dancing contest, won by the Board of Multicultural Student Affairs, was another highlight of the evening’s activities prior to the basketball teams coming out. One of the emcees showed off a shirt that said “Wilby” and had the number 3, a reference to the high school of Friar All-American Ryan Gomes. Some of the many black jerseys said “Got Gomes?” on the front, with his name and number on the back.
When the Friars were announced, the place erupted. Head coach Tim Welsh saluted the students in attendance prior to introducing his team. Not surprisingly, the loudest cheers were for Gomes, the senior forward who declared for the NBA Draft before pulling out and returning to school. Welsh called Gomes “the 2004-05 National Player of the Year”. It’s all part of the hope that they and over 300 other programs have entering the season as they vie for the national championship.
The Friars certainly have question marks regarding how they will do this season, but this wasn’t the time to worry about it. The players put on a dunk show after they were introduced, attempting some moves that would never be allowed in a real practice but entertaining the fans (even the misses accomplished that). They didn’t do a scrimmage, limiting the event to about 45 minutes after midnight.
As the only game in town, Late Night Madness brought out plenty of fans to set the stage for the 2004-05 season in Providence. Friar home games will surely do the same starting next month.
