BOONE, NC - There were many scary sights at Holmes Convocation Center on Friday, Oct. 14.
From the scary dance contest for a Apple iPod Nano to the dress-up like Yosef contest, the “A Nightmare on Rivers Street” promotion that Appalachian State had undertaken around 10 p.m. that night had taken on a mind of its own.
The event, held to promote Appalachian basketball, drew an estimated 2,000-plus spectators and proved to be the only ? thanks to Lefty Driesell ? so-called “Midnight Madness” event in the Southern Conference on the opening weekend of NCAA Division I basketball practice.
Granted, Davidson has plans on Oct. 28 to unveil their squads in front of Wildcat fans to a great degree of (pardon the pun) hoopla, but on the opening night of practice last Friday the Mountaineers were the story.
The event obviously targeted reaching students and teaching them about Mountaineer basketball, while at the same time tying it in to the month’s obligatory holiday to make the events more meaningful to those in attendance.
The mixing of the elements proved to work, as those in attendance were privy to a fun atmosphere and after the stroke of Midnight some dazzling displays of what the men’s and women’s teams had to offer.
Child’s Play
Usually when people talk about hardwood and spinning, the game of basketball pops in their mind, but when “Mountaineer Madness: A Nightmare on Rivers Street,” was being commenced late Friday night, the spinning on the court at first was reserved for dancing.
As alluded to earlier, an iPod Nano was up for grabs and Appalachian State students that were chosen for the event pulled out all the stops in trying to take home the prize.
The dance for the iPod was not the only promotion on the evening. The event, sponsored by local restaurant, The Library (ironic, huh), also consisted of a chicken wing eating contest, which was won by ASU student John Bateman, who wolfed down 42 chicken wings in 10 minutes to win a $100 gift certificate from The Library.
Fellow Apper Daniel Day won a free parking pass for the 2006-07 school year to Appalachian’s campus for his ability to look like the Mountaineers’ mascot, Yosef.
The “Mountaineer Madness” crowd was also treated to the Appalachian Dance Teams choreographed version of Michael Jackson’s famed Halloween hit, “Thriller.”
Going Psycho for the Mountaineers
When events like “Mountaineer Madness” are undertaken by the marketing departments and the public relations departments in sporting terms at institutions, those in charge have to make certain that you have the unequivocal support of the programs and particularly the head coaches.
App had just that in head women’s basketball coach Adrienne Shuler and men’s basketball coach Houston Fancher.
With the clock about to strike midnight and the Mountaineer Maniacs about to be introduced to the 2005-06 versions of their teams, Shuler and Fancher took turns talking to the crowd.
Shuler went first, bringing even more dancing into the fold when she challenged an Appalachian student to a dance-off with her assistant coach Kim Thompson.
Thompson, a Georgia alum and a tremendous dancer herself, fell victim to the student, but it brought lightness to the situation and allowed Shuler to talk about her team with everyone paying attention.
Shuler explained how much it would mean to her women to have a packed house at Holmes Convocation Center and then left to thunderous applause.
Fancher came out next, dancing himself a little bit to a resounding roar of applause before breaking down the season by articulating that the Mountaineers had 12 home dates in 2005-06 and that he wanted there to be a packed house at each of the games since Appalachian used its home hardwood to their advantage, going 13-1 on their grounds last year.
Both coaches stressed the same point: attendance. In essence, that was what the event was about; enthralling the students and stirring excitement on the Boone campus.
The Awakening of the Mountaineers
When the clock struck 12 a.m. on Saturday morning, the Mountaineers were unveiled to their adoring public.
They did not disappoint.
The two squads played in spirited, yet relaxed, scrimmages against each other for about five minutes each before giving way to the main events ? the three-point shooting contest and the always exciting slam dunk contest.
If not for the fact that the night was really all about the Mountaineers’ basketball teams, the night was probably the night of the wing-eater.
Well, at least the man who could scarf down the most wings, as Bateman on the back of sophomore women’s basketball sharp shooter Carleena Costner won a free trip to the 2006 SoCon Basketball Tourney in Charleston, SC in March of 2006.
Costner garnered Bateman the free trip by nailing more three-point shots in the contest then teammate Jaime Bennett and two men’s players, including preseason All-SoCon selection D.J. Thompson and gunner Nathan Cranford.
The real fireworks began when the three-point contest came to a close thanks mainly to App newcomer Jarvis Jackson.
The freshman was the show really, delighting adults and children alike with his high-flying aerial antics.
Jackson was not alone in the event. In fact, some figured after teammate P.L. Henderson, a junior transfer, dunked in an elaborate alley-oop off a soccer-style header from freshman teammate Ryann Abraham that the competition was Henderson’s.
Jackson wanted to make his mark and would not have any part of Henderson taking the crown.
Jackson had wowed the Appers with his first two dunks, which included a second dunk that brought back images of famed former Atlanta Hawks’ dunkmeister Dominique Wilkins since he pulled off the dunk monikered after Wilkins’ nickname, the Human Highlight Reel.
Jackson’s final dunk brought the house down, as this time he took a page from Isaiah “J.R.” Rider.
Made famous by Rider during a College Slam Dunk competition and further brought to the forefront by Rider in his show-stopping Slam-Dunk Competition win during his 1993-94 rookie season in the NBA, the dunk requires overt athleticism and a phenomenal sense of timing.
Why? Because the dunk requires one to go from the baseline at full speed, go between the legs and slam the ball.
Jackson did this fluidly on Friday the 14th, winning the annual Appalachian slam-dunk contest and making a name for himself among App fans at the same time.
The Ring
The excitement around Appalachian basketball and the rest of the SoCon for that matter will be moot if the team’s are not ready to play come the regular season, but fittingly for all the team’s vying in the Southern Conference right now it starts anew and it all boils down to one thing ? the ring or rather the championship that puts a ring on a SoCon team’s fingers.