This is Madness! THIS IS...THE RECAP!

Last night AU celebrated its storied basketball teams with the second annual American Madness pep rally. What we're all wondering now is, of course, "Was it any better than the first?" Well, as the Burger King commercial so wisely states, "that's more of an...opinion." This blogger's opinion, if it means anything, is that it was a step forward, if not a particularly big one.

For those of you who weren't able to make it to Bender Arena yesterday evening, whether it was because of work, great distance, or just the freezing rain keeping you indoors, it's OK - we've got you covered. The teams first danced their way to the court to the familiar tune of "The Final Countdown" (masterfully played by Bender's unsung [pun intended] heroes, the Screaming Eagles Pep Band) and clumsily missed a few baskets on purpose so that some students could win some fun prizes in good conscience. Sophomore Guard Joe Hill would have none of that, of course, proudly announcing he would beat three cocky Blue Crew members in a 3-pointer shooting contest by five. Amazingly, he won 8-3. Well done, Joe! Let's show St. Francis that same attitude on Friday!

The coaches then made their obligatory heartfelt speeches. Coach Jones echoed many of his sentiments from Patriot League Media Day (if you haven't read Bill's interview with Jones yet, check it out here), offering this succinct piece of insight which I think sums up this year quite well,

"We are not the Patriot League defending champions. That was last year's team. We have our own identity, and we're still searching for what it is."

Well said, coach, well said. The faithful Blue Crew responded with some pretty serious applause, which gives me hope that this year's growing pains will be seen as just that and nothing more sinister. On that note, attendance was pretty decent considering the cold, rainy weather that likely had many hunkering down in the dorms for the night. Not fantastic, mind you, but alright for the circumstances. If you weren't there, one awesome thing you did miss was the freshmen men's dance number with the dance team/cheerleaders. It lasted about three minutes, and all I know is that even if Blake Jolivette doesn't make a single basket this entire season, at least he can GET DOWN (Blake, if you're reading this, don't worry, I know you will score many, many points this season). Check out Hannah Rubin's great video, or my endearingly low-quality cell phone version below:

That's all for tonight, AU Hoops Fans, check back later for an exclusive AU Basketball Central preview of our season opener at St. Francis (PA).

GO EAGLES,
Josh