Rhody Madness 2017: Finally on the up and Up?
When you walk into the Ryan Center and grab a free Rhody Madness t-shirt off of your chair, the start to the event is not the worst. However, knowing that there would be no musical artist performing did not give the 2017 version of Rhody Madness a positive outlook. Luckily, many
occurrences throughout the night changed my predisposition and gave most attendees hope for the future of this event and the program. With Class of 2018 top-100 recruit, Jermaine Harris in attendance, Rhody Madness 2017 was set up to be a momentous occasion.
After the initial music that was played by Rhode Island's own DJ Screw Loose, many of the fans were awake but not overly impressed in any way. In addition, the free food that was given out is an added bonus but it's nothing to write home about. Getting into the nitty-gritty of Rhody Madness 2017, the player introductions for both Rhody MBB and Rhody WBB were comical and entertaining. As I continue to learn about the likes of my fellow fans, I saw that my surrounding company did not overly enjoy all of the antics and the dancing, not even Will Leviton's "Milly Rock".
Starting out the night's festivities, URI's cheerleaders and Ramettes went through their dance routines and they performed well. Following all of the dancing, the Lexus half-court shot was funny to laugh at but hard to watch. Who doesn't want a URI student to attain a free 2-year lease from Lexus? I guess a positive from the half-court shot was that it at least hit the backboard. Moving forward, the Air Elite Dunk Act was electric (even though they missed a few dunks). Quite obviously, the best moment of the night was when Coach Dan Hurley took flight with the help of a trampoline and laid the hammer down with a two-handed jam. If Hurley's dunk didn't make everyone in the crowd smile, then there is just no pleasing a select amount of people.
Next, the Simon Sez game that was presented perfectly by professional caller Steve Max was nothing short of a spectacle to witness. Some of Rhody MBB's best hilariously had trouble following directions and it looked like Andre Berry would walk away as the winner. After a grueling contest, E.C. Matthews walked away with the victory from the men's side, beating out Eric Dadika. In reality, Matthews already messed up two to three times but Max never caught the slip-ups. Looking towards the fast approaching season for E.C. Matthews, there will be no more do-overs or second chances. Buck up #0 and be prepared to lead your team to the pinnacle of success.
Then, each of URI's basketball teams had lip sync battles among their respective teams. To be blatantly honest, they were both boring but the group that consisted of Andre Berry, Nicola Akele, Will Leviton, and Michael Tertsea put on a show. In the hot shot contest, Jared Terrell and a female student from URI dropped buckets from all over the basketball court, as they dominated Jeff Dowtin and the female student that he played with. Finally, in a highly anticipated dunk contest, the dunks came far and few in between. Luckily, by this point, a considerable amount of the crowd had already found their own enjoyment in the night. Daron "Fatts" Russell started off the contest with a right-handed tomahawk, Eric Dadika struggled mightily to land a dunk, and Ryan Preston took the win home with his emphatic windmill dunk. Just like Preston said on Twitter afterwards, defenders probably don't want to jump with him.
As the seasons pass, I expect Rhody Madness to eventually live up to the standards of a preseason hype event for a college basketball powerhouse. If we keep seeing more of "Air Hurley", that could be a reality sooner rather than later.
For potentially the first time in the past four years, URI made one pessimistic attendee content on the night of Rhody Madness.
