Many, like myself, once thought that Midnight Madness, known now as Big Blue Madness today, originated at Kentucky. Honestly, it’s the first place I ever heard of it being conducted.
According to [URL=”http://sports.espn.go.com/ncaa/recruiting/basketball/mens/news/story?id=5686451″]ESPN[/URL], Lefty Driesell invented Midnight Madness at Maryland in 1971. Kentucky’s first Midnight Madness was in 1982 and was conducted by Coach Joe B Hall.
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Hall was in search of a way to promote his team with some preseason excitement. His idea: to hold a practice open to the public at midnight the day of the first team practice. The first “Midnight Special” started at 12:01 am to a whopping 8,500 Big Blue fans.
Times have changed quite a bit, today Midnight Madness, or Big Blue Madness as the experts call it here in Kentucky, is conducted on multiple campuses. At Kentucky alone, over 23,000 raving fans will pack the house to see the official start of the 2010-11 season and for many, their first personal glimpse of the newest Kentucky Wildcats.
The event didn’t move out of Memorial Coliseum and into Rupp Arena until 2005 where the Cats had 23,174 fans on hand to witness maybe the Greatest College Basketball spectacle on Earth.
In 1994, then Kentucky Coach Rick Pitino, entered the arena on a Harley-Davidson motorcycle to the tune “Born to Be Wild”. The next year, UK players Walter McCarty and Tony Delk swung onto the court from ropes as “Cat-man and Robin.” In 2009, John Wall appeared from the rafters and set off a dance craze so big, it showed up on NBA2K10.
Coach’s like John Calipari are perfect for events like this. Showmanship is at the top of his resume and that’s what these events have turned into, a spectacle not to be outdone by even the National Championship game at the end of March Madness.
What’s next, Commonwealth Stadium and 70,000+ crazy fans like myself? Maybe one day it will happen. Like in 94, you never know what to expect at Big Blue Madness, one thing for sure, it’s sure as heck is going to be fun.
Here it comes Cat fans, Basketball in the Bluegrass State… The hair on the back of my neck is at full attention…
Go Cats!!!
Contact Chip Miller with your Kentucky questions or comments at [EMAIL=”[email protected]”][email protected][/EMAIL] or via twitter at [URL=”http://twitter.com/ukbigbluenation”]@ukbigbluenation[/URL].
[URL=”http://kykernel.com/2010/10/14/the-history-behind-big-blue-madness/”]Full story at Kentucky Kernel[/URL]
