Oct. 15, 2005

Washington, D.C. - More than 2,000 students and fans packed McDonough Arena to kick off the 2005-06 Georgetown basketball season on Friday night for Midnight Madness.

The festivities began with Hoya-Palooza and the "Tent Party" in front of McDonough. The Georgetown University Grilling Society (GUGS) grilled up their famous burgers, while student bands entertained.

Under the tent, students took their turn on the mechanical bull or challenged a friend to a game on the pop-a-shot. On giant plasma TV's, donated by ProVideo, students battled friends in EA Sport's March Madness 06. On the stage, DJs from WPGC (95.5) ran games, including trivia contests for great prizes.

The pep band and cheerleaders led the crowd in a rendition of the Georgetown Fight Song before leading the anxious fans inside of McDonough to officially begin basketball season

The staff versus student shootout got the activities started. Men's lacrosse head coach Dave Urick, assistant softball coach Kim Staehle and head baseball coach Pete Wilk were all beat out by assistant men's lacrosse coach Matt Rienzo, who advanced to the final versus a student. In the final, Coach Rienzo battled to win the title.

The wings eating contest, sponsored by Rhinos, came down to the last bite - literally. Two students were down to their last mouthful, but we could have just one winner.

In bobbing for apples to win an Ipod Nano, the three contestants all came out wet, but only one walked away with the prize

The fans were also treated to performances by the step team, the Georgetown dance team, Groove Theory, and the Hoya cheerleaders.

The lights went down after 11 p.m. and it was time to Meet the Hoyas. The women were introduced first, and they each danced down the runway to center court. Christine Whitt, of course, put on a show for all with her dancing. Coach Terri Williams Flournoy and her husband Eric even took part, doing a little dancing on the court. Coach Flournoy thanked everyone for their support and encouraged them to come out and see the Hoyas play this season.

Then it was time to meet the men's team. With the lights dim and the cheerleaders forming a runway, each player was introduced to a song of his choice, and made his way down the court. Roy Hibbert entered to "Eye of the Tiger" and chants of "Roy, Roy, Roy, Roy," while Jonathan Wallace paid tribute to his roots with a little dance to "Sweet Home Alabama."

Head Coach John Thompson III and the senior men's basketball players led the audience in a "WE ARE GEORGETOWN "chant, before getting the dance competition between Christine Whitt and Octavius Spann got going. Christine struggled in the beginning, but made a furious comeback which required Octavius to bring in freshman Jesse Sapp for backup.

Both teams showed off their shooting skills, and some pretty awesome dunks were seen.

In the final competition of the night, three men paired with three women for a shootout. Sophomore Kristin Heidloff and senior Ashanti Cook beat out seniors Bethany LeSueur and Brandon Bowman by one basket for this year's title.

The night ended with one student winning a free semester of books from the Georgetown bookstore.