Spring Break
Family Nights spark community interest
Dave Lomonico
Issue date: 1/29/08 Section: Sports
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Sports Editor
What a great display on Thursday night at Reitz Arena. No, not that display on the court, I'm talking about the one on the other side of the gym where the stands were filled with young kids, highschool students and their fathers. Alumni? Sure, some of the older gentlemen were; they've been coming out in droves ever since Jimmy Patsos arrived. But what about the others -- what were these kids doing at Reitz Arena on a school night?
One of these mysterious newcomers, Billy Weaver, smiled and cheered along with his grandson, 8-year-old Brandon Wilson, as the Marching Flock instructed rocking Reitz Arena to "get up."
"It's Family Night," Weaver said. "This is our first time here, and [my grandson and I] were looking for something fun to do together. It's a great opportunity to see a game."
Family Night? Apparently for three already-designated nights -- including last Thursday -- families can come see the Greyhounds for $1 a ticket.
Score another one for Loyola's dedicated public relations department, which, with a little help from Patsos and Co., has already accomplished the once-seemingly impossible task of making basketball relevant to the student body. (Of course, not all of us are fair-weather fans who only come out just because the team is winning. Personally, I go when they offer free stuff. Let's see, I've got my Patsos T-shirt, my Josko Alujevic T-shirt, my extra-large generic Greyhound T-shirt, and I'm sure there are more strewn across the back of my closet … Thanks, Loyola!).
With Priority No. 1 taken care of, Martin Kelly, the assistant director of External Affairs, along with everyone else in the PR department, took their promotions a step further.
"One Dollar Family Night was designed to reach out to the community," Kelly said. "We want to say, 'There's something exciting going on here, and we want you to be apart of it.'"
So those with a young family, tight on expenses and looking for something fun and different to do, have got a prime option right here in Baltimore College Town USA. Or, if they prefer, families can go see Pat's Cat's and the Towson Tigers, or they can journey a little further up the road and see the re-emerging UMBC Retrievers. But the Hounds are separating themselves from the pack, lobbying for those local fans.
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