By John Evanko
As University of Louisville students enter the heart of the spring semester in intramural sports, it is time to have a stress-free night dedicated to relaxing and enjoying everything about the sporting world.
“Up All Night” will be held this Saturday and will last from 8 p.m. to midnight. The event is structured similar to the NBA All-Star week. The Cardinal Corner will be open for students to play pool, table tennis, and foosball, while the recreational center will be open for all sorts of events.
Intramurals has put on an event of this sort for 18 years in a row, and assistant director of Intramural sports John Smith has been on the intramural staff for 21 years. He has run the event every year and has seen the excitement this event always has to offer.
“We usually have about three or four hundred students come to the event,” Smith said. “It’s always a great time for everyone to come have fun and try something new on a Saturday night.”
Whether athletically gifted or not, there is something for everyone. GameStop will be providing an assortment of video games, including more-than-life-sized Wii games projected onto the 240-square-foot walls in the racquetball courts. In addition, an assortment of video games will be played on televisions out in the lobby.
The doors will open at 7:30 p.m., and the intramural free throw contest will officially kick off the night at 8 p.m. This will be followed by three all-star basketball games, in which the best players from each league will go head to head with the top players from the other leagues.
“It’s a good opportunity for players to play against people they don’t normally get to see in league play,” Adam Jines, coordinator of intramural sports, said of the all-star games.
Throughout the night, there will be a DJ playing music on court one, courtesy of the Student Activities Board, in addition to lots of free food and snacks provided by the Resident Student Association. There will be a three-point shootout, a dunk contest, and a couple chances to win $5,000 by hitting a series of shots in under 24 seconds. There will be prizes and gift cards for the winners, and nearly all of the events can be registered for that night.
“That’s what’s so great about this event,” Smith said. “It’s drop
in, spur of the moment, just come on over, and you don’t have to be registered or anything.”
The students also feel this, in addition to the atmosphere, make Up All Night one of the most unique and fun events of the year.
“I’m really looking forward to all the different kinds of events and just the environment in general,” Mitch Streufert, freshman sports administration major, said. “I like that I can go and sign up for anything I feel like doing that night.”
One of the most anticipated events of the night will be the dunk contest, which has become somewhat of a tradition of the past few years. Everyone at the event usually gathers around the half-court area to watch the showcase of athleticism. Trace Lents, who has both won the event and finished second in years past, loves the overall environment of Up All Night and especially the excitement over the dunk contest.
“It’s like you have the whole stage to yourself,” Lents said of the dunk contest. “The whole event is just a great atmosphere and a great opportunity to meet new people.”
