If you have never experienced Moose Madness, consider giving it a look. It is a high energy, noisy, fun-filled experience, featuring fun basketball between Bonners Ferry and Sandpoint, student competitions that take place during breaks in the basketball action, and lots of cheering, bands, and overall madness.
Tickets for the event are sold out. However, the event will be broadcast in live video tonight, beginning at 6:00 p.m., on the website www.boundarycountylive.com
It is anticipated that the entire event will last about four hours. Feel free to log in at any time to get a sense of what Moose Madness is all about, and to see all the continuous excitement and student enthusiasm that characterizes Moose Madness.
Moose Madness is actually a week-long event. It is a good-natured competitive week-long event between the students of Bonners Ferry High School and Sandpoint High School. During the week leading up to the climactic day of the big basketball night, the students at the school wear crazy clothes to school (see the other Moose Madness article on NewsBF contributed by Katie Colson). They also participate in fundraising for charitable causes. The wrestling teams get involved, as the annual B Cup Bonners Ferry vs Sandpoint wrestling meet is held during Moose Madness week.
And keep in mind that behind the scenes, for the past month or so, the students at both schools have been working on highly confidential presentations for their cheerleading teams, dance teams, and the celebrated Student Stomp.
All this comes together on the final big night of Moose Madness, which is tonight at Bonners Ferry High School. On Moose Madness Night, the Varsity Basketball teams of Bonners Ferry and Sandpoint play each other. During breaks in the action, the students of the two schools take turns presenting their cheerleader teams with their new Moose Madness routines, their dance teams, the bands--all of these presentations are judged and points awarded. Points are also awarded based on the results of the B Cup wrestling event, and on the fundraising the students have accomplished.
But that's not all. During the evening, school administrators drag out the noise decibel meters. The students of each school take turns in a burst of screaming and cheering, trying to outscream and out-noise the other side. More points are awarded to the winning side in the noise competition. Students present their highly practiced and polished moose calls, again earning points for their school for the best calls. School artists present original pictures of moose, and again points are awarded for those deemed the best.
Keep in mind that all of this goes on amidst the cheering and enthusiastic melee--or Madness, we might say--of the student sections in the gym.
One of the most fun competitions is the Student Stomp. This is an original stomp/dance that students and their leaders conceive and choreograph at each school, involving up to approximately 100 students, all stomping in well-timed unison. In the past, these Stomps have employed students drumming on garbage cans, on plastic chairs, and slamming paper cups on the gym floor to create percussive sounds. In recent years, the Badgers have taken to spelling out "BFHS" at the end of their Stomp presentations. Again, the presentation of each school is judged, the school with the best Stomp again winning points for their school.
Oh, and by the way, there are basketball games going on, too.
At the end of the evening, someone has won the basketball games. But the evening isn't over--all the points earned from the competitions are totaled, and the school with the most points at the end of the evening gets to take back to their school the highly coveted Moose Madness trophy, which is a real Moose Rack (donated some years back by the Idaho Fish and Game department) painted on one side with the Bonners Ferry blue and white colors, and on the other side with Sandpoint's red and white. The winning school gets to display the trophy at their school for the next year, until Moose Madness week comes up again.
This year is Moose Madness VI (to be presumptious and borrow Roman Numeral numbering from the Super Bowl system). Over the previous five years of the event, the basketball games have been dominated by Sandpoint. The Sandpoint Boys' team has won their game every year. On the Girls' side, Bonners Ferry has won the game a single time. That was during Moose Madness IV back in 2011.
On the other hand, Bonners Ferry dominates in the Spirit Award, which is the school that wins the total of all the competitions and gets to take home the Moose Madness antlers. Even though the Badgers have most often won the antlers, last year they went to Sandpoint. This year the Badgers are planning to bring them back home.
And, just maybe, this could be the year the Badgers break through and win a basketball game at Moose Madness. This year the Sandpoint Girls' team has a record of 5 wins, and 4 losses (including already a loss to Timberlake, who is in Bonners Ferry's Intermountain League), while the Sandpoint Boys' team has won only a single game all season, and has since lost five in a row.
Maybe this will be the Badgers' year. But with Moose Madness, you just never know!
As we mentioned, tickets for the event are completely sold out, like they are every year. However, take the time to log on and tune in for at least a few minutes to watch the evening's events on www.boundarycountylive.com . You will come away pleasantly surprised with the excitement that abounds at the event, and the great sportsmanship and fun events the students put together for Moose Madness night.
The Girls' Varsity game starts at 6:00 p.m., the Boys' Varsity game will be at approximately 8:00 p.m. The various student competitions take place throughout the evening.
Take a look at the game online, see what you think!