by Timothy Domzalski ’14
The fall sports rally broke with tradition by opting for a shortened program focusing on heightened student interaction with the festivities, marked by a tug-of-war between faculty and freshmen that ended in disaster for the teachers, and theatrical performances by ringleaders Tom Horan and Jack Hyland.
The new rally format was the brainchild of the Student and Student Affairs Committee, headed by Jack J. Hyland and representatives including Ricky Benninger, Keegan Holland, Jack Napoli, and Tom Horan.
Horan said the committee had begun planning changes to the rally format during summer break, spurred by a desire to introduce vitality to the seasonal celebrations.
“We thought the rallies had become insignificant,” Horan said.
He and other committee members wanted to move away from the video-rally routine of the past, although he said the videos have not been permanently blacklisted.
The tug of war concluding the rally was a departure from tradition characterized by its irreverence. Horan said he intentionally selected unintimidating faculty team members to “get the students pumped” with the “shock factor” of a chance at victory.
Horan also said he would like to thank Burton Horan justified his decision to create an “all-star line-up” of Mr. Laco, Mr. Corrigan, and Brother Cordero as “legitimate” due to the inclusion of younger teachers Mr. Crew and Mr. Galloway.
The freshmen team, however, was improvised.
Although he said he had hoped to choose “average freshmen” at random, Horan said that after he saw “freshman jumping up and down,” he refused to “kill the vibe” and accepted 6’ 10” Malique Burton as the team’s anchor. Burton stunned the crowd after he pulled the freshmen to a dominant victory over the teachers.
Horan also said he would like to thank Burton for “his participation, which ramped up the students.”
For future rallies, Horan said the Student and Student Affairs Committee is “mulling over options” and would like to continue shaking up the routine. He said he hopes to continue to take a starring role.
“I would love to continue emceeing the rallies,” Horan said.
Horan said that the SSA Committee “wanted students to expect changes” including reforms targeted towards student spirit, the student section at athletic events, new cheers, as demonstrated during the rally.
