Monday, October 19, 2015

Photo Story: Magic Maryland Madness

University of Maryland Students and other fans of UMD basketball climbed the stairs to the Xfinity Center to attend the Magic Maryland Madness event on Oct. 17, an event aimed at getting people excited for the upcoming season with appearances from the men's and women's basketball team and performances from the likes of magician J.P. Wilson




















Attendees lined up for snacks before the event.




















The Crowd packed into the basketball arena's seats.
Testudo, University of Maryland's mascot, enthusiastically interacted with attendees before the event began. 



















The event opened with a performance from magician J.P. Wilson, who performed a number of  tricks with his assistant.




















For one of his tricks, Wilson sealed his assistant into a very tight box.




















With his assistant inside, Wilson folded the box into an improbably compressed state




















Wilson's assistant emerged unharmed from the tight confines of the box
As the lights dimmed in the stadium, signaling the entrance of the UMD basketball team, attendees took out the glow sticks staff had handed to them at the door.


Members of the University of Maryland men's basketball team entered on to the stage one by one, each one receiving loud applause from the audience.



When the team stood fully assembled on the stage, the audience gave  the biggest applause of the night. ( I know both of these photographs are far from ideal, but this was the point in the show the lighting really started working against me. I had a few frontal shots here, but the lighting made them nearly indecipherable.)



After the players introduced themselves, the UMD cheer leading team performed an acrobatic routine for the crowd.


The event featured a slam dunk contest for the younger attendees.


One of the last events of the night was a performance from the University of Maryland Gymkhana team.


They demonstrated their athletic abilities to the audience, making high vertical leaps over this vaulting box.



Crowds filtered out of the arena as the Magic Maryland Madness event came to a close.

Links to raw: https://www.flickr.com/photos/136826177@N06/albums/72157660046559692