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Malibu surfside news | October 18, 2018 | 33
Players receive a warm Waves’ welcome
Lively rally sets
tone for Pepperdine
basketball season
Barbara Burke
Freelance Reporter
It was the happiest display
of madness.
With blue and orange
lights flashing and music
blaring in Firestone Fieldhouse,
Pepperdine’s school
spirit was through the roof
Friday, Oct. 12, when the
university kicked off the
men and women’s basketball
seasons at its annual
Blue & Orange Madness
event.
“Are you ready?” the
announcer yelled to the
crowd. “I can’t hear you!”
The Riptide Rally Crew
jumped frenetically around,
encouraging fans to make
some noise.
Cheers, whistles, hooting
and hollering ensued.
“The support of the
community means everything
to us,” said women’s
basketball coach DeLisha
Milton-Jones. “We
need the whole community
to support these young
women as they play here
and start their futures in
life and for some, in the
WBNA and abroad.”
Team spirit, positivity
and goodwill energized the
air.
The Pepperdine Step
Team put on an amazing
performance as 24 women
clapped and performed
gymnastic feats in unison
for a synchronized, symphonious
synergy of movement.
Milton-Jones and men’s
basketball coach Lorenzo
The Waves’ step team performs.
Romar led the festivities.
“OK, we’re going to
teach you how to rule the
world of fandom,” Romar
said. “We’re both planning
on playing an exciting
brand of basketball this
year and we need your support.”
A fan hollered out
“You’ve got it!”
More cheers erupted.
“So, let’s go through
some scenarios,” Romar
began.
Members of the men
and women’s teams went
through a five-on-five spar.
“We just got the ball for
a tip,” Romar said. “You
need to make some noise.”
The crowd went wild.
“Scenario 2, we’re up
for a free throw,” he said.
“Shh! Waves up and we’re
quiet.”
For the uninitiated,
“waves up,” is a hand signal
by hundreds of fans
concurrently, and silence is
the name of the game.
“When the ball goes in,
everybody all at once yell
‘whoosh!’”
A player sunk one.
“Whoosh!” yelled the
crowd.
“Now for some 3-pointers,”
Romar said.
Another player hit a
“nothing-but-net” bucket.
“Whoosh!” yelled the
crowd.
For the last scenario, Romar
queried, “What if the
officials are not on their
game and make a bad call?”
The crowd waited in anticipation.
“You’ll have to say the
biggest ‘boo’ that Malibu
has ever heard,” Romar
said. “Try it.”
A huge “boo!” erupted in
the stands.
It’s just not a basketball
pep rally if there isn’t a
slam-dunk contest.
This one did not disappoint.
Player Kessler Edward’s
performance was amazing.
He approached with
stunning speed and jumped
high in the air. His agile
body and arms hung high,
suspended in space, defying
gravity with grace.
Dunking it, he hung briefly
on the hoop.
“Woosh!” yelled the
crowd as someone in the
stands yelled out, “Now,
that’s what I’m talkin’
about!”
“I absolutely loved the
event tonight,” said Waves
player Ashleen Quirke.
Pepperdine’s Jackson Stormo participates in the slam-dunk contest Friday, Oct. 12,
during Blue & Orange Madness. Photos by Suzy Demeter/22nd Century Media
Men’s basketball coach Lorenzo Romar revs up the lively crowd.
Sharing the love and
sense of community, Pepperdine
Athletics and the
school’s Sigma Phi Epsilon
fraternity announced
a strategic partnership to
benefit Big Brothers Big
Sisters of Greater Los
Angeles. Next month, on
Nov. 9, Pepperdine will
play host to the “SigEp
Bounce” basketball tournament
to benefit the youth
organization.
A short video clip, showing
beaming children interacting
with Pepperdine
students, helped depict the
impact of such a partnership.
Though Blue & Orange
Madness and the larger
Waves Weekend extravaganza
has come and gone,
good times are sure to
return to Firestone Fieldhouse
as the basketball
season gets underway.