Before 2,000-plus fans at the Klotsche Center, the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee volleyball team took a commanding 3-0 victory over Loyola on Friday night to kick off Panther Madness.

The victory kept the Panthers in the No. 1 position in the Horizon League, a spot they’ve kept for the entire season. With a raucous Panther-friendly crowd on hand, winning the match was a breeze.

And that was just the beginning.

Immediately following the match, the black and gold clad crowd was ushered out onto the arena floor. It’s been a long time since the volleyball team took down the equipment that fast, but who can blame them?

They wanted to make way for The Boogie Men. One of the Milwaukee area’s top cover bands, The Boogie Men covered a vast array of music from funk to rock. Their music may have catered a bit to the older crowd, but Panther fans of all ages took part in the fun.

Student Association President Rob Grover officially said goodbye to Victor E. Panther on Friday night. The long-time mascot was due for a change, so the athletic department brought about changing the name and look.

Pounce the Panther was introduced to mixed reactions. A lot of the crowd immediately fell in love with the buff and angry-looking Pounce, but there was still a lot of heartfelt sentiment from the old guard for Victor E., who has been the mascot for decades.

Where Victor E. looked cartoonish and generic, Pounce is a very detailed costume. The teeth are rigid plastic, as are the whiskers and eyes. Pounce also dons the same soccer jersey that the men’s soccer team wears, with vertical black and gold stripes.

The back is blank for now, but eventually the name Pounce will appear, just in case you’re doing your laundry and your soccer jersey mixes with the one he left on your bedroom floor last Saturday, ladies.

All in all, Victor E. was a fine mascot, but Pounce the Panther is a testament to the forward thinking that is going on in the athletic department.

After an hour of entertainment, the real show started. The posters for Panther Madness around campus claimed that the basketball teams were all business. They were anything but Friday night, as the casual observer could tell the players were having a good time with a side of laughs.

When the basketball teams took the floor for the first time to deafening cheers, the pep band was playing their first performance of the year. Old favorites like “Build Me Up Buttercup” were played, as were new songs added to their ever-expanding repertoire.

The basketball teams were introduced by their respective coaches, and they took part in some coed lay-up drills. A scary moment happened during the drills when junior forward Joe Allen attempted a dunk and got a tough cramp in his leg.

He was carried off the court, but all signs point to him being ready to go Nov. 1 vs. UW-Parkside. The teams partook in an intra-squad scrimmage, with both the men and women going for ten minutes apiece. Immediately after that, however, the fans started getting loud. The dunk contest had arrived.

Several players from the men’s team took part in the dunk contest. Jason Averkamp pulled off some nice moves, proving that white men can jump…or at least a couple of them can. Allan Hanson couldn’t exactly get the whole way up, so he got a boost from a teammate.

Kaylan Anderson and Torre Johnson didn’t need help to get up to the rim at all, but Torre did stop in mid-air to ask directions, slow-cook spare ribs and file his taxes.

The players were eliminated until it came down to the defending champion Anderson against the Oklahoma State transfer Johnson. Following Torre’s last dunk, a 360-degree slam that landed as the buzzer sounded, the judges conferred and gave Torre Johnson the victory. Master of ceremonies Jason Clark then thanked everyone for coming out, effectively ending the pep rally.

The time was 11:00 p.m. Time to buckle down for a long season, because the fun and games are over. Now, it’s business.

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