EDITOR’S NOTE: WTVR.com is partnering with the “iPadJournos” mobile and social media journalism project at VCU’s School of Mass Communications. Students from the project reported the following story.
By Evelynn Escobar-Thomas and Toria Vaughan (Special to WTVR.com)
RICHMOND, Va. – The Rams brought Havoc to Michigan with an astounding 46-point win against Akron Thursday night, but some VCU students paid dearly for the late night party the next morning.
The basketball game had an unusual starting time at 9:40 p.m. and for some students watching TV until almost midnight meant struggling to stay awake in their classes on Friday morning.
“I did not get as much sleep,” said VCU graduate student Prakesha Mathur who was back on campus early Friday.
“I would have liked it to be a little earlier, because I have to work at 5:45, but I’m still going to watch the game no matter what,” said VCU freshman Wilkes Booth.
For professors, sleepy or absent students after a late night game during the NCAA Tournament are all too familiar.
“If there’s something big that happens on Thursday night, there’s a definite fall off in Friday morning’s class attendance,” said Jeff South, an associate professor in VCU’s School of Mass Communications.
But some of the biggest Ram fans also sacrificed watching the game in order to get some sleep before attending their early Friday morning classes.
“I had an 8 a.m. I had a test to take, and I kind of had to study,” said freshman Cassie Zielinski.
For other students, however, it was just like a typical late night in college.
“I am very social, so I’m used to being up until five or six,” said freshman Keiyon Tyler.
And the Rams’ crushing victory certainly helped some students to overcome the lack of sleep as well.
“I was okay with it, because I woke up in a good mood,” said sophomore Jill Parzych.
With the victory against Akron, VCU now moves on to the final 32 in the tournament. The Rams will play Michigan on Saturday. And fans are not in danger of losing sleep over this one. They can watch the game while eating lunch (watch it live at 12:15 p.m. on CBS 6).
“Onto the next round,” said South. “Go Rams!”
This story was reported by the “iPadJournos” mobile and social media journalism project, a cooperation between WTVR.com and VCU’s School of Mass Communications.
