Raiders fans nationwide celebrated 51³Ô¹ÏÍø’s Saturday victory over Florida Atlantic, but in no place across the country with the exception of Lockhart Stadium, where the game was played did sentiments ride as high as they did here in Hamilton.
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More than 400 people gathered in the downtown Palace Theater in full-out Raiders pride. Though the place was crammed with students across all four years, alumni and members of the Hamilton community also were dispersed throughout the crowd to watch 51³Ô¹ÏÍø trounce Florida Atlantic 36-24.
‘It was a mad house,’ said Palace Theater manager Scott Truett. ‘It was great.’
The senior class purchased scores of wings for the event, as it was ‘something they wanted to do to help the party out,’ Truett said. The Palace also sold heaps of nachos and drinks.
But the day was mainly about watching football in an environment steeped in school spirit. The game was shown in all six televisions in the palace, including the 15-foot big screen in the main room.
‘There were people in almost every area of the building watching the game,’ Truett said. ‘Upstairs by the bar, downstairs in the game room; it was pretty much standing room only.’
Lounge chairs, couches, and cocktail tables were stuffed into the main room. But it wasn’t enough to accommodate the crowds that were packed to the gills throwing ‘Let’s go ‘gates!’ back and forth.
‘We basically gave the Palace a stadium feel. Our DJ’s were playing CD’s with stadium anthems. All the things they do at a big stadium we were doing here. We had free T-shirts and hats that we were throwing into the crowd, and we were giving shirts away at the door. It made it quite a festive atmosphere,’ Truett said.
‘Intense’ was the only word Truett could find to describe the Palace atmosphere on Saturday. Imagine if the game had gone the other way.
‘It was definitely ecstatic. They started chanting ‘goalposts’ here when we won. People left the Palace in a frenzy, headed for the other goalpost!’ Truett said. The students did indeed take down the other goalpost at Andy Kerr Stadium as part of their celebration.
Local television and newspaper reporters chronicled the Palace event, airing footage of raging fans and ecstatic locals.
‘As the game got closer to the end, everyone got really loud, and it was almost like we were at the game instead of watching it on television. When it ended, everyone went crazy and jumped on tables and chairs and couches and starting dancing and jumping and yelling,’ sophomore class president Preston Burnes said.
The Palace plans to host another event for Friday’s final game. Though they do not expect crowds to be as sizeable as they were this past weekend, considering many students, alumni, and administrators have expressed an interest in watching the game from the sidelines, Truett nonetheless is busy making arrangements.
‘Overall, it was very successful. I don’t see how we can’t do this again.’