Fin-Night Blew School Spirit out of the Water

By: Joseph Titta

The Phins and their fans bring it up for one last “Phins on 3 Family on 6”. Credit: Joseph Titta

Returning for another year, CSI’s head basketball coach T.J Tibbs organized and 

produced the second consecutive pep rally to prepare for the men and women’s basketball seasons. 

“We want to try and give these guys the atmosphere they would walk in to at a 

big name university,” said Coach Tibbs. “When athletes from all of our sports come out 

with some of our fans, we feel that the culture I’ve tried to create here shows.”

A night filled with dolphin pride and competitions among athletes has truly introduced a new-found culture to CSI’s athletic program. Coaches and student athletes went head-to-head in events like the three-point shootout, a game of knockout, and horse–all followed by the grand finale of the night, the dunk contest.

The dunk contests was a hit again, crowning “Spiderman” as the two-time champ. Credit: Joseph Titta

In the midst of all the competition, each team selected a few athletes to participate in the Lip Sync battle. At first, the men’s soccer team gave quite the performance singing their way back into the stands to ‘Mo Bamba’. 

The swim team danced like it was the 1990’s again to ‘The Backstreet Boys’, and the men’s basketball team sang and danced their way to the top of the leader boards with their performance to Hannah Montana’s ‘Hoe Down Throw Down.’

The battle couldn’t continue, the DJ hired out of staff here at CSI encountered one huge problem; blowing out the schools $20,000 speaker that hangs in the main gym. It is the speaker used for every event held in the gym for basketball, volleyball, and events like Fin-Night. After the mishap, the rest of the teams weren’t able to perform their selected songs. 

Amidst all of the confusion and chattering, Athletic Director Charles Gomes started to call, text, and email right away in an attempt to figure out what to do. 

“He just blew out a $20,000 speaker so I’m trying to figure out what this is gonna cost me right now,” said Gomes. “I’m not in the best mood right now, Titta.”

The speaker was done, but Fin-Night wasn’t over just yet. Coach Tibbs got the crowd to settle down and resume the scheduled events of the night, this time just without music. 

They held the three-point shootout with the crown being taken home by head baseball coach Mike Mauro. After a disappointing performance last year where he made two three’s, Coach Mauro was seen getting shots up a few days before the event, looking to recapture his dignity.

With the crowd in awe, CSI’s Joe Ziris soars for a majestic slam. Credit: Joseph Titta

 “It felt good to see a few go in the basket for once,”joked Mauro. “It’s really just about bringing everyone together for one night to celebrate what we‘ve done here.”

Coach Mauro, along with the other coaches had recruits for the future attend the event, hoping to sway them, showing them a welcoming atmosphere where athletics are held to the highest standard. 

The dunk contest, which was held in silence, put quite the exclamation mark on such and up-and-down night. CSI’s own Rigaud Destime was crowned dunk champion after his high flying slam dressed as spiderman, leaping over Coach Tibbs for an emphatic two-handed flush. 

At the end of the night, Coach Tibbs gathered everyone in attendance onto the gym floor. Without a microphone, coach shouted and whistled grabbing everyone’s attention. 

“Listen, I wanna thank everyone for making tonight possible,”said Tibbs. “I know 

it didn’t all go how we wanted, but I wanna thank you all for hanging with us to make the 

best out of it.”

List of Competitions and Winners 

Dunk Contest- Rigaud Destime 

Three Point Shoot-Out-Coach Mauro, Briana Robitsky 

Musical Chairs- Coach Tibbs 

Lip Sync Battle- Men’s Soccer