By Keon Edington / Jambar Contributor
When the buzzer sounds for intermission at basketball games, the show is just getting started. Youngstown State University’s athletics department is entertaining fans by hosting national halftime acts during home games.
Over the years, YSU has reached out to several performers to enhance the fan experience. Each performance takes place on the court of the Zidian Family Arena at Beeghly Center.
Chris Sumner, YSU assistant athletics director, said artists contact the athletics department looking for work.
“They’ll reach out and say, ‘Do you have any interest in our act?’ I’ll go back and forth working on budgets, pricing and see if it fits their schedule,” Sumner said.
Sumner said the department tries to get one to two national acts a year.
One such halftime act was performed Jan. 7 by Cody Sabol, an artist proficient in speed painting. Sabol used acrylic paint to draw a medium-sized version of Pete the Penguin in under seven minutes.
Sabol described the procedure that goes into painting with such speed and accuracy.
“It’s all about trying to get the proportions correctly, as with a logo. There’s not really room for error,” Sabol said.
“You paint the most important, defining [part], trying to get the subject done correctly. Those are things I focus on the most,” Sabol said. “The speed portion comes in with the stuff that doesn’t change the subject appearance.”
Sabol, who is from Pennsylvania, has performed at numerous events, such as Formula 1 Miami Grand Prix, NASCAR’s Toyota SaveMart 350 at Sonoma, California and the NHL’s Pittsburgh Penguins.
YSU has added sponsors for the halftime shows, in which Sabol said he partnered with local restaurant Bull & Bear Grille and Tavern, who covered the entire cost of the act.
“They gave us a sponsorship to cover the cost. Bull & Bear got all the advertising associated with the act, and we were able to purchase that act,” Sumner said.
Sumner said he coordinates with the acts in preparation for their game-day performances.
“From the tickets, to where they’re supposed to park and what time they need to be here, it’s all preparation,” Sumner said.
With both the men’s and women’s basketball teams hosting a plethora of home games, Sumner said it gives YSU an opportunity to showcase about 30 performances per season, with some performers coming back for repeat appearances.
“We try to pick a couple bigger ones. We’ll reach out to dance groups, youth basketball groups — it’s just tradition for them,’ Sumer said. “Sometimes they’ll reach out to us in the offseason, asking for the schedule. They’ll schedule a month or two in advance and repeat.”
The athletics department also seeks out YSU student groups to perform, highlighting on-campus talent.
“We work with some campus groups, like the YSU hip hop team or student cornhole tournament, to try to get students involved,” Sumner said. “We’ll do high school Jam The Gym days.”
In addition to these acts, YSU involves students and the Youngstown community in a Teddy Bear Toss, with a voucher given for any upcoming home games. The YSU Marching Pride often gets involved, performing alongside the acts.
YSU is hosting Performance Dogs of Ohio on Feb. 12, with highly trained dogs performing tricks.