Marching Band

I'm posting this on the heels of some interesting threads I've seen about the Big Sky Winds, or whatever they call themselves these days. A college band with a team like the Griz to support should never be outshone by the high school bands (i.e. Hellgate) in the city. I transfered out of UM and I currently march in the University of Southern California Trojan Marching Band, which is such a massive difference from the seasons I spent in the UM program, that my head still spins sometimes.

As I look back on my experiences in the BSW, I am actually embarassed to have been out there. A band is in the stands to SUPPORT THE TEAM no matter what! In the stands at USC, even when the team sucks it up, the band stands behind them every last second of the game. We never sit down, we are constantly playing, cheering, and getting the crowd pumped up. Our activity is so intense and non-stop that we often don't even get so much as a chance to talk to the other bandsmen around us while we are in the stands. As for the halftime shows, we exist to ENTERTAIN the crowd. People stay to watch us. In fact there are actually people who purchase season tickets just to watch the Spirit of Troy strut our stuff. We put on one hell of a good show.

The UM band needs an infusion of spirit! After countless games of watching the Griz kick ass, I was so dissappointed that the band wouldn't do anything. A stadium shouldn't have to play canned music if the band is doing their job correctly. As far as band scholarships and the such, paying your members ultimately undermines the program. (Band members at SC must earn their band grants, IF they qualify for one. Other than that, we aren't paid.) I remember being surrounded by people who were only in it for the money. They didn't give a damn. These people brought their homework to the games hidden in their uniforms, fell asleep during the games, spent time during games hanging out with friends in other parts of the stadium or doing whatever to avoid watching the game. Tell me, what's the point of being in a marching band if you don't care about your job?

Come on UM band, you have the best damned 1-AA team in the country handed to you on a silver platter! The least you could do is pretend to give a damn. A team that works that hard for you deserves your support!

GO GRIZ!

Maybe they should get NATE back?!?!

The UM band was expanded this year from last year. But read a message from a former band member on either this message board or the Unofficial Grizzly board, and one of the problems is finding people who are interested in the band.

I remember Nate fondly. . . He was about the only plus to being in the UM marching band. What ever became of him?

The band during the Ida-who? game was good. However, when I watched the Ida-who? band, they seemed to be more 'jacked up' and into the crowd, dancing, moving around, getting into it. I know we only took a portion of the full band, but they weren't as into it.

One thing I'll say however is that Idaho's band has no class. Several times during the game, they marched down into our section and started to play. I thought for sure that someone was going to bust a few brass instruments, and send them back to 'band camp'.

I'm not real up with the issues, but I'm currently happy with the fact that the band plays OK, and that the current sound scheme they play at Wash Griz is more than enough to get the crowd into the game.

SoCal Griz Fan said:

I remember Nate fondly. . . He was about the only plus to being in the UM marching band. What ever became of him?

Click to expand...

I know I didn't login....

I remember Nate playing in some band at the Ritz one night. A little Mick Jagger Jr. He moves like the man. Infact, I'll go as far as to say he is a big Stones fan.

As different (and I mean that in a good way) as Nate was, he really got into the Griz games and could get people around him into it.