What were they doing?? playing into the snap and causing a false start?? I'm a band fan, but they shouldn't be cutting it so close that they accidently play into the play.
The Band?
- Thread starter HiltonMagic
- Start date
The band sometimes needs to tone it down and realize they are not the main show, the football is. I appreciate that they are always fired up and want to help get the crowd into it but crap like what happened tonight needs to make sure it doesn't happen again.
Got to attend the game in my new seats for the first time....right west of the band. They were right awesome....despite any problems. My hat off to them.
I'm actually IN the band and just like someone previously said, we are told when to play. Some of us know that we shouldn't be playing when it's that close to the snap, but trying getting 350 people to realize that. Also, we're working with 2 new drum majors who are still getting their feet wet. It'll get better, I promise. I apologize for what happened and I'll try and let the proper people know that we need to work on that. We've been trying to not play at all when ISU is backed down to the North End zone, but like I said, 350 people. ;-) We're working hard and doing our best.
That's correct. It's all a chain of command that winds up in the press box. The drum majors tell the band when to play, and there is an athletic department staffer up in the pressbox communicating with the drum majors over a headset, telling THEM when to go. The pressbox says "Go", so the drum majors have to say "Go", so the band has to play. If the pressbox screws it up, we end up playing when we shouldn't be.
That said, it happened ONE time. It certainly sucks that it did happen, and everyone wishes it hadn't, but I really don't think it's appropriate for you to start attacking the band when it happened once, especially if we really had no control over it. I don't recall exactly when it happened, so I can't tell you if it was the pressbox's fault or the drum major's fault. If you want to gripe about something, there are more important problems on that field.
If you honestly are that concerned about it, please contact the marching band director and politely voice your complaint.
They fired the cannon 3 times for our second TD right before halftime. (2 misfires)
Too bad each cannon shot wasn't six points or we would have won easily. :rolleyes5cz:
The "Pride of Iowa State" is how we announce the band. WHO THE **** WANTS TO HAVE A BAND BE THEIR PRIDE
I do. There have been years in the past the band was far better than the football team and we are not talking that many years ago. The band works their tail off running the steps in the upper concourse in the second half. We have a unique band that entertains with enthusiasm and should be praised for their efforts. Last night in particular they seemed to get stronger and louder as the game went on.
In NO way do we ever think we are the main event. We work our a$$es off more than 20 hours a week preparing for games. Our job is to entertain and keep the fans excited. We support the team 100% no matter what and we would never do anything to negatively affect the outcome of a game intentionally. We understand there would be no band without a football game, but at the same time, please understand all of our work is fueled by pride for Iowa State and support for ISU football.
I do too. The band is a integral part of the gameday experience. They are on the field 20 minutes before kickoff and are there until the stands are empty. Our band keeps the crowd cheering and involved throughout the game. For a long time, the band was the best and most organized product on the football field during the game.
Those students put in a hell of a lot of effort (1.5 hours of practice a day for 1 course credit) to be criticized. I know there is additional time and money requirments for band members too, but I will let one of the band members on this board elaborate.
What are you suggesting, that we should have no pride in our band.
I definatly have pride for the ISU maching band.
I hope a few of the band members on this board can chime in with there opinions. I for one think the band is doing a fine job (and they always have). The football team on the other hand needs a little bit of work before the big game next week.
PS: The ISU band will likely be the single largest contengent of CYCLONE fans at the Iowa game next week. I have heard many horror stories about the shi* they have to put up with in Iowa City from the hawkeye fans from verbal abuse to physical attacks. I have tremendos pride in all the students who go through that to help cheer our Cyclones to victory @ Kinnick
I agree with what you're sayin ornry, but if it was a fan with an air horn or some other noisemaking device that caused a false start we would be ripping them up and down. Bottom line is that the Band has always cut it close and has oftentimes played after the ball has been snapped, it hasn't just been this year. They need to figure out a way to not do this anymore.
Also, personal request, please stop playing that song that everybody says "don't know the words, to this stupid f-ing song". I know it's not your fault, but if you give drunk idiots the opportunity to be drunk idiots, they are going to take it every time.
To all the bandmembers.....disregard this twit....the band is the pride of Iowa State.
As far as the premature cannon blast...this happens all the time to me....just shrug the shoulders and say it's an off day mate.....
BryceC said:
Again, if you're concerned about it, email our director. The song is called "Go Cyclones Go", and you'll find that that phrase matches the music quite nicely. The problem, though, is literally that nobody knows the rest of the words to the song. I've looked for them and can't find them. Thanks to that, the "Don't Know The Words" tradition was born about 10 years ago, but has gotten a bit more inappropriate since then. It is quite possible to sing "Don't Know The Words" without using any vulgarities. An example:
Don't know the words
Don't know the words
Don't know the words, and I! don't! caaaaare!
That's what the band sings when learning the music at band camp, and I've heard more recent grads singing that, as well. The student section has a propensity for vulgar speech, if that has managed to slip by any of you, so this is nothing unusual. The athletic department has said a few times in the past that if the students continue to sing those lyrics (read: sing them really loudly) they will pull the song from our lineup. We don't want that to happen, and I don't think too many others do, either. It's an established tradition that could easily be cleaned up. As far as the band is concerned, we are playing "Go Cyclones Go", and if drunken fools want to sing alternate lyrics, that is thier choice/fault. We don't condone them, and we are not allowed to sing them, nor do we want to.
Thanks, BigD! For anyone who's curious, I will walk you through a typical rehearsal week and gameday for the ISUCF"V"MB.
Monday
Rehearsal from 4:10-5:30
Tuesday
Rehearsal from 4:10-5:30
Wednesday
Rehearsal from 4:10-5:30
Thursday
Rehearsal from 4:10-5:30
Drumline rehearsal 7:00-10:00
Friday
Rehearsal from 4:10-5:30
Gameday Saturday (6pm kickoff)
7:30- Drumline meets
8:00- Flagline rehearsal
9:00- Full band rehearsal (clean and run through pregame, halftime, stand tunes, cheers, etc.)
11:00/11:30- Rehearsal finishes whenever we are done, typically 11 or 11:30am
12:00- Drumline and sousaphones pack their instruments away and load them onto trucks for transportation to Hilton Coliseum (this takes about 45 minutes)
2:45- Drumline meets at Hilton to unload their truck, warm up, and begin rehearsing
3:30- Rest of the band meets at Hilton for warm-up and rehearsal
5:00- Full band performs a short show for the crowd south of Scheman (roughly an hour before kickoff)
5:15- Band marches from Hilton to Jack Trice
5:37- Pregame (23 minutes before kickoff)
6:00- Kickoff and the game. First half, halftime, second half (including the roving pep band in the third quarter) and post-game playing. We stay and play until the stands are empty, then we line up on the field and parade back to the staging area at Hilton.
10:45- We have dismissal, then the drumline and sousaphones have to be load their instruments back on the trucks.
11:30- Sousaphones and drumline go meet the trucks at Music Hall, and unload them and put them away. This is typically completed 5.5 hours after kickoff, depending on traffic.
So you see, in one game week, the band has approximately 10 hours of regular rehearsal, in addition to a straight 7 hours for the game itself. The drumline has those 17 hours plus our 3-hour Thursday rehearsal and our 2-hour sectionals throughout the week, for between 22 and 23 hours each week. If the kickoff is at 11:00am, the drumline meets around 5:30am, full band rehearsal starts at 7, goes until 9, and we all have to be at Hilton ready to go by 9:30.
This year, beginning on August 31 and running through November 25, we have a performance every single weekend except for one. If we are not playing at Jack Trice, then we are travelling and performing somewhere else. All of those take extra rehearsal time. There are many, many members of the marching band who are currently in the volleyball pep band. They have to go straight from rehearsal to Hilton to play, without a break. Later in the fall, the members of our men's and women's basketball bands will have to go straight to a basketball game from the football game, or vice versa. We play pep rallies during the week and on the mornings of conference games. We will be getting on the bus at 4:00am next Saturday morning to head to Iowa City. By the time many of you wake up, we will have already been rehearsing for an hour and a half. While all of you are tailgating, we are making sure that our performances are as good as they can possibly be, and then we make them better.
(Might I add that when in Iowa City, we get physically assaulted. I mean that very literally- last time, a band member got a beer bottle smashed over his head by a drunken Hawk while marching, knocking him out cold and putting him in the emergency room across the street with a concussion and a huge gash. We get beer thrown at us, onto our uniforms, and in our faces. People try to hit our instruments and take our shakos. This is on top of the standard verbal abuse, but I see that as a non-issue; just ignore it.)
And 350 people do all of this for 1 credit. Do you know why? It's sure as hell not because we get a credit out of the deal. We do it because we love making music and we love our school. We take what we do VERY seriously, and we take immense pride in it. We give the football, basketball, and volleyball teams our strong and unconditional support, and strive our hardest to make a positive difference in every event we attend. These are the hardest of the hard-core fans; there are easily 300 people in the band who would instantly buy season tickets to everything if they knew they couldn't be in the band. Marching band is a HUGE committment, both in time and physical effort.
(For you who think that being in marching band could not possibly be physically demanding, try this: stand up, and pick up your chair by putting one hand on either side, underneath the seat. Hold it so that the seat is level with your eyes and your arms are straight. Hold it there for 6 and a half minutes- don't let it drop below your eyes, and don't bring your arms in! That is what I do, and that is just the first half of our pregame routine. I guarantee you that any chair you are sitting in is lighter than my cymbals are. Alternately, you can rest the chair on your right shoulder and grasp it only with your right arm. Or if you like, grab a large dictionary and hold it by the binding in your right hand, thrusting it up into the air in rhythm. Whichever you choose to do, run up four flights of stairs at a steady fast tempo, taking great care not to slow down or get our of step. That's what it feels like to be a sousa or a saxophone during pregame. These are accurate, if not actually a bit forgiving, replications of what marching band demands of your body.)
As I was saying, marching band is a major commitment, and every single person does it willingly and happily. I can say quite confidently that marching band is what I look forward to every day. I get excited thinking about it, and I- along with 349 others- pour every ounce of my being into it for 90 minutes each day. You can see me at the games- I'm the cymbal player on the end closest to the student section- going absolutely ballistic every time pretty much anything happens. (If you doubt that a marching band makes a difference at games, please go to a home game at Kinnick Stadium and watch Iowa's "Disaster in Uniform" try and make a difference. Compare our playing with theirs, or Nebraska's, or Colorado's, or Michigan's, and you'll appreciate us a lot more.) You can tell from the absolute novel I've written just how much I care about and value this experience.
I've written more than my share, so I'm going to wrap it up. There are plenty of other band members on this board who can add more than I did. A huge thanks to everyone who voices their support of us; we like knowing that we can keep people entertained at the games and get them fired up (or scared, if they're "the other guys"); it means we're doing our job well. If you think we did something particularly outstanding, or just have an idea, by all means email our director, Matthew Smith. If anyone wants to speak to me privately, you're more than welcome to send me a PM. Go Cyclones!