Taji34
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He was probably about 45 years older than me, but Rod Wallace, the "Cannon Man" is someone that I will respect and miss. Rod was the man who built the Thunderbird on 494 that was demolished just this year. For anyone that was never in the "Tomahawk Lounge" bar when a North Star game or big concert was pending, will not know how great it was.
I did not ever meet Rod Wallace, but he was like many of us, a long lost Gopher fan, hoping his team would again return to glory. He probably was in attendance at the '61 and '62 Rose Bowls and was tying to keep the hope alive before he died, but I am not sure about that.
I do know that my dad, a 1961 graduate, was at the 1961 Rose Bowl and rode the train to CA on the official train, and he stayed on that train until we put him in the ground this year. I really hoped the Kill era would bring him back there, and the 2014 game in Madison might have been that bridge to take him there. Oh well, at least he got to Orlando for one day. He was in good health until a month before he died and watching the team play in the sun again in Orlando made him happy. I am sure he would found a way to get to San Diego this year.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gWzEf_JU1Fw
P.S. The band had much better, longer pregame show in Detroit last year. I hope they get more time again this year.
http://www.ummbvideo.com/newummbvideo/20151228Pregame.html
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Sadly, the Holiday Bowl only gives 5 1/2 minutes to each Marching Band for pregame, which is about 2 minutes shorter than what we got in Detriot. Our Pregame show will be very similar, if not identical to our show in Orlando: http://www.ummbvideo.com/newummbvideo/20150101CitrusBowlPregame.html. Made me sad to find that out, but the bowl this year is very pro-band. Lots of events for us to play at (even a Battle of the Bands!), nice hotel to stay at, etc. The band coordinator for the bowl marched at Ohio State, so they make sure the bands are well treated, though they probably had little to no say in how long each band got for Pregame.