Completely Out-Classed

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Law_Abiding_Gopher

Law_Abiding_Gopher

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I read the post froms the folks that were stuck trying to see through the OSU tubas. I imagine that was frustrating and this post is not meant in any way to argue against the points already made in that thread. I also realize that the band situation was the least of our concerns as Gopher football fans. I also am completely aware of the fact that the U of M pregame show is always incredible.

On to my point - -

The OSU band formed a block M and played their rendition of Minnesota Rouser for the home crowd. The Minnesota band did not play "Across the Field" or as others might call it without knowing better the Ohio State Fight Song. At every away game I've been to, Illinois, Michigan, Michigan State twice, Iowa three times, Purdue twice (unfortunately) the home band has coughed up a rendition of the rouser. Here however we were not able to come up with a rendition of "Across the Field" which I know is in the sheet music files over at Ferguson Hall having played it myself in the band within the last 10 years.

Why is it that we were unable to play their school song to welcome their fans?

Why is it that our band PA announcer is unable to mention how lucky we are to have a visiting band travel 15 hours to play in front of our horse *&^!#*&^!#*&^!#*&^!# half capacity crowd?

Why was the volume of the OSU Band's PA announcer down from the volume of ours thus making it almost impossible to understand what he was saying.

Having visiting bands at TCF only increases the gameday experience, and can only increase the excitement of playing home games at TCF. They should be welcomed with open arms and treated like the rock stars they are.

Also I read the complaints about the actual interactions of OSU band members with our gameday staff and crowd. If those are rooted in truth it still does not change my opinion. As a former U of M band member I know that our band is just as guilty as any other band.
 

As a Gopher season ticket holder I could give a rats -ss about the osu band and their arrogant fans. I thought it was great when their baton guy dropped it at the start.
 

Anybody who was sitting behind a Tuba & couldn't see must've missed the other thousand seats that were available...
 


Law_Abiding_Gopher said:
Why is it that we were unable to play their school song to welcome their fans?

Why was the volume of the OSU Band's PA announcer down from the volume of ours thus making it almost impossible to understand what he was saying.

Also I read the complaints about the actual interactions of OSU band members with our gameday staff and crowd. If those are rooted in truth it still does not change my opinion. As a former U of M band member I know that our band is just as guilty as any other band.
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1 - I don't think they played Across the Field due to time constraints, they took the field a few minutes later than normal since TBDBITL did a 6 minute pregame.

2 - I was wondering the same thing about their announcer, had a hell of a time hearing him.

3 - What the interactions you speak of? I haven't seen anything on that yet other than the one post about the tubas blocking the view.
 


Zales04 said:
1 - I don't think they played Across the Field due to time constraints, they took the field a few minutes later than normal since TBDBITL did a 6 minute pregame.

2 - I was wondering the same thing about their announcer, had a hell of a time hearing him.

3 - What the interactions you speak of? I haven't seen anything on that yet other than the one post about the tubas blocking the view.
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I know that when Wisconsin came to town several years ago, the band didn't play the opposing fight song because their band was present. When another band visits, your band gives up pregame time for them to perform so something has to be cut, the opposing fight song is as good a choice as any given that their band is there to play it.
 

Law_Abiding_Gopher said:
I read the post froms the folks that were stuck trying to see through the OSU tubas. I imagine that was frustrating and this post is not meant in any way to argue against the points already made in that thread. I also realize that the band situation was the least of our concerns as Gopher football fans. I also am completely aware of the fact that the U of M pregame show is always incredible.

On to my point - -

The OSU band formed a block M and played their rendition of Minnesota Rouser for the home crowd. The Minnesota band did not play "Across the Field" or as others might call it without knowing better the Ohio State Fight Song. At every away game I've been to, Illinois, Michigan, Michigan State twice, Iowa three times, Purdue twice (unfortunately) the home band has coughed up a rendition of the rouser. Here however we were not able to come up with a rendition of "Across the Field" which I know is in the sheet music files over at Ferguson Hall having played it myself in the band within the last 10 years.

Why is it that we were unable to play their school song to welcome their fans?

Why is it that our band PA announcer is unable to mention how lucky we are to have a visiting band travel 15 hours to play in front of our horse *&^!#*&^!#*&^!#*&^!# half capacity crowd?

Why was the volume of the OSU Band's PA announcer down from the volume of ours thus making it almost impossible to understand what he was saying.

Having visiting bands at TCF only increases the gameday experience, and can only increase the excitement of playing home games at TCF. They should be welcomed with open arms and treated like the rock stars they are.

Also I read the complaints about the actual interactions of OSU band members with our gameday staff and crowd. If those are rooted in truth it still does not change my opinion. As a former U of M band member I know that our band is just as guilty as any other band.
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Give me a break. What a dork.
 

tap said:
As a Gopher season ticket holder I could give a rats -ss about the osu band and their arrogant fans. I thought it was great when their baton guy dropped it at the start.
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Agreed.
 




gopherjay said:
Give me a break. What a dork.
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I get it, I'm nerdy and not as masculine as you for commenting on the bands at the game. Perhaps you can prove to me why I should have anything to say about the football, or lack there of, that I witnessed on Saturday night.
 

Visiting Bands

As a season ticket holder and former band member, I LOVE having visiting bands here and would hope that our band goes on the road someday. It was a total BLAST having the OSU band here and I was all goose bumps when they did Script Ohio, which I think is one of the greatest traditions in all of College Football. For you idiots that take heart in seeing their drum major drop the baton, I can only say "shame on you" and that I hope our kids get better treatment when they go on the road. I even heard boos coming from the stands when their band took the field. Made me ashamed to be a Minnesota fan. I guess our team is so bad now that you morons have to take pride in booing or chastising a visiting band instead of treating them with some respect. I never thought I'd see the day in Minnesota where it has come to this.
 

go4rob said:
As a season ticket holder and former band member, I LOVE having visiting bands here and would hope that our band goes on the road someday. It was a total BLAST having the OSU band here and I was all goose bumps when they did Script Ohio, which I think is one of the greatest traditions in all of College Football. For you idiots that take heart in seeing their drum major drop the baton, I can only say "shame on you" and that I hope our kids get better treatment when they go on the road. I even heard boos coming from the stands when their band took the field. Made me ashamed to be a Minnesota fan. I guess our team is so bad now that you morons have to take pride in booing or chastising a visiting band instead of treating them with some respect. I never thought I'd see the day in Minnesota where it has come to this.
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+50 :clap:
 

Goose bumps? I thought that was a series of books for kids?
 



go4rob said:
As a season ticket holder and former band member, I LOVE having visiting bands here and would hope that our band goes on the road someday. It was a total BLAST having the OSU band here and I was all goose bumps when they did Script Ohio, which I think is one of the greatest traditions in all of College Football. For you idiots that take heart in seeing their drum major drop the baton, I can only say "shame on you" and that I hope our kids get better treatment when they go on the road. I even heard boos coming from the stands when their band took the field. Made me ashamed to be a Minnesota fan. I guess our team is so bad now that you morons have to take pride in booing or chastising a visiting band instead of treating them with some respect. I never thought I'd see the day in Minnesota where it has come to this.
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On a night where there was very little to cheer about, the OSU band was a bonus. It certainly added to the atmosphere along with the Haloween customes. Having both bands playing was a lot of fun.

For the tuned out Gopher "fans", take a close look at what OSU brings to the table. It is something to be envious about. Not something to rip. Those who ridicule are ignorant when it comes to what CFB is all about.
 

Outclassed is a terrible way to put it. If you've ever paid attention to a home game against a Big Ten foe, we ALWAYS play their school song. The band and directors take great pain to make sure we play the opposing school song loudly and correctly. The band didn't play it this time because OSU's was there to play it. They played ours because we were hosting them and it was a (very) nice gesture for them to do so. The block M formation was very good, I will admit. I have no idea what our band would do since it's been years since we even sent one.

I know that Wisconsin's band made an M on the field (not anything close to our block M, just straight vertical lines) and played the Rouser once through. They played a much worse version than OSU did. The band did a show on a grassy field outside the stadium an hour before the game and played the Rouser as well, though the gesture was ruined by the band mocking our MN spellout after and then the director saying "you know my mother always said if I don't have anything nice to say about something, don't say anything at all" then stopped talking for about 5 seconds. In reference to our band and fans. I'm not saying WI is the gold standard for class acts, but that is what they did.

I didn't notice the PA difference in the stadium.

I noticed a few boos from the crowd, which I do disagree with. But I also saw every person on my side of the stadium stand up to watch their band, with many people clapping and cheering when they played the Rouser as well as when they did the script Ohio.

In my opinion, there is only a certain level of class you need to show to any conference opponent and band. Fact is, they're a rival team we want to beat. Their fans had no problem doing their O-H-I-O cheer in our stadium like they own it. Their band had no problem trying to play over ours after we started (I counted 7 times between plays). They had no problem sending platoons of band members to find their fans in our stands in the 2nd/3rd quarters (to me, overstepping bounds). And Tressel had no problem throwing that deep bomb for a touchdown when they were up big at the end of the 2nd quarter, clearly not going to come back.

And as far as I'm concerned, I was underwhelmed by a band that calls themselves the Best Damned Band in the Land. I think the moniker gains them attention more than their actual performance. I didn't think their marching technique was impressive or even any better executed (I was watching toes, phasing, diagonals, stepoffs, horn angles, and yes their drum major's performance in twirling/marching/showmanship). They were most definitely a good band and sounded very rich, but certainly not the BEST band in the world.

Long story short, I
 


do Away teams bands play at half time at the big house, horse shoe, happy valley, or camp randel? seriously I have never payed attention to it this whole bring your band thing is new to me.
 

Yes, visiting bands almost always get time to perform at halftime.
 

I will give the OSU band credit - at least we could hear them unlike the Pride of Minnesota.
 

RailBaronYarr said:
Outclassed is a terrible way to put it. If you've ever paid attention to a home game against a Big Ten foe, we ALWAYS play their school song. The band and directors take great pain to make sure we play the opposing school song loudly and correctly. The band didn't play it this time because OSU's was there to play it. They played ours because we were hosting them and it was a (very) nice gesture for them to do so. The block M formation was very good, I will admit. I have no idea what our band would do since it's been years since we even sent one.

I know that Wisconsin's band made an M on the field (not anything close to our block M, just straight vertical lines) and played the Rouser once through. They played a much worse version than OSU did. The band did a show on a grassy field outside the stadium an hour before the game and played the Rouser as well, though the gesture was ruined by the band mocking our MN spellout after and then the director saying "you know my mother always said if I don't have anything nice to say about something, don't say anything at all" then stopped talking for about 5 seconds. In reference to our band and fans. I'm not saying WI is the gold standard for class acts, but that is what they did.

I didn't notice the PA difference in the stadium.

I noticed a few boos from the crowd, which I do disagree with. But I also saw every person on my side of the stadium stand up to watch their band, with many people clapping and cheering when they played the Rouser as well as when they did the script Ohio.

In my opinion, there is only a certain level of class you need to show to any conference opponent and band. Fact is, they're a rival team we want to beat. Their fans had no problem doing their O-H-I-O cheer in our stadium like they own it. Their band had no problem trying to play over ours after we started (I counted 7 times between plays). They had no problem sending platoons of band members to find their fans in our stands in the 2nd/3rd quarters (to me, overstepping bounds). And Tressel had no problem throwing that deep bomb for a touchdown when they were up big at the end of the 2nd quarter, clearly not going to come back.

And as far as I'm concerned, I was underwhelmed by a band that calls themselves the Best Damned Band in the Land. I think the moniker gains them attention more than their actual performance. I didn't think their marching technique was impressive or even any better executed (I was watching toes, phasing, diagonals, stepoffs, horn angles, and yes their drum major's performance in twirling/marching/showmanship). They were most definitely a good band and sounded very rich, but certainly not the BEST band in the world.

Long story short, I
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Sorry to disagree, but their sound was phenomenal..their lines were as straight as could be, and their technique was awesome. I realize that an all brass band is going to have a different sound than one with so many woodwinds, but their military style is something I happen to really enjoy in a Marching Band. Their marching maneuvers at half time were some of the best I've ever seen, this is coming from a former Band Director and U of M Band alumn...don't get me wrong, I thought our band was great as well, but really enjoyed the different styles.
 

go4rob said:
Sorry to disagree, but their sound was phenomenal..their lines were as straight as could be, and their technique was awesome. I realize that an all brass band is going to have a different sound than one with so many woodwinds, but their military style is something I happen to really enjoy in a Marching Band. Their marching maneuvers at half time were some of the best I've ever seen, this is coming from a former Band Director and U of M Band alumn...don't get me wrong, I thought our band was great as well, but really enjoyed the different styles.
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Well, I guess I disagree on the formations. Their halftime was entertaining, with the 2x2 box maneuvers they did with the horns flaring. The 4 giant boxes they rotated then compressed to 1 giant diamond looked very cool as well (though not something we didn't do my junior year in band). They definitely sounded very crisp when starting/stopping playing while in the stands. However, I sit in section 235, row 24. So our band is pointing directly to my left. The OSU band was on the other side of the field, but almost directly facing me during the game. And the sound level between the two when playing was about the same (and I noticed our band was not mic'd up very much this game).

I have a lot of good/great things to say about their band.

- Drum major executed his twirls and moves very well. The people who booed forget every twirler drops the baton now and again. His spins and moves were very good.
- They are clearly a more militaristic band than ours. The style of lower step marching, no horn swings, uniforms, etc clearly are aimed at that and make it easier to have a more consistent motion than other bands
- They sound very full. I know proponents of our band say that woodwinds add fullness/richness to the sound but I have come to disagree. On one hand I like hearing our band at indoor concert and on CD, hearing all the parts. On the other, when on the field saxes, clarinets, flutes simply don't carry that well so a brass only band just sounds more filled out. (also our band enrollment includes flags which produce 0 sound last I checked)
- They seemed to conduct themselves with class on the sideline. Didn't see any lame shenanigans. The only thing that bothered me was the 7 times I counted they played over our band. Whether it was pre-kickoff, between plays, or between quarters or at timeouts they seemed to have a disregard for letting the home team (and non-rival) play more.
- Their formations are interesting and showy. Not necessarily difficult. Case in point: script Ohio - two people need to know where to go and the rest follow. It is a great tradition and very unique but not technically impressive.

But I did notice (as did my girlfriend who was not EVER in band) that their diagonals were not close at all (being in the upper corner of the stadium was easy to see, trust me), their marching style lends itself to preciseness yet still they had slight phasing and imperfect lines. Add to that their marching style is not as exciting as ours - no 3/4 turns to the right, no horn swings, not a full chair step (note: not everyone in the UMN band hits chair but it's much closer), no run cadence. I felt the drum major was more of a feature twirler (albeit a good one) than a band leader on the field.

I'm not sure if others could see/tell but our band was certainly on their A-game for pregame. Everyone seemed very focused on hitting chair and their lines/diags. The show was a lot cleaner than I had seen all year.

My point wasn't that OSU's band is bad. They are a good band. I don't think they outclassed us, though. An if they are the "Best D Band in the Land" then we aren't that far behind them.
 

The best bands all play in the SWAC. Hope this helps.
 

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