Will the U of M band march down University Avenue ever again?

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Rouser4eVA said:
Point of curiosity from a Band Alum now living far from campus...Where is inspection now held? I remember standing at attention in formation in front of Northrup. It was a profoundly proud experience, paying homage to our great university in our colors getting ready to march our guts out. I'm excited to one day return home and experience gameday from early morning to post-game. It's been too long.

Go Gophers!
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Inspection is held outside of the entrance to the Band's facility in TCF (Pope County marker by gate B). If it is below freezing or raining, it is held inside the rehearsal hall. Not the same as standing in formation in front of Northrop, but they make do with what they were given.
 

Gopherdrummer said:
Inspection is held outside of the entrance to the Band's facility in TCF (Pope County marker by gate B). If it is below freezing or raining, it is held inside the rehearsal hall. Not the same as standing in formation in front of Northrop, but they make do with what they were given.
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No, that's not the same, but I imagine it evokes similar feelings we had in front of venerable Northrop. Ski-U-Mah, Mr. Drummer!

Go Gophers!
 

I really enjoy the pregame concert that is held between the hockey arena and TCF. I try to catch it at least once or twice per season if I am not tailgating or at a bar pregame. I've noticed the crowds are getting bigger. It has taken a while to settle into a band routine after the move to the new stadium but now that the pregame concert has moved from the south side of the stadium to the street in front of TCF's NW side, I think it is catching on. Nicely done and I'd expect the crowds to continue to grow as long as it is held at the same time and place each home game.

My biggest question is this: Of all the people that whine about the 'march down University', and habitually bring it up here in the form of the same repeating but new thread every other month... How many of you have taken in the existing pregame concert next to the stadium? Of all the times I have attended it, I have never once heard anyone there complain or ask for a march down University. And the crowd there continue to grow.
 

Gopherdrummer said:
Busing the band to one end of University is not cost effective as it costs somewhere around $5K alone just to transport the football team from Bierman to the loading docks of Mariucci.
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This can't possibly be true. How much of the 5K does the driver get for that 5 minutes of work? $3k?
 

AO54 said:
This can't possibly be true. How much of the 5K does the driver get for that 5 minutes of work? $3k?
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This could be a figure calculated by dividing the total value of a contract with the bus company with how many segments a bus runs for the team on a given gameday. There are about 4 or 5 buses for the team. Everything adds up quickly. Either way I do know that it cost at least $5k every time the band was bused to the dome (on campus shuttles) and costs more to send the band to the state fair.

Convenience is expensive. You need to pay the driver, management of the bus company, cover fuel costs, cover wear and tear of the vehicles, etc. Buses would need to be on call and no doubt there is effectively a "minimum fare" regardless of distance with every contract agreement.
 


froggopher said:
AMEN! I'll keep bringing this marching band issue up until they (U of M brass) maybe think of something similar. Or march down University Avenue like the band used to before games. :clap::clap::clap::clap:
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Right on.
 

Gopherdrummer said:
This could be a figure calculated by dividing the total value of a contract with the bus company with how many segments a bus runs for the team on a given gameday. There are about 4 or 5 buses for the team. Everything adds up quickly. Either way I do know that it cost at least $5k every time the band was bused to the dome (on campus shuttles) and costs more to send the band to the state fair.

Convenience is expensive. You need to pay the driver, management of the bus company, cover fuel costs, cover wear and tear of the vehicles, etc. Buses would need to be on call and no doubt there is effectively a "minimum fare" regardless of distance with every contract agreement.
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might be time to buy your own bus if that's true as that's just preposterous. You could send the whole band to Chicago on the Megabus for less. The band doesn't need a bus to march down University Ave. Take a right onto 4th street. Take a left at 17th and March down university. Divert traffic to 5th and Washington, who cares if there is a backup.
 

Gopherdrummer said:
TCF is a new chapter for the U and it's alums. Let it evolve into a new experience that you and your children will cherish for the rest of time. Stop living in the past as this is more of an apples to oranges comparison. We are only 4 years into this thing, and traditions take time to establish themselves. There is no doubt the band will be making minor changes to how things work prior to kickoff for years to come. heck they are still pushing to get the Plaza Show on the actual Plaza vs. on the street.
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You tell us to "...stop living in the past..." and then go on to say: "...traditions take time to establish themselves..." So, you want us to trash our traditions and rather sit back and embrace the mess that is kind of "happening" right now that you call your: "... currently developing traditions..." What I have seen happening on Game Day Saturdays does not quite resemble much that I could imagine anyone would like to be: "...a new experience that you and your children will cherish for the rest of time..."Which part will I cherish for the rest of time? The failure of the students to even care enough to form a Big Ten Level Student Section? The lack of a plan from the combined offices of the Music Department and the Athletic Department and the Alumni Out-Reach Department for establishing certain, specific, continuing and on-going events that will be the same week after week, season after season and will appeal to students, alumni and anyone coming to a Gopher Game for the first time?

Without the students falling in love with Game Day Saturday...just because it is Game Day Saturday, what is the future of establishing ANY kind of tradition, the way this is starting to just kind of happen and evolve is too haphazard and careless. And, based upon what I read here: many people don't even want the old "blue hairs" who have been buying season tickets for many decades and who have been making contributions for just as long around. I am told to "stop living in the past..." I am told that traditions I care about need to move over and get out of the way of what they are trying to pass off as a Game Day Tradition evolutionary process...or what ever might "stick.."Ok, no problem...After all, traditions are easy come...easy go...around the University of Minnesota I guess...

; 0 )
 

Schnauzer said:
I really enjoy the pregame concert that is held between the hockey arena and TCF. I try to catch it at least once or twice per season if I am not tailgating or at a bar pregame. I've noticed the crowds are getting bigger. It has taken a while to settle into a band routine after the move to the new stadium but now that the pregame concert has moved from the south side of the stadium to the street in front of TCF's NW side, I think it is catching on. Nicely done and I'd expect the crowds to continue to grow as long as it is held at the same time and place each home game.

My biggest question is this: Of all the people that whine about the 'march down University', and habitually bring it up here in the form of the same repeating but new thread every other month... How many of you have taken in the existing pregame concert next to the stadium? Of all the times I have attended it, I have never once heard anyone there complain or ask for a march down University. And the crowd there continue to grow.
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I've experienced both. While I enjoy the pre-game concert, I don't think it matches the excitement that was generated by the University Avenue march. But as Gopherdrummer makes clear, the two are probably mutually exclusive. My choice would be the march. On the broader issue of pre-game atmosphere, I frankly don't think our pre-game atmosphere compares unfavorably with other schools that I have visited, which includes Notre Dame, Penn State and Virginia Tech. And I really enjoy the pre-game and half time performances of the marching band within the stadium itself. I also agree that TCF Bank is a new environment and new, and maybe even better, traditions are likely to emerge. I would especially like to see greater use made of Ski-U-Mah.
 





imthewalrus said:
You tell us to "...stop living in the past..." and then go on to say: "...traditions take time to establish themselves..."

So, you want us to trash our traditions and rather sit back and embrace the mess that is kind of "happening" right now that you call your: "... currently developing traditions..."

What I have seen happening on Game Day Saturdays does not quite resemble much that I could imagine anyone would like to be: "...a new experience that you and your children will cherish for the rest of time..."

Which part will I cherish for the rest of time? The failure of the students to even care enough to show up for their cheap student tickets that have been even more deeply discounted or given to them to form a Big Ten Level Student Section? The lack of a plan from the combined offices of the Music Department and the Athletic Department and the Alumni Out-Reach Department about making certain, specific, continuing and on-going events that will be the same week after week, season after season and will appeal to students, alumni and anyone coming to a Gopher Game for the first time?

Without the students falling in love with Game Day Saturday...just because it is Game Day Saturday, what is the future of establishing ANY kind of tradition, the way this is starting to just kind of happen and evolve. And, based upon what I read here: many people don't even want the old "blue hairs" who have been buying season tickets for many decades and who have been making contributions for just as long around. I am told to "stop living in the past..." I am told that traditions I care about need to move over and get out of the way of what they are trying to pass off as a Game Day Tradition evolutionary process.

Ok, no problem...After all, traditions are easy come...easy go...around the University of Minnesota I guess...

; 0 )
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The tradition this thread is talking about is the Band's former parade down University Ave, and that tradition served a function. That function was to get the marching Band from point A (Northrop) to point B (Memorial Stadium). When Gopher Football moved to the Dome, tore down Memorial Stadium, and moved the Band into a state-of-the-art facility in TCF that tradition died. The tradition of topic that you hold near and dear to your heart doesn't need to move over since it no longer exists, and logistically cannot work.

Everything else you mention is not relevant to this specific topic. You have started countless numbers of other threads about them, but manage to not really provide much constructive discussion and talk in circles to no end. Traditions take time. What you are looking for is instant gratification. Some stuff will stick right away such as rotating the M, the Ski-U-Mah banner (should that continue next year), and the third quarter "Do the Gopher" pump up music. Other aspects of the game day atmosphere take time to develop and require support from both the fans and the U. Change happens over time. Earlier you mentioned the "traditional" chants the band makes as they perform. The only tradition about them is that they exist. Most of the chants are inside jokes and sayings that change over the years because their meanings are forgotten.

I for one have enjoyed the game day atmosphere at TCF on Saturdays, and cannot wait to take my future children (whenever that may be) back to campus for a football game. I also understand that Game Day will be a forever evolving experience, and am interested in how things will change year over year - big or small.
 

AO54 said:
not saying it's an intersection, just pointing out there are other ways to advance across campus.
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Washington is forever closed to car traffic between the bridge and Oak St. I thought this was common knowledge.

You're going to divert 100% of the traffic from a major 3-lane one-way thoroughfare to a narrow 2-lane 2-way low-occupancy local road (aka, 1/3 of the capacity) and think it's going to be no big deal? Seriously?
 



AO54 said:
might be time to buy your own bus if that's true as that's just preposterous. You could send the whole band to Chicago on the Megabus for less. The band doesn't need a bus to march down University Ave. Take a right onto 4th street. Take a left at 17th and March down university. Divert traffic to 5th and Washington, who cares if there is a backup.
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You are missing the point. There's maintenance for the buses that's covered in the cost. The Megabus is a simple drop and go, these buses are shuttles. Which also costs more in gas/maintenance/time. As someone who has had experience in dealing with bus companies, Drummer is pretty damn accurate in his posts.

It's never as simple as what you are trying to make it out to be.
 

Gopherdrummer said:
The tradition this thread is talking about is the Band's former parade down University Ave, and that tradition served a function. That function was to get the marching Band from point A (Northrop) to point B (Memorial Stadium). When Gopher Football moved to the Dome, tore down Memorial Stadium, and moved the Band into a state-of-the-art facility in TCF that tradition died. The tradition of topic that you hold near and dear to your heart doesn't need to move over since it no longer exists, and logistically cannot work.

Everything else you mention is not relevant to this specific topic. You have started countless numbers of other threads about them, but manage to not really provide much constructive discussion and talk in circles to no end. Traditions take time. What you are looking for is instant gratification. Some stuff will stick right away such as rotating the M, the Ski-U-Mah banner (should that continue next year), and the third quarter "Do the Gopher" pump up music. Other aspects of the game day atmosphere take time to develop and require support from both the fans and the U. Change happens over time. Earlier you mentioned the "traditional" chants the band makes as they perform. The only tradition about them is that they exist. Most of the chants are inside jokes and sayings that change over the years because their meanings are forgotten.

I for one have enjoyed the game day atmosphere at TCF on Saturdays, and cannot wait to take my future children (whenever that may be) back to campus for a football game. I also understand that Game Day will be a forever evolving experience, and am interested in how things will change year over year - big or small.
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I love you.
 

dpodoll68 said:
Washington is forever closed to car traffic between the bridge and Oak St. I thought this was common knowledge.

You're going to divert 100% of the traffic from a major 3-lane one-way thoroughfare to a narrow 2-lane 2-way low-occupancy local road (aka, 1/3 of the capacity) and think it's going to be no big deal? Seriously?
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correction- east river pkwy to get back onto Washington. They closed Washington between the bridge and Oak forever, and armageddon has yet to come. It's not a difficult traffic jam to avoid.
 

AO54 said:
correction- east river pkwy to get back onto Washington. They closed Washington between the bridge and Oak forever, and armageddon has yet to come. It's not a difficult traffic jam to avoid.
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No armegeddon because University Ave. was open?
 

AO54 said:
correction- east river pkwy to get back onto Washington. They closed Washington between the bridge and Oak forever, and armageddon has yet to come. It's not a difficult traffic jam to avoid.
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Whatever you say. But you're wrong. What you're saying is that you expect to be able to stuff 3 lbs. of sh1t into a 1-lb. bag without spilling any on the floor.
 

Ski U Mah Gopher said:
Finally, an actual band member giving us what is really going on.

Well done, Gopherdrummer!!!
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It is postings like this that really put a damper on discussions. People who have actual knowledge and understand the issue should be banned from posting here.;)
 

dpodoll68 said:
Whatever you say. But you're wrong. What you're saying is that you expect to be able to stuff 3 lbs. of sh1t into a 1-lb. bag without spilling any on the floor.
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I'm saying I don't care about a traffic jam for an hour because you couldn't find another way to go around. spill it on the floor.
 

AO54 said:
I'm saying I don't care about a traffic jam for an hour because you couldn't find another way to go around. spill it on the floor.
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Yeah, I'm sure you don't care if you're not one of the people affected by it.
 

dpodoll68 said:
Yeah, I'm sure you don't care if you're not one of the people affected by it.
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If you are affected by it, you at least hear the band while you wait. I'm not even convinced there would be a traffic jam. There just isn't that much traffic to begin with.
 


dpodoll68 said:
Yeah, 40-50 k people all walk there. That's the ticket.
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50000 people crossing these streets, in a 2 hour time period, and we can't convince anyone that it might be wise to divert traffic?
 

How about the two of you grab your road dogs and settle this at Bogart's?
 


Just change the name of a few streets. Change Oak St to University Ave.

Problem solved.
 


AO54 said:
If you are affected by it, you at least hear the band while you wait. I'm not even convinced there would be a traffic jam. There just isn't that much traffic to begin with.
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It is quite apparent you have no idea how traffic patterns and flow work. I sure as hell you are not employed as a scientist somewhere.
 

AO54 said:
correction- east river pkwy to get back onto Washington. They closed Washington between the bridge and Oak forever, and armageddon has yet to come. It's not a difficult traffic jam to avoid.
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We need you to make the presentations to the three neighborhood groups (University, Marcy-Holmes, and Prospect Park) who have defacto veto power over any street closings that impact their neighborhoods. I am sure you will easily persuade them that police cars, fire trucks, and ambulances will not be delayed for any length of time during marching band parades down University Avenue.

The power of your reasoning will be just too much for them to overcome when you explain to them that they will have absolutely no worries that their loved ones will be delayed for even one second while being transported to the hospital; fires will not burn for one second longer while fire trucks wind their way through traffic and detours to get to their homes; and finally, police will no be able to respond without one second delay for other emergencies in their neighborhoods. I am using a threshold of one second because I know enough about Minneapolis Neighborhood Associations to know that they will tolerate ZERO delay for emergency vehicles to every corner of their neighborhoods over and above what exists right now.
 

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