Nat,

Marching bands are part of football tradition and should be appreciated. I was in the marching band during high school and it was hard work. If you play close attention, they constantly make different formations and it’s a pretty cool effect. Plus the instrument playing makes it even better! At Ohio State, EVERYONE goes crazy for TBDBITL (The Best Damn Band In The Land) when they come marching out onto the field before the Ohio State football games. Without the OSU Marching Bands, OSU Football atmosphere just wouldn’t be the same. Also, your post is similar to a non-poker fan saying, “Who cares about poker, why is this shit on ESPN all the time?” I could go on and on with examples, but this blog post was not very intelligent and thought of with a very close minded. Btw, my mom forced me to start band in the 5th grade and I wasn’t allowed to quit. I hated band. Looking back on it now, I appreciate what it taught me more and more everyday. Those guys put in a TON of behind-the-door hours.

What alternative do you suggest? Schools don’t exactly have the budget to hire professional entertainment during halftime. Kinda marching bands or nothing, right?

I think you mean to say, “We’ve gotten some AWESOME designs done on P5s. You guys aren’t gonna believe how sick they are.” Also, sub needs to learn not to bet against the Nat…

Not only are marching bands a long standing tradition in football games, but are the largest functioning group in nearly every D-1 university. They are a massive visual force and keep traditions alive by playing the schools fight song, school song, and alma mater. Who leads the alma mater after each game? The band. The band is a conductor for the 80,000 fans to follow and unite the alumni and current students. Of course bands are a much bigger deal in historical programs and not so much in smaller, newer schools. Aside from putting together a new show for EVERY halftime of the season, the least you could offer for the kids that put in 10-20 hours per week from August trough November is 2 minutes of national television exposure.

I think tradition is a retarded argument for having things. It’s the same as saying someone should do such and such because it’s been done every year that way. I guess it’s somehow comforting to humans to do that but I don’t get it. I actually think the best argument for traditions is that people will go along with them just because they are traditions and therefore it’s easier to motivate people to do things (ie, buy merchandise, do certain cheers that pump up the team, etc).

Regarding bands more specifically, I am fine with them doing it during non-televised parts or doing it in the stands or whatever. Even if they performed during halftime during the season during a random like Auburn-Tennessee game during week six or something that would be okay because no one really gives a shit about that game except for people associated with those schools and, maybe, some people in the state. If it adds to the atmosphere, that’s a totally legit reason to do it. I don’t think the halftime show adds to the atmosphere.

But for these big bowls, they really should do something more like the Orange Bowl where they did a Super Bowl style thing. It’s much more entertaining for the audience as a whole. I don’t think anyone (except former band members and family members) really sits there going “man this band song is great, look how cool these formations are”.

Like I said, just my opinion. I go way off the deep end of rational thinking though.

And yes, Eric, sub is a total retard for betting against me. But he insisted that I pick a winner in the Nat’l Champ game so I did.

I’m not sure where you are from, Nat, but bands in the south are a huge deal and are loved for being a part of the football experience. It’s different everywhere, but a college game without bands would be one lacking direction and atmosphere. Perhaps you want some remembrance of Ashley Simpson @ the national championship just a few years ago http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e5YPiBx9MJs or maybe another boring performance by a band from the 70s (just to be safe.)

haha yea i agree with half time shows for big time games. i just thought you meant bands in general. i’m pretty sure i switched the channel when i knew the band was gonna play at halftime on TV. bands can’t really create new styles so we can pretty much expect the same thing over and over. if they had a band like limp bizket, i’d listen to that halftime show (the exact point that you’re getting at. one reason why they might do this is because it cost a lot of money to bring the big names into those type of atmospheres. now someone could say, “yeah but it’ll improve the ratings during halftime.” i’m not really sure how the ratings system and profits work, but maybe they’re already capped so the school or whoever is hosting the bowl games would end up losing money in the longrun. so MAYBE it’s the most +EV play from the profitability standpoint.

I’d much rather see random musical acts than bands. Sometimes they might suck but at least they won’t suck all the time.

Regarding Cory’s question, it’s only for the bowl games. I have to think that they can find room in the budget for games that are on primetime ESPN to put musical acts on a stage. It doesn’t have to be like a Super Bowl halftime show or anything but I think the exposure on TV should make it very cheap to do something like that.

“Football fans and marching band fans don’t cross over that well. ”

I assure you that most people who attended big football schools also support their marching bands. Networkds think it is worth showing as it’s part of the college tradition and a big part of what makes college football different than the pros. It takes people back to the college gameday experience. I have to admit though, if it’s not my school or maybe a couple of other schools’ marching bands, I could care less.

“I think tradition is a retarded argument for having things. It’s the same as saying someone should do such and such because it’s been done every year that way.”

As irrational as tradition is, it still has a place. Celebrating birthdays, new years, and christmas (I’m not religious) is somewhat arbitrary and doesn’t really hold any meaning, but they’re still worthwhile traditions.