GO GO GO CONNECTICUT HUSKIES! Takin' it home 84-67 for the WIN!!
One of my good friends played on our university girls rugby team. She was small but vicious. It looked like fun. After the football program complained about how our marching band wasn't as excited and motivated as a visiting team's marching band (which may have been motivated as hell, but sounded terrible), we were invited to play at the rugby games instead. I wish we had done it.
Maybe more parades would have been a good idea. :)
We only had a marching band at Central WA University because the alumni really wanted one for the football program. The music program was much better known (at least regionally), but the football program brought money. So we did a marching band. Not a lot of really fancy maneuvers; as I recall, we did a lot of formations for the first and last songs, and mostly "park and bark" for the middle. Sometime during third quarter, we would sing "White Christmas." Warmups on Saturday morning consisted of playing outside the dorm of whatever girl the drum major was trying to woo that particular week. We played four home games, packed up the stuff, and got on with the real music program. But we always sounded very good.
[I was anomalous. Not really part of the music program, I only showed up for marching season. By the time we started actually taking attendance and realized I wasn't even signed up for band, I was gone. Repeat the following year.]
The visiting band (a phenomenon I'd never witnessed before) did all sorts of high stepping, intricate field maneuvers while playing a horrid rendition of Dream Theater. They high-stepped all the way into the stands, did lots of chants and seemed very tight with their team. But they sounded terrible.
Our philosophy was more like, "We choose to have a mobile concert that happens to be co-located with a football game." Probably just as silly. But we had fun.
I was involved in all sorts of music ensembles, but concert band was NOT my thing. I showed up for one rehearsal, realized that it would bore the hell out of me, and bailed out. Fortunately, that sort of thing was actually allowed (fall semester was marching band; spring semester was concert band).
Right now I'm learning to play the drums. Better late than never. :)
3500+ people at the last bout of the season last night. Incredibly loud - loudest it's ever been since I started watching at working at The Roy Wilkins, plus a very very close game. I was shouting and could not hear myself. Wild stuff. Final was 111-95.
:)
Time to get a very loud megaphone.
That's why we normally use whistles; although the period I was referring to was during a time-out. The whistle I normally use (Fox 40 Classic) tops out at 114 db; I have one that's supposed to go over 120 db, but I'm not normally allowed to use it.
Doesn't change the fact that neither has any relevance.
Highlights from the last game I officiated, including the power-outage: http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=VDCWnluj8kg
The lights going out looked fun, maybe they should give everyone glow in the dark outfits and do the whole derby that way :)