Michigan Basketball's Anthony Wright last night at the meeting with the Maize Rage:
"Well every now and then a really good pump-up song will come on, then 10 seconds later the band will come in playin Yankee Doodle."
Certainly a disparaging way to describe your classmates who volunteer their time to motivate you. But let's give him the benefit of the doubt here: Anthony Wright is a smart guy and is just describing the team's performance with a historical metaphor. Wikipedia:
"The song's origins were in a pre-Revolutionary War song originally by British military officers to mock the disheveled, disorganized colonial "Yankees" with whom they served in the French and Indian War. At the time, the most common meaning of the word doodle was that of "simpleton" or "fool".
Sounds about right. So, Anthony, let's not bite one of the few remaining hands that feeds you.
(HT: UMHoops)
5 comments:
I feel like his point was that the band, possibly by the directors choice, often play songs that appeal to the older crowd at high excitement points. I for one am all in favor of a good Victors during a time out, but some of the other things they play were written when my grandparents were into contemporary music. That is what needs to change, not the band itself.
That's definitely what his point was, but I don't think that was the tactful way or the proper forum to express it.
For the record, he was discussing pre-game music.
I'm not going to disagree. You been to a basketball game this year?
And the point of the Maize Rage meeting with the team (and wasn't it like two Sundays ago, not yesterday?) was to brainstorm ways in which the Maize Rage could help get the crowds at Crisler into the game. This was the first time the basketball program has actively engaged with the Maize Rage, with the players involved, to get both parties on the same page.
Crisler has a long way to go to be a really intimidating atmosphere, and the band should certainly be a part of that transformation. If Anthony Wright feels that way, he should have the right to voice it. And, I think to a certain degree, that he has a point.
I was in the band this year and I just want to say that the new guy (Prof. Boerma) is still trying to figure out the whole crowd reaction to songs thing. He has never been at a school that has had strong athletics (aka Eastern) so he has never been exposed to that before and still needs to get used to it. To his defense he was getting better as the season went on. Example: he started leaving Rocky the Flying Squirrel and William Tell (popularly known as Bullwinkle and Horsey) to the middle of the game instead of in pregame. Also sail boat Bill is telling him what to do most of the time, ie "Play the Victors and Let's Go Blue the whole game" and "I like Woodchopper's Ball."
As for getting on the same page with the Maize Rage and the Cheerleaders, we tried that this year. We invited the Cheer coach and someone from the Maize Rage to one of our practices so they could hear the songs and try to make cheers with them. As I'm sure you already know, it didn't work.
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