Paralyzer

Nestled into Saturday's debacle was a brilliant halftime show by the Michigan Marching Band, including this arrangement of "Paralyzer" by Finger Eleven:

Sorry, I couldn't resist. But seriously -- here's what I wrote on August 5th:

My one hope for the season is that, at some point, Professor Boerma Rickrolls the crowd.

Sometimes dreams do come true. Well done, band. Well done.

In a way, we were all Rickroll'd twice on Saturday. Once by the MMB, and once by fate. We all bought tickets to the Toledo game knowing that it was going to be a tune-up for a tough rest of the season, and a chance to give the starters some extra reps. We all knew what we were in for. This was the football equivalent of clicking on a link that says "RICHROD STEAMROLLS TOLEDO 48-7."

But instead of seeing the five-score blowout we all figured was coming, the link took us to something completely different, something campy, ridiculous, tacky, embarrassing and unexpected. It was a classic bait-and-switch. You really got us good.

WTI: Ineligible Downfield Receiver Jesus

Craig:	Good evening ladies and gentlemen and welcome to Whatever This Is: I'm Craig, and I'm a Virgo...
Geoff:	And I'm Geoff, a Taurus. I enjoy long walks on the beach and watching Jimmah! Clausen bleed.
Jeremy:	I'm a Gemini with similar interests to Geoff. Especially the last one. But especially the beaches.
Craig:	We will get to the offense and Notre Dame in a few, but first, the band!

Geoff:	I think we started off with a couple of strong shows, even if one of those was a surprise.
Craig:	I had the interesting thing where I sat diametrically opposite to my previous seats, so I have been Northwest and Southeast corners during the last two weeks
Craig:	The first show was the Who, one I was pre-disposed to enjoy
Jeremy:	The Who show had identifiable sets, like a pinball path for a large silver ball to travel through and empty out of at the end of the song
Geoff:	Yeah. I enjoyed the GO BLUE set it ended with.
Craig:	I thought the set was solid...But I always think I am more critical of the band when the team is losing at half-time...
Geoff:	The crowd is more receptive when the team is winning, and that can affect perception.
Craig:	I also felt that it, ironically, lacked a little bit of volume (considering the band being covered), but I chalked that up to seat position
Geoff:	I thought the Who show was very good in practice, but a bit more subdued at halftime. I'd say it was decent volume, but by no means overpowering
Jeremy:	I think they've increased the volume from last year, but not quite to the point where it needs to be. (That point is peeling the faces off Row 90 during M Fanfare.)
Craig:	But I did think the arrangements were exceptionally sound and crisp. It did not sound like someone's artistic interpretation of the works of Pete Townshend, but rather a faithful rendition, lovingly performed, with appropriate flourishes along the way
Geoff:	Pregame volume seemed good, but tones and colors seemed to still prevail in halftime.
Geoff:	You can count on Boerma for good arrangements. I always trust that the music side of things will be taken care of.
Jeremy:	Yep, Boerma's made a career out of great arrangements.
Craig:	This week's show I thought proved to me an interesting notion...Stripped of their lyrics, boy band songs are exceptional pop music pieces. And I thought that a not insignificant portion of the student section was clearly in to it.
Jeremy:	I had seats in the student section. The vast majority of the girls LOVED it. The guys grumbled at first -- probably just as they did on family car trips when their sisters made them listen to these same songs -- but eventually embraced it.
Geoff:	Boy band songs are written by professionals who know how to structure a song and build it out of the right chords.
Craig:	Trained professionals Geoff?
Geoff:	A crack technical staff.
Craig:	As opposed to a technical staff on crack...zing!
Craig:	I will be interested to see how the show plays at Notre Dame Stadium
Geoff:	I think the show worked so well because of the commitment of the band, the quality of the arrangements, and the tongue-in-cheek acknowledgements of how cheesy the songs are.
Jeremy:	I think once people realize this is an over-the-top homage and not a sincere, heartfelt performance, they warm up to it.
Geoff:	See, that's always the question I've had since we saw the lineup. It sounds like a good one to do at home, because you can rely on the friendly audience and your target demographic in the student section to see it through. Obviously, this wouldn't play at all at Spartan Stadium or the 'Shoe, but I don't know what to expect from Notre Dame.
Craig:	I'm suspecting polite indifference.
Jeremy:	and ND fans are nothing if not polite.
Craig:	Then again, I will also be interested to see how the offense plays this weekend at Notre Dame Stadium...
Geoff:	We have an offense?
Craig:	Rumors on the internets say...yes!
Jeremy:	The forecast calls for a 90% chance of rain, which might help us, since it's not like we'd complete a forward pass anyway.
Geoff:	An important point. Tacopants had EPIC stats last Saturday.
Craig:	It's just sad that Tacopants is ineligible for the Heisman.
Geoff:	The rain might require something of a running game from us, and I'm not entirely comfortable with that either.
Craig:	You need Hosses on the offensive line, to quote Keith Jackson, and we have Little Joes.
Craig:	But the maddening thing was, the first series, the offense looked like an unstoppable juggernaut
Craig:	Starting with a 50 yard play by Odoms
Geoff:	If the line can even be passable, we have enough guys that someone will come through, I have to believe. And if Threet decides to keep his passes low enough that air traffic control doesn't get involved, I think he could be a Division I (FBS) quarterback.
Craig:	He needs less tangy zip is what you're saying.
Jeremy:	I wasn't terrified of the UFRs. Rodriguez is making good calls, we just have to MAKE PLAYS.
Jeremy:	And not ask Steven Threet to run the option in Hurricane Katrina.
Jeremy:	mgoblog probably made that joke already though.
Geoff:	It's one worth repeating
Geoff:	/choking sounds
Craig:	Maybe this is where we need a Grady?
Geoff:	This is where you'd expect him to be more effective, but I'm worried that he hasn't shown the vision you need with a suspect line.
Craig:	Yes, find the hole, hit the hole.
Craig:	I think, end of the day, I don't think any of us truly realized how spoiled we were in the Henne/Hart/Long era
Jeremy:	were we as spoiled in year 1 as we were in year 4 though?
Craig:	Year 1 had Braylon...
Geoff:	Not as spoiled. But we still made a Rose Bowl.
Jeremy:	right, thanks to Iowa.
Geoff:	Right now we're crashing back to the early Navarre Era
Craig:	As much as I was maddened by the inability to complete a ten yard pass, it really isn't fair to Threetidan that Mathews was out and Hemingway's appearances were as brief as his namesake's sentences. Period.
Geoff:	Losing your (arguably) top two receivers will punish any offense, let alone one as green as this one.
Jeremy:	And then your left tackle goes out with an elbow injury.
Geoff:	At this point, I'm hoping that the offense does enough not to beat itself and that the defense has a good day.
Craig:	I have read repeatedly that Michigan's defensive line will be the best unit on the field, and that will be enough to carry the day I agree on the former, and hope the latter is correct. As an aside, I was finding myself maddened by the defense until I stepped back and said "Wait, they've allowed two field goals. That's pretty darn good." Sometimes you just need to take a breath
Jeremy:	the rain in the forecast could make mean Yackety Sax gets looped three or four times in this year's version.
Geoff:	Brian's made some good points about our defense: The line has been dominating, even if it hasn't been obvious at the time. Linebacker play has been spotty, corners have been good, and safety has been an adventure.
Craig:	That's very true.
Craig:	By the way, can either of you give me a worry/no worry on Lopata after last Saturday
Jeremy:	I feel like his UFRs assign points based on his seething rage at the time. Since we won, we saw -1s for Stevie Brown where we'd otherwise see -3s. What I'm saying is, he was worse than he looked on paper.
Geoff:	If the rain comes on, that could limit the vertical passing game from ND, which was a significant threat versus SDSU, receivers would have a tougher time making the cuts to get away from out defenders, and we should (SHOULD) have an easier job at containing.
Geoff:	I don't know what to make of Notre Dame's running game, since they didn't try to do anything with it.
Craig:	Notre Dame, confusing, or very confusing?
Geoff:	But Armando Allen got his bell rung pretty good on one carry, so you'd expect him to be slightly limited.
Craig:	I mean, it's already the weekend that the statue of Dr. Lou is being unveiled in South Bend...
Jeremy:	Forgot to bring this up during the band discussion period, but what of the "don't fear the reaper" interlude?
Geoff:	I miss "Respect" on the one hand, but it wasn't exactly a well-known tradition.
Craig:	I've already said my piece. Teach the band "Across 110th Street" and have that back the highlights between the third and fourth quarter
Jeremy:	That's... that's just beautiful. I would cry.
Geoff:	This is a fantastic idea. We can't do the organ part perfectly, but it would be magnificent.
Craig:	It's the essence of the thing.
Craig:	I know it seems like a ridiculous notion of a "Michigan Tradition", but when my phone rings with that song, people look at me and say "Michigan Replay?!?" and then say it's awesome.
Craig:	So I mean, I have to go with that. Plus, you cannot benefit from random appearances by Presidential Candidate Yaphet Kotto.
Jeremy:	it would certainly be better than pumping in the rawk music.
Geoff:	Broseph, ya gotta have the rawk!
Craig:	No, really, you don't.
Craig:	Actually, I think this week showed me the difficulty in putting Michigan traditions down on paper
Craig:	We want to help, and we like to think we are, but there's not always the consensus that we believe there to be.
Geoff:	I would just like to avoid jumping off the bridge that assumes we won't get a ten-point lead for the rest of the year.
Jeremy:	I can't complain about enthusiasm in the face of miserable circumstances, but let's not sell ourselves short either.
Craig:	It's still a lot of football left, things will get figured out.
Geoff:	Do we have any expectations for what we'll be seeing out of the Irish this weekend?
Craig:	You mean besides Clipping Jesus?
Geoff:	Illegal Participation Jesus
Craig:	Personal Foul: Leverage Jesus
Jeremy:	Holding Jesus
Craig:	Beyond that, I have no idea. It'll be wet. I know that much.
Geoff:	I figure we'll see a lot of blitzing, which could work in our favor if we manage not to soil ourselves.
Geoff:	On the other side of the ball, Clausen will air it out if we give him time. But with our line, we've got a shot.
Craig:	He can throw that fade, as you have mentioned
Jeremy:	SDSU's corners weren't exactly making plays either.
Craig:	MAKE PLAYS!
Geoff:	I guess we'll see on Saturday.
Craig:	On the third annual HSR Road Trip!
Geoff:	Go blue
Jeremy:	Go Blue!
Craig:	Go Blue!
Craig:	So with that, we bid you all good night!

new hockey band seats sorta confirmed

The Blog That Yost Built has the scoop on the new hockey band seats, although the link to the USCHO thread is broken as of this writing.

The band has been tucked between sections 22 and 1 since 2002. Before that, they were in the upper half of section 20. Section 19 is next to (some of) the students.

Increasing the band by 30 and dropping them under the upper deck will have interesting acoustical effects. It could be raucously loud, or it could just be confusing and noisy. Either way, the addition of 30 students is a welcome change, sure to make an already intimidating venue considerably more so. And while it's assumed that the new director will not be allowed to dance, he will be more easily able to hear the students' polite requests for him to do so should the right circumstances arise.

Go to Subway anyway

The Michigan hockey team plays Notre Dame at the Palace of Auburn Hills this weekend. As The Blog That Yost Built pointed out when the schedule was released, Notre Dame may be getting exposure in a new market, but it may not be worth it to give up their only home date against Michigan for what amounts to a road game less than an hour from Michigan's campus.

Well, it seems that they're trying to reclaim the environment. While it's naturally going to be a heavy Michigan crowd, one staple of weekends at Yost will be conspicuously absent: The Michigan hockey pep band will not be in attendance.

This is not due to conflicts or crowds. It is because Notre Dame is excluding them from attending. The hockey team liason explained to the band that "it is ND's home game and they did not want to allow [them] to travel." The band contacted the CCHA and learned that there is no official policy on home games played at neutral sites, but they would bring up this issue at league meetings this year. Red Berenson and the team told the MMB staff that the band's presence would "greatly improve the environment," and that their hands are tied.

Incredible that this is deliberate. But band-related conflicts are not without precedent between these schools. The Notre Dame marching band has twice made problems for themselves when traveling to Michigan in the past. Michigan's long-standing policy of capping opposing bands groups at 330 members somehow became an obstacle for Notre Dame who was unwilling to write drill for a smaller group in advance. Ultimately, they complained publicly but still came without incident. And I think they came to Michigan this year too, though I don't remember hearing their fight song when they scored.

I don't mean to suggest this is a retaliatory snub -- if they wanted to inconvenience the MMB they could've done so at the games in 2004 or 2006 -- just wanted to note that similar things have happened before.

The Victors and the Notre Dame Victory March are unanimously revered among the top fight songs in the country and almost always appear #1 and #2 in pundits' lists. It is unfortunate that this attempt at neutralizing the Michigan faithful comes at the expense of some of the greatest traditions in college athletics, and not by circumstance, but by choice.

Update: Notre Dame will indeed have its pep band there Saturday. The associate athletic director responded to an e-mail explicitly stating that since the Michigan band played at its home game on Friday, that "in turn, the Notre Dame band will perform at its home game on Saturday." He said that during CCHA play, visiting teams' pep bands do not perform at Yost Ice Arena, and we should not expect Notre Dame to host a visiting band, since that is not customary in college hockey.

He neglects to account for CCHA regular season games played at neutral sites, such as the annual Michigan-MSU hockey game at Joe Louis Arena, where both bands are present. And when LSSU played one of its home games at Joe Louis, rotating Michigan and Michigan State as opponents, both visiting teams' bands went. There's even a precedent for CCHA regular season games played at non-hockey venues: The Cold War.

To which Michigan sent a band.

The band is on the screen!

A post at the commentating panopticon Awful Announcing expresses incredulity that Fox showed the WFVU and Oklahoma marching bands 58 times during last night's Sugar Bowl.

And that's a bad thing?

We may be biased here at the HSR, but the cameras should be focusing on the bands at least that much. College marching bands are a consistent source of coordinated chants, animated cheers, flashy instruments, and students always cheering loudly. For all the work they put in they rarely get televised attention for it. With the notable exception of the Rose Bowl, pregame and halftime are rarely shown unless they can fit it in between commercials for whatever sports drink sponsored this presentation.

Ironically, during the 29 theoretical times they showed Oklahoma's band, they were probably playing Boomer Sooner during each one. It's certainly not as annoying as USC's pep dirge (which they played at least sixty times during last year's Rose Bowl), but it doesn't help to look so uninspiring when you finally get the airtime.

Anyway: We applaud Fox Sports' BCS bowl game producers for showing off an essential element of the pageantry and tradition of college football. Keep it up.

WTI: Capital

Geoff:	That was the best bowl performance I've seen by Michigan in a long time. Probably the most enjoyable one since Alabama in the 2000 Orange Bowl.
Jeremy:	I couldn't stop thinking, "Did I drink so much that I passed out and it's now January 2009?"
Geoff:	It was crazy. Empty backfield, passing to set up the run.
Craig:	I had that moment of "this could be something" when Arrington had the behind the back catch. And I just thought...wait a second, we CAN win this game. Which was, by the way, the first time I have believed that since the pairing was announced.

Geoff:	Me too. But I held out from getting too attached until just before halftime.
Jeremy:	It was clear Lloyd would have none of that conservative talk after the "screen pass that might have been" to the lumbering 6'7" 350 lb lineman
Craig:	Agreed. We've been down this road far too often.
Geoff:	Though getting Jake Long a TD would have been the cherry on top.
Craig:	Mike DeBord went into the secret folder in the playbook labeled "Plays NEVER, EVER to be used, under penalty of death."
Geoff:	DeBord needed a companion piece to '06 Notre Dame.
Craig:	By the way, Manningham was amazing, but Arrington was other worldly yesterday. He did things that should not be allowed under the physical laws of this universe.
Geoff:	He was operating on a completely different plane.
Craig:	And Henne reminded people that, when healthy, he's as good as any quarterback in the country.
Jeremy:	He made himself a lot of money yesterday.
Geoff:	This is a victory that's going to age well. I like having the next 9 months in front of me.
Craig:	Which makes me sad, because yesterday was "the Awesome Power of a Fully Operational Mothership"
Geoff:	And one operating without training wheels.
Craig:	Did you feel like yesterday, Mike DeBord was like "Well, I need to update my resume. We're using everything..."
Geoff:	He went all-out to add a few more clips to his reel.
Craig:	You know, if Butch Jones gets the WFVU job, there would be an opening at Central...
Jeremy:	Let's hope Mallett enjoyed the display
Craig:	He genuinely seemed to be into it on the sideline, for whatever watching the backup quarterback is worth.
Geoff:	Maybe he's just a kid who likes watching his team win, but he didn't look like a guy about to transfer.
Craig:	By the way, is it possible that while not "good", three of the four turnovers were of the non harmful variety because they were so deep in the Michigan end (credit to Florida for driving 80 yards to convert off the one)?
Geoff:	They were definitely harmful because they took, at minimum, six points off the board. But at least they weren't handing the points to Florida.
Craig:	Was there some kind of strange karmic balance, wherein because Manningham and Arrington and Matthews did not have the treacherous hands, Mike Hart was required to do so?
Geoff:	Theoretically, I wouldn't have been shocked if Hart fumbled. But TWICE?
Craig:	You could just see on the first one, he was just incredulous, like "Really???"
Jeremy:	You could see it in his face too. The first time he was smiling, because of course it's going to be overturned.
Geoff:	I was waiting for it to go to review.
Geoff:	The second time, it was the same play as the Penn State game, except this time a guy put a helmet right on his hands.
Craig:	My point was, Hart was trying to get every last inch, the Florida player did what you're taught to do, dislodge the ball.
Geoff:	Oh, and Terrance Taylor blocked his second kick of the year. This time it was a Florida field goal attempt, but he also blocked a PAT during the EMU game.
Craig:	I liked that he got the "great work kid, but an idiotic penalty" pep talk from Coach Carr.
Jeremy:	By "pep talk" do you mean Carr roaring in his face for several seconds?
Craig:	Something like that...
Geoff:	Anyway, it was a near-perfect ending to Lloyd Carr's tenure as football coach. I wonder what he'll be doing as an associate athletic director.
Craig:	A lot of fundraising for the university, a lot of charity work, auditing a class on Kipling's works, meeting Maureen Dowd...
Geoff:	I think he'll find a way to get involved in keeping athletes on track to graduate. So much of his last locker room speech revolved around his guys finishing their educations.
Craig:	And I loved that about him, by the way, that it wasn't fake; he genuinely wanted that to be one of his big points.
Geoff:	The only other guy I've heard talk that much about getting your degree is Red Berenson.
Craig:	Hey, I smell a segue!
Geoff:	A segue to a GLI championship?
Craig:	I was lucky enough to be at both nights of the GLI and it may have been some of the best hockey I have seen in ages at any level. On Friday you had Michigan just coming out hot and doing it right with the 6-0 win over the skating Friars, with Billy Sauer turning away 44 shots.
Geoff:	I watched the 6-0 demolition of Providence. That was something else.
Craig:	That was followed by one of the singularly most entertaining GLI games I had seen in my life (1997-present) in the Michigan Tech victory over State.
Craig:	I must say, it's hard not to like Tech when you're not playing them. The Huskies were playing on 110% scrap
Geoff:	Definitely. It's hard to root against most of the teams from the UP.
Craig:	And Michigan State ran into a goalie in Nolan who was that insane combination of good and lucky.
Craig:	Couple that with State losing the Champs Sports Bowl in the middle of that game, and it was just a bad night for little brother.
Geoff:	Brian Hoyer just threw another interception.
Craig:	So that set up Saturday, which had Providence beat a demoralized Michigan State followed by a game that can only be described as epic. It's my conclusive proof that a game with just one goal can be the most compelling thing possible. Posts left and right, great glove saves, great blocker knockaways, an ever-increasing level of chippiness, lots of power play chances but Nolan up to the task EVERY time, and finally, in the second overtime...making it work.
Craig:	Billy Sauer deserved tournament MVP honors and he is emerging as the goalie we all wanted him to be when he got here as a 17 year old. The defense stepped up, including Scooter Vaughn, of the California Vaughns. Tristan Llewellyn and his new game show sensation sweeping the nation..."Is it British Enough...with Tristan Llewellyn?" Porter making more of a case for the Hobey Baker with each game. And a nice way to get off the schneid in the GLI and aim towards the next six weeks, which will tell us much more about the team than we probably want to know. But if Sauer can keep playing at this level, Michigan is for real.
Geoff:	It's been a special season for this team, and I want to watch them as often as I can.
Jeremy:	Any thoughts on that e-mail we got?
Geoff:	Ah, the email. Eric asks, "Ok, so you guys probably have at least a little more insight into the workings of the MMB than I do. Why, during the Capitol One Bowl, did they play their entire pregame and halftime facing the sideline opposite the Michigan section?"
Jeremy:	I suggested that because the Michigan section was opposite the press box, which is ultimately the "focal point" of the performances, and on-the-fly adjustments are hard to make.
Geoff:	Yeah. We generally play to the press box, even if our fans are on the other side.
Jeremy:	It's possible that even if they wanted to, they couldn't start pregame from the press box sideline because of equipment or people with field/press passes already taking up too much space. (Remember, pregame entry lines form on the sideline during away trips). To the MMB readers, if this was ever addressed on the trip, certainly chime in and let us know.
Craig:	Honestly, looking at crowd shots, was there a Michigan side yesterday?
Geoff:	There was a Michigan corner. That was about it.
Craig:	I know there was, but it just felt like 9:1 Florida/Michigan ratio.
Geoff:	Not bothering to play to the opposite sideline is something of a pet peeve of mine.
Jeremy:	We even saw bands playing to both sidelines at once this year, so we know it's possible.
Geoff:	Yeah. And we should also note that the band took the Modern Broadway show with them to Orlando. So that's three times this year Carl has had to avoid saying "Springtime For Hitler."
Craig:	And Germany...
Jeremy:	That's right where ESPN started showing it, too. I was hoping maybe the commentators would tell us the song.
Craig:	I looked around the room at the viewing party yesterday with three other MMB fans and we all smiled at the fact that that was where they came in.
Craig:	So, shall we wrap this up gentlemen?
Geoff:	For hockey, we have the USNTDP next Tuesday, a home and home with Western, then things start getting real with ND and MSU in back to back weekends. Good luck to them as they come up against the meat of the schedule.
Craig:	It's going to be fun to watch...and helpful in ignoring the Beilein transition...
Geoff:	And good luck to the departing assistants from the football team.
Craig:	Agreed...and hopefully there will be more than Fred Jackson back...
Jeremy:	I'd hire Jeff Casteel right now.
Craig:	And to Mike Hart, here's to hoping we see you back in Ann Arbor in 25 years...as the new boss.
Jeremy:	Craig, I think that's definitely going to happen.
Craig:	Todd Collins should be a candidate when Rich Rod is done, he has an advanced degree in Saunders Offense...
Craig:	To Coach Carr, I've said all I can, so I now merely say thank you.
Geoff:	Thanks to Coach Carr for everything he's done for this program over the last 28 years.
Craig:	To the Seniors: You will not be forgotten. Whether that's a good thing or not remains to be seen.
Jeremy:	Adrian Arrington said it very well: "He took a lot of boys who thought they were men and turned them into real men." That is no small task.
Geoff:	And I think we're done. Thanks, guys.
Craig:	Thanks Geoff, Thanks Jeremy! Happy New Year.
Jeremy:	Great start so far! Goodnight.

More Damn Sound

Back in August, we created a list of suggestions to improve the gameday atmosphere based on an interblog conversation between HSR and Varsity Blue. Some of them happened; the band played more, and they incorporated a rotating Let's Go Blue. One stands out, though:

Suggestion: Get students involved in the drum cheers. An advantage to the new location of the band is the students can now hear the drumline cheers. Coming up with unified chants/motions to accompany these drum cheers, which many sections in the band already do, could easily spread throughout the student section.

(This didn't happen at all, but that's not the point of this post. It was nice to still have the drumline "featured" at the end of the first quarter, but it did nothing to unify the students. I had to listen to the drums to identify most of the songs; this means they should've been used more.)

This is indicative of a problem that emerged this year: The students can't hear the band. Some were quite turned off by this, as evidenced by these MGoBlog comments from Matt K:

Putting the band in the student section was a great big middle finger to the students. With the band opposite the students, the entire north end was loud and intimidating. I remember when the band pointed at the MSU huddle in OT in 04 and played the Victors continuously through a timeout. That was f-ing AWESOME. 2 other band related complaints: They're playing the Victors more slowly under the new director. And they're not nearly playing loud enough. I was sitting not that far behind the band on Saturday and I couldn't hear them even a little bit. OSU's band sounded like it was playing 4 inches from my face. It's not the band's fault as I understand it, but it's got to change. In terms of improving game-day atmosphere the band fell far short this year.

Not good: The students beyond row 50 can't hear the band. Unfortunately the decision to move the band was out of the band's control, and comes from the fact that the seats across the stadium sell for more than seats in the student section. Their PR answer was "student unity," and letting the southern half of the stadium hear the band better, but what good does that do? They didn't cheer any louder. The students need to hear the band as much as possible. His comments also suggest that the changes to the tempo and volume of the performances, Victors included, are drastic enough that "outsiders" are piping up about it.

On Tempo: I disagree that the Victors needs to change back to its Nix-inspired tempos. His unbridled enthusiasm affected the tempo at which the fight song was played, so not only was it very fast, but it fluctuated depending on the excitement of the play that inspired it. Some see this simply as his wielding of the Victors as a weapon to be used how he pleases. That's understandable. However, I think it should be rigorously maintained at the same tempo, and that tempo should be something close to the current one. The Victors should be above modifications to fit the needs of the crowd.

It's possible the students may just want a faster tempo because they can't hear the current one, which inevitably ends with them rushing three or four full beats ahead of the tune by its conclusion, and assuming they are correct. When they can hear it, they stay with it. This is why the band should be facing the student section in the stands, instead of facing away from them.

On Volume: Dynamic contrasts are important to the general effect of a show. A band that can perform a broad range of styles and intensities benefits from such versatility, which is essential for marching bands on the competitive circuit. Michigan football, however, is not the competitive circuit. It is 110,000 people who are probably not paying attention to the band. From what I've heard from shows this year, as well as comments left on this blog, is that the sound is being explicitly suppressed in the interest of such contrasts and "quiet sections." Again, this has its place; that place is not halftime in Michigan Stadium.

There is a simple fix for all of these problems: Play louder. We know it is possible; it's not like all the volume graduated last year. Playing louder would allow more of the students to hear the band, let them stay together on the Victors, and allow everyone to enjoy more of the halftime performances. The MMB did sound more balanced and rounder this year but it was at a significant and noticeable expense of volume. Row 80 does not care about legatos and mezzo pianos. Row 80 only cares about why their faces aren't being peeled off by the first note of M Fanfare.

George Cavender said it best: MORE DAMN SOUND.

MSU In Pictures

We left my parents' house for East Lansing at 12:30, after my brother got home from work. On 696, we got a call letting us know that we should avoid 96, that it was a parking lot starting at Howell. We headed up 75 and west on I-69. My dad dropped my brother and I off at Grand River and Abbott. I had a vague idea about how to get to the stadium from there, but it really helped when I stumbled upon the Spartan Marching Band, lined up to parade over.

Our seats at Spartan Stadium were right in the middle of the Michigan section, which was good for me. Now I could be that much louder without risk.

Pre-game was good, even if it was the abbreviated version. The backbend was perfect. One change was that the band exited the field by taking the M off onto the sideline opposite the press box.

I didn't notice at the time, but someone in the comments pointed out that one of the SMB snares fell over while doing kick-step, and I actually have a photo of it.

The cheerleaders entered the field ahead of our team, and did that whole "run around waving your flag in the other guy's face" thing. I don't really like that when other teams do it in our stadium, but it made for a good picture once they came over to the actual Michigan fans. Then we had a flyover of four F-16s. Note the wire for the ESPN skycam.

Our first play from scrimmage was obviously zone left. Long and Butler crushed their guys, Moundros had a good block on his man, and Mike Hart was into the second level. Arrington looks like he's solid on this too.

The only Michigan TD on our end of the field all day was the Butler reception. The sun made this a bit fuzzy, but you can see it.

The MMB did the Modern Broadway show again from the Minnesota game. Sparty wants to join our flags.

The band performed "Springtime For Hitler" from The Producers, "Dancing Queen" from Mama Mia (without the dance this time), and "Defying Gravity" from Wicked. I have better pictures of this show from the Minnesota game, and I'll hopefully get around to posting them this week.

The SMB performed a '90's rock show that was decent, if kind of bland.

Nothing good happened on our end of the field in the second half, but I had to pull out the camera again after the Manningham TD.

GLORIOUS VICTORY ACHIEVED! Additional pictures can be found here.

WTI: Watch out, Elle Driver

Geoff:	Last weekend, two of us were lucky enough to attend the 2007 edition of Michigan-MSU.  And to be there was glorious.
Craig:	And I was nearly throwing up in a living room in South Lyon, but a giant wall of HD is also glorious.
Jeremy:	I had seats in the MSU alumni section, and it was amazing how quickly their fans abandoned ship at the first sign of struggle.
Geoff:	You get your heart broken enough times, maybe you just can't hold on as tight.
Jeremy:	A psychologist could have a field day with why they're conditioned to do that.

Geoff:	I was over in the Michigan section, and that was rocking.
Craig:	And I was remembering why I am not a fan of Paul Maguire.
Geoff:	I was fortunate to be over there.  Less chance of someone starting a fight with me for being too obnoxious.
Jeremy:	The team is on a ruthless revenge tour, and OSU stands in the way between us and the greatest redemption story ever.
Craig:	So would that make Michigan State O-Ren Ishii, or just the Crazy 88?
Geoff:	I don't know.  Who fails more consistently?
Craig:	Say what you will, but O-Ren did build up a pretty good Yakuza crime syndicate before getting the top of her head lopped off.
Geoff:	There is no telling what I would do to secure a win over Ohio State this year.  At this point, there is nothing that could be sweeter.
Jeremy:	would you...  rest Henne and Hart vs.  Wisconsin?
Craig:	No.  I will get my Hattori Hanzo out to prevent that.  It's their career, it's the last two game of their careers, they know they want to beat tOSU.  It should be the call of a combination of the players, coaches, and medical staff.
Geoff:	If it meant a win over OSU, absolutely.  But I don't know that resting Henne helps at all.  Getting him and his receivers working in rhythm is terribly important.  And like Craig says, you can't hold them out of one of their last games in a Michigan uniform.
Jeremy:	Priority #1 should be keeping them as healthy as possible for OSU.  It sounds like neither one will hear a damn word of this "resting" business, so it will be on the coaches.  If Carr plays them and we lose to OSU, they'll say the guys weren't rested properly.  if he doesn't play them and we lose, they'll say it was because Hart and Henne were out of sync for not playing the week before.  But is that worth it for the chance to play them both weeks and win both weeks in an absolute blaze of glory?
Craig:	I have a feeling that if there is a loss to tOSU, it will not be due to Henne and Hart.
Geoff:	Agreed.  Beanie Wells scares the bejesus out of me, especially after what Caulcrick and Ringer were able to do.  Michigan wins very few games in which it is outgained on the ground.
Craig:	Agreed.  You know, I wanted to raise a theory.  Michigan seems to have trouble right out of the gate, as we have seen in each of the last three games.  Is this possibly because teams now run those 15 play scripts and so they have so tightly executed them during the week that any defense we throw at them will not be sufficient?
Geoff:	I think they have trouble out of the gate in a macro sense.  Look at the start of the season for an example on a larger scale.  Then they settle into whatever they're supposed to be doing.
Craig:	If only we could believe that we need to start playing from the word go...sigh.
Geoff:	I wonder if we're as predictable defensively as we are on the other side of the ball.  Scripted sequences would have an advantage in that case.
Jeremy:	We were in the Herrmann days.
Craig:	You know, we could raise this question with the Lord High Poobah of game film...
Geoff:	Jeremy, did you spend a lot of time in East Lansing before the game? We didn't get in until about an hour before game time, so we went right to the stadium.  Even accounting for that, I was surprised by how little abuse I took.
Jeremy:	We tailgated for 3 hours in the Farm Lane lot, which is the commuter lot, and took a shuttle in.  Everyone was cordial.
Geoff:	Yeah.  All I had was one guy who questioned my commitment to heterosexuality, which 1.) Way to put your homophobia out there, and 2.) Your team is the Spartans.  Everyone else left me alone.
Jeremy:	The best shirt I saw all day said "hail to the victors," with the ASU A, Oregon O, and Spartan S.  If you're going to base your pride on your opponent's struggles, that's admittedly a clever way to do it.
Geoff:	There was a woman a few rows ahead of me with a Grand Valley State hoodie.  I don't know if that was an intentional taunt, but I enjoyed it.
Jeremy:	I got a picture of a man wearing one who swears it was because his son goes there.  He was clearly tired of being harassed all morning, but I was supportive.
Jeremy:	What did you think of the bands and their shows?
Geoff:	MSU's '90's show was pretty good, if a little bland.  They did [something I can't remember], RHCP's "Higher Ground" cover, Aerosmith's "Eat the Rich", and No Doubt's "Spiderwebs".
Jeremy:	I do appreciate their efforts to cater directly to the student section, but "Spiderwebs" isn't exactly a roaring, crowd-energizing song.
Craig:	Honestly, were it not for Sirius 24, I don't know I would have remembered "Spiderwebs"...It's the backup long-snapper of No Doubt singles.
Geoff:	And is "Eat the Rich" really the one you're going to choose from Aerosmith? For that matter, '90's Aerosmith, really?
Craig:	From that album, really?
Jeremy:	Also, an amplified bass? Really?
Craig:	Isn't that standard Sparty practice? I know it is at the JLA for hockey.
Jeremy:	I did like their drum rack.  While gimmicky, it adds an extra dimension to the sound, and keeps the drumline stationary so they can focus more on their music.  The drill focused more on isolated shapes at the beginning, and once the rack was brought out, large symmetrical forms on either side.
Geoff:	Yeah.  And they had the drum break in the middle of the show.
Craig:	Did they have a washboard break?
Geoff:	No, no Beck.
Jeremy:	Um, OSU basketball just lost to D-II Findlay.
Geoff:	There's some sort of epidemic.
Craig:	I blame the Big Ten Network.
Geoff:	Thank you, Coach Beilein, for not losing to Ferris.
Craig:	Speaking of M Basketball...I am deeply encouraged by...the new Lights at Crisler.  The morgue is dead, so to speak.  It really pops now on video footage.
Geoff:	The highlights looked a lot sharper.  I want to see what it looks like inside now.
Craig:	I have secured my tickets for UCLA to do just that.
Geoff:	I hope to get to a game or two this year, especially since there's no way Comcast will be picking up the BTN any time soon.
Geoff:	Hockey had a nice weekend in Omaha.  It sounds like they didn't play their best, but managed to sweep the Mavericks anyway.  That's the kind of a weekend that you need to have if you want to compete for the CCHA title.
Craig:	Agreed.  Taking care of business at home and with what looks to be the lower rungs of the conference, that will bode well.
Geoff:	Miami looks scary.
Craig:	Miami looks like a machine and, I think, with their new rink, will be a force to be reckoned with for years to come.  Of course, we should note their AD is Brad Bates, one of Bo's boys from the late 1970s.
Jeremy:	Having only seen box scores and Blog Yost Built recaps, it looks like Sauer is stepping up.
Geoff:	Sauer had a nice pair of games against BU.  Maybe he can put together at least a solid season, because the offense seems to be clicking.
Geoff:	Anyway, let's hope football can put it together against Wisconsin for a win, and that we come out of Madison healthier than East Lansing.
Craig:	Agreed.  I was really hoping for a night game in Madtown, but it looks like the great philosopher Jagger was right once more.
Jeremy:	In eleven days we could easily see Lloyd Carr end his time in Michigan stadium by being carried off the densely packed field on Jake Long and Shawn Crable's shoulders.  They need to do what it takes this week to make that happen.
Geoff:	Absolutely.
Craig:	Affirmed.
Geoff:	It's a win we desperately want and need.  Go blue.
Jeremy:	Go blue!
Craig:	Go Blue!

MMB Connections

Michigan welcomes back a few MMB alumni at the Eastern game this weekend.

Miller Asbill and John Zastoupil both served on last year's MMB staff while earning doctoral and master's degrees, respectively. Professor Asbill is Eastern's Director of University Bands, and Professor Zastoupil is the new Associate Director of Bands and the Director of the EMU Marching Band.

They are not alone; there are many other people with ties to the MMB and U-M School of Music working in prominent positions for notable band programs throughout the country:

• Ohio State: Dr. Jon Woods, 23-year director of "Tibbid Bittle," holds a Ph.D. from the University of Michigan.
• Penn State: Dr. O. Richard Bundy, director of the Blue Band, holds a Master of Music degree from the University of Michigan.
• Michigan State: Kevin Sedatole, Director of Bands, served as the Michigan Marching Band director in the late '90s.
• Wisconsin: Bill Garvey, field assistant to the University of Wisconsin Marching Band, holds a Master of Music degree from the University of Michigan.
• Minnesota: Director of Bands Jerry Luckhardt served on the University of Michigan faculty.

There are also connections in bands with which the MMB has recently performed:

• USC: Dr. Bartner, longtime director of the Trojan Marching Band, earned his B.A., M.A., and Ed.D. in Music Education from the University of Michigan, under the guidance of William D. Revelli
• Texas: Assistant (to the) Director of Bands at Texas, Dr. Damon Talley, holds a Master of Music degree from the University of Michigan.

(NB: Conversely, Texas has pretty much served as a direct pipeline to U-M. IIRC, current MMB assistant director Scott Bersaglia, his predecessor Damon Talley, and former MMB directors Jamie Nix and Kevin Sedatole all were affiliated with the Texas bands at one point in their careers.)

There are undoubtedly more out there, but even this list provides further incontrovertible proof of our dominance over mankind's accomplishments, from marching bands to lunar travel. We're in ur faculteez, correcting ur step sizez.

Listening To the 2005 Penn State Game

Let's turn back the clock to 2005 for a lesson on how to lose embarrassingly in Michigan Stadium.

Imagine you're in the Blue Band drumline. Michigan is looking the worst they've looked since the 1980s and PSU is rolling in 6-0. They're tied 3-3 at halftime, and your director had you use flip folders for your Hindemith show. Granted, it's a hard show, but, flip folders.

You watch Michigan and Penn State trade blows in the second half. JoePa argues with the refs to get two seconds put back on the clock with 3:28 left. Finally it's the end of the game, you're up four points, and all you have to do is stop the worst Michigan team in twenty years from scoring a touchdown on the last play of the game. What could go wrong?

Well, for starters, your corners could cover the Massaquoi/Breaston cross which frees up Manningham underneath the safety, and Henne could thread the needle between the linebacker and the corner moving the other way. Your undefeated season is lost. So what do you do?

Listen closely for the two booming crashes right after Brad Nessler yells "touchdown Manningham," and again after "Michigan wins." Apparently, what you do is you bang your bass drum in frustration so hard it's audible on the broadcast above the crowd noise. Twice.

My friend Steve and I watched this video a few (dozen) times the week after that game and figured out what that bashing noise is. Draw a vertical line up from where the goal line meets the far sideline. There, on the edge of the PSU band, is what we assume to be the guilty drummer. He brings his arm up and thrusts it down almost exactly in time with the noise on the broadcast (TV stations like to put mics on the drumline). This is illustrated in the crude replay below.

Such an overreaction is explained by the heat of the moment, but it's generally unacceptable for any marching band member to play out of turn like that or to take out his frustration on his instrument. Penn State and their band could benefit from playing a game like Notre Dame played this weekend: Losing disastrously, throughout the course of the afternoon. Saving it for the very last play only invites undue heartbreak that leads to poor decisions.

WTI: Fell on Black Days

Craig:	Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to WTI: Fell On Black Days Edition.
Craig:	So first up today is our assessment of this past week's MMB show, and our look ahead to this week.
Jeremy:	Let's start where they start: Pregame.
Jeremy:	The drum major caught the goalpost toss this week, but the team apparently didn't see it.
Geoff:	That's the trouble with them being in the tunnel.
Jeremy:	As for the backbend, all I'm going to suggest is that he keep the hat on this week.
Geoff:	My mom is still worried that he's going to break his neck one of these days.
Craig:	He does look like the drum major yearling. Of course, I say this as someone who WOULD break his neck if he tried that, so here's to hoping practice makes perfect.
Jeremy:	I think they added Calyptors in the stands this week (that's the calypso version of the Victors), and the quadridirectional Let's Go Blue, which was a great touch.
Geoff:	Agreed. I like Calyptors a lot. Of course, I like the Hoover Street Rag (the Dixieland jazz version of the Victors) better, but it's a much tougher song.

Craig:	I was impressed with our mobile fanfare unit deployments this week.
Geoff:	Fanfare band actually came down my aisle for once.
Craig:	I'm getting the unique experience of six games in six different sections this year, so I am seeing what happens.
Jeremy:	The stadium tour package?
Geoff:	It's cheaper than the bowl trips from the Alumni Association.
Craig:	I have a joke there, but I like my tickets from the Alumni Association, so...
Geoff:	Halftime now? I liked the Beach Boys show a lot, and the Nix arrangements were good.
Jeremy:	I liked it. The Nix arrangements sound livelier. And the annual crowd favorite DANCE(!!!) featured the only wave of the day.
Craig:	I really liked the sound, but next time, I demand mobile theremin.
Geoff:	We did have a couple of clarinets run into each other. Oops. One of them started marking time early and got run over.
Jeremy:	If you're reading this, kids, write your moves on your music.
Jeremy:	They made the shape of a surfer on a surfboard, and even had the arms move for balance -- but the stadium cams never caught it! So that's my only complaint: Get the big screen cameras to show the full band shot when it's a recognizable shape.
Geoff:	Agreed. It's hard to tell what some shapes are unless you're on the press box 40 in Row 60.
Jeremy:	I think they made a T-bird logo too, but that may just be my Rorschach analysis.
Geoff:	As you can see, I made it to practice before the game. Boerma seems to run a tight ship there.
Craig:	Great photos on that Geoff. I must say that, even as someone who rocks the shorts whenever possible, the band could not look goofier at practice.
Jeremy:	C'mon, black shoes and socks with hats and plumes are what the college crowd loves these days.
Geoff:	The hats are weird, granted, but everything else is standard issue for a workout. And anyone who's ever seen pregame knows what a workout that is.
Craig:	Well, on the plus side, the hats with plumes are a much better look than some of the hair styles rocked by the college kids today.
Geoff:	You just want them to get off your lawn.
Craig:	Grrr!
Craig:	[shakes fist]
Jeremy:	Saturday's halftime show is Guitar Hero.
Craig:	I demand Monkeywrench!
Jeremy:	Iron Man (longer version of stands tune), Sweet Child o' Mine, Killer Queen, and Freebird.
Craig:	Note to self: Bring lighter.
Craig:	Note to self: Have lighter confiscated.
Jeremy:	However, they're not making any references to guitar hero other than the songs. No guitars, no ovals running across the field, no synchronized bobbing to the beat.
Craig:	No Joel Zumaya cameos.
Jeremy:	My friend Bill suggested they form a guitar on the field and play decently, with occasional mistakes, then rotate the guitar shape vertically and just explode with sound. But alas.
Jeremy:	This is obviously the annual student-focused show, and it seems like they're stopping short of completely grabbing the students.
Craig:	Yeah, but you know, it's really hard to grab the students completely.
Jeremy:	They did pretty well with the Patrick Stewart, Monty Python, and Video Game shows.
Craig:	True that. So we'll see...
Craig:	Now, onto a new segment for WTI: Our roundtable question. Every so often, we'll take on a question from the realm of college football that has no consensus in conventional wisdom. And while I'd like to say this is coming from nowhere, well, we know better...
Craig:	This week's topic: Is it OK for fans to boo college athletes? Gentlemen, your thoughts. Obviously there is no right answer, and we'd love to hear from our commenters on this as well...
Jeremy:	I boo opposing teams all the time. But as for booing my own team, no, under no circumstances.
Geoff:	I won't give people grief over doing it, because I've done it on a few occasions, but I don't like it. You don't help anyone.
Craig:	I don't like it, but it does leave fans powerless to express their displeasure with things such as the coaching staff or the playcalling...It's not like people can hold up Wile E. Coyote style signs to to explain whom you are booing at.
Jeremy:	I'll certainly complain up a storm, but I'll keep it to the people around me. The players need to hear my support.
Geoff:	One condition I'd want to apply is that you don't earn the right to boo anybody if you haven't been loud when you're supporting the team.
Jeremy:	I think staying quiet and letting the opponents' cheers come through works well enough. Oregon players were feeding off our booing, trying to pump up (or tear down?) the crowd to get more.
Craig:	So you're saying that withdrawal in disgust is not the same as apathy.
Jeremy:	The marching band conditioning probably helped me, as they were always very strict about not booing or swearing, and staying positive.
Jeremy:	My grandfather staring at me in icy silence often changed my behavior far quicker than yelling at me would've.
Craig:	Can we call the players by their middle names?
Geoff:	Not anymore, now that the free programs are gone. Does anyone know what happened there?
Craig:	We were counterpunted?
Jeremy:	Surely they weren't driven out of business by the not-free programs.
Geoff:	Counterpunt must have been too busy defending players arrested in t3h bestest offseason EVAR.
Craig:	Ahh yes...The harbinger.
Geoff:	Our cynical tailgate partners think that the university wanted to increase sales of the big glossy programs and kicked them out.
Craig:	It's not the least likely idea I have heard.
Craig:	Well gentlemen, shall we wrap this up? This week is Notre Dame...and I'd like to get my hate on, and I am sure I will at some point Saturday....
Jeremy:	I love this week when the anger goes beyond just wanting to win because it's an actual, hated rival.
Geoff:	Yeah, but for me the opponent has become so much less important than this team finding its way again.
Craig:	Agreed on both counts.
Jeremy:	For me, this is about kicking sand in the face of another down program.
Craig:	Which would have the advantage of hopefully righting the ship?
Geoff:	Hopefully we see some spark out there. Or Mike Hart is going to explode in a fountain of rage.
Jeremy:	If they kept a mic and camera on him for the whole game, I'd buy a pay-per-view feed.
Craig:	110%. You could pay for the new basketball practice facility with that money.
Geoff:	Mike Hart doesn't put money in vending machines. He just slips through the cracks in the door.
Craig:	Mike Hart gives you the whole nine yards, but that is only after you presume he has been stopped for a loss of three.
Geoff:	Mike Hart goes through 30-40 pairs of gloves a game because he's physically incapable of letting go of the football.
Craig:	Mike Hart hates Liberty Mutual because he doesn't understand about "The Part Where You Let Go" .
Geoff:	I think I'm spending all of tomorrow thinking up more of these.
Craig:	I think we all should...
Craig:	And with that ladies and gentlemen, we call it a night. Good luck and go blue!
Jeremy:	Please. Please Go Blue.

Flip Folders

Ah, flip folders: The fallback crutch when memorization fails. It's one thing to use them for halftime, the stands, or postgame; in the realm of marching bands, let's consider those venial sins that allow for a greater variety of music or to guarantee the band knows pieces they just saw for the first time on Monday.

The mortal sin, then, is using flip folders for pregame, suggesting that the band cannot memorize its own fight song or music it plays every week. Sometimes the use of flip folders is optional and not uniformly enforced, so members using them stick out, brandishing their awkward plastic folios like a scarlet letter. It's like riding a tricycle: Sure, you can brag that you won't tip over, but you really ought to learn to ride a bike. Plus, what happens if you drop it? Now you're lost and hopeless, you owe money to the equipment staff, and you've violated another commandment of Michigan football: Don't trash the Big House!

A Saturday Tradition

I tried to write something to go with this, but I think the pictures stand better on their own. These are all from the day of the Oregon game.

WTI: WTF?

Craig:	Welcome to WTI: The....We don't even have a name for it...edition.
Jeremy:	"Speechless?"
Geoff:	"WTF?"
Craig:	Welcome to WTI: The WTF Edition...
Geoff:	Everyone knows what happened to the football team on Saturday. It was inexplicable, and we're not qualified to make the attempt, even presuming we felt like it. Instead, we'll stick to the marching band.
Jeremy:	Boerma started things off well. I was at rehearsals Friday and Saturday. He has the band sounding better already.
Jeremy:	Pregame was good up until the drum major's goalpost baton toss, which was dropped -- superstition says this means we lose the game.

Geoff:	Yeah. His backbend was also shaky.
Craig:	And he's from Texas
Geoff:	He landed pretty hard. Maybe that shook him up and caused the missed toss. But other than that, pregame looked good. Sweep lines were nice and straight.
Jeremy:	The hatless backbend has become the standard from day one, but I think the DM should go back to working up to it.
Jeremy:	It used to be for very special occasions only. Then it was used for the start of Big Ten play. Then, perhaps prematurely, since day one. Alas, we award no points for difficulty, only execution.
Jeremy:	Interesting note: Cody's custom-made "DM Martin" rehearsal jersey has the number 48 on it. He's only #48 if you count BOTH drum majors from last season. Is he making a political statement?
Craig:	Or he's honoring Gerald Ford.
Geoff:	Probably not? He's just counting everyone who's been named to the office, even if only 47 have seen the field.
Geoff:	Did anyone else think Appalachian State's pregame seemed more like a halftime performance?
Jeremy:	Definitely took too long to get into that block A. Didn't fire me up for football at all.
Geoff:	And it was all glide step. Very unlike a Big Ten band, though they sounded fine.
Jeremy:	Yeah, I was pleasantly surprised at how good they sounded. But I'm a sucker for the Olympic fanfare.
Geoff:	That's always a winner. They brought a fairly large block as well.
Craig:	It did seem large from where I was sitting.
Geoff:	What was their halftime show? I've already forgotten.
Craig:	Classic Rock of the 1970s.
Jeremy:	70s rock. Think "25 or 6 to 4".
Craig:	Or as my seatmate said "Dude, AM GOLD!"
Geoff:	Oh yes, I remember that it seemed like a bunch of marching band staples. They played a Blood, Sweat & Tears song too.
Jeremy:	So there were several occasions when Boerma did not cut off the band in time. Most notably, playing entirely through 2-point conversions, and on several occasions, playing right up until the team snaps the ball.
Geoff:	Yeah. He was reluctant to cut out in the middle of a phrase and he pushed it with the timing a lot. Let's hope he learns to adjust quickly.
Craig:	As an untrained observer, it did seem off to me. So yes, I agree with Geoff.
Jeremy:	I can understand his reluctance to abruptly cut off, and the band's equal reluctance to stop playing in the middle even when ordered to keep going. I doubt it actually affected the team, but it certainly couldn't help.
Geoff:	I just want to hear a few songs that aren't "Let's Go Blue".
Jeremy:	Well, he did add a new stands tune (Carmen Fanfare), and had them playing more. I liked that.
Craig:	Let me ask you guys, again, as the outsider. Is this a case of "not opening up the playbook" yet? Trying to get the basics down and building week to week, especially with a new person in charge?
Jeremy:	I say yes, it's better to learn a few songs very well than half-ass several songs. I expect them to add at least one more per week.
Geoff:	The band only plays tunes from memory, so there's a lot of music to get down for the show and pregame before you touch any other of the traditionals.
Geoff:	It's a case of not having the playbook memorized yet, if you will.
Craig:	And with four home games in a row...
Geoff:	I like having us play from memory for pregame and halftime -- and I may be alone in this -- but I'd like to see us use flip folders in the stands. I want the band to have a much wider range of songs to pull from so we don't get 62 instances of "Let's Go Blue" before the third quarter is over.
Jeremy:	It would add a ton of variety, but at the expense of preparedness, and maybe a little prestige. Plus the director would need to plan what to play well ahead of time.
Geoff:	Yeah, he'd have to call for the next song at least a play or two ahead.
Jeremy:	Then there's always the instances where a flipfolder song is ready, but a big play happens, and they get caught on TV playing the fight song with flip folders out.
Craig:	I don't know if either of you saw this, but App. State's band had a series of signs of what was to be played.
Craig:	Which was humorous to me, when you know, I was allowed humor.
Jeremy:	Did they have huge signs that said "HI-YA YAKAS" or whatever nonsense their fight song is called?
Geoff:	Signs? As in boards with words written on them? Or as in sign language?
Craig:	No, it was like "Incredibles", "Mission Impossible", "Can't Turn You Loose" all on plastic boards with screen printed letters.
Geoff:	Oh. At first I thought you meant hand signals, which we have for "The Victors", "Let's Go Blue", and "Temptation", among others.
Craig:	No, literally, I could read what they were about to play next. I was impressed with the variety of options, I think they had boards with song names and boards with tempo and length variables. It was really quite the thing.
Craig:	But this is what you get when you sit in the south end zone in row 13
Geoff:	What did people think of our "Vegas!" halftime show? Personally, I think it was a solid, safe show. Nothing really flashy, but executed well.
Jeremy:	I thought it looked and sounded good, and that the east sideline appreciated the rare about-face. It was a little square, though.
Craig:	Uh, can I be completely honest?
Geoff:	Please.
Craig:	I don't remember it. Because I was furiously typing angry text messages to people. I would not trust my opinion of the show to be uncorrupted by rage.
Geoff:	It was Vegas standards. "It's Not Unusual", some Sinatra...
Jeremy:	It was hard sometimes to play while losing as well. Fortunately during my era we usually only lost games after 4th quarter collapses.
Craig:	I remember the Tom Jones and the Sinatra. I did think that it seemed safe, but I also remember thinking that it would be when Jeremy posted the list.
Geoff:	Yeah, nothing unexpected there. And on the east sideline I was definitely happy to be played to for once.
Geoff:	So next week we have Oregon coming to town and a Beach Boys show.
Craig:	Oooh! Love the Beach Boys...
Jeremy:	Beach Boys is a Jamie Nix arrangement; expect more flashiness and volume.
Geoff:	Any idea if they're bringing their band?
Jeremy:	I hope so. I want to make fun of their ridiculous outfits.
Craig:	They no longer have the riot gear unis, right?
Jeremy:	aw, why not?
Geoff:	But I want to see the Phil Knight 1st Shock Army uniforms.
Geoff:	I like Nix's arrangements for the rock shows a lot. I'm looking forward to it.
Craig:	We should play Carnac on the songs
Craig:	I'd love to hear them slow it down with "God Only Knows"
Craig:	But I suspect you'll get "Fun, Fun, Fun", "I Get Around" and "All Summer Long"
Jeremy:	Fun Fun Fun, I Get Around, Good Vibrations, and Surfin USA. Good guess!
Jeremy:	And Surfer Girl.
Craig:	Will there be a mobile Theremin?!?
Jeremy:	With the obligatory annual DANCE(!!!) during Surfin USA.
Geoff:	I think someone pulled out a copy of Endless Summer and put it on shuffle.
Geoff:	Aww yeah. The dance! I enjoy those more now that I don't have to learn them.
Jeremy:	One last issue with stands performance:
Jeremy:	The band was booed (and shouted at quite a bit) for playing the Victors at the end of the game.
Geoff:	We always play "The Victors", win or lose. The only difference is we play "Victors Waltz" first if we win.
Jeremy:	To which I say, what the hell. That is the fight song. That is the flag we fly, win or lose.
Craig:	I'm going to chalk that up to pure anger, not anything against the band save that they were the first convenient target.
Geoff:	It's the danger you run when your song is called "The Victors".
Jeremy:	Sure, but I just wanted to clarify that it's not a Boerma issue at all; he made the right call there.
Geoff:	Absolutely.
Craig:	Oh absolutely...As Geoff said, it's the risk you run.
Geoff:	And I think that about wraps it up for us.
Geoff:	Hopefully by next week we'll be more in the mood to talk about football again.
Jeremy:	Let's do this again under better circumstances.
Craig:	If you're going to the game this week: Be loud, be proud, and remember:  Noise cannot hurt our defense.

Pre-Pregame: Inside the Tunnel

The marching band receives much attention for its high-profile activities before they enter the tunnel in Michigan Stadium: The rehearsal on Elbel, the stepshow and inspection at Revelli, the march to the stadium, etc., are all popular events. But since the public doesn't get to see what happens between that parking lot performance and the entry onto the field, I dug through my collection of pictures and found some that help tell the tale of pre-pregame excitement.

It contains minor spoilers; if you may, at some point, have an opportunity to experience what's about to be described, don't proceed.

After playing The Victors and Let's Go Blue toward the stadium, the band is called to the mouth of the tunnel. People line up in entry lines -- the same ones that come through the other side -- and run, one line at a time, most of the way down. Running down can be exciting, but there is a pole in the center that's at just the right height to cause serious damage to instruments and tender body parts. The enormous GO BLUE painting greets friend and foe alike.

The first few minutes in the tunnel allow time for stretching or finally getting a drink from the water bottles. People will be all over the place. The tunnel is dimly lit in yellow lights, and the brief glimpses of players standing by its bright exit provide dramatically framed moments of excitement. Occasionally, celebrated alumni will head down the ramp. Here, Braylon Edwards stops by the 2005 Notre Dame game with his famous pink shirt, B E chain, and, uh, MCard. It's been a while and I may have the order of these next things mixed up. Eventually, both teams will return to their locker rooms via the tunnel. When the opponents enter, the band stands tightly lined up, in complete silence, staring straight ahead. This is usually ignored but occasionally players (primarily from the MAC schools) will taunt the band. That's fine -- if you're focusing on the band, you're not focusing on your game. When the Michigan team comes up, the drumline strikes up a beat.

Most of the band sings "Eye of the Tiger," then the drum major lines them up for singing "The Yellow and Blue." The band gets herded to the front in tightly packed lines (the mouth of the tunnel is surprisingly narrow). When it's finally time to go, the assistant director receives a cue over his radio and points up to the press box, where Carl Grapentine is watching intently, poised to make his famous announcement.

The week's preparation and work finally and absolutely pay off.

Only two days until we get to see this again.