Marching Band

[MikeKlezmer]

It is impossible to describe with accuracy the degree of school spirit that charges through a sell-out football stadium on gameday Saturday's. While the past few years have seen dramatic attempts to aggrandize the flavor of Great Dane excitement, grandiose football gamedays will not be possible here without more attempts to frill up the school spirit.

The most impressive way to make the Danish football program stand out is to enlist a 300 piece marching band that will march around campus on Friday afternoons and remind the students that hey, we have a game tomorrow. Hey, why don't you tailgate tomorrow and pack the stadium once your pre gaming festivities are over.

A band marching with cheerleaders, racc rowdies, and stuffed up life-sized Great Danes bounding throughout the campus is the best and quickest way to generate 50% student attendance at home games.

[UAalum72]

A marching band would help, but...

 

A 300-piece marching band? That would need a bigger equipment budget than the football team has now. After two years the pep band has what, 15 student members? And I don't know what kind of support the Music Dept. would give, since they probably think marching band music is to Music what Danielle Steele novels are to Literature. It would probably have to be funded by the athletic dept.

 

Product first, hype later.

[MikeKlezmer]

Unfortunately, you're arguing a catch-22, and it's those catch-22's which will never put Albany in any top tier of exciting sports programs.

 

There can be no product without hype: who is going to want to be in the marching band if nobody cares? That's like saying let's get a million students in the stadium first, and then get school spirit.

 

Your attitude is the attitude of millions of skeptical sports fans across the nation who aren't willing to make improvements but complain that there are none. For Albany to become a legitimately supported athletic school, it's going to take a lot of hype and a lot of faith to develop any kind of product. We're all on the same team right?? Let's glorify Albany as best we can...but we have to work for that glory.

[UAalum72]

Unfortunately, you're arguing a catch-22, and it's those catch-22's which will never put Albany in any top tier of exciting sports programs. 

 

  There can be no product without hype:  who is going to want to be in the marching band if nobody cares? 

The band is not the product, it's the hype; the PRODUCT is an upper-level football team with a decent stadium.

 

That's like saying let's get a million students in the stadium first, and then get school spirit.

I'm saying get a stadium first.

 

Marching through campus on a Friday afternoon could put the band in danger of being run over by students already fleeing the campus for the weekend.

[alumni '92']

i don't know the answer to the chicken and the egg thing here, but it would be nice to see a solid recruitment effort for the winter pep band (who is in charge?) ... their numbers #'s were often small last season at the RACC ... they did contribute (thanks!), but a full band every game night would be a real plus for atmosphere

[Dane96]

I rarely disagree with you Alumn72, but I think it is imperative for Albany to get a marching band, though 300 is rather large. If we had a marching band similar in size to BC (about 100) it would be positive. THe deal is this; BANDS MAKE MUSIC AND MUSIC IS NOTABLE. People head to ZOOMASS games JUST for the band. There is something about a band, even at a IAA school that gets students excited they are on a REAL college campus. I remember going to an RPI hockey game at Houston Field house and thinking "Damn...DI hockey, DIII other sports, but I feel like I am in Michigan's arena."

 

A band is noticable....and that is what we need....PEOPLE TO NOTICE WE HAVE BIG TIME SPORTS. If we need a band to help that...SO BE IT!

Edited July 22, 2005 by Dane96

[UAalum72]

I said right at the top that a marching band would help, but a 300-piece crew on a 2 1/2 mile march to hit all the dorms uptown is grandiose beyond reality - as if it were marching to a crowd of 40,000 to host Syracuse.

 

I got no argument with a good 80-piece band that shows up on game day. Cohoes High School only has 600 students, but their band was in the St. Pat's parade in NYC this year, and their drum major will be joining the Albany pep band this fall.

 

I just couldn't see a band like that marching around the podium and down to ...University Field? Once the stadium's built and the schedule is worthy, I'm all for it. In fact, the UA band in the Albany St. Pat and Veterans' Day parades could be another small step in advertising the program to the community.