From: marc@yogi.austin.ibm.com (Marc J. Stephenson)
Newsgroups: rec.sport.football.college
Subject: Re: Aggie Riot (was Re: Best marching band)
Date: 28 Sep 92 21:50:53 GMT
Distribution: usa
Organization: IBM, Austin

In article <1992Sep28.072150.1@ducvax.auburn.edu> swanger@ducvax.auburn.edu writes:
>In article <Bv9oBr.163@rice.edu>, tomscud@ruf.rice.edu (Thomas Reid Scudder) writes:
> 
>> BTW -- the Stanford band may have gotten booed by a whole crowd, but have they
>> ever managed to be the targets of a riot?  Then again, antagonizing an Aggie
>> crowd on a day when the Aggies lose is a bad idea.  (Of course, the Aggie riot
>> is also ancient history... the MOB hasn't done anything nearly as interesting
>> in ages...)
>
>Riot?  What riot?  I guess this is an old story that I've missed.  Would
>someone please post the details (Tom?  Goobster??).
>
>-- 
>David Swanger,   Auburn University, Alabama,   swanger@ducvax.auburn.edu 

Hey, it's not THAT ancient!  I was there!  (Then again, I'm over 30 and I
was a Boy Scout in uniform...ok, it is ancient...anyway...here it goes again).

This happened around 1974 or so in Rice Stadium in Houston, TX to a basically
capacity crowd, 95% or so being Aggie fans (stadium cap. 70000).

Anyway, the MOB (Marching Owl Band) did a salute to A&M that day for their
halftime performance.  There must be a least one part that I can't remember,
but here's what I do recall (along with commentary of why this particular 
thing is pertinent to A&M).

 1) MOB forms a block 'T' reminiscent of the A&M band's 'T' formation, but
    plays "March of the Toy Soldiers" and goose-steps (straight-leg marching
    ala Nazi Germany or Russia).  They then fractured the 'T' somehow.

    (TAMU's band is made up of members of the Corps of Cadets, A&M's large
    and visible ROTC organization.  The band performs strictly military
    maneuvers, at least until they release the band to leave the field.
    They often form a block 'T' and march, then countermarch down the field.)

 2) MOB forms a boot into which enters Marvin Zindler, a notorious consumer
    reporter from Houston's ABC affiliate (he was lampooned, though it's hard
    to lampoon Marvin, in "Best Little Whorehouse in Texas" - he was the one
    that blew the whistle on the Chicken Ranch in LaGrange).  I don't
    remember what the band played, but the MOB P.A. announcer proclaims "In
    every Senior Boot, there's a heel!"  Marvin twirled a baton during the
    song (he had been a twirler in high school).

    (Seniors in the aforementioned Corps wear long leather boots.)

 3) Here's the kicker.  The MOB formed a fire hydrant, and played "Where, Oh
    Where Has My Little Dog Gone."  I believe that the end of the performance
    came right here.  Poor taste, but not worthy of what happened next.

    (The Aggies living mascot is a Border Collie named Reveille.  A version
    of Reveille had recently died.  Reveille has very high rank in the Corps
    as far as privileges go, seriously.)

 Sometime around this time, some members of the Corps attacked the MOB, injuring
 the drum major (or whatever the MOB would call their student leader) to the
 extent of putting him in the hospital, and chasing the rest of the band into
 the South tunnel underneath the stands where they could be protected.  A
 very large majority of the attendees at the game were in favor of the band 
 being clobbered.  It's the closest thing that I've ever experienced to the
 thumbs-up, thumbs-down stuff you might see in Christians vs. Lions Roman
 extravaganzas.  I was shocked, really (and grew up in a place where violence
 was a fairly common occurrence).  The MOB refugees were eventually transported
 to some safe location by a cafeteria truck which was backed up to the 
 tunnel.


 The next MOB home performance featured a salute to absolutely nothing.  I
 remember them forming a zero, then forming a vanilla wafer.  They ended the
 performance by forming a cafeteria truck at midfield, complete with rolling
 wheels, and marched out through the tunnel playing "Exodus."

 The MOB did not make a return visit to A&M until around 1980 for safety
 reasons (apparently, they only make one road trip a year anyway).
-- 
Marc Stephenson		    IBM AWD (Advanced Workstations Division - Austin,TX)
DISCLAIMER: The content of this posting is independent of official IBM position.
INTERNET->marc@austin.ibm.com      VNET: MARC at AUSVMQ        IBM T/L: 678-3189