From: jat6h@Virginia.EDU ("Mars, The Bringer of War")
Newsgroups: rec.arts.marching.misc
Subject: Re: Censorship
Date: 21 Jan 93 23:41:32 GMT
Organization: University of Virginia

gjh2j@faraday.clas.Virginia.EDU  writes:
> In article <1993Jan20.174444.17939@Virginia.EDU> jat6h@Virginia.EDU ("Mars, The Bringer of War") writes>Greetings to all y'all out there.  I'd like to send a quick
> Unfortunately, also being a member of the UVa pep band this has frustrated me
> to no end. What Justin failed to say was that the crowd got excited when the 
> band didn't show, and started to edge over to the seats, which are the best
> in the house on the 50 yard line.
Precisely.  The coach also complained, which got our point
accross.  We also kicked the spectators out of our seats when
we did go in.  Maybe if you had spent ten hours building the
stuff like I did, you'd have understood...
 I have since become a kind of secluded
> member of the Band? why?  This is the question I want answered by
>  Justin, Mick, or any other member of any other band. Why in the hell do we
> get booed off the field night in and night out? Are we really that bad?

Pipe down and listen up.  We have only, in all my time at UVa,
been booed once, and that was by Tennessee fans at the Sugar
Bowl, following the infamous Elvis sketch.  I was
pleased...maybe if you spent more time coming to events you'd
know that...

> I read posts by Stanford members and other bands, even the "disciplined" Big 10
> Bands whose students embrace them all....yet we are possibly the only band 
> in the nation who gets less applause than frisbee catching dogs......
> 
> I get sick and tired of trying to be the good entertainer, while I read
> month in and month out these editorials calling for our dismissal.....
> We are being called eyesores by people's who's sole purpose it is is to dress
>  up like aristocratic asses and get drunk at every game, having no interest
>  in the football whatsoever.....

You are exactly correct, once again.  We do catch a lot of
flak...from these asses you describe.  By and large, however,
our students love and support us.  If I had a dime for every
time a student has told me how great we are, and how much they
love what we do, I'd be wealthy, indeed.  I am the first to
admit that our shows aren't always funny, for various reasons,
and when that happens, people get annoyed.  However, we feel it
is our duty, and we feel supported in this by the students, to be
a voice for comedy and light-heartedness in our otherwise very
traditional University.
> 
> In my first year it was comedic, the yacht club atmosphere and all, but
> after two years of constant booing and non-responsiveness, I am beginning to
>  feel like maybe we should do the school a service and disband.....
> 
> Anyone else have these feelings.....every band needs a cynic
> 
> "Some people just can't stand to be wrong"- William Holden as Pike Bishop
> in Sam Peckinpah's classic "the Wild Bunch"

Too bad you're one of them, Jeff.  So what is the solution? not
to sit in a hole and moan about it.  The solution is to get
involved and work to improve things.  You know as well as I do
that as someone else on this list noted, some of the students
could care less about the game, and just come for the social
atmosphere.  By and large, however, the students like what we
do, and are vocal about letting us know it.  I didn't hear any
booing at Clemson, or FSU, or any of our other games this
year.  I seem to recall cheers and laughter.  If you see a
problem, its up to you to work on it, not comlain. 

Justin Tate
TAWVaFCI/OP(?)MPB&CSR,U!!!