The Stanford Band's half time performance at the Rose Bowl

[minniecarousel]

As a Bay Area resident, nothing that the Stanford band does shocks me! I find them amusing.

We have a classy University band nearby - Cal! Totally different, traditional and wonderful.

Ya know, different strokes! People just need to chill out.

Edited to add: bcla - I well remember that game in '82! Such fun! Listening to Joe Starky almost losing his voice on that call is priceless!

 

[msb578]

They're just trying to imitate Ivy League bands.

Yes. 7 of the 8 Ivy bands are "scramble" or "scatter" bands. The lone holdout is Cornell.

 

[bcla]

It should also be noted that the Stanford band is not an officially sanctioned group on campus. They operate more or less independent of official (ever increasing) university control, but were assigned a university adviser a few years ago after some well publicized half time shows that were all on the outside border of good taste.

They're an officially recognized student organization subject to discipline by the University. In order to use the name of the school, they need to have that official recognition. They also practice and store their equipment on campus. I'd be surprised if they didn't receive some funding from the University. Granted it doesn't sound as if any of the higher ups are paying attention until someone complains.

https://stanford.app.box.com/s/caa680bdt3fmbtxwbb9ypeq12ixyc1pa
https://sal.stanford.edu/policies/student-organizations

They have a website hosted on the official stanford.edu domain. The athletic department also gives them access to seating and to participate in events. It's not as if any random student-run band would be allowed to play on the field at a football game. If their athletic department wanted to they could cut off access completely.

 

[SoCalTrojanSkip]

They're an officially recognized student organization subject to discipline by the University. In order to use the name of the school, they need to have that official recognition. They also practice and store their equipment on campus. I'd be surprised if they didn't receive some funding from the University. Granted it doesn't sound as if any of the higher ups are paying attention until someone complains.

https://stanford.app.box.com/s/caa680bdt3fmbtxwbb9ypeq12ixyc1pa
https://sal.stanford.edu/policies/student-organizations

They have a website hosted on the official stanford.edu domain. The athletic department also gives them access to seating and to participate in events. It's not as if any random student-run band would be allowed to play on the field at a football game. If their athletic department wanted to they could cut off access completely.

You are 100% correct...
Looking at it now, "officially sanctioned" was not the best wording to describe their relationship with the University. I had originally intended to mention some of the important things that you brought up here, mostly the fact that they do have a relationship with the Athletic Department and they are more recognized by Stanford than I let on.

I brain cramped.

Thanks for the clarification.

 

[GatorChris]

Maybe Stanford's marching band appeals particularly to undergrads who crave attention, and who enjoy a lot of inside jokes. They have been at it a long time, it must work for some.

Nah. They just stink. Don't put in the work for marching. And from hearing them, they don't put in the work for playing either. I've never heard them or heard of them, but when I watched the Rose Bowl, it just seemed tacky and tasteless to me. Pure garbage.

 

[Kellykins1218]

I have heard many high school competition marching bands who put Stanford's joke of a band to shame.

 

[gwynne]

I have heard many high school competition marching bands who put Stanford's joke of a band to shame.

I think they exist for the inside joke giggles and winks.
They aren't musicians, for sure. The instruments are props.

 

[maxiesmom]

I thought it was in very poor taste, which is what they apparently go for. When did being deliberately insulting and rude become amusing? I guess if you like that sort of humor their are comics that you can pay to go and see for it, but to serve that sort of thing up at a game seems pretty low and disgusting. The majority of the people at the game seemed to find it pretty low too, judging by the boos.

Stanford needs to get over themselves. You are not cool or counter-culture or whatever you seem to think you are. Act like the young adults you are, instead of rude brats.

 

[GaryDis]

When did being deliberately insulting and rude become amusing? I guess if you like that sort of humor their are comics that you can pay to go and see for it, but to serve that sort of thing up at a game seems pretty low and disgusting. The majority of the people at the game seemed to find it pretty low too, judging by the boos.

I'm going to play devil's advocate for a bit.

It's all about context. Or maybe venue. The obvious places for being insulting and rude are at celebrity roasts and in parodies. On the flip side, when did it become ok for a group of guys to grab someone, pull him down to the ground, and pile on top? Or try to steal something right out of his hands? Obviously the things that football players do on the field would get them ejected from a soccer match and perhaps arrested if done to a stranger on the street. It's all about context.

What about the rude fans who yell insulting things at other players or even the officials? Is it ok to yell that the ump is blind? (Do people still do that? I've been to one sporting event in the last 30 years or so.) Is there a difference between the things irate fans yell and what the Stanford band did? Are they worse or better than the rude fans? Or do we just have a higher standard because they're representing their school and are taking center stage? What the Stanford band did surely isn't as bad as various fan riots that have taken place over the years (though perhaps the alleged involvement of the Univ. of Toronto's band in disrupting the opening of a new subway comes close).

It's unfortunate for the Standford band that they're not in the Ivies. While the Ivy League bands have been known to use bad judgment from time to time, merely insulting the other school is expected and accepted; they wouldn't have been criticized there (though it's ironic that the one Ivy with an agricultural school is the one with a serious marching band). Big school bands may be trying to get on the Boston Pops. Harvard band members are trying for the Harvard (or National) Lampoon. Sure, they've stepped over the line at times. They're college kids with a college age sense of humor. But they can pull it off well, too. When West Point visited Yale, some 30 years ago, after the Yale band performed, Army Spokesman Maj. Cooney said "I saw nothing wrong with it. I was even laughing myself. They poked fun at our profession [the military], but they did it tastefully.''

I don't have an answer for Stanford. Their academics are Ivy League quality, but their football is Pac-12. There's nothing wrong in scrambling to formation instead of marching. There's nothing wrong with a humorous show instead of precision marching or musical quality. And, within reason, there shouldn't be anything wrong with poking fun at the other team, if it's done tastefully. I don't know the details of what they did this year - perhaps it was over the line, but that's not clear in the reports I'm reading. Part of me says that football in general is taken way too seriously, and there's nothing wrong with trying to lighten up the sport. But the Stanford band doesn't seem to be in a situation where they can make any progress at that.

 

[Indy #1 Fan]

As a lifetime Stanford fan, I absolutely love the LSJUMB and their antics. I see bands that are stiff and march like Kal's or USCheat as something straight out of Nazi Germany/Communist China. The LSJUMB is just having fun and are not to be taken seriously. I find it appalling how people get so offended. Oh and btw on "The Play," his knee was down on the third lateral. Stanford really won that game. The refs would have caused the Kal fans to riot and burn down their campus had they called it back and gave the win to Stanford like the should've. Go Stanford!!!!

 

[3DisneyFanz]

So people are outraged because they made the rough shape of a cow? We've truly hit a low point in society when this is what gets people fired up. I hope they never play South Carolina in a bowl game because people's heads may explode based on what they could do there.

 

[Cannot_Wait_4Disney]

Here's the full context of the play for those interested.

The kick off return starts at the 5:11 mark.

As a lifetime Stanford fan, I absolutely love the LSJUMB and their antics. I see bands that are stiff and march like Kal's or USCheat as something straight out of Nazi Germany/Communist China. The LSJUMB is just having fun and are not to be taken seriously. I find it appalling how people get so offended. Oh and btw on "The Play," his knee was down on the third lateral. Stanford really won that game. The refs would have caused the Kal fans to riot and burn down their campus had they called it back and gave the win to Stanford like the should've. Go Stanford!!!!

What an Orwellian world we live in where obnoxious behavior is just having fun and pointing out obnoxious behavior is appalling and where bands that play well and march well are Nazis and Commies. Speaking of vandalizing campus, what Cal would have done is conjecture. However, it is not conjecture that the Stanford band got in trouble for doing just that, vandalizing school property doing $8,000 worth of damage in the process. And no, his knee wasn't down. Crybaby Elway was a hilarious sight after that game. Almost as hilarious as seeing the hooligans getting run over. Urinating and vomiting all over the field and stands isn't just having fun. It's disgusting. And no. The religious and ethnic stereotyping on display so many times from them isn't just having fun. Their latest suspension was received for illegal drugs, hazing, and sexual harassment among other serious breaches of any acceptable standard of behavior. And that's just the tip of the iceberg. I could list a whole page worth of incidents. That a good university such as Stanford even allows this to continue to go on year after year is mind boggling.


Here's a shot of Stanford's betters, the Trojan Marching Band performing at Disneyland. Good thing we'll never have to see Stanford performing there because the hooligans got themselves kicked out for good.