Ask a Marching Mizzou alum!
by Soria's Unibrow on Sep 11, 2009 12:45 PM CDT
Email
Print[Promoted for Front Page Friday!]
Hey everyone, I'm new here. As you may have guessed I came over from the great Royals SBNation blog, Royals Review. Once again I am impressed by the quality of content and discourse on an SBN blog. Great job guys, I'm going to have lots of fun here.
Anyway, like the title says, I spent five years as a trombonist for the Big M of the Midwest, Marching Mizzou. If any of you happen to remember the guy that came out to the 50 yard line and ripped a solo during halftime of last year's kU game at Arrowhead, that was me. Marching Mizzou has given me tons of amazing stories and experiences and some of the best friends (and girlfriend) that I've ever had. I was also in Mini Mizzou for the past 4 years, so I've gotten to watch the basketball team grow up as well as traveling around with them. I've met many of the players from last year's squad, and they are awesome guys. I've spoken with Mike Alden on many occasions, and he deserves all the credit in the world for how this university's teams have turned around since he was hired.
So I thought it would be fun for everyone if I answered any questions you guys ever had about the band. Ever wonder why we play something, or what it is exactly we're doing on the field during halftime, or how much work it takes to put on that show every Saturday? Ask! And anyone else on here that was in band or a cheerleader or Truman should answer, too.
FanPosts may be posted by any RMN member and may not reflect the views of the management staff of Rock M Nation or SB Nation.
53 comments
|
0 recs |
Do you like this story?
Comments
To any of the "support crew" (band, cheerleader, Truman, GGs, etc)
Thanks for the hard work you put in to make our Saturdays such a great experience. I had lots of friends in MM and while I wasn’t myself, I marched in high school, so I know how much work goes into it. For a long time, Missouri football was a great time, and it certainly wasn’t because of the football team.
You guys rock!
by Andy--01 on Sep 11, 2009 1:58 PM CDT reply actions 1 recs
Thank you for your support
We love hearing from the fans, you guys are why we go out there every week.
That and free tickets to Mizzou games.
by Soria's Unibrow on Sep 11, 2009 2:53 PM CDT up reply actions
What's the typical band experience...
Practice times, overall time commitment, and ratio of pairing off.
I'm the guy that keeps Mr. Death in his pocket.
Practice
4-6 Tues thru Friday every week during the season. Bowl preperation is pretty light, but generally a couple 2 hour practices during finals week, or the week before.
Band camp is the week before school starts and goes: marching on the lot from 8am to about noon, then lunch, then sectionals, then full band practice in jesse, dinner, then marching in faurot till late. That night there is a party, then wake up hungover and do it again.
This is exactly correct
This person failed to mention that we get up at the crack of dawn on Gameday. Most of the time it was still dark outside when we had call time for games. The best was when we’d be there before 6 AM and our director, Dr. Knight, would tell us all to line up, face the RVs of the visiting fans who had come the night before (they parked right by our practice field) and play the fight songs as loud as possible. Man that pissed some people off.
As to the ratio of pairing off, it is pretty high. One of the things I remember from freshman orientation is Dr. Knight saying that many people meet their future husbands and wives in Marching Mizzou. I know of quite a few band couples that have gone on to be happily married. It’s mostly out of necessity. You are seeing these people for hours a day, traveling to away games and bowl trips with them, going to band camp with them. Dating someone in band just meant you got to see them more often.
by Soria's Unibrow on Sep 11, 2009 3:08 PM CDT up reply actions 1 recs
Best life skill from Marching Mizzou was learning to be functional while hungover. 6am call for games was BRUTAL. Still circling RVs and playing the fight song was the best.
6 AM?
Is that all of the games? Even nights (like tomorrow)…
Also, as for the folk that go out to the bars. Is that volunteer, or assigned?
I'm the guy that keeps Mr. Death in his pocket.
The Band Bunch
Those kids who go out and play the fight songs at bars have no affiliation with Marching Mizzou or the University of Missouri… ;)
But if I had to guess, I’d say it’s entirely volunteer.
by Soria's Unibrow on Sep 11, 2009 5:59 PM CDT up reply actions
What do you really learn at band camp?
Or are the American Pie movies just fiction (I’ve always thought they were more of a documentary than anything)?
Was once caught putting at night ... with the 15-year old daughter of the dean
What I really learned at band camp was that band is effing hard work
We practice that pre-game show hundreds and hundreds of times. With run-on, playing your head off, the waltz step for the Missouri Waltz, and that damn high chair step we do in the second half of the Waltz and when we leave the field, it is exhausting. Not to mention that we do it in mid-August in Missouri, so it’s so humid you can swim through the air. At the end of every day of band camp, if you weren’t sore and dripping with sweat, by God you weren’t doing it right.
As for other stereotypes about band nerds from American Pie, I will confirm/deny them. The vast vast majority of us were huge sports fans and marched because we love the Tigers. You would be hard pressed to find a group that loves the Tigers more than Marching Mizzou. There are almost no people in band that are really SERIOUS about their instrument. Probably 80% of us weren’t music majors. We are not all socially awkward and quiet, but we do love the sex. And nobody throws a kegger like Marching Mizzou. That was the biggest surprise to me as a freshman. This band will drink you under the table and then wake up at 5 AM to run onto the field and scream for the Tigers.
by Soria's Unibrow on Sep 11, 2009 3:01 PM CDT up reply actions
I love the band!
Ditto to the thanks for what you do for a football and basketball game. Wow! My mom would take me to the Marching Band competitions at the Texas State Fair when I was a kid, and I have loved them ever since.
Serious hard work and serious dedication to athletics and music – Bravo!
"Watching TV this morning, even Chipper Jones picked against us, and he plays baseball," Missouri linebacker Sean Weatherspoon said of the Atlanta Brave, who was a guest on ESPN’s College GameDay.
by tigers and chiefs fan on Sep 11, 2009 2:41 PM CDT reply actions
Thanks for the promotion!
I’ll get things started with a story. As I mentioned I got to travel with Goose, Jesus Tyrannosaurus, Mr. Coffee, Good/Bad Leo, the Junkyard Dog, and the rest of that lovable Tiger basketball team last spring. At first I was pissed that we were selected to go to Boise for our first tournament stop. I was convinced that it would be a boring podunk town with nothing but hicks as far as the eye could see. Boy was I wrong! Boise is a beautiful city with some of the most incredible mountain views I’ve ever seen. I know they call Montana Big Sky Country, but when I stepped off the plane a brilliant blue sky filled 90% of my field of vision. And the people there were the nicest I have ever met. Seriously. After we dominated Cornell, me and a few of my friends from the band ate dinner at a restaurant right by our hotel. We were still in our Mizzou jackets and khakis, so people were congratulating us and wishing us luck against Marquette. As we were eating our food, this middle aged couple sitting near us started asking us about the band and about the game. Then they asked us what we thought of Boise. The man told us he wanted us to think highly of Boise and remember the people as being friendly, so he offered to pick up the check for my entire table! We tried to decline, but he insisted, looked at our checks (totaling about $50) and said, “Aww, you guys are cheap dates.” And then he told us to go to a bar downtown that his son owned and say that Frank sent us and that we’d be well taken care of. Amazing people there.
I do not remember anything of the Marquette game, though, because tragedy struck. The morning of the game, I woke up as sick as I have ever been in my life. I don’t know if it was food poisoning, the flu, or what, but I was puking or having diarrhea (or both simultaenously) every twenty minutes like clockwork. I was totally screwed because we had to get to the stadium and the team was leaving that night, win or lose, so I couldn’t stay at the hotel. So I suited up and got on the bus, putting last night’s pizza into reruns in a Wal-Mart sack all the way to the stadium. I really desperately wanted to see the game, but I felt like hell, and I knew I couldn’t get up every 20 minutes to go the bathroom. So I was trying to sleep on the floor of the racketball court we were using as an equipment room for the band and cheer squads. Eventually I staggered around and tried to find someone to help me, but the EMTs on site told me they couldn’t do anything and that I’d have to go to the hospital a block away. There was no way that was happening, so I went back to the “comfort” of my hardwood floor. At some point, the Golden Girls coach wakes me up and says I look awful and that she is going to try and find a better place for me to sleep. She leaves for awhile and comes back, saying she’s found me a couch to sleep on. I gratefully follow a stadium employee through the bowels of the stadium to find the couch waiting for me… which turned out to be a table in the trainer’s room! Yep, there I was, barely conscious in my Mizzou gear, taking up a table in the trainer’s room while Marquette players were buzzing all around me getting ready for the game. I saw Dominic James getting his broken foot taped up. It was crazy. At this point I start fading in and out of sleep. Once I woke up because a player from the other game that day was having a leg cramp and they were working on it. The trainers asked me to move over a couple of tables to give them space to work. I was over there before they could blink. The guy was yelling in pain and they gave him some fluids. Honestly, I could have used those fluids too, but I didn’t say a thing. The next time I woke up it was again because a player was getting worked on. This time, it was Marcus Denmon! He was getting stitches in his lip after he had taken a hard foul going up for a basket. He wasn’t yelling in pain or crying. He was PISSED OFF THAT THE SHOT DIDN’T GO IN. He was on the table next to me. I asked the trainers if they needed me to move, and they said no, I was fine. They stitched up Marcus’ lip, and he didn’t make a sound other than “Mmmm,” and “Mmm-hmm” as they did it. Afterward he asked if he could borrow the cup I had been attempting to drink out of. I said of course. Marcus spat blood in the cup, said thanks, and went back into the game.
What a huge badass.
by Soria's Unibrow on Sep 11, 2009 2:50 PM CDT reply actions 5 recs
TL; DR version
Boise is a nice town with nice people, and Marcus Denmon laughs at pain.
by Soria's Unibrow on Sep 11, 2009 2:52 PM CDT up reply actions
BTW
Most likely food poisoning. I had that once…worse 12 hours of my life.
I'm the guy that keeps Mr. Death in his pocket.
Denmon the BADASS!
"Watching TV this morning, even Chipper Jones picked against us, and he plays baseball," Missouri linebacker Sean Weatherspoon said of the Atlanta Brave, who was a guest on ESPN’s College GameDay.
by tigers and chiefs fan on Sep 11, 2009 3:33 PM CDT up reply actions 1 recs
awesome
NCAA Football; better than everything. That is an understatement.
by MarioVanPeebles Republic of China on Sep 11, 2009 4:21 PM CDT up reply actions
Echoing the praise given
You guys do a helluva job day in, day out. I know a few kids who did band (one of my best friends might very well be drum major this year or next, plus I know a few people in color guard) and they put more effort into learning songs/routines than I could imagine.
It's a funny name.
Trombones rule!
I was a trombone player when I was younger, but I never marched. My daughter plays piccolo and marched in the Rose Parade last year, so I know how much work you all put in. Thanks for all your hard work over the years!
Thanks for all the work, Band, GGs, Cheerleaders, ROTC with the cannon et. al.
You guys make it the experience, and not just a football game. Keep it up.
NCAA Football; better than everything. That is an understatement.
by MarioVanPeebles Republic of China on Sep 11, 2009 3:02 PM CDT reply actions
Geez, if I knew the band was having so much sex...
…I’d probably still not be able to get on the squad.
"Wherever you go, there you are" - Buckaroo Bonzai
The head drum major
The guy who will do the crazy lean-back strut with the mace during pre-game tomorrow, is a friend of mine and my roommate of the last two years. He is by far the biggest manwhore I know, to the point that it’s going to land him in trouble. Case in point: last year he bagged one of the Golden Girls who also happened to be dating one of the football players at the time. It’s just one of two ongoing flings he’s had with girls who have boyfriends. The other? A girl from his work who is engaged to a bouncer.
I fully expect to see his name in the obituaries every day.
by Soria's Unibrow on Sep 11, 2009 3:13 PM CDT up reply actions
I love that guy, I remember him complaining about how he could do a better job at drum major so I yelled at him to put up or shut up.
He showed me…
Aha, now I have a pretty good idea of who you are
Yeah he’s a real card. He must come off as a massive tool to most people, but he is really a good guy once you get to know him. He’s kind of cocky, but he wants to be a politician. He needs that confidence.
Another fun fact: his kryptonite is America’s Funniest Home Videos. That show cracks him up more than anything in the world.
by Soria's Unibrow on Sep 11, 2009 3:17 PM CDT up reply actions
Haha...
I have to laugh Unibrow, because my roommate is a current trombone and a friend of that drum major’s.
I’ll play it safe and say no comment.
This is fun, I know who you're talking about too
It’s like Guess Who around here. Your roommate shares a name with an apostle, hails from Texas, and likes to shoot pool on Saturday nights, right?
If so, he’s one of the only cool guys left in the trombone section. Much like the football team, the trombones graduated a lot of talent last year. Sadly, we all went undrafted.
by Soria's Unibrow on Sep 11, 2009 6:05 PM CDT up reply actions
Don't flatter yourself
The trombones lost their talent when I left…hahaha
I don't know how you kept yourself from strangling me
When I nearly made our carpool late every week.
by Soria's Unibrow on Sep 11, 2009 6:15 PM CDT up reply actions
That's a good one...."nearly."
I’m pretty sure I had to do Tiger Walk more than once because of you. I seem to recall you JUST getting in the shower when we rolled into your driveway to pick you up. First of all, who showers on gameday morning? We were forced to entertain ourselves in the car by debating the tastiness of the ever-present turkey log in the backseat. At least we were all wide awake for practice after sharing a harrowing drive at break-neck speeds up the rally stage known as Rock Quarry in the morning fog.
To add relevance to this post, I’ll explain that Tiger Walk is one of the morning gigs that Marching Mizzou members are forced/chosen to do on gamedays. Tiger Walk, originally named because the band played while the football team “walked” across the bridge on Providence, took on a more negative meaning for some band members who would “walk” from the practice field in Hearnes parking lot to the bridge on Providence…and then back. In the trombone section, we began the tradition of requiring those who arrived late to perform at Tiger Walk and (much too long afterwards) switched to just making freshmen do it.
Mizzou Experience was the other gameday gig that some Marching Mizzou members would play at. This event was not nearly as dreaded because it involved considerably less walking and did not cut into the morning nap time in the Hearnes center.
haha morning nap time
which was more important? sleep or beer?
"The field mouse is fast but the owl sees at night"
also
When you have what can only be described as a “mountainous woman” slapping your ass as you stand on a booth to play the fight song in Deja Vu, make sure the rest of the section does not see it.
It's true Rock M Nation
I developed a reputation for being a chubby chaser because of the alarming regularity of hambeasts hitting on me on rally nights. Naturally, no one would listen to me when I said I didn’t want any of it. Every one of them came on to me completely unsolicited. The story asdtg2 told here is very accurate. I was at the Vu with my horn out, ready to play when this nose tackle of a woman came up to me and said “Play the shit out of that horn for me!” and gave me a full on windmill spank that literally lifted me off my feet. I got the hell out of there to stand on a table across the room. Godzilla must have followed me, because when we were playing fight songs she was keeping time with the beat… slapping my ass. The place was so packed that I couldn’t move, so I had to stand there the whole time with my buttcheeks getting abused for song after song.
Of course what asdtg2 is not admitting to here is that the same woman felt him up too that night. He was pretty drunk, but somehow sober enough to remember vividly what happened to me. Yet when I tell him not to laugh cause it happened to him, he says he can’t remember it. Curious.
by Soria's Unibrow on Sep 12, 2009 3:13 AM CDT up reply actions
Curious indeed
great story!!!
Maybe she just liked your horn.
TWSS !!!
Sponor of the Will Ebner Physical Therapy Center for Players Who've Been Hit By Will Ebner and Want to Try to Stop the Ringing. Or WEPTCPWBHBWEWTSR for short.
by MarioVanPeebles Republic of China on Sep 12, 2009 10:34 AM CDT up reply actions
I am so looking forward to playing in M2.
currently play clarinet for the Platte County Pirate Pride marching band straight outta Platte City MO. seriously one of the best bands in Missouri the last 15 years. but anywho my mom was in Marching Mizzou for 4 years in the 80’s. she said it was some of the most fun she’s ever had. BTW she mat my dad at a band party
"The field mouse is fast but the owl sees at night"
I was in Fayette High School's
hugely dominant marching/concert bands in the late 90’s. My class got to play at MMEA (band director’s conference in January) not once, but twice, which almost never happens, since you can only be selected once every three years, and they only select one school from each classification (1A, 2A,etc). As nerve racking as the various band day competitions were, nothing was scarier than performing a solo in front of 1000+ band directors from around the state who knew what the music is supposed to sound like, as opposed to playing in front of a bunch of parents who are just happy to see you out there.
Just to give you an idea of how good our band was: in 6th grade, we played a piece called “Air for Band.” My sophomore year in high school, I went to the all-conference honors band, which is a 1 day event, chair tryouts first thing in the morning, practice all day, concert that night. Air for Band was one of the selections for this “honors” band.
Dr. Keith House, one of the best directors ever to stand on the podium in the state of MIssouri was just up the street at (then) Central Methodist College. Our high school routinely traded music with the college to give us challenging music. Dr. House passed away a couple years ago, and his protoge, Skip Vandelicht, who spent over 30 years at Fayette High School took over at (now) Central Methodist University. I wonder if the string of “1” ratings at districts that has lasted well over 20 years will continue.
oops, forgot to mention
I was also a boner. I picked my trombone up for the first time since high school a couple years ago, and couldn’t make a sound. Completely forgot how to play the thing. I put it back in its case and back in the closet.
Nice
Good ol’ Hannibal High School is where I hail from. We also had some Cal Ripken-esque streak of consecutive 1 ratings at state. Our band director Mr. Craig Buck was a fantastic trombonist and seemed to know everyone in jazz. He played with some of the greatest of all time. I can still drop his name and jazz players from anywhere in the country know who I’m talking about. I remember his wife, who was my science teacher in 7th grade, telling us that she married him because he could play things on the trombone that were so beautiful it made her cry. The trombone, incredibly, can get you chicks.
I actually just got home from rally night. I hadn’t played my horn since probably late April, so the first couple of bars we hit up were kind of rough. I was 100% by Deja Vu though. I’ve played those fight songs so many times I could do it in my sleep 20 years from now.
by Soria's Unibrow on Sep 12, 2009 3:20 AM CDT up reply actions
haha I'll have to play air for band if I make all-district this year
yes my band frequently played college level music in 7th and 8th grades, And this year our field show is pretty much concert music (no DCI shit!!!!!) with a college level field show (100+ sets) yeah it’s pretty damn hard
"The field mouse is fast but the owl sees at night"
Oh I'm sure it's not
I’m expecting a totally different ballgame. a ballgame that includes lots of beer
"The field mouse is fast but the owl sees at night"
Another story
I don’t know that I’ve met a bigger Mizzou fan than the director, Dr. Knight. He went to school here in the 90s and was a drum major in the band when he was a student. Apparently he was also something of a ladies’ man and a drinker of heroic proportions. His name was on the wall of fame at Old Chicago two times. That means over his career he drank every one of the 110 beers they served at Old Chicago… twice.
As the story goes, one day during rehearsal Dr. Knight was up on the ladder, talking to one of his friends on the field below. He had just gotten done explaining something over the PA and was killing time while the director fixed something on the other side of the field. Dr. Knight and his friend had been discussing the year’s crop of Golden Girls and who was their new favorites. After some discussion, he called his shot: “See that one? With the long brown hair and the light blue shorts? Her. I’m getting her tonight.”
People started laughing, and the director said, “Mike, you should probably turn off the microphone next time you talk about that.” Sure enough, the whole thing had been broadcast to the entire band over the speakers. Even so, that night, Michael Knight (yep, just like in Knight Rider) fulfilled his own prophecy. It was the booty equivalent of playing poker and bluffing with your hand sitting face up on the table… and winning.
by Soria's Unibrow on Sep 11, 2009 6:37 PM CDT reply actions
Marching Mizzou boners unite!
Great to run into a fellow M2 trombone player on here, I had no idea. I marched for three years between 2003 and 2007 (had to drop it my soph year because of scheduling commitments, something i still regret), but I’ll back up everything Soria has been saying. M2 is hard and a major commitment, but totally worth it. My junior and senior year, I had the privilege to lead one of the “spirals” that we line up in to start pregame, and it was a blast every game.
I’m hoping to make it back to homecoming this year to play in the alumni band and I can’t wait to join everyone in a bone cheer before “riding the bone” across the field after a win!
Formerly RoyalsFanInBillings
Follow me on twitter.com/MizzouCus
Another M2 Trombone alum
I marched 1996 & 1997 — excellent Holiday Bowl trip!
How many M2 alums (and more specifically trombones) are on RMN?
X
Sponor of the Will Ebner Physical Therapy Center for Players Who've Been Hit By Will Ebner and Want to Try to Stop the Ringing. Or WEPTCPWBHBWEWTSR for short.
by MarioVanPeebles Republic of China on Sep 14, 2009 7:25 PM CDT up reply actions
god da*m it.
this reply stuff takes some time to master
"The field mouse is fast but the owl sees at night"
Comments For This Post Are Closed
Secondary Sidebar
User Tools
FanPosts
Community blog posts and discussion.
Certain photos copyright © 2012 by Associated Press or Getty Images. Any commercial use or distribution without the express written consent of Associated Press and Getty Images is strictly prohibited.
