Band Director at BBall games sucks

[mustangnation]

Why was he playing the lone ranger after we had just come back from being down 13 points, what a buzzkill. He needs to learn to play to the flow of the game. They needed to be playing something to keep the crowd going and not put them to sleep.

[Diamond Girl]

The songs and ads and all are scripted, and the director doesn't have much say about what the band gets to play. If you have gripes, take it somewhere else and don't lay the blame on him.

[MustangIcon]

So who do we b*tch at about the song selection? The towel boys? The players? Orsini? You? The concesion stand guys? In my opinion this is Doherty's fault. We never had these song seelection issues under past coaches.

[PonyLove]

I think you should ask the guy at the concession stand. And while you're at it, see if they can get lids and straws for the cold drinks.

[abezontar]

and drop the prices a few bucks for those of us who are poor.

If it really is pre-scripted like you say then that is something new, and I guess would fall at the feet of one of the new facilities/marketing hires. If it is just a script that the director is putting together then he needs to learn some flexibility. The prior director used to put together a script but he adapted to the flow of a game. Considering this is the new director's first college job my guess is that he is still learning how to adapt to the flow of the game. At least, that is my hope.

[Peruna2001]

I know things have changed since the new band director came in, but I really don't see how you can script an entire basketball game down to the detail of what songs the band plays.
Personally, I like the "Lone Ranger song," but I agree that maybe it would have been better suited to play at a different time. Same with Dudley Do-Right. Also, they need to learn to play Dr. Who better. It sounds like [deleted]. I don't mind playing a song that every other college and high school band plays, but if you do, play it better than them.
I mean no disrespect for those in the band. I was in the band. Last night seemed to be better "scripted" than some other games. Maybe the director is learning what works and what doesn't.

[PonySnob]

The band should play less during breaks......the music over the PA system is much better!!

[MustangIcon]

The band should play less during breaks......the music over the PA system is much better!!

hahahahahahahahahahaha. Perfect comment for this thread!

You are about to be attacked by the deadly Diamond M Gang. Enjoy your thrashing.

[bagice]

They need to bring back Godzilla IMO.....

haven't heard that all year

[Peruna2001]

The band should play less during breaks......the music over the PA system is much better!!

I hope you're being sarcastic.

They need to bring back Godzilla IMO.....

haven't heard that all year

That's one of my favorites too.

[Peruna_Ate_My_Rolex]

Yes, that was one of my favorites from back in the day as well.

[bagice]

Yes, that was one of my favorites from back in the day as well.

They played it a few times last season, not much, but a few.

Always sounded really good, translates well to horns.

[smu diamond m]

Quit being stupid and talk to someone who cares about what you say. Instead of inciting a verbal riot on ponyfans.com, own up to what you say and contact somebody:

214-SMU-BAND
ttucker@smu.edu
dhopkins@smu.edu

[DiamondM]

I think in the last 2 home games, the Mustang Band has improved, and from personal experience, Don Hopkins is receptive to constructive criticism directed to him personally ("the band director sucks" is NOT constructive criticism).

As for your comment about the Lone Ranger song, once upon a time, we played the William Tell Overture regularly with a "Go Stangs" after the initial fanfare in the middle of the song and people actually stood up and yelled and clapped along.

Playing William Tell was particularly interesting when Arkansas came to town and packed Moody (or Barnhill South as they called it) because it is a MAJOR spirit song for them and everyone does stand up and cheer "Go Hogs" and make lots of noise throughout the song. We stopped playing it as often for the very reason that it was a conference mate's song (of course this doesn't stop many SEC schools from playing the same little ditty as every other SEC school, or every other Texas school from playing March Grandioso even though most people associate it with the Longhorns).

In any case, not all of the fault for "the crowd sat on its arse through an important time out" can be attributed to the band. Much as another thread pointed out, the people actually have to participate some of the time. The band regularly the plays Pony Battle, Peruna, Go Chant, 5-4-3-2, and the majority of the crowd stares at the band and cheerleaders like it just had a labotomy rather than join in and sing, chant, clap along. The band, like the team, often feeds off the energy of the crowd too, and if some people would just respond by doing something -- anything -- to indicate that they are not, in fact, deaf and mute, then the band often responds with more energy too.

[abezontar]

I think in the last 2 home games, the Mustang Band has improved, and from personal experience, Don Hopkins is receptive to constructive criticism directed to him personally ("the band director sucks" is NOT constructive criticism).

As for your comment about the Lone Ranger song, once upon a time, we played the William Tell Overture regularly with a "Go Stangs" after the initial fanfare in the middle of the song and people actually stood up and yelled and clapped along.

Playing William Tell was particularly interesting when Arkansas came to town and packed Moody (or Barnhill South as they called it) because it is a MAJOR spirit song for them and everyone does stand up and cheer "Go Hogs" and make lots of noise throughout the song. We stopped playing it as often for the very reason that it was a conference mate's song (of course this doesn't stop many SEC schools from playing the same little ditty as every other SEC school, or every other Texas school from playing March Grandioso even though most people associate it with the Longhorns).

In any case, not all of the fault for "the crowd sat on its arse through an important time out" can be attributed to the band. Much as another thread pointed out, the people actually have to participate some of the time. The band regularly the plays Pony Battle, Peruna, Go Chant, 5-4-3-2, and the majority of the crowd stares at the band and cheerleaders like it just had a labotomy rather than join in and sing, chant, clap along. The band, like the team, often feeds off the energy of the crowd too, and if some people would just respond by doing something -- anything -- to indicate that they are not, in fact, deaf and mute, then the band often responds with more energy too.

HEY!!!! Just because people are deaf doesn't mean they don't know how to cheer and interact with energy. I find that my inability to hear actually makes it easier to get up and do my own thing. Granted many people find themselves embarrassed to be next to me but that's their problem not mine.