Mustang Band ain't what it used to be

[mr. pony]

Trotting 60 something folks out on a Div IA college football field is no way to run a band.

How did the band get this way?

WOMEN! That killed the band.

It's gone from "96 guys and a gal", to "60 something politically correct musicians, some of whom play the piccolo". The PICCOLO??

The answer? Go back to an all-male all-brass Mustang Band. Make it something unique and the numbers will go right back up.

[mustangbill67]

Are you saying women cannot play brass? give me a break!

[abezontar]

It is obvious from your post that you don't know that much about the band......do a little research and then come talk.

[mr. pony]

I was in the band.

[abezontar]

then you should know it has never been all brass

[mr. pony]

Ok, we had saxophones. Looked kind of brassy, though.

[mr. pony]

You tell me why the hell we need a piccolo player in the Mustang Band.

[abezontar]

you tell me why we need a twirler? Or why we don't need girls? We would probably only be fielding 30 guys now if we didn't allow girls in the band. The fact that there are women in the band has nothing to do with why the numbers have dropped; and if you are familiar with recent history I think you will realize that.

the piccolos that we have look just as brassy as the saxes

[mr. pony]

OK, forget the twirler.

So tell me, oh great one, why have the numbers dwindled?

[abezontar]

combination of poor sports teams, loss of a central figure that kept the organization going, lack of recruiting by recent directors, lack of leadership who knew the organization's tradition and how to keep that going with the younger generations, lack of invovlement of the alumni, lack of support from the University following some of the "hazing" incidents....I'm sure there are several factors that I have missed.

Luckily, I think the band is moving in the right direction (at least i hope it is). The alumni organization is getting bigger and trying to keep more of the former bandsmen involved, and trying to raise a lot more money to make sure the organization has what it needs to get and keep the band at the level it needs to function at. Due to the efforts of several figures at the University and the Alumni organization, the higher ups at the school have begun to recognize that they need to quit treating the band like a bastard step child, and they recently hired a new director that is an alum of the band and has spent his life working as a band director and with kids that will be the bandsmen of next year and the years coming, so he knows what is necessary to get the kids of today motivated to participate and be excited about making the organization what it once was.

[mr. pony]

This may come as a shock to you, but the numbers were up while hazing was common place.

Go figger, huh?

Once again, it's the political correctness BS.

[abezontar]

reread the post, i never said the hazing was a cause of the problems, i said the band getting busted for "hazing" cause the University as a whole to treat us more like a bastard step child than a part of the university, if I remember correctly, the members who started the problems because they didn't like the hazing.....were males (an there were females in the band at the time)...go figure it was the boys were too wussy to deal with it...


There have also been 90 members in the band since girls have been a part of the band, so it can't have been the fact that there are women in the band that has caused the decline in membership.....

go figure

[mr. pony]

Oh, well. I don't know. It's just a shame there are so few now.

[MrMustang1965]

Due to the efforts of several figures at the University and the Alumni organization, the higher ups at the school have begun to recognize that they need to quit treating the band like a bastard step child, and they recently hired a new director that is an alum of the band and has spent his life working as a band director and with kids that will be the bandsmen of next year and the years coming, so he knows what is necessary to get the kids of today motivated to participate and be excited about making the organization what it once was.

Nominated as today's longest sentence posted on www.ponyfans.com.

[MustangSally]

Yeah! And there were also 96 white guys with no blacks! That must be the magic formula! Forget the ridiculous rise in tuition compared to stagnant scholarships, or bad sports teams, or a major push from the university to send the band in another direction.

Mr Pony, when were you in the band?

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