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Little m, as in the horses Mrs. Pickens gave us.

(and I really apologize for putting this in the football forum, but this seems to the the hub for anti-mustang rancor, as they appear at football games)

And the question is:

Did you react this violently when the band decided to allow women? I mean, "99 guys and a doll" was TRADITION.

duck!

ender3 wrote:Little m, as in the horses Mrs. Pickens gave us.

(and I really apologize for putting this in the football forum, but this seems to the the hub for anti-mustang rancor, as they appear at football games)

And the question is:

Did you react this violently when the band decided to allow women? I mean, "99 guys and a doll" was TRADITION.

Whoever you are, I like you!

Opening the band up to women was, for all practical purposes, federally mandated (not arguing the point one way or the other)...the geldings were not. In other words, there was no choice on the band.

RGV Pony wrote:duck!

Quack!!!

They aren't mustangs. They are GELDINGS. Rider-trained geldings.

True, there was no choice, but did you resent it? Were you tempted to boo the band? Did you let it take away from your game day experience?

If not, why?

(and muatangsabu, thanks, I like you too! )

No its a stupid comparison except probably from some narrow minded bandsman. It made barely a blimp on the radar of SMU fans. SMU fans aren't Aggies

Stallion wrote:No its a stupid comparison except probably from some narrow minded bandsman.

Wrong-O, Mary Lou.

Never in the band. Played football. Graduated in 1991.

Pernua is my mascot, but the other horses don't bother me in the least.

And I don't find it to be a stupid comparison in the least. It's a pretty good comparison, actually. In each case, an aspect was added to an existing tradition, without removing ANYTHING from the old tradition. I'm curious why, in this particular case, it is so objectionable.

And I don't think we want to have a vote about who is more narrow minded on this board. So, we have a "No, it didn't bother me" vote from Stallion, but no explanation why.

Please explain why some traditions are more important than others.

(Might be time to change my signature quote.)

So are you trying to equate adding women to the band as the same as adding two geldings to the field? Well let's see. When it was all said and done they were still the Mustang band and they still played the fight song and jazz and they didn't start wearing cowboy hats and boots. Did I boo...no, but I didn't boo the geldings last night either. The gelding are totally a June Jones thing...pure and simple. It's part of his psychological way of dealing with changing the team attitude. I get it, but I don't like it. So shoot me.

Cool. An Answer.

That's all I was looking for. Sounds like you object more to the riders outfits than the concept of a horse at all. Understandable. Honestly, I can see your point there. I don't see how the cowboy motif fits in.

But let's be clear... the band CHANGED when that policy changed. Their identity changed. Far more than Pernua has changed, which is, as far as I can tell, not at all.

I also think that it has a lot to do with the psychological aspect of changing team attitude.

As I said in another thread this morning... belief in the team's ability to win is EVERYTHING. If it takes a couple of new horses to keep us from being mired in a losing state of mind like Colorado, then that is where we disagree... I say bring it on.

ender3 wrote:And I don't find it to be a stupid comparison in the least. It's a pretty good comparison, actually. In each case, an aspect was added to an existing tradition, without removing ANYTHING from the old tradition. I'm curious why, in this particular case, it is so objectionable.

Not going to get involved in the blatant troll attempt, but I will argue semantics.

"In each case, an aspect was added to an existing tradition, without removing ANYTHING from the old tradition" If the tradition was an all-male band, adding females is not adding tradition without removing tradition. It is simply eliminating a tradition alltogether.

I guess you could argue that the band had a tradition of having male members. Then, added the tradition of having female members. But this is just stupid.

ender3 wrote:Cool. An Answer.

That's all I was looking for. Sounds like you object more to the riders outfits than the concept of a horse at all. Understandable. Honestly, I can see your point there. I don't see how the cowboy motif fits in.

But let's be clear... the band CHANGED when that policy changed. Their identity changed. Far more than Pernua has changed, which is, as far as I can tell, not at all.

I also think that it has a lot to do with the psychological aspect of changing team attitude.

As I said in another thread this morning... belief in the team's ability to win is EVERYTHING. If it takes a couple of new horses to keep us from being mired in a losing state of mind like Colorado, then that is where we disagree... I say bring it on.

Actually I object to the riders...cowboy or otherwise. Mustangs don't have riders. I understand that a horse would be hard to handle without a rider which is one good reason not to have a full size horse. Since we do have a full size...no two full size...horses we have to have riders. So get rid of the cowboy outfits. The other option is to build a corral up by the scoreboard and keep them there without riders as someone else suggested.

They are here and I understand they aren't going away as long as June is here, but they need to find other things for the geldings to do besides copying Peruna's duties.

Your dissection of my post is right on, but don't you think that makes my comparison even more apt?

The band was fundamentally changed when they admitted women, and I don't recall any uproar. (I don't know the year, and I certainly wasn't around for it, but I also asked my father, and he didn't recall it being that big of a deal [before Stallion accuses me of being raised by a narrow minded bandsman, no, he wasn't in the band, either])

The tradition of having a shetland pony on the sideline for a football game has not been changed in any way. There are now two more animals on the sideline, but Peruna's role has not changed.

I'm really not trolling.

I was raised a Mustang. I'm a multi-generational Mustang. It's difficult to find a picture of me during my childhood not wearing SMU gear.

And I'm just completely unconcerned about the presence of two additional horses on the field. I'm trying to understand why people are so. freaking. upset.

Adding women to The Mustang Band is not a valid comparison.

A valid comparison would be forming a second band that does allow women, and having them at the game too, while saying you will not get rid of The Mustang Band or interfere with any of their traditional duties...