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I'm not looking to pick a fight, lord knows I am a HUGE fan of the Mustang Band, but wow. Just saw a video (Rutgers) and they looked as sloppy as I have ever seen them. Really not sharp or crisp; I don't think I've ever seen them phone it in that badly for a halftime. It's not the music and they didn't sound bad- a little sloppy, just really lax discipline. What's the deal?

I guess I'm concerned because I really do like the band feel it is a very important and unique part of the SMU spirit and experience.

I think the atmosphere had something to do with it. It was cold, windy, and rainy. There were also not very many fans there. I was at both the Texas A&M game and the TCU game where they did the same show and performed it better. They even got a standing ovation from the aggies. Maybe they don't get fired up performing for an empty stadium like the football team

Possibly lots of things. Some let down that Athletics continues to slash their budget and scholarship $$ are way down, so it's harder to recruit. At least that's what I hear from a student. No support anywhere.

no support anywhere? Bull. How about close 1.5 MILLION raised for that band hall so far?

Nothing has changed. This director clearly is emphasizing playing fewer songs better instead of focusing on more songs and better marching like the previous director. Only so many practice hours. Just a matter of preference.

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The scholarship thing is just an easy excuse. Mustang Band students have never had much scholarship money - if any.

The bottom line is kids won't put in the hours these days if they aren't getting something for it.

Maybe the generation of dismal football killed the enthusiasm, but with decent football now and potentially great basketball hopefully membership would start to increase again.

We have to pay band geeks to preform?

Are we paying them to perform or to suffer through every football game? Zing!