PonyFans.com

Which away games will the Mustang Band be attending this year?

PonySnob wrote:Which away games will the Mustang Band be attending this year?

aggie

tcuseless

"pep" band for cougar high

Why the hell isn't the full band going to the UH game in Houston? It's not that far. What's the excuse?

smumustang1980 wrote:Why the hell isn't the full band going to the UH game in Houston? It's not that far. What's the excuse?

Call the director.

No way the band doesn't have the chance to christen Reliant.

If it's money start a [deleting] fund tonight!

Seriously - a BCS bowl bid might be on the line!

I'll donate to get full band to Houston.

Prolly a holiday issue though.

If a bcs bowl bid is on the line, the full band would be there as would every single SMU fan in the state

smumustang1980 wrote:Why the hell isn't the full band going to the UH game in Houston? It's not that far. What's the excuse?

It's because the game is the day after Thanksgiving. A lot of band members are from out of state and would have to travel on Thanksgiving in order to get back on time. There will be a "pep band" at the game consisting of volunteer students and alums.

Don't big schools (we are one, right?) typically have their full bands and cheerleader squads at Thanksgiving weekend games?

horsemanx wrote:Don't big schools (we are one, right?) typically have their full bands and cheerleader squads at Thanksgiving weekend games?

Unless you prohibit students from going home for Thanksgiving, how do you accomplish that?

If the game was on Saturday instead of Friday, this probably wouldn't be an issue.

horsemanx wrote:Don't big schools (we are one, right?) typically have their full bands and cheerleader squads at Thanksgiving weekend games?

List of FBS schools by undergrad enrollment (according to Wikipedia):

Tulsa 3174
Rice 3708
Air Force Academy 4413
Naval Academy 4576
Military Academy 4624
Wake Forest 4815
Duke 6484
Vanderbilt 6796
Stanford 6999
SMU 7000


In other words, no, we're not big. Big-time, maybe, but not big.

In the world of big-time college football, Thanksgiving gatherings are centered around going to the game (whether it be on Thursday, Friday or Saturday) - not going to grandma's house. Big time college students, band members, parents and fans want to go support their team - have turkey at the tailgate. We don't have that mentality. SMU uses Labor Day weekend, Fall Break, Thanksgiving as excuses for not attending, whereas the biggies center their festivities around the game. (I've counted the # of students in the student "section" on the weekend of a fall break game - double-digits). I can imagine the conversation: "Oh, we can't do that, it's Thanksgiving." Face it, supporting the team is just not up there on the list of priorities - for a good many.

Well bottom line, there will be a band from SMU there. They just won't march a 7-9 minute halftime show, which should actually allow them more freedom to play in the stands the entire 2nd and 3rd quarters.

Bergermeister wrote:In the world of big-time college football, Thanksgiving gatherings are centered around going to the game (whether it be on Thursday, Friday or Saturday) - not going to grandma's house. Big time college students, band members, parents and fans want to go support their team - have turkey at the tailgate. We don't have that mentality. SMU uses Labor Day weekend, Fall Break, Thanksgiving as excuses for not attending, whereas the biggies center their festivities around the game. (I've counted the # of students in the student "section" on the weekend of a fall break game - double-digits). I can imagine the conversation: "Oh, we can't do that, it's Thanksgiving." Face it, supporting the team is just not up there on the list of priorities - for a good many.

You do make some good points, but keep in mind Texas Tech has their season opener (and Kliff's debut game as HC) in-state against an old SWC rival, and they aren't sending even a pep band to the SMU game. Aren't they a 'biggie?' And that's not even a holiday weekend.

SMUPhil wrote:You do make some good points, but keep in mind Texas Tech has their season opener (and Kliff's debut game as HC) in-state against an old SWC rival, and they aren't sending even a pep band to the SMU game. Aren't they a 'biggie?' And that's not even a holiday weekend.

Actually, it is the beginning of Labor Day weekend.