Earlier this month, FOX sports reporter, Clay Travis, stated in an interview that in order to make college football games shorter, he would consider cutting the band at halftime. He stated that the band is more than welcome to play before the game, after the game, or in the stands, but "no one really goes to a football game to sit around and watch the band at halftime". The inner band nerd in me almost had a heart attack. He also decided to tweet about it as well.
After his crude and uncalled-for interview, tweet, and 'suggestions' about making football games shorter, the marching band world blew up. Now, being a member of a marching band for six years, I had quite a few comments to say to one sports reporter Mr. Clay Travis, and instead of tweeting about it, I decided to write an article about it.
Dear Clay Travis,
Marching band is more than just playing "before the game" or "in the stands".
You probably do not realize this, but I spend over 20 hours every week we have a football game dedicated to band. I have rehearsal every other day for three hours and I definitely could be using that time to study, work, or hang out with friends, but instead, I choose to dedicate those three hours every other day to doing something I love, something that has more meaning than you can possibly understand, something that I take pride in, and most importantly, something that represents the school pride and spirit that I have for my University. On game days, we get to the stadium at least five hours before kickoff in order to prepare for game day. Sure, it is important for us to play during the football game and, of course, it is important for us to play before the game to get the crowd going. But what you do not realize is, what we play in the stands and what we play before the game, we spend less than one percent of our time rehearsing that. Ninety-nine percent of what we spend our time rehearsing is our halftime show. So band is way more than playing stand tunes during the game and playing the fight song before kick off, let us have our six minutes during halftime.
Yes, there are actually many people who do come to see the marching band perform at halftime.
Let me break it down for you Clay Travis, roughly 300 marching band members and let's say 2 parents per marching band member that come to watch their son or daughter perform at halftime, not including additional family and friends, that over 600 people that love to watch the marching band perform at halftime. Your statement that "no one wants to sit and watch the marching band at halftime" is invalid.
Football games would not be the same without the band.
Let's face it, the band keeps the crowd going and spirited while the football team is playing, and even when they are not playing. Our stand tunes, cheers, chants, halftime show, and all of our traditions are what keep the fans and the crowd amped up during the game. There are times when football games can be a little boring or times when our team is not playing so great, but the band is there to keep cheering on our team and motivating the fans to do the same. Football games would be less entertaining without us, trust me, not everyone is thrilled by watching a football game, even if the time of the game was "cut in half".
Marching band is more than just some "damn band".
We are the pride and the spirit of our University and our town. We represent our school every time we put on our uniforms and every time we step out onto the field. Marching band is more than just "some damn band", marching band is a way we express ourselves. It is a way for us to give back to our school. Marching band is a way for a group of 300 or more students to come together and work and dedicate their time and energy together to do something great and that no one else could do. We work hard for what we do. We earn those six to ten minutes during halftime and most importantly, we deserve it.
