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Post by bigcatfan on Sept 16, 2019 8:48:14 GMT -5
I really have little to add after reading the comments from the past few days. I have no enthusiasm left, no words of encouragement. I have resigned myself to just sitting back and watching and seeing if this truly is a train wreck or if this team can find a way to turn the corner. Don't know any more whether it's poor coaching, lack of talent, or lack of give a damn. All I can do is just see what happens next.
But I do have one last bit of aggravation that I hope someone can help me alleviate.......where in the hell was the band this past Saturday? Why weren't they present at the game? Why do they duck and run for cover and essentially quit on our team and fans for a bit of inclement weather? Was it too far for the poor souls to have to walk back to the stadium with their instruments? Heck there is an arena adjacent to the stadium that holds about 8000 people. Couldn't they have waited it out in there and then returned to the field to support the team and fans?
I love the band. Have for years. Glad they have turned into a recruiting powerhouse for the University. Happy for their successes and national attention. But the Marching Band exists but for the support of football and in turn they also get support. Yet their absence on Saturday only proves that no one is on the same page regarding expectations and one unit helping another. You don't just get to show up when you want to, whether your a student a student athlete, student band member, concession worker, ticket taker, PA announcer, and so on. And I find it insulting that the band can simply not show up, perhaps we they may be actually needed the most.
Come on band director and support staff. You CAN and you SHOULD do better.
Now for full disclosure, I wasn't at the game and don't attend regularly for reasons personal to me. But I didn't see them on TV, didn't hear them, so this is just me adding 2 and 2 together. If they were there, then simply disregard the crap above.
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Post by catamountfanatic07 on Sept 16, 2019 9:10:29 GMT -5
The band was dismissed due to the lightning and weather after about an hour or so of delays. They didn’t “quit”....they were told to leave. They did the traditional walk from the white building to the stadium, but then all the delays started and went on and on and on.
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Post by The Cats on Sept 16, 2019 9:21:38 GMT -5
The band was dismissed due to the lightning and weather after about an hour or so of delays. They didn’t “quit”....they were told to leave. They did the traditional walk from the white building to the stadium, but then all the delays started and went on and on and on. The band was dismissed by the AD. They were up for an early morning practice of that day's performance, then came back for that day's normal routine. They did march to the stadium at their normal time. When the lighting delay happened, they were sent to inside the Ramsey Center, where they remained for several hours. Once it became appearant the game would not start until at least 6 pm, Randy Eaton went to the band director and told him to dismiss the band. This was an athletic decision, not a band decision. |
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Post by wcucats81 on Sept 16, 2019 13:01:09 GMT -5
While the big question of this thread is "where is the band". another big question is where are the 5,000 t-shirts that were supposed to be given out.
When we arrived in the stadium at 630 or 7 (or whatever time it was), we were told t shirts are at Gates 1 & 4. So basically the field house end of the field.
So with about 800 (give or take) people in the stands, we were told no more XL t-shirts available. They probably ordered 3 boxes to start with. Not that a cheap t shirt is a big deal, but these t shirt giveaways are always short on the needed sizes.
Again no Cat Roar sound to tell people in the lots that the game was starting back up. Yeah 3:00/3:15 roars were heard. I'm assuming programmed into some computer to shoot off like a firework. How hard is it too push the roar button to tell everyone in the lots that it's game on.
It's just this nit pick stuff that makes us look like the Cheap Charlies of the SoCon.
Rant over.
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Post by catamountfanatic07 on Sept 16, 2019 15:32:21 GMT -5
While the big question of this thread is "where is the band". another big question is where are the 5,000 t-shirts that were supposed to be given out. When we arrived in the stadium at 630 or 7 (or whatever time it was), we were told t shirts are at Gates 1 & 4. So basically the field house end of the field. So with about 800 (give or take) people in the stands, we were told no more XL t-shirts available. They probably ordered 3 boxes to start with. Not that a cheap t shirt is a big deal, but these t shirt giveaways are always short on the needed sizes. Again no Cat Roar sound to tell people in the lots that the game was starting back up. Yeah 3:00/3:15 roars were heard. I'm assuming programmed into some computer to shoot off like a firework. How hard is it too push the roar button to tell everyone in the lots that it's game on. It's just this nit pick stuff that makes us look like the Cheap Charlies of the SoCon. Rant over. I think by that point they were practically giving people as many shirts as they could. And you’re right, it’s not about the five dollar T-shirt but more so the nitpicky little things. |
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Post by Catamount12grad on Sept 16, 2019 16:34:13 GMT -5
The band has been aggravating me for some time. I was at Western from 08-12 and had several close friends in the band, including my roommate for 3 out of 4 years. I have a lot of respect for what they do and the attention they’ve brought to the University. That being said, over the last 3-5 years they’ve changed.
They show up to the games and play an opening show with the anthem and the team running out, which has been the same show with little variation for about 6 or 7 years now, then they go to the stands and do nothing until halftime. They play their big show at halftime, then go back to the stands and continue to do nothing until the game is over so they can play their big show again. The only time they do anything while in the stands is when we score they will play the fight song.
When I was in school the band was much more involved in the game. They played different songs in the stands, they had a certain song they would play on third downs, they would talk trash to the visiting team (when they used to stand in front of them on that sideline), and when they couldn’t play because of the rain most of them showed up to the game anyway. They would also take small sections of band around and play the fight song on the east side in the second half which I haven’t seen them do in a long time. They were some of the loudest and most vocal supporters in the whole stadium.
I was not there this past saturday so I don’t know if any of them still showed up to watch or not but it has been my observation that they have become much less interested in supporting the team. I can only assume this has to do with the change in leadership from Bob Buckner to David Starnes although I have no direct connection to any current band members to verify that.
In place of the the band not participating in the game environment outside of pre game and halftime, the gap has been filled with extremely loud, outdated, poorly timed music (between every single down) that was almost more aggravating to me during the Mercer game than what happened on the field. Every time Mercer scored and they’d play “I’m a survivor” I was physically embarrassed to be sitting in the stadium. Cringeworthy is an understatement. The person picking the music seems to have very little understanding of football in general and current “stadium” trends. Not saying I’m an expert but I certainly didn’t hear anything like that when I was at the N.C. State game a few weeks ago. As I said, I was not there Saturday, so some of this may have improved for this game but I could still hear some of it on the ESPN stream.
There are a lot of question marks on the field right now, but there are also a lot of things off the field with the game day environment that leave me completely baffled and, like someone else said, make us look cheap. Unlike a lot of the excuses we hear, this has nothing to do with money. We have the band, we have the speaker system. This is a human making a decision for the band not to participate and support the team, and this a human or humans making decisions on the in-game programming. If I was a recruit and saw that type of stuff, not even considering the currently poor product on the field, it would make me question coming to WCU.
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Post by catamountalum04 on Sept 16, 2019 19:32:58 GMT -5
I agree about the band. The band and thier fans act like the reason people are in the stands are for them and the football team is a 2nd thought. No offense to the band but if they were not playing football i would not bat an eye at the band. I am there to watch football not listen to the band
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Post by catamountfanatic07 on Sept 16, 2019 19:43:20 GMT -5
I agree about the band. The band and thier fans act like the reason people are in the stands are for them and the football team is a 2nd thought. No offense to the band but if they were not playing football i would not bat an eye at the band. I am there to watch football not listen to the band I’m all for the band but I also have told people I’m there to watch a football game and not a band. |
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Post by cadco25 on Sept 16, 2019 19:58:04 GMT -5
I was a band member from 2014-2016 and was greatly disappointed at how bad we were at being a "college football gameday" band. It was treated entirely like the point of the event was us, and everyone was there to see the band. That was really the sentiment I felt from everyone. We were one of the largest bands in the country, and at a small school. The band really has the opportunity to bring a lot to the atmosphere, both with the instruments and by just being an excited presence. Unfortunately, we rarely played any songs in the stands, and seemingly spent almost the entire second quarter standing behind the endzones waiting to take the field so that the real show could begin.
The band is obviously a good one, but the comment that was given earlier about the pre-game show is true, and honestly could be stated about the halftime show, although people who aren't inclined to watch with a critical eye may not notice. The shows all have very similar formats. I've gone to games with other former band members the last couple of years and laughed at how similar the show structure was to the shows that we played. As for the pre-game show, it is almost literally the same show every year. The band is built for its own interest at this point, not for the football experience.... although one may argue that isn't the worst thing. They probably do a better job representing the school than the football team.
The weather thing though, that's not their fault.
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Post by bonsaiburke on Sept 16, 2019 20:28:53 GMT -5
04-09 member here. I remember having issues trying to play in the stands when I was in the band. With as many people we had it took 3 drum majors to direct over 30 yards of band members. We had a few short songs to play but always had issues trying to get the whole band ready to play and stop in time. I think during my tenure we were warned 2 or 3 times for playing when we weren't supposed to. The team was never penalized though.
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