Ohio State University

[xandandl]

Good!

Now how many DCI kids can I sign them up to sponsor this season? I have a number from several corps looking and again the DCP Sponsorforum has not been cleared of the past season. HINT, HINT, HINT moderators.

Yes, I am aware that many kids use GoFundMe, Paypal, FB, etc. to elicit other sponsors. But DCP's contributions remain legendary.

Edited January 14, 2015 by xandandl

[perc2100]

Oregon's band blew OSU's off the field.

** EDIT **

not worth arguing/debating college marching band in a competitive nature, other than to say Oregon has a drastically different look and style compared to tOSU Marching Band. Both were entertaining and supported & represented their schools well on the largest national stage. As a tOSU alum (not marching band alum), I couldn't have been more prouder of my school

Edited January 14, 2015 by perc2100

[perc2100]

Oh there was a game? Anyone know if it's true that OSUs semester started this week so the players/band/etc were missing the start of class in the interest of TV ratings? Trying to remember where the full rant I read was at. Probably columnist for NY Daily News this past Sunday as usually read that to get info ocal paper misses.

1) OSU started Monday. It was very well-publicized by University admin that students could not miss class, or risk being 'dropped' due to attendance. There is typically a lengthy wait-list to get into classes due to the size of student body at tOSU, and if you're not at class the first day of school you will likely get dropped for someone on wait list in attendance.

2) student athletes and band members did not miss school "for TV ratings:" they missed class (maybe: if the students have Tuesday/Thursday classes maybe they didn't miss any class) representing their school on a HUGE stage.

The band students missed class to support other students of the University. I'm sure athletes and band members were excused

3) as stated elsewhere, Oregon started classes the week before the National Champ. game. I don't know their policy, but I suspect it was something similar.

Most of the articles I read regarding class-in-session had more to do with NCAA regulations stating if a semester is in session an athletic team can only practice/compete for 20 full hours: this includes weight training, tape with coaches, and events (football games = 3 hours regardless). If school is not in session there are no time limitations for team practices. This means in theory tOSU football team could have had more practice/prep hours than Oregon since the week before the Nat. Champ game tOSU was still on winter break while Oregon was in session. From what I read tOSU did not have a strenuous week of extra practice (i.e. did not take advantage of extra time that I could tell), but that was the angle I read in ESPN and other news outlets.

[brichtimp]

** EDIT **

not worth arguing/debating college marching band in a competitive nature, other than to say Oregon has a drastically different look and style compared to tOSU Marching Band. Both were entertaining and supported & represented their schools well on the largest national stage. As a tOSU alum (not marching band alum), I couldn't have been more prouder of my school

It does not need to be a competition to be a well performed (playing and marching) and entertaining show. I have enjoyed the OSU band going back to the '60s......I am used to seeing better execution from them than what I viewed the other night. I enjoyed Oregon's enthusiasm and arrangements more than their shuffling around the field.....of course, IMHO, and good to be able to see full shows on the tube.

[JimF-LowBari]

2) student athletes and band members did not miss school "for TV ratings:" they missed class (maybe: if the students have Tuesday/Thursday classes maybe they didn't miss any class) representing their school on a HUGE stage.

The band students missed class to support other students of the University. I'm sure athletes and band members were excused

The gist of the article was that the game was held when it was to get the highest rankings/money for the broadcaster and the students (football players/etc) needs be ####ed. So not sure how they didn't miss class thanks to the almighty broadcasting buck.....

And guessing by the posts here (shows how little I follow Div I) the game was shown on ESPN. NY Daily News has some writers that don't mind exposing ESPN (aka Bristol Clown College) at their greediest.

Edited January 14, 2015 by JimF-LowBari

[oldbandguy]

I think this is the thing to keep in mind when discussing college marching band. It's not high school BOA, TOC, US Bands, etc. It's not drum corps competition. For the most part, the college marching band is put together specifically to enhance the Game Day experience. Period. Some college bands utilize a drum corps style (kind of drum corps lite), some are show bands, some are swing bands, some military, and some perform a more dance-based show.

I love the variety of college marching band. Even the Blue Devils re-posted one of Ohio State's shows from this past season because of it's creativity and entertainment value. They didn't re-post the show (on Facebook) because it could beat other corps or college bands. That wasn't the point.

Many of the big college bands (power 5 conference bands and some others) operate somewhat as follows:

- 1 week band camp

- 2 hours per day of rehearsals, 5 days a week

- dress rehearsal on game day and pre-game and half-time performances

- most of these groups perform 6 to 8 different shows each fall (NOT ONE SHOW for 15 weeks).

Someone mentioned how the Oregon Crusaders would eat the lunch of the Oregon College Marching Band. Sure, if we're talking about OC in the late summer when they are clean and the legs and syncing, the music is clicking, and the GE is locking in. Last time I checked, OC performs ONE show for all of spring and summer. They rehearse 8 to 12 hours per day. They have a corps camp of 30+ days, on the same 12 minutes of music and drill. Oh, and the kids are NOT in school at the time, especially at the college level where they are taking advanced classes.

Ohio State MB worked up, I believe, 9 shows this year. NINE!!!! Not one in which they rehearsed 8+ hours per day in summer weather while not being in school, beating the crap out of 12+ minutes of music and drill for the entire spring and summer. These are important differences to understand.

Knowing what I do about the OSU MB, I can tell you that if we took the best 110 members of that band, added 40 guard, and took them to spring training for 30+ days, then on the road for DCI competition for the summer, rehearsing 8+ hours per day on ONE show only, well...that would be one talented World Class drum corps. No, they probably would not beat the likes of the top 7 (although a lot of this depends on the instructional staff), but they would be very good. I believe with the right staff and show they could be top 12 good. I suspect that could be the case with a number of excellent college marching bands in the country. Georgia, FSU, UT Austin, U. of North Texas, Jacksonville State, Western Carolina, Michigan and Michigan State, and on and on.

What is the top 7 in DCI anyway? In large part it's comprised of drum corps that recruit mostly college-level players, many of whom march with their school's marching band. The difference is that those top drum corps are collecting the best talents from many of those great college, and some high school, marching bands. So they are, in essence, All-Star ensembles that can spend all their time on ONE show. They begin show prep over Thanksgiving weekend, offer mini-camps through early spring, then hold a 30+ day corps camp, and then tour for 2 months. They have unlimited rehearsal time (or seemingly so) vs. a school ensemble that must rehearse in the midst of a busy class schedule when students have other considerations and jobs.

Lastly, need I mention the teaching staff. The top drum corps have 20, 25, even over 30+ staff and techs. In the 22 years I have taught college marching band, 18 of those as a head director, I had 1 percussion instructor, 1 flag instructor, a majorette coordinator, and a student helper. That's it. And I didn't have those people for every rehearsal. Many small-school bands are lucky to get 3 to 4 hours per week of rehearsal time.

The reason I choose to rant about this (and my apologies to all of you for this) is that every time college marching band gets discussed on this forum it turns into how DCI is better, which corps would beat college bands, and which college bands are better than other college bands. Blah, blah, blah...and who really cares. College band is for the game day experience. There may be a few that compete. Good for them. Most exist for fun, entertaining shows that promote the game day experience, school pride, etc. But it's many of those same students from college marching bands all over the country who comprise our top drum corps in the summer.

Maybe your best of many outstanding posts over the years.

[luv4corps]

Quality of sound was hard to gauge on ESPN Classic....not HD and sound pickup was marginal.....both shows had some entertainment value. I thought both bands had mucho phasing issues in their marching. There are high school bands that would blow U of Oregon off the field, by the way....not to mention the Oregon Crusaders, who would eat them for breakfast.

Oh no question. Having had a MM in OC for five years, I totally agree. I would have thought OSU's band would have eaten the Duck band for lunch as well, so I'm just glad there was not a big disparity. U of O has a fine music school, but marching band isn't exactly a priority there.

[fsubone]

Oh no question. Having had a MM in OC for five years, I totally agree. I would have thought OSU's band would have eaten the Duck band for lunch as well, so I'm just glad there was not a big disparity. U of O has a fine music school, but marching band isn't exactly a priority there.

And if a band like UO or OSU had the same priority as OC, and spent the same amount of time on their show, they'd probably do pretty well. Can't compare apples and oranges like this.

[JimF-LowBari]

And if a band like UO or OSU had the same priority as OC, and spent the same amount of time on their show, they'd probably do pretty well. Can't compare apples and oranges like this.

This.... I transferred to Indiana Univ of Pa which is known for it's music program and very good marching band. Got to IUP and found out the credits for my major (Computer Science) would not be honored by the new jackhole head of the Dept. Had already signed up for MB and honored that commitment but just too #### much taking double CompSci classes and 10-15 hours a week doing band. Next year rolled around I didn't re-up for MB so I'd have time for BOTH coding and sleep.

[HornTeacher]

If this has already been posted, then I apologize for the doubling. I haven't seen it:

As soon as the NCAA awarded rights to the Championship Game to AT&T Stadium, the scheduling of the game was a mere formality for the following reasons:

1) AT&T Stadium is the home field of the NFL's Dallas Cowboys. Therefore, I would assume that the needs of the Cowboys would come first before ALL else.

2) I'm sure that the NCAA knew that the NFL scheduled it's three playoff weekends when they did (the past two weekends, both Saturday and Sunday for the wild card and Divisional Playoff rounds, and this coming weekend for the NFC/AFC Championship Games). As a result, I'm also sure that AT&T stadium would have been rendered unavailable months and months ago (as soon as that NFL playoff schedule was announced). I can't see Jerry Jones allowing the stadium to be used in the event that the Cowboys should make the playoffs, and possibly needing it if they earned the home-field advantage. However, no one could predict which day, and on which weekend (or any/all of the three) the field would be needed to meet the needs of the Cowboys (which, I'm quite sure, holds the greatest "rights" to use in Jerry's mind). Therefore;

3) The CFB National Championship Game was automatically relegated to a prime-time weeknight spot. Better ratings/more money/any other reason, while being valid, didn't matter. The only way for the NCAA to get AT&T on a weekend (and thus, make it possible for the teams/bands to theoretically not miss any school time) would have been to schedule the Championship Game three weekends ago (not possible without changing the CFB's entire Bowl schedule, which just isn't going to happen), or to hold off for two more weeks (since this coming weekend might have been needed if the Cowboys were to earn a spot into the NFC Championship Game AND host the game as a "highest seed." I see the whole matter being less decided by ESPN and more likely decided by Jerry Jones/Dallas Cowboys/NFL.

Edited January 15, 2015 by HornTeacher