[jacketree]

I chuckled at some of this:

...at some point, that holstered u-geek-ness was going to come spilling out.

And then, at halftime of the Rose Bowl, the Stanford band — to the surprise of absolutely no one with a lick of sense — Stanford-banded their performance:

This is a tough conversation in a way because the band's actual Rose Bowl performance was fine, but the band's history precedes them.

This is a little ominous, since Rose Bowls are no longer a once in a quarter century thing for us:

The halftime performance was not in line with the values of the Rose Bowl Game and we will be reviewing our policies and procedures with regard to future band performances.

And lest everyone thing I'm a holier than thou band purist (which you do anyway no matter what I say, kind of like the band's critics), I've been there and done that.  At one annual Greek Week talent show, the crowd gathered in our TV lounge decided that regardless of talent or lack thereof, we were not going to leave minimum participation points on the table.  So we decided we would simply sing a Van Halen and/or Rush song a capella and then come back to the Love Boat episode in which we were engrossed. We trouped over to the EE Auditorium en masse wearing what we were wearing.  In honor of Charles Mingus, I wore my pork (sans pie) hat.

We followed one of the historically black frats who brought the house down with a step routine.  Problemo one.  Then we took the stage. Problemo two.  "Way to dress up douche bags."  Then we sang.  Problemos three and four.  I said Van Halen or Rush, but in the fog of war I think we did Van Halen and Rush. And maybe a few others.  We sucked. Out Loud.  Total humiliation.  Stuff was thrown.

The next year screening tryouts were held for both Greek Week and Homecoming talent shows.  Fortunately we found a pledge with talent.  Composed his own music and played the piano well.  Never won, but really unique and appreciated.

[jacketree]

I chuckled at some of this:

...at some point, that holstered u-geek-ness was going to come spilling out.

And then, at halftime of the Rose Bowl, the Stanford band — to the surprise of absolutely no one with a lick of sense — Stanford-banded their performance:

This is a tough conversation in a way because the band's actual Rose Bowl performance was fine, but the band's history precedes them.

This is a little ominous, since Rose Bowls are no longer a once in a quarter century thing for us:

The halftime performance was not in line with the values of the Rose Bowl Game and we will be reviewing our policies and procedures with regard to future band performances.

And lest everyone thing I'm a holier than thou band purist (which you do anyway no matter what I say, kind of like the band's critics), I've been there and done that.  At one annual Greek Week talent show, the crowd gathered in our TV lounge decided that regardless of talent or lack thereof, we were not going to leave minimum participation points on the table.  So we decided we would simply sing a Van Halen and/or Rush song a capella and then come back to the Love Boat episode in which we were engrossed. We trouped over to the EE Auditorium en masse wearing what we were wearing.  In honor of Charles Mingus, I wore my pork (sans pie) hat.

We followed one of the historically black frats who brought the house down with a step routine.  Problemo one.  Then we took the stage. Problemo two.  "Way to dress up douche bags."  Then we sang.  Problemos three and four.  I said Van Halen or Rush, but in the fog of war I think we did Van Halen and Rush. And maybe a few others.  We sucked. Out Loud.  Total humiliation.  Stuff was thrown.

The next year screening tryouts were held for both Greek Week and Homecoming talent shows.  Fortunately we found a pledge with talent.  Composed his own music and played the piano well.  Never won, but really unique and appreciated.