[Spiny_Norman]

God bless him, Ted Miller beautifully defends the Stanford band in the Friday mailbag on the ESPN Pac 12 blog.

Man, these are dark times of buffoonery.

Is this hell? Is it Iowa? Maybe.

The Stanford band is a wonderful part of the rich and diverse college football tapestry, something I've stated many times before. The one thing college football doesn't need is another band marching around and doing "Great Songs of the '80s!" when everyone bolts for the bathroom or gets a hot dog and refill on their favorite beverage.

No offense to bands that are full of talented, hard-working musicians but, well, there are literally hundreds of bands full of talented, hard-working musicians. There's only one band that does a tribute to capital punishment or celebrates great USC graduates like Joe Francis.

But, please, don't jump aboard my defense of the Stanford band with a "Another Example of Political Correctness Run Amuck" crud. People who want to be politically incorrect want to attack and mock the weak and disenfranchised. Stanford's band goes after the smug and powerful, which we need more of. Not less.

Is it edgy? Does it tip toe toward offensive at times? Have there been incidents of poor behavior separate from the formal skits? Yes, yes and yes.

But bad behavior is often a part of great art -- see Kayne West, Ernest Hemingway, Beethoven and Lord Byron. Was the preceding sentence a massive overstatement? Heck yes it was, but it's just the sort of ironic, yuck-yuck that someone who enjoys the Stanford band would completely understand.

I suggest folks who care about all that is right and good (and funny) should write their favorite Stanford administrator and tell him or her that you love the Stanford band as is.

http://www.espn.com/blog/pac12/post/_/id...nford-band

[Spiny_Norman]

God bless him, Ted Miller beautifully defends the Stanford band in the Friday mailbag on the ESPN Pac 12 blog.

Man, these are dark times of buffoonery.

Is this hell? Is it Iowa? Maybe.

The Stanford band is a wonderful part of the rich and diverse college football tapestry, something I've stated many times before. The one thing college football doesn't need is another band marching around and doing "Great Songs of the '80s!" when everyone bolts for the bathroom or gets a hot dog and refill on their favorite beverage.

No offense to bands that are full of talented, hard-working musicians but, well, there are literally hundreds of bands full of talented, hard-working musicians. There's only one band that does a tribute to capital punishment or celebrates great USC graduates like Joe Francis.

But, please, don't jump aboard my defense of the Stanford band with a "Another Example of Political Correctness Run Amuck" crud. People who want to be politically incorrect want to attack and mock the weak and disenfranchised. Stanford's band goes after the smug and powerful, which we need more of. Not less.

Is it edgy? Does it tip toe toward offensive at times? Have there been incidents of poor behavior separate from the formal skits? Yes, yes and yes.

But bad behavior is often a part of great art -- see Kayne West, Ernest Hemingway, Beethoven and Lord Byron. Was the preceding sentence a massive overstatement? Heck yes it was, but it's just the sort of ironic, yuck-yuck that someone who enjoys the Stanford band would completely understand.

I suggest folks who care about all that is right and good (and funny) should write their favorite Stanford administrator and tell him or her that you love the Stanford band as is.

http://www.espn.com/blog/pac12/post/_/id...nford-band