[FarmBoy]

I may not have been there to see it, but I've heard first hand accounts that the pre-scramble band was fairly run of the mill and boring. When I was in the LSJUMB, there was a trombonist old-timer who had played in the pre-1963 band and was still performing field shows in the 90's. (the guy was a crack up. he would go barefoot on the field, but painted his feet white to look like he was wearing spatz like the old band wore.) He made it very clear in stories to us that even the band members at the time thought they were boring. But I guess you could argue that's a selective poll, since he clearly loved the LSJUMB enough to play in it for 30+ years.

As for the Indian, I have no problem with the Indian as our mascot. Stanford seems to generally respect the heritage, with the annual Pow Wow and Mu-wekma-tau-ruk (sp?). I personally prefer the tongue-in-cheek nature of the current tree. The guys at Rule of Tree were posting Big Game covers and some of the older ones were very cool, with the chieftain theme, but by the 50's, the Indian caricature hiding behind a rock to shoot arrows at the Bare drawn Conestoga Wagon just looked stupid.

The visceral, negative reaction many opposing fans and players have towards the tree is the true test of its power.

[FarmBoy]

I may not have been there to see it, but I've heard first hand accounts that the pre-scramble band was fairly run of the mill and boring. When I was in the LSJUMB, there was a trombonist old-timer who had played in the pre-1963 band and was still performing field shows in the 90's. (the guy was a crack up. he would go barefoot on the field, but painted his feet white to look like he was wearing spatz like the old band wore.) He made it very clear in stories to us that even the band members at the time thought they were boring. But I guess you could argue that's a selective poll, since he clearly loved the LSJUMB enough to play in it for 30+ years.

As for the Indian, I have no problem with the Indian as our mascot. Stanford seems to generally respect the heritage, with the annual Pow Wow and Mu-wekma-tau-ruk (sp?). I personally prefer the tongue-in-cheek nature of the current tree. The guys at Rule of Tree were posting Big Game covers and some of the older ones were very cool, with the chieftain theme, but by the 50's, the Indian caricature hiding behind a rock to shoot arrows at the Bare drawn Conestoga Wagon just looked stupid.

The visceral, negative reaction many opposing fans and players have towards the tree is the true test of its power.