[French Rage]

Eh .... These band "disrespect" claims by overly agitated fans strike me hollow.  

I remember the Oklahoma St fans claiming the same lack of respect when Stanford played their normal "Hail Stanford, Hail" post-game song, softly and in dirge style, after our Fiesta Bowl loss.  Mind you, they were playing it on the FAR side of the stadium during the post game trophy presentation and amid the head coach comments which had gone on forever.  (The OK St coach never saw a microphone he didn't think needed extra work).  You'd think Stanford's band was T.O. dancing on the Dallas Star and then peeing on it afterwards for good measure if you read the Cowboy fanboards the next day.  They also didn't like our take on the lyrics (I kid you not!) from the musical "Oklahoma".   Yet, I was there and barely heard our band playing from the nearby Mezzanine walkway where I was waiting to hear it.

There's always someone pounding on the outrage snare drum given half a chance.

I think that is a good perspective.  And yes, we've been on the other side of overly sensitive opposing teams getting their panties in a bunch over something offensive the band ostensibly played. 

However, in this particular case, it was during a tribute for a player who had passed away.  This isn't simply "bad taste" or even outright symbolic disrespect (like dancing on the Dallas Star, minus the urination) for a team, it was disrespect for someone who died.

BC

And with the Fiesta Bowl, our band was all the way on the other side of theirs on a neutral field.  In this case, USC was a guest at Cal's field.

[French Rage]

Eh .... These band "disrespect" claims by overly agitated fans strike me hollow.  

I remember the Oklahoma St fans claiming the same lack of respect when Stanford played their normal "Hail Stanford, Hail" post-game song, softly and in dirge style, after our Fiesta Bowl loss.  Mind you, they were playing it on the FAR side of the stadium during the post game trophy presentation and amid the head coach comments which had gone on forever.  (The OK St coach never saw a microphone he didn't think needed extra work).  You'd think Stanford's band was T.O. dancing on the Dallas Star and then peeing on it afterwards for good measure if you read the Cowboy fanboards the next day.  They also didn't like our take on the lyrics (I kid you not!) from the musical "Oklahoma".   Yet, I was there and barely heard our band playing from the nearby Mezzanine walkway where I was waiting to hear it.

There's always someone pounding on the outrage snare drum given half a chance.

I think that is a good perspective.  And yes, we've been on the other side of overly sensitive opposing teams getting their panties in a bunch over something offensive the band ostensibly played. 

However, in this particular case, it was during a tribute for a player who had passed away.  This isn't simply "bad taste" or even outright symbolic disrespect (like dancing on the Dallas Star, minus the urination) for a team, it was disrespect for someone who died.

BC

And with the Fiesta Bowl, our band was all the way on the other side of theirs on a neutral field.  In this case, USC was a guest at Cal's field.