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01-03-2013, 06:06 AM
(This post was last modified: 01-03-2013, 06:10 AM by
Leftcoast.)
We sat near the middle of the stadium opposite the raised grandstand (south side?) and could hear the band announcer pretty well.Â
The pre-game script involved the band doing an internet search to better understand their opponent and mid-western mascots in general. Thus the jokes about YouTube videos and spell outs covering honey badgers, gophers etc. It was mildly funny with the announcer pretending shock as he uncovers mid-western culture on the web.
The half-time show dealt with the writers scrambling to create a script for the show. One writer keeps making cheese puns (Isn't this Gouda enough?, You must think I'm a muenster!) while the other writer panics that everyone will think the show is lame if they don't get started writing soon.Â
Ok, it wasn't as edgy as the chainsaw formation in Oregon or Eamon McHungry in South Bend but what did any of us expect could get by the censors worried about Stanford's notorious band on national TV at the freaking Rose Bowl? As for the Wisconsin booing, well after hearing cries of outrage over a script based on the lyrics of "Oklahoma" last year I expected no less.
In my opinion the scripting has been uneven over the years as writers come and go. Yeah, yesterday could have used more creative spark and more than a few listeners probably agreed with the second announcer's fear that the show would be "lame" but I always enjoy the band's music, energy and unabashed support of all things Stanford. As one who attends a LOT of Stanford sports, the band is the one constant - they are at volleyball, women's basketball, swimming etc long after other supporters have packed away their Pom-poms in anticipation of the next football season.Â
And, Geeesh, Wasn't it worth a few "cheesy" puns to hear "All Right Now" after a Rose Bowl win? I'm still smiling!
(By the way, thanks to Garvin and Oasis for a chance to meet face to face with a couple of Cardboard regulars and their families while still basking in the Rose Bowl afterglow. Good times and dinner at Antonio's with real fans beat hunting for ESPN highlights with my long suffering wife (kids packed away in an adjoining room!) as I came down from the over-amped appreciation from the sweet smell of Pasadena roses and a win made still sweeter by 41 years in waiting!)
In 1938 Neville Chamberlain declared "Peace in our time", Superman first appeared in Action Comics, Seabiscuit beat War Admiral ....... and C.a.l last won the Rose Bowl.