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Indiana Marching Band Season Canceled


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This could be turned to a positive for the programs rather than a negative.

 

I have always thought schools around me lack the school spirit I grew up with in terms of the student body and the marching band.

 

Without their own competition taking up all their time they could get back to the team support aspect of the schools marching band. Maybe even learn to march again instead of the dancing they do now. And sorry to those who don't agree, but if your instrument has to be brought out on a trailer and it sits parked on the sideline and never moves it doesn't belong in Marching Band. 

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8 hours ago, DK_Barons said:

This could be turned to a positive for the programs rather than a negative.

I have always thought schools around me lack the school spirit I grew up with in terms of the student body and the the marching band.

Without their own competition taking up all their time they could get back to the team support aspect of the schools marching band. Maybe even learn to march again instead of the dancing they do now. And sorry to those who don't agree, but if your instrument has to be brought out on a trailer and it sits parked on the sideline and never moves it doesn't belong in Marching Band. 

I do agree, which means we probably both aren't too far away from sitting on a porch yelling at kids to get off the lawn.  LOL.  

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19 hours ago, DK_Barons said:

This could be turned to a positive for the programs rather than a negative.

 

I have always thought schools around me lack the school spirit I grew up with in terms of the student body and the marching band.

 

Without their own competition taking up all their time they could get back to the team support aspect of the schools marching band. Maybe even learn to march again instead of the dancing they do now. And sorry to those who don't agree, but if your instrument has to be brought out on a trailer and it sits parked on the sideline and never moves it doesn't belong in Marching Band. 

I would disagree.  Maybe at DeKalb the band isn’t as strong, but in Central Indiana, this is marching band central (Carmel has won 4 national titles in 8 years.)

 

Anyone that says a band, or dance team, or whatever it might be should only show school spirit at athletic events and shouldn’t compete is completely out of touch with reality.

 

If I were a band director, and trust me, I prefer my football, but a comment like that and I’d be certain that we never played at a football or basketball game again.

 

When I taught at Ben Davis, Dick Dullaghan regularly made his football team go watch the band at the State Finals.  Mutual respect.

 

 

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14 hours ago, HoosierFB_JG said:

I would disagree.  Maybe at DeKalb the band isn’t as strong, but in Central Indiana, this is marching band central (Carmel has won 4 national titles in 8 years.)

 

Anyone that says a band, or dance team, or whatever it might be should only show school spirit at athletic events and shouldn’t compete is completely out of touch with reality.

 

If I were a band director, and trust me, I prefer my football, but a comment like that and I’d be certain that we never played at a football or basketball game again.

 

When I taught at Ben Davis, Dick Dullaghan regularly made his football team go watch the band at the State Finals.  Mutual respect.

 

 

Glad it is happening somewhere. I knew everyone wouldn't share the same opinion and that is fine.

 

My experience in the northeast compared to what I grew up with in SW Ohio lacks a little in my opinion. I have been here for more than a couple decades now and I have not once seen a band at an away football game.
From the time I remember going to games in grade school onward the bands were both always at the game and they were always fully dressed, rain or shine, 100 degrees or 0 degrees. Every week they did something different along with some of their usual favorites.
Here it is home games only and fair weather only. I did hear rumors once a number of years ago of a visiting teams band desiring to attend a game during playoffs but I'm not aware if they did so. If it's too hot they are in t-shirts and shorts (I don't have a issue with this, it's just different). If it's raining, they head home. When half time is over most band parents head home and at some of the schools the band has pretty much filtered out by the end of the third quarter at others they stay but you never hear an instrument. Many times they don't even bring their instruments to the stands where they sit anymore. The half time production is just that a production, a practice for their competition and it's the same every game. Perhaps it's always been that way around here and it's normal to them.

I did make it back to a watch a game with my sister in my neck of the woods in Ohio sometime in the past ten years while a friend's son was a senior and things there are still very similar to what I recall. Both bands were there from before the game until the last whistle. They played from the stands during dead time. They built off of each other back and forth across the field. They pumped up the student sections and the adult fans. They split the time at halftime between the bands so you have to be on and off quickly so no concert instruments lining the entire sideline. 

 

A wise band director might inquire about comments like these and learn from them rather than getting butt hurt and taking his ball and going home.  

 

All that said there are some very good bands up this way and DeKalb is usually one of them. Norwell, East Noble, Homestead, Carroll, Snider, Northside, Concordia, and Woodlan to name just a few more are good at what they do, it just doesn't fit the mold I grew up with as described above..

 

 

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9 hours ago, DK_Barons said:

Glad it is happening somewhere. I knew everyone wouldn't share the same opinion and that is fine.

 

My experience in the northeast compared to what I grew up with in SW Ohio lacks a little in my opinion. I have been here for more than a couple decades now and I have not once seen a band at an away football game.
From the time I remember going to games in grade school onward the bands were both always at the game and they were always fully dressed, rain or shine, 100 degrees or 0 degrees. Every week they did something different along with some of their usual favorites.
Here it is home games only and fair weather only. I did hear rumors once a number of years ago of a visiting teams band desiring to attend a game during playoffs but I'm not aware if they did so. If it's too hot they are in t-shirts and shorts (I don't have a issue with this, it's just different). If it's raining, they head home. When half time is over most band parents head home and at some of the schools the band has pretty much filtered out by the end of the third quarter at others they stay but you never hear an instrument. Many times they don't even bring their instruments to the stands where they sit anymore. The half time production is just that a production, a practice for their competition and it's the same every game. Perhaps it's always been that way around here and it's normal to them.

I did make it back to a watch a game with my sister in my neck of the woods in Ohio sometime in the past ten years while a friend's son was a senior and things there are still very similar to what I recall. Both bands were there from before the game until the last whistle. They played from the stands during dead time. They built off of each other back and forth across the field. They pumped up the student sections and the adult fans. They split the time at halftime between the bands so you have to be on and off quickly so no concert instruments lining the entire sideline. 

 

A wise band director might inquire about comments like these and learn from them rather than getting butt hurt and taking his ball and going home.  

 

All that said there are some very good bands up this way and DeKalb is usually one of them. Norwell, East Noble, Homestead, Carroll, Snider, Northside, Concordia, and Woodlan to name just a few more are good at what they do, it just doesn't fit the mold I grew up with as described above..

 

 

Keep in mind, Ohio doesn’t have a state band organization.  They do invitationals but there is not a state marching band finals, whereas Indiana does and takes it very serious.  
 

I get it though, I’d be going home to if I had practice in the morning and were going to be on the road at a competition until 11-12 at night.

 

At least it’s keeping kids off the street, and that’s a win in my book.  

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On 7/21/2020 at 9:39 PM, HoosierFB_JG said:

I would disagree.  Maybe at DeKalb the band isn’t as strong, but in Central Indiana, this is marching band central (Carmel has won 4 national titles in 8 years.)

 

Anyone that says a band, or dance team, or whatever it might be should only show school spirit at athletic events and shouldn’t compete is completely out of touch with reality.

 

If I were a band director, and trust me, I prefer my football, but a comment like that and I’d be certain that we never played at a football or basketball game again.

 

When I taught at Ben Davis, Dick Dullaghan regularly made his football team go watch the band at the State Finals.  Mutual respect.

 

 

Marching Band in Indiana is among nations best, and I think there are maybe 7-8 high schools in Indiana have 250+ members plus and most if not all programs practice 10-12 hours a day for two weeks in July/August and social distancing is all but impossible so no surprise...  Also Bands of America just cancelled Grand Nationals which is a major blow to economy in Indianapolis for that one weekend in early November.  And I don't know why bands would bother with a season without competition just to play on Friday nights in am empty stadium with no fans.

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35 minutes ago, Titan32 said:

Don't a lot of schools in indiana have more of a "jazz" band to play at basketball and even football games that isn't associated to the "marching" band at all?

That I don’t know.  It’s a pep band, but I know ours at Carmel is massive, but they also have over 300 in the marching band alone.  

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