{"id":18141,"date":"2021-12-02T10:00:49","date_gmt":"2021-12-02T15:00:49","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/artsatmichigan.umich.edu\/ink\/?p=18141"},"modified":"2021-12-10T15:03:08","modified_gmt":"2021-12-10T20:03:08","slug":"the-rise-of-the-band-geeks-episode-8-the-game-according-to-alias","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/artsatmichigan.umich.edu\/ink\/2021\/12\/02\/the-rise-of-the-band-geeks-episode-8-the-game-according-to-alias\/","title":{"rendered":"The Rise of the Band Geeks, Episode 8: 42-27"},"content":{"rendered":"

In light of our resounding victory against That Team Down South, your local band geek would be remiss not to write about The Game from the perspective of the Michigan Marching Band.<\/em><\/p>\n

I’m just going to preface this with a simple yet eloquent statement:\u00a0\u00a0WE CRUSH<\/em><\/strong>ED THEM, BABY!!!!!!\u00a0 YEEHAAAAAAWWWW!!!!!!\u00a0 ONLY ONE FOOTBALL TEAM IS GOING TO THE CHAMPIONSHIP, AND IT’S NOT THAT TEAM DOWN SOUTH!\u00a0\u00a0<\/em><\/strong>(As you can see, I’m still basking in the glory that comes from defeating Public Enemy #1.)<\/p>\n

5:00 am.\u00a0\u00a0<\/strong>Yes, really–we arose at 5 am in the shadow of the waning night to get fired up for the day we had all been waiting for.\u00a0 Bundled up in multiple layers with our garment bags in tow,<\/p>\n

\"\"
I forgot where I obtained this from, but I am 99.99999% confident the image is public domain.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

we traversed the distance from our dwellings to the sanctified building known as Revelli Hall.\u00a0 For all the hype that coiled through the frigid atmosphere, the uncertainty of\u00a0what lay ahead–namely, the expectation that we were going to lose–crouched in the backs of our minds for the most part.<\/p>\n

We all wanted to win, of course.\u00a0 But being a Michigan fan, as we all know, means preparing for the worst during The Game.\u00a0 Were we going to be subjected to abysmal ref calls?\u00a0 Succumb to a walloping by That Team Down South (TTDS) for the ninth game in a row?\u00a0 Or were we finally going to show TTDS who was boss?<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Pregame.\u00a0<\/strong>\u00a0In all my time as a marching band member (so basically just this season), I have never heard the fans be so\u00a0loud.\u00a0\u00a0<\/em>This was easily the rowdiest the student section has ever been.\u00a0 And when the band took the field doing entries?\u00a0 Utter chaos.<\/p>\n

It was cheering for the most part, though there were spurts of intense booing that were audible with and without foam earplugs.<\/p>\n

Truly, it was magical.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The First Half.\u00a0\u00a0<\/strong>Cold.\u00a0 Cold.\u00a0\u00a0Cooooooooooooooold.\u00a0 <\/em>Where I’m from,\u00a0temperatures do not dip this low for such extended periods during which we must be outside.\u00a0 Compared to the eager snow and vengeful wind, the sweater weather that dominated October was a tropical paradise.\u00a0 Lukewarm handwarmers, semi-numb fingertips, and–hang on a second–<\/p>\n

WE GOT THE FIRST TOUCHDOWN OF THE GAME.<\/strong><\/p>\n

The rest of the first half unfolded as a true nail-biter (or glove-biter, if you were fortunate enough to have gloves).\u00a0 The holy band beanies were indeed a saving grace against the winter weather (it’s still fall, right?\u00a0 RIGHT!?!?!?!?!?!?)…until the time came for the halftime performance.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Source: @umichband via Twitter<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Halftime.\u00a0\u00a0<\/strong>Arguably the most crucial part of The Game other than the victory, the halftime performance provided heat where the weather did not.\u00a0 The dusting of snow revealed the tracks of marchers as we went through our drill, our breaths almost as visible as the bull’s ferocious puff at the end of the first song.<\/p>\n

By the very end, my fingers were numb and I was in physical pain, but retrospectively it was awesome.\u00a0 And playing\u00a0El Toro Caliente\u00a0<\/em>evidently worked, because the weather was less miserable during the third quarter.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The Second Half:\u00a0 Where it All Went Down.\u00a0\u00a0<\/strong>With each touchdown, each stands cheer, the tenuous hope we’d clung to throughout the first half gradually solidified.\u00a0 Was this really happening?\u00a0 Were we finally going to dominate TTDS?<\/p>\n

I didn’t let my excitement carry me away until the fourth quarter.\u00a0 When the score was 28-20, I knew The Game could easily be tied with a TD and a two-point conversion, which has been a sore sport for the Wolverines this season (read:\u00a0 we’ve missed it every time, and the other teams seemingly snuck past our defense to score.\u00a0 Yes, I’m looking at you, Sparty).<\/p>\n

Then, in the fourth quarter, it happened:\u00a0 the cymbal rank leader called Cheer 8.<\/p>\n

The drumline calls a series of cheers throughout the game, each in a different context.\u00a0 Drum cheers are similar to stand tunes other than the fact that only the drumline plays.\u00a0 Cheer 8 is reserved for moments when we are definitively beating the other team and involves a dance that includes the whip, so its being called was a watershed.\u00a0 All of a sudden, the possibility of victory felt real.<\/p>\n

When Haskins scored the sixth touchdown, we knew.\u00a0 The final minutes were those of surreal anticipation and chaotic thrills as the seconds ticked toward zero–<\/p>\n

And then the football team rushed the field.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Source: @umichband via Twitter.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Triumph.\u00a0\u00a0<\/strong>Elation.\u00a0 Screaming brazenly as our lord and savior Carl Grapentine announced the final score to thousands of victorious Michigan fans.\u00a0 A fervent rendition of “The Victors” exploding from our instruments as fans began to storm the field.\u00a0 I sensed going into the season that the field would be stormed if we won The Game, but it was a mere fantasy, a wishful hope the dream of smashing TTDS would finally come true.<\/p>\n

As my overjoyed hollering joined the ecstatic roars of thousands, the cold evaporated into a storm of maize and blue.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Aftermath.\u00a0\u00a0<\/strong>…for about ten minutes.\u00a0 Then, we had to wait for quite literally thousands of fans to clear the field.\u00a0 (Also, it was snowing again.)\u00a0 The field, when we did finally set foot onto it, was littered with detritus:\u00a0 primarily maize pom-poms, although I did spot a shot-sized bottle of Fireball whiskey.<\/p>\n

The MMB celebrates wins by wearing our shakos backwards from the conclusion of our postgame performance to the moment we enter Revelli after cadencing there.\u00a0 Flipping around my shako as I had done for all the home games this season felt differently than before.\u00a0 It felt magical, incredible, fantastic.\u00a0 It also felt unstable because my chinstrap was not adjusted accordingly, and I was too dang cold to bother adjusting it.\u00a0 Perched as it was atop my beanie (with help from my hand holding it in place), my backwards shako bore the victory as I marched along the pavement with a giddy smile stretched across my face.<\/p>\n

Although the regular season is over, the band\/football season and this blog are far from finished!\u00a0 Tune in next week for more band-related hubbub.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In light of our resounding victory against That Team Down South, your local band geek would be remiss not to write about The Game from the perspective of the Michigan Marching Band. I’m just going to preface this with a simple yet eloquent statement:\u00a0\u00a0WE CRUSHED THEM, BABY!!!!!!\u00a0 YEEHAAAAAAWWWW!!!!!!\u00a0 ONLY ONE FOOTBALL TEAM IS GOING TO […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2243,"featured_media":17619,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"image","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[1777,1673,1245,1784,1171,1752,872,1362,903,1072,1776,1778,1170,420],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/artsatmichigan.umich.edu\/ink\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18141"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/artsatmichigan.umich.edu\/ink\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/artsatmichigan.umich.edu\/ink\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/artsatmichigan.umich.edu\/ink\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2243"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/artsatmichigan.umich.edu\/ink\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=18141"}],"version-history":[{"count":13,"href":"https:\/\/artsatmichigan.umich.edu\/ink\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18141\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":18208,"href":"https:\/\/artsatmichigan.umich.edu\/ink\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18141\/revisions\/18208"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/artsatmichigan.umich.edu\/ink\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/17619"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/artsatmichigan.umich.edu\/ink\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=18141"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/artsatmichigan.umich.edu\/ink\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=18141"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/artsatmichigan.umich.edu\/ink\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=18141"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}