Help restore The Pride

[prrriiide]

Please take this online survey to collect anonymous opinions about The Pride. This data will be presented to refute Boren's statement that the discontent is confined to 30 or so Pride alumni, and everyone else thinks that everything with The Pride is just peachy.

http://surveymonkey.com/s/prideofoklahoma

Thank you.

[Breadburner]

Yawn.....

[OU_Sooners75]

Done

[MsProudSooner]

Done.

[En_Fuego]

Done

[flysooner9]

I thought the pride was just fine at the Tulsa game. Then again I have always thought our band was average at best. Call me a hater but oh well just my opinion.

[David Earl]

This data will be presented to refute Boren's statement that the discontent is confined to 30 or so Pride alumni, and everyone else thinks that everything with The Pride is just peachy.

Done.

Boren knows better. He's just trying to justify his situation in all this.

[Piware]

Done. No excuse for this except a Board of Regents member's ego.

[Soonerwake]

I did mine, but I would guess that I would have answered the same way for the last 15 years..

Basically, the halftime performance is a waste of time. Boring, boring, boring...

I like the march to the stadium, pregame, and Boomer Sooner during the game. But halftime, yuck...

[MichiganSooner]

Done.

[yermom]

can someone line out what specifically the issues are?

we've been griping about various aspects of the band for years...

[instigator]

I think this shows what some of their concerns are.

http://firejustinstolarik.com/

They think he is just taking Wisconsin's band routine and bringing it here.

[MyT Oklahoma]

Done.

[MsProudSooner]

I did mine, but I would guess that I would have answered the same way for the last 15 years..

Basically, the halftime performance is a waste of time. Boring, boring, boring...

I like the march to the stadium, pregame, and Boomer Sooner during the game. But halftime, yuck...

That's the sad part of the situation. If this guy had been smart enough to leave the pregame alone, most people wouldn't have complained if he experimented with the halftime shows.

[prrriiide]

can someone line out what specifically the issues are?

we've been griping about various aspects of the band for years...

1. He is apparently incapable of writing new, original drill that incorporates all of the membership of The Pride. He is also apparently incapable of writing/locating good, original arrangements for The Pride's halftime shows, despite having one of the most talented and respected drill and music arrangers in the nation on faculty. He has chosen not to avail himself of that resource.

2. He does not teach the class (The Pride is a graded class) in a manner which allows for improvement from performance to performance.

3. He was hired under shady circumstances, and his resume clearly shows that he did not meet the minimum requirements outlined in the job posting, either through experience or education, or a combination of the two.

4. He has taken complete shows from the Wisconsin bad's repertoire, and fielded them - nearly unchanged - at OU. In any other field, this is called plagiarism, and is grounds for immediate dismissal from the University.

5. His continued employment is a detriment to the School of Music as a whole. The life blood of the SoM is the recruitment of highly talented freshman musicians of all types. These students are now being actively discouraged from attending OU by their band directors because of the precipitous decline in the quality of The Pride.

6. In the the span of a few short weeks, The Pride has gone from being one of the most nationally respected college marching bands, to the subject of disbelief and ridicule around the country. Band directors here in East Tennessee that know I am an OU grad have asked me what happened. Stolarik has taken The Pride form being a point of pride to being a point of embarrassment.

7. Despite their hard work and effort at making Stolarik's version of The Pride successful, the students are continually brushed aside and left to work out issues on their own.

These are some of the issues. There are more, but time doesn't permit going into all of them.

[Flagstaffsooner]

Band geeks should have their own board,

[badger]

Band geeks should have their own board,

Or at least confine band talk to one thread...ah well at least it's bye weekend

[TXSooner]

hey priiiide - sounds like an overrrreaction. the band's fine.

can we talk about notre dame now?

[8timechamps]

hey priiiide - sounds like an overrrreaction. the band's fine.

can we talk about notre dame now?

Wrong.

When some of the actual members of the band boycott practice, it's not being overblown.

[8timechamps]

Done.

Hope my opinion helps.

[yermom]

1. He is apparently incapable of writing new, original drill that incorporates all of the membership of The Pride. He is also apparently incapable of writing/locating good, original arrangements for The Pride's halftime shows, despite having one of the most talented and respected drill and music arrangers in the nation on faculty. He has chosen not to avail himself of that resource.

2. He does not teach the class (The Pride is a graded class) in a manner which allows for improvement from performance to performance.

3. He was hired under shady circumstances, and his resume clearly shows that he did not meet the minimum requirements outlined in the job posting, either through experience or education, or a combination of the two.

4. He has taken complete shows from the Wisconsin bad's repertoire, and fielded them - nearly unchanged - at OU. In any other field, this is called plagiarism, and is grounds for immediate dismissal from the University.

5. His continued employment is a detriment to the School of Music as a whole. The life blood of the SoM is the recruitment of highly talented freshman musicians of all types. These students are now being actively discouraged from attending OU by their band directors because of the precipitous decline in the quality of The Pride.

6. In the the span of a few short weeks, The Pride has gone from being one of the most nationally respected college marching bands, to the subject of disbelief and ridicule around the country. Band directors here in East Tennessee that know I am an OU grad have asked me what happened. Stolarik has taken The Pride form being a point of pride to being a point of embarrassment.

7. Despite their hard work and effort at making Stolarik's version of The Pride successful, the students are continually brushed aside and left to work out issues on their own.

These are some of the issues. There are more, but time doesn't permit going into all of them.

i also heard about Thrailkill's response to the hiring and the search committee's involvement in the decision. you have to wonder what motivations are involved when you hear things like that.

[En_Fuego]

hey priiiide - sounds like an overrrreaction. the band's fine.

can we talk about notre dame now?

I remember going to games in the 90's when all I had to look forward to was the Pride of Oklahoma. I remember one game when the Pride came out for the fanfare and I cried because of how much we'd fallen. I was in the south EZ and was looking around to see which 50 yard line seat I could sit in because there wasn't very many people there.

It's sure isn't an overreaction with me !!!!!!!!!!

[BajaOklahoma]

I found the next Director of the Pride! The Allen, Texas high school band, all 803 members, played at the Rams/Cowboy game on Sunday.
This is the guy they should have hired. The band marches, plays loud and has music chosen for the setting. These are high school kids - imagine what he could do with college students.
I have no idea if he meets the requirements, but that doesn't seem to be an issue. And his current salary is small compared to what he would make as the Director of the Pride.

[GottaHavePride]

They could have hired Debbie Traficante, the Asst. Director under Brian Britt, except Weitzenhofer said no woman would ever have that job. They also could have hired John Pasquale, now the director at Michigan. Both very qualified and, judging from the videos out of Michigan this year, very good at what they do.

[Soonerus]

I am with GHP on this one !!!

[IGotNoTiming]

Done

Gone are the days of Roland Barrett and Coach. The Band has deteriorated dramatically

[prrriiide]

i also heard about Thrailkill's response to the hiring and the search committee's involvement in the decision. you have to wonder what motivations are involved when you hear things like that.

The search committee was hijacked, and the SoM contingent was completely ignored.

[prrriiide]

The Allen, Texas high school band, all 803 members

http://www.dallassouthnews.org/wp-content/uploads/cache/16464_NpAdvHover.jpg

That pic was taken in their home stadium, BTW. An upper-deck. In a high school stadium.

[yermom]

The search committee was hijacked, and the SoM contingent was completely ignored.

right. but why?

it seems like you would want "Coach"'s blessing at least

[MsProudSooner]

The search committee was hijacked, and the SoM contingent was completely ignored.

SoM?

[IamBigRed]

SoM?

What I heard it had to do with a huge donation (5 million) To get it, things had to be done his way. Boren will always go for the money. It's been donated so expect no changes.

[oudanny]

Done. I hope this helps Boren pull his head out of his..................er the sand.

[badger]

I really don't think this ends well on many fronts. I can only hope that the full band still gets to go to both Notre Dame and Texas and then eventually a kick arse bowl trip.

[yermom]

SoM?

School of Music?

[colleyvillesooner]

School of Music?

http://assets0.ordienetworks.com/misc/tumblr_lyscyuoqr81rozwe3o1_500.gif

[MsProudSooner]

School of Music?

Makes sense.

[Boomer.....]

Done.

[prrriiide]

What I heard it had to do with a huge donation (5 million) To get it, things had to be done his way. Boren will always go for the money. It's been donated so expect no changes.

It was a Picasso.

[Scott D]

boy you'd wish that picasso would quit selling art to Weizeinheimer.

[yermom]

http://assets0.ordienetworks.com/misc/tumblr_lyscyuoqr81rozwe3o1_500.gif

go **** yourself CVS :D

[colleyvillesooner]

http://assets0.ordienetworks.com/misc/tumblr_lyscyuoqr81rozwe3o1_500.gif

go **** yourself CVS :D

Heh

[Scott D]

coffeyville is such a **** stirrer :D

[prrriiide]

i also heard about Thrailkill's response to the hiring and the search committee's involvement in the decision. you have to wonder what motivations are involved when you hear things like that.

Let's just say that Max learned that day that he is not held at the same absurdly high level of esteem by others that he holds of himself.

[yermom]

what is his connection to this guy?

[HateTheWhorns]

I think this shows what some of their concerns are.

http://firejustinstolarik.com/

They think he is just taking Wisconsin's band routine and bringing it here.

My observations:

1) New drumline cadence is weak. Don't like having the additional bandmembers (tuba players, et al) out there.
2) Used to love the high-energy entrance with the band running out on the field. New entrance has NO ENERGY or EXCITEMENT to it;
3) Didn't mind doing away with Grand Ol Flag, but they replaced it with a version of America The Beautiful that I like even less
4) Form an OU that people can read
5) There will never be enough volume for me. Not sure if it is due to the new mix of instruments or viewer marchers in pre-game, but the volume in Week 1 was terrible. Seemed to be slightly better in Weeks 2 & 3, but it has been bad for years.
6) I do like the additional of OK Oklahoma. Always thought that should have been part of pre-game.

[oudanny]

My observations:

6) I do like the additional of OK Oklahoma. Always thought that should have been part of pre-game.


I could be mistaken but I believe for the previous few years (10 or 15 at least), the band played OK Oklahoma as they marched off of the field at the end of the pre-game performance. Now it's Fight for OKU.

[birddog]

I wouldn't mind if we just hired those fellas that play buckets and trash cans.

[prrriiide]

I could be mistaken but I believe for the previous few years (10 or 15 at least), the band played OK Oklahoma as they marched off of the field at the end of the pre-game performance. Now it's Fight for OKU.

Correct. After the end of Boomer Sooner, most of the band was still on the field so we'd play OK Oklahoma the rest of the way off.

[TXSooner]

Wrong.

When some of the actual members of the band boycott practice, it's not being overblown.

going to disagree with you 8timer - when team members skip practice it's immature and disloyal to the rest of the team. try skipping work cause you don't like what your boss says.

[8timechamps]

going to disagree with you 8timer - when team members skip practice it's immature and disloyal to the rest of the team. try skipping work cause you don't like what your boss says.

Good point, except that there is a big difference in skipping out on a job that pays you and skipping out on a job you pay to perform.

I'm not saying this is the biggest issue to ever hit Norman, but it's certainly not being overblown.

[GottaHavePride]

Don't compare it to work situations. Look at it like this: you're paying thousands of dollars per year for a degree. Then forces beyond your control put someone in charge of your degree program with all the qualifications of Gilligan, making your pending degree not just worthless, but a laughingstock among the your potential future employers. Nationwide. That's the situation the music ed students at OU have to deal with right now.

[HateTheWhorns]

I could be mistaken but I believe for the previous few years (10 or 15 at least), the band played OK Oklahoma as they marched off of the field at the end of the pre-game performance. Now it's Fight for OKU.

You are correct. I like the addition of Fight for OKU.