The Pride is in trouble!

[PrideMom]

Remember last year when the new band director was brought in from Wisconsin, and the band came onto the field in a big W? And many of the band members were NOT included in the formations. Well, this year is going to be even worse! My son has been in contact with people who know and only about 150 members have signed up! The Pride is made up of students that want to play, most are NOT in the music programs. Each player has to try out to qualify to play, this is done behind a curtain so there is no favoritism involved. This is terrible! The BAND is needed, and has been part of many wins...OSU and Alabama, and National Championships.

Any ideas to get Boren to listen? The person responsible for this is a big art donor, and is on the regents board.

[oudanny]

Last year, Boren stuck his head in the sand. I'm afraid it will take the total collapse and failure of the band before he listens to anyone. This is truly a sad situation.

[CincySooner]

Each player has to try out to qualify to play, this is done behind a curtain so there is no favoritism involved.

It's always been this way.

I'm just as sad as the next guy over what has happened over the past few years, but blind tryouts have been the norm since the days of Coach

[PrideMom]

I know that the blind try outs have always been in practice. My son qualified in 1984 and 1985, when OU went to the National Championship. The Pride is one of the few bands that require you can actually play an instrument. If you watch some other bands, they will just hold and instrument and march. Hence the name... it is actually an honor to be in it. I just misplace some of the wording on the original post "this is terrible" was meant ot be about how little reguard has been given to the true tradition of becoming a band member.

[KantoSooner]

Have they decided what they want out of the band? Last year, they spent significant effort doing some godawful 'Phantom of the Opera' number with our baton twirler playing the victim chick and a conductor in vampire/drag darting hither and thither menacing her. ....And followed that up with a lackluster geometric pattern march before slogging off to their seats where they could blare out Boomer Sooner (8 bar version, and repeat) whenever we scored.

I'd suggest we decide to be either a kick *** marching band (traditionally black colleges have tons of great examples), or a pep band (here something like Stanford is an example, but you absolutely must allow crudity, low brow humor and borderline incivil behavior. That's just how they roll) or do what I think the current band leader wants to do which is to perform old show tunes (my third choice with 0.00001% of the vote).

[EatLeadCommie]

I don't think he's complaining about playing behind a curtain. He's complaining about the lack of interest among students in the Pride.

[8timechamps]

Last year, Boren stuck his head in the sand. I'm afraid it will take the total collapse and failure of the band before he listens to anyone. This is truly a sad situation.

Yep. That's about the only way I see a change happening. Sadly.

[Scott D]

depending on who you believe 8tc, that collapse is already happening.

[soonerloyal]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7LiTE0I-eW0

Stick it where the sun doesn't shine, Stolarik.

[olevetonahill]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7LiTE0I-eW0

Stick it where the sun doesn't shine, Stolarik.

Who's Stolarik? I really never made it in the stadium before Kick off and dint pay Tention during 1/2 time. Just Noise to me.

[soonerloyal]

Who's Stolarik? I really never made it in the stadium before Kick off and dint pay Tention during 1/2 time. Just Noise to me.

Stolarik's the band bastige from Wisconsin U who's plundering & pillaging The Pride's legacy. If his damage continues unchallenged I shudder to think what'll be left of Thrailkill's beloved program.

[olevetonahill]

Stolarik's the band bastige from Wisconsin U who's plundering & pillaging The Pride's legacy. If his damage continues unchallenged I shudder to think what'll be left of Thrailkill's beloved program.

Heh, Like I said I dont Pay Tention to the Band anyway.

[ouwasp]

Well, a bunch of the band kids are just going to have to bail out and let the program crater. No change will occur before then. That is the sad truth.

Boren is one of those presidents that plasters a smile on his face and pretends all is well until reality dictates otherwise. It's too bad things have gotten to this point, but it will get worse before things improve. Or the band won't improve at all.

When fans like vet and myself, which generally consider the band to be simply "noisy", notice a drop off in quality and numbers...Then perhaps President Boren will be compelled to take action.

[TheHumanAlphabet]

Last year, Boren stuck his head in the sand. I'm afraid it will take the total collapse and failure of the band before he listens to anyone. This is truly a sad situation.

This. Boren is not going to cross his butt buddy Weisenheimer. Weisenheimer wants to play with the Pride and got his butt buddy installed as Director. It will take a collapse to get people's attention. Boren thinks everyone against last years band are stuck in the past no-nothings and feels this will blow over.

[TheHumanAlphabet]

Stolarik's the band bastige from Wisconsin U who's plundering & pillaging The Pride's legacy. If his damage continues unchallenged I shudder to think what'll be left of Thrailkill's beloved program.
UT grad and UW asst. director now the Pride director because Boren and butt buddy Weisenheimer wanted the Pride hiring committee to interview Stolarik even though he was unqualified according to the Pride qualification announcement. Boren then hand selected Stolarik after he was not recommended. Weisenheimer wants to jazz up the Pride shows and felt that his butt buddy Stolarik would best implement his ideas.

[SoonerorLater]

After reading this am I correct in assuming there is no scholarship involved for members of the band?

[champions77]

With the way that Stolerik was chosen, not qualified due to not meeting the criteria that other applicants were rejected by, I am really surprised that D Boren and the University have not been sued. A really unethical, morally corrupt manner in which Stolerik was hired. Between this, the
Embarrassing manner Boren handled the conference realignment fiasco a few years ago ( we're no wildflower) and then his insistence on giving over 40 million of Athletic Department funds to academic departments the last ten years despite the fact that some OU facilities, namely baseball and softball, lag behind most other Big XII facilities, causing a lot of angst in those programs. Maybe Our esteemed President should consider retiring? Not to mention his insistence in supporting one of the most radical leftist Presidents in our Nation's history.

[olevetonahill]

With the way that Stolerik was chosen, not qualified due to not meeting the criteria that other applicants were rejected by, I am really surprised that D Boren and the University have not been sued. A really unethical, morally corrupt manner in which Stolerik was hired. Between this, the
Embarrassing manner Boren handled the conference realignment fiasco a few years ago ( we're no wildflower) and then his insistence on giving over 40 million of Athletic Department funds to academic departments the last ten years despite the fact that some OU facilities, namely baseball and softball, lag behind most other Big XII facilities, causing a lot of angst in those programs. Maybe Our esteemed President should consider retiring? Not to mention his insistence in supporting one of the most radical leftist Presidents in our Nation's history.

So ya sayin we should break this out? :friendly_wink:


http://momspirational.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/Broom_2.jpg

[badger]

Boren reportedly told upperclassmen last year in a private meeting that if they didn't like band they didn't have to participate.

Sooo... I guess the students heard him loud and clear

[tycat947]

With the way that Stolerik was chosen, not qualified due to not meeting the criteria that other applicants were rejected by, I am really surprised that D Boren and the University have not been sued. A really unethical, morally corrupt manner in which Stolerik was hired. Between this, the
Embarrassing manner Boren handled the conference realignment fiasco a few years ago ( we're no wildflower) and then his insistence on giving over 40 million of Athletic Department funds to academic departments the last ten years despite the fact that some OU facilities, namely baseball and softball, lag behind most other Big XII facilities, causing a lot of angst in those programs. Maybe Our esteemed President should consider retiring? Not to mention his insistence in supporting one of the most radical leftist Presidents in our Nation's history.

Wow! How dare they give money to a learning institution for which is the very reason for the athletic department's existence. You might want to lay off the crack!

[PrideMom]

Heh, Like I said I dont Pay Tention to the Band anyway.

Seems like YOU don't understand how important the Pride is to the whole program! Shame on you if you think you are a true OU fan!

[Eielson]

Oh no! The band! What would we do without a band???

[badger]

Oh no! The band! What would we do without a band???

I note the sarcasm, but I wonder if OU football alums worry about the future of their team with this O'Bannon lawsuit. Sure, there will be football in some form at OU, but will it be the program they fell in love with during recruitment period, coaches that players look to as role models, and players they formed lifelong bonds and friendships with?

That's about how a band alum like me feels about the Pride. I'm sure there will be someplace on campus that a tuba can tuba and a drum can drum, but it won't be the same that we all experienced in a different time under different leadership with the Pride.

I feel like it will be more of a current student loss than a loss for an alum like me who barely attends games anymore (I've got a kid to tend to), so it's more their fight than mine.

[KantoSooner]

Pridemom, it's been a while since the band really stirred anyone up. It could be a beloved part of the tradition, but it's not right now. My personal theory? The band, the cheerleaders, the roughnecks, the fans, all need a serious injection of 'rowdy'. OU is not CU, we can't pull off 'existential cool'...and that's not the atmosphere for a football team busily kicking their opponents butts. Sometime in the last couple of decades, we've decided the atmosphere should be like that at an English County Cricket match. "Oh, Good Show Trevor! Advance the ball! Huzzah!"
If we do it right, Norman PD should be forced to consider increasing the numbers of officers at the games.

[Widescreen]

Pridemom, it's been a while since the band really stirred anyone up. It could be a beloved part of the tradition, but it's not right now. My personal theory? The band, the cheerleaders, the roughnecks, the fans, all need a serious injection of 'rowdy'. OU is not CU, we can't pull off 'existential cool'...and that's not the atmosphere for a football team busily kicking their opponents butts. Sometime in the last couple of decades, we've decided the atmosphere should be like that at an English County Cricket match. "Oh, Good Show Trevor! Advance the ball! Huzzah!"
If we do it right, Norman PD should be forced to consider increasing the numbers of officers at the games.
I see your point. It is a bit too genteel. But if you go too far down that road, the games become not family friendly in a hurry.

[Eielson]

My thoughts on this...band issues are for band people. Football issues are for football people. As a football person, I don't concern myself self with band issues. The football team would do just fine without a band, cheerleaders, pom, roughnecks, etc. By all means, care away if you're a band person and you care what the band does, but don't expect me to concern myself too much. Good luck, though.

[KantoSooner]

I see your point. It is a bit too genteel. But if you go too far down that road, the games become not family friendly in a hurry.

You're absolutely correct. It's a balancing act that is difficult to pull off. But that's one reason the president of the U is paid a tasty salary. Social conduct rules are necessary....but so is selective non-enforcement. Right now, the game experience is, in my view, a bit on the tame side and needs a bit of an injection of rowdy. But that's me, I was last a student at OU in the mid 1980's and we were doing stuff that would probably get us jailed today. (throwing oranges (frozen), bringing liquor into the stadium, singing songs of a decidedly non-family friendly variety and the like). But it was a hoot and a lot of students wanted to be at the games because they were the happening event that day.

[olevetonahill]

Seems like YOU don't understand how important the Pride is to the whole program! Shame on you if you think you are a true OU fan!

Shame, Shame, SHAME on me . I DGAF what YOU think. I care about OU Football and thats about it. so Go PUAR.

[Widescreen]

You're absolutely correct. It's a balancing act that is difficult to pull off. But that's one reason the president of the U is paid a tasty salary. Social conduct rules are necessary....but so is selective non-enforcement. Right now, the game experience is, in my view, a bit on the tame side and needs a bit of an injection of rowdy. But that's me, I was last a student at OU in the mid 1980's and we were doing stuff that would probably get us jailed today. (throwing oranges (frozen), bringing liquor into the stadium, singing songs of a decidedly non-family friendly variety and the like). But it was a hoot and a lot of students wanted to be at the games because they were the happening event that day.

Yeah, I was in college about that same time. I admit I'm viewing this more through my current "get off my lawn" stage of life.

[champions77]

Wow! How dare they give money to a learning institution for which is the very reason for the athletic department's existence. You might want to lay off the crack!

Crack? I give money for both, but I expect the money that I give to academia to spent on academia and the money I donate to the Athletic department to be spent on the Athletic department. If we are running a 40-44 million "surplus" the last ten years and they are not spending the money on upgrading facilities, maybe just maybe OU is charging too much for their tickets?

Talk to some of the OU employees in these sports with subpar facilities and see what their frustration level is right now on not being able to secure the funds to make them competitive with other Big XII schools, much less top programs in other conferences, all the while those sought after funds are leaving the Athletic Department.

[KantoSooner]

Champions, I'll admit I'm of two minds on this. But I'll be very up front with an assertion that the football tickets are way too high and that tuition is way too high also. On the latter front, the role of a land grant university is, first and foremost, to provide a high quality, modestly priced college education to the citizens of the state and thus ensure adequate numbers of doctors, lawyers, engineers, accountants, teachers, scientists, etc to serve our state's economy and society. Well, we're getting decent numbers and quality, but the 'modestly priced' bit is a distant memory. But not that distant. It was still possible in my day to take a small-ish nest egg, work during school and vacations and pay your way through. That is not at all possible these days. And I don't know why or when it happened, but tuition and attendant costs sky rocketed. And they skyrocketed far beyond any arguable improvement in instruction. State subsidies cut? Perhaps that's the whole story, perhaps not. But the university is not, in my opinion, fulfilling its role in this regard.
And let's just be honest with ourselves. A football department that has top line income of over $100 million per year? Absolutely absurd. On its face. A joke, a travesty. That a sport, played by 'student/athletes' is spinning out that much cash is ridiculous. But, we don't make the world we live in and that's the reality; so why shouldn't OU get its slice of the pie? (I would guess that if we organized an OU pole dancing/porn team and went on-line and to pay-per-view, some opinions might differ, but I could be surprised on that front as well. We live in a highly materialistic age. Money is money.)
And the facilities should be kept up if for no other reason than to keep the 'product' of a quality necessary to maintain our competitive rank to keep the cash rolling in. But to what goal? If one assumes that athletics are a subsidiary part of the University's mission, then that University is quite within its rights to take a scrape.
The only real debate then would be between the CEO and Board (Boren and the regents) and the management team (Joe and Bob) on how to properly allocate the budget. Takes a bit of the sting out of the debate when you look at it that way.

[Eielson]

Doesn't the school put some money not produced by the athletic program toward the athletic program? I don't have much of a grasp on the financial stuff, so maybe I'm mistaken. I know that part of the athletic program surplus is given back to the university, but I've kinda wondered if that was just a clever way to cover their *** for the angry parents of nerds who complain every time Bob gets a raise.

[KantoSooner]

I'm not sure precisely how it runs either, except that there are only a few of the programs that make money on ticket sales, merchandise or teevee/radio broadcasting. Most run in the red and have to raise money, chip in themselves or find a sugar daddy who's interested in that sport. If football 'surplus' is used to carry other athletics, I'd have no trouble with that. And then the U would have to be managing Title IX concerns, so some 'spreading of the wealth' is inevitable.
I guess to me it seems like it shouldn't be that big a managerial crisis to figure out whether you needed to put the money into this bucket or that to cover yourself short term and invest in the long term. Companies do this all the time. And, comments above notwithstanding, Boren is not a dope and runs the university pretty damn well. Add to that Castiglione's obvious 'smarter than the average bear-ness' and Bob's clear grasp of what he needs to be doing and I would guess the discussion is reasonably logical and compelling.

[Speck]

To me, whether you like the band or not is irrelevant. If it represents the school, the best available product should be strived for by all involved. I hope the powers to be get this moving in a more positive direction. However from what you guys say, that sounds bleak.

[King Barry's Back]

To me, whether you like the band or not is irrelevant. If it represents the school, the best available product should be strived for by all involved. I hope the powers to be get this moving in a more positive direction. However from what you guys say, that sounds bleak.

"best available product" That's exactly right. If they are going to have a band, they should at least try to make it be good.

I know some are very proud to "not care" about the band, and that President Boren seems to see the band's highest use as a fundraising prop, but in regard to "best available product" let me say this: Last season, the OKLAHOMA SOONER marching band strutted down the field in the shape of two W's.

Not an O. Not an OU. Not an OKLA, like they used to do back in the 40s, but a W. Put all other issues aside for a moment -- this SHOULD be an unbearable embarrassment.

Honestly, this isn't much worse than if the band came out in an OS.

[MsProudSooner]

Doesn't the school put some money not produced by the athletic program toward the athletic program? I don't have much of a grasp on the financial stuff, so maybe I'm mistaken. I know that part of the athletic program surplus is given back to the university, but I've kinda wondered if that was just a clever way to cover their *** for the angry parents of nerds who complain every time Bob gets a raise.

No, OU is one of about 6 athletic departments in D1 that is self-sufficient and receives no money from the state.

[Curly Bill]

Even if the band disappears they're still gonna be playing football and basketball right? As long as that's the case I'm good with whatever happens.

[olevetonahill]

Even if the band disappears they're still gonna be playing football and basketball right? As long as that's the case I'm good with whatever happens.

Yup, At the 1/2 we sneak a drink before we sneak a Bunch of drinks LOL

[Curly Bill]

Yup, At the 1/2 we sneak a drink before we sneak a Bunch of drinks LOL

I know what I'm not doing...and that's paying attention to the band. I've watched sports a lot of years - up close and personal, and on TV, and not once did I give a rats a** what the band was up to.

...and it has annoyed me over the years for the cheerleaders, the band, and of course their parents try to claim they're as much a part of "the scene" as the football game itself, or the basketball game itself. Get the f**k outta here with that! Take away the game itself and see how many people come to watch their precious little darling strut her cheerleader stuff, or watch little Bobby tote his tuba around!

[Curly Bill]

I know what I'm not doing...and that's paying attention to the band. I've watched sports a lot of years - up close and personal, and on TV, and not once did I give a rats a** what the band was up to.

...and it has annoyed me over the years for the cheerleaders, the band, and of course their parents try to claim they're as much a part of "the scene" as the football game itself, or the basketball game itself. Get the f**k outta here with that! Take away the game itself and see how many people come to watch their precious little darling strut her cheerleader stuff, or watch little Bobby tote his tuba around!

...and yeah, I know there are cheerleading and band competitions, but if that sh*t is so awesome then take it away from the games themselves and see how well they can stand alone, and for how long.

[Curly Bill]

Seems like YOU don't understand how important the Pride is to the whole program! Shame on you if you think you are a true OU fan!

Damn it! That must be why we haven't put that next national championship in the bank - the goshdarn band is holding the program back!

[Judge Smails]

http://www.thxbud.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/DevOpsDays-BluesBrothers-A.jpg


Jake: We'll put the band back together, do a few gigs, we get some bread. Bang! Five thousand bucks.

Elwood: Yeah, well, getting the band back together might not that be that easy, Jake.

Jake: What are you talking about?

Elwood: They split, they all took straight jobs.

Jake: Yeah, so you know where they are. You said you were gonna keep in touch with them.

Elwood: Well... I got a couple of leads, a few phone numbers, but I mean, how many of them visited or even wrote you, huh?

Jake: They're not the kinda guys who write letters. You were outside, I was inside. You were supposed to keep in touch with the band. I kept asking you if we were gonna play again.

Elwood: Well, what was I gonna do? Take away your only hope? Take away the very thing that kept you going in there? I took the liberty of bull****ting you, okay?

Jake: You lied to me.

Elwood: It wasn't a lie, it was just bull****.

[olevetonahill]

I know what I'm not doing...and that's paying attention to the band. I've watched sports a lot of years - up close and personal, and on TV, and not once did I give a rats a** what the band was up to.

...and it has annoyed me over the years for the cheerleaders, the band, and of course their parents try to claim they're as much a part of "the scene" as the football game itself, or the basketball game itself. Get the f**k outta here with that! Take away the game itself and see how many people come to watch their precious
little darling strut her cheerleader stuff, or watch little Bobby tote his tuba around!
Now that Ill watch cause Ima Provert but Ya can keep the little Bobby ****er LOL

[Curly Bill]

Now that Ill watch cause Ima Provert but Ya can keep the little Bobby ****er LOL

Good point...good point.

[PrideMom]

Curly Bill, you still don't get it! I don't care about the cameras panning on the has-beens on the side lines, especially when they interview them while the game is going on. But the PRIDE is there for the support of the team, and they do make a difference for the plays on the field. Cheerleaders are lame, you can't hear them anyway, and the stupid dance routines could be done without, but there are plenty of old geezers that enjoy seeing them---as you know sex sells. You obviously do not go to the games, because the fans do affect the game, too. Why do you think away games are so difficult? It is not the travel, etc., but the noise of the other fans yelling on important downs. Many times the crowd has created false starts because the call cannot be heard. I am not talking about half time performances, (UGH) on Texas A&M I go the the ladies room.

[MichiganSooner]

It's on this board, too.

http://www.shaggybevo.com/board/show...g-band-turmoil

[NorthernIowaSooner]

Curly Bill, you still don't get it! I don't care about the cameras panning on the has-beens on the side lines, especially when they interview them while the game is going on. But the PRIDE is there for the support of the team, and they do make a difference for the plays on the field. Cheerleaders are lame, you can't hear them anyway, and the stupid dance routines could be done without, but there are plenty of old geezers that enjoy seeing them---as you know sex sells. You obviously do not go to the games, because the fans do affect the game, too. Why do you think away games are so difficult? It is not the travel, etc., but the noise of the other fans yelling on important downs. Many times the crowd has created false starts because the call cannot be heard. I am not talking about half time performances, (UGH) on Texas A&M I go the the ladies room.

Those old geezers are more impressive to recruits and current players than the band.

None of the bolded area has to do with the band. Isn't there only about 300 members of the band at a game? 300 out of 81,000 isn't a lot of yelling and screaming here or away. If they weren't there 300 other fans yelling and screaming would be in their place.

I like the band and the opportunities it gives kids to get out on the field and showcase their talents but your overstating their importance to pretty much everything football related.

[KantoSooner]

Music has been used in martial events since forever. Scots bag pipers, Persian drummers, Texas skin flute players, all had their place in getting the troops revved up.
A band is a good thing to have.
But it needs to be a good band.
Not a lame one.
Ours is lame these days. It needs improvement. It needs to be a kick azz band. A band whose music causes our players to want to commit mayhem against the foe .... and makes the foe fans bitch about how unfair our band is. Our band needs to reenvision its role and then go out and live that vision.

And in no circumstances does a legitimate vision include any musical number from Phantom of the Opera. Under NO circumstances.

[MsProudSooner]

Those old geezers are more impressive to recruits and current players than the band.

None of the bolded area has to do with the band. Isn't there only about 300 members of the band at a game? 300 out of 81,000 isn't a lot of yelling and screaming here or away. If they weren't there 300 other fans yelling and screaming would be in their place.

I like the band and the opportunities it gives kids to get out on the field and showcase their talents but your overstating their importance to pretty much everything football related.

That must be why Barry Switzer gave the band a game ball after a game in Stillwater a few years ago.

[KantoSooner]

Switzer last coached in what? 1988 season? 26 years ago. A generation. Not to be cruel, but it's been a while since the band was rocking the house. In my view, because we've become obsessed with 'being classy'. And have ended up with 'boring'.

[Pricetag]

I'll never forget the chill that went up my spine on a crisp October morning in 1993 at the Cotton Bowl when the Pride ran onto the field and struck up the first notes of "Oklahoma."

I've never paid much attention to the halftime show, but since that day, I have made a point to be in my seat for the pregame fanfare. I think we'd all miss the band more than we think if it were really gone. It's part of what makes college football better than the NFL.

[NorthernIowaSooner]

That must be why Barry Switzer gave the band a game ball after a game in Stillwater a few years ago.

Once in over 1200 games? Color me convinced of their impact.

[Curly Bill]

That must be why Barry Switzer gave the band a game ball after a game in Stillwater a few years ago.


Since a head coach at the D-1 level is about half politician, I'd say he was making like a politician and throwing the band a bone.

[Curly Bill]

And I'm cool with the band and all that, the opportunities it gives kids to play, develop some musical ability etc...but like someone up above basically said: Too often the importance of the band (especially the band), cheerleaders, etc....is overstated - YOU ARE NOT AS BIG AS THE GAME ITSELF, AND IN FACT WITHOUT THE GAME ITSELF YOU WOULD HAVE NO ROLE!!!

[MsProudSooner]

The bottom line for me as an alum is this: I want every group that officially represents The University of Oklahoma to be the very best they can be. That includes all sports - not just football, marching band, drama productions, debate team - whatever. And if they aren't, changes need to be made.

[tycat947]

The bottom line for me as an alum is this: I want every group that officially represents The University of Oklahoma to be the very best they can be. That includes all sports - not just football, marching band, drama productions, debate team - whatever. And if they aren't, changes need to be made.

We have a winner!!!

[SoonerorLater]

Just my $.02 but a university's band adds to the game day experience and unfortunately would be missed only by it's absence. It's part of the tradition that separates college from pro sports.

http://www.soonersportsmedia.com/audio/boomer_sooner_without_intro.mp3?DB_OEM_ID=31000

[Eielson]

The bottom line for me as an alum is this: I want every group that officially represents The University of Oklahoma to be the very best they can be. That includes all sports - not just football, marching band, drama productions, debate team - whatever. And if they aren't, changes need to be made.

The problem is, there's only so much money to go around, and money is generally the deciding factor on who is the best. Tuition went up again at OU, and many students are in a tizzy about that already. I don't think we should raise tuition or taxes in order to solidify the debate team, drama productions, etc. Football has proven to be a good investment time and time again. I don't think the same would be true for the debate team.

[MichiganSooner]

I think we have a topic for debate.

[MsProudSooner]

The problem is, there's only so much money to go around, and money is generally the deciding factor on who is the best. Tuition went up again at OU, and many students are in a tizzy about that already. I don't think we should raise tuition or taxes in order to solidify the debate team, drama productions, etc. Football has proven to be a good investment time and time again. I don't think the same would be true for the debate team.

We hired an incompetent band director because we could pay him less?

[Eielson]

We hired an incompetent band director because we could pay him less?

No clue. Don't really care, either. I hope the band gets it together, but their quality doesn't effect the football team. My statement about money was to explain why we can't be the best at everything and need to have our priorities straight financially. Obviously money isn't the only factor. It's just the most important.

[TheHumanAlphabet]

We hired an incompetent band director because we could pay him less?

No they hired him because he is the butt buddy of regent Weisenheimer and Weisenheimer is butt buddies with Boren...That is the entire reason. The guy was not qualified according to the job posting, Boren asked that he be considered, he was and not selected/recommended and then Boren took the committee recommendation, ignored it and selected his butt buddy butt buddy...

[KantoSooner]

With all them butt buddies surrounding this deal, at least we know whence came the obsession with show tunes.

[badger]

No they hired him because he is the butt buddy of regent Weisenheimer and Weisenheimer is butt buddies with Boren...That is the entire reason. The guy was not qualified according to the job posting, Boren asked that he be considered, he was and not selected/recommended and then Boren took the committee recommendation, ignored it and selected his butt buddy butt buddy...

This reminds me of South Park's description of evolution via "Mrs. Garrison." :)

In a nutshell though, the band has an unqualified director that was only made a candidate at the insistence of a booster who wanted the band to resemble Wisconsin's... and the fans, alumni and band revolted to the point that they were back doing what they were doing last year under the previous director by the final game.

So, who knows what this season holds for the band. Hopefully lots of "Boomer Sooner" due to Eric Striker on defense and Trevor Knight on offense. I'm too far removed from the band myself to really get emotionally invested in halftime performances. Was sad to see so many band members left on the sidelines early-on in the season, though.

[TheHumanAlphabet]

Don't know if there is an update, but last post I saw that only about 80-90 Upperclassmen have signed up to try out for The Pride this year. It appears they may have called Boren's bluff.

[badger]

All right, kids, it is now my job to teach you the theory of Pride drama (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1LzSX37C5J4).

Now I, for one, think it's really not as bad as made out to be, but I've been told I have to tell it to you anyway. It was thought up by lots of alumni on facebook and it goes something like this...

In the beginning, we were all awesome. Okay? Marching around on the field. And then one day a couple of guys brought in a dumb director, and the dumb director was different, so it got hired. So dumb director goes on to make more dumb marching maneuvers and then one day, a new pregame routing crawled out onto the field with its...

...mutant tuba dancing... and eff it

[KantoSooner]

MY GOD!

NOT MUTANT TUBA DANCING!