AS OPTIMISTIC fans anticipate the approaching ACC football season, there's a lot to arouse excitement. The atmosphere surrounding U.Va. football has become increasingly "big time": a former NFL coach, a new, expanded stadium, a schedule including nationally televised games. Only one element is missing, aside from the hoped-for bowl bid: the requisite marching band.
The University does not have a marching band, but rather a "scramble" band. There's no denying that the Virginia Pep Band has enjoyed success in the past. Its reputation for hilarious half-time shows has its place among the University's traditions.
Recently, though, the band has not been able to put on the type of shows that made it famous. Following a 1991 bowl game performance that the administration and many fans perceived to be in poor taste, the band voted in 1993 to cut ties with the athletic department and stopped performing at football games. The band was banned for one season and, according to Pep Band Director Heather Pozun, the band's current arrangement allows for everything but a halftime show. There is no indication that this policy will change.
As a result, the athletic department has tried, and failed, in different attempts to revive halftime shows and keep fans in the stadium. One such attempt, at the game two weeks ago against Richmond, was to bring in a high school marching band. This only raises the question, why doesn't the University have its own marching band?
The pep band's problem is not only lack of administrative support, but lack of student support. When entering the stadium, the band is met with indifference on the part of students. At times, it is even booed.
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The pep band also lacks the kind of national recognition similar bands receive. In a recent column on college football traditions, Sports Illustrated's Ivan Maisel mentions "smart-ass bands" at Duke and Stanford, but no mention is made of the Virginia Pep Band.
Given the lack of administrative and student support and national respect, it is clear that the pep band is a football tradition continuing for tradition's sake alone. Band members and alumni may appreciate the history of the organization, but its current incarnation is less heralded by football fans.
The solution for the University's lack of halftime spirit is a more traditional marching band. Would this type of band keep fans from leaving the stadium at halftime? Probably not - tailgating is one tradition that has not diminished over time. A traditional band may keep some people in the stadium, though, and it would incite enthusiasm among those who stick around.
Pozun argues against a marching band, saying, "The biggest argument we've seen in favor of a marching band is 'everyone else has one.' ... Why would U.Va. want to be like everyone else?" A marching band, however, would also highlight what is unique about Virginia football. The Good Ol' Song is one of the last remaining slow fight songs in the nation and one of the least recognized.
The reason? Most fight songs are sung with a spirited band accompaniment and they are enthusiastically performed at half-time. Ours is not. The addition of a marching band would strengthen the spirit of The Good Ol' Song and relay its significance.
The pep band has its place in University history, as well as a place in the school's present - the band performs at numerous events other than football games. But that place is not on the football field at halftime. This student body guides the University, and the students' lack of enthusiasm for the pep band is an indication that it is time for something new.
Beginning a new band would be difficult. Associate Director of Athletics Andrew Rader says that the Athletic Department has not done any official research into the matter. He sights financial hurdles in terms of budget, scholarships and practice space as well as lacking the talent pool supplied by bigger music departments at other schools as potential problems.
Puzon concurs, "The Marching Royal Dukes [the James Madison University Marching Band] require 10 faculty members to operate. The McIntire Department of Music here at U.Va. has only 13 members total on academic faculty." These concerns are important, but should not lead to complacency with the current halftime show.
The University is ready to take the next logical step in creating a nationally respected football program and atmosphere. The key intangible in this step is a traditional college marching band to raise spirits and enthusiasm among a student body that is only beginning to view football games as athletic, rather than purely social events.
(Megan Moyer's column appears Fridays in the Cavalier Daily. She can be reached at mmoyer@cavalierdaily.com.)
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