80 Minutes of Regulation

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on December 30, 2009

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Disbanded?

As bowl season gets underway next week, there will be a notable absence. Whether that absence is lamented or celebrated depends entirely on your perspective. Stanford's marching band, the court jester of the marching world, has been suspended for 18 months following violation of university policies. The band was found responsible for new violations that included alcohol abuse and unauthorized travel, and violating sanctions from a previous Organization Conduct Board ruling. The suspension will keep the Leland Stanford Junior University Marching Band from appearing in this season's Sun Bowl, and if the terms are not altered, will keep them out of the entire 2017 football season. Perhaps the most damning is the board's statement upon sanctioning that the band's recent violations are “incredibly troubling and indicative of a systemic cultural problem,” and that “[they] do not feel that the current leadership or membership is capable of creating the necessary cultural ch...

Deceptive Cadence

When I added the tagline "The Cadence of Gameday" to 80 Minutes of Regulation, the double entendre was intentional. As a bandsman generally, and a drummer specifically, I know that the cadence is the drumbeat that gets us going and keeps us going through the day's marching. But the cadence is also the pace of gameday in its entirety: While it was the pairing of marching band and sports that breathed life into this site, it soon expanded to include all of gameday, from the tailgate lot before hand, to the pregame, the game, halftime, the fifth quarter, the victory shakos after a win, all of it. This year, the cadence is deceptive. Like so many other things in the Year of our Lord Two Thousand Twenty, the cadence of gameday just doesn't hit as it ought to. Tailgates are nonexistent at stadiums that are only a fraction full. Bands are all but sneaking into the stadiums to avoid any situation that may draw an unwanted crowd. And once they're there, they don't g...

One and Only One Ambition

The world changed forever a week ago as we lost Paul Parets from this mortal coil. While Parets made an impact on this world in many different arenas, he was best known by thousands for a role he served in for 36 years: Director of Bands at Alexis I. duPont High School in Greenville Delaware. I had the honor and privilege of being part of these bands from 1996-1999. I tend to operate with personal humility and collective hubris, and to the latter, I'm fully willing to say we were the best. The stat sheet speaks for itself: Five Rose Parades. Three presidential inaugurations. Multiple trips each to the Lord Mayor's New Year's Day Parade in London, St. Patrick's Day in Ireland, and the Pope's New Year's Day address in the Vatican. Fiesta Bowl Parade. Orange Bowl Parade. A standing invitation to the nation's oldest Thanksgiving Day Parade. And a bandroom full of trophies from competitions in the US and Canada boasting words like "SUPERIOR" and "C...

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