Re: Clarkson & St. Lawrence @ RPI & Union (1/7, 1/8)
No, you know what's weak? Failing to show up to a game in your own rink when you're playing your rivals who are bringing their band. That's weak.
Don't get me wrong, I'd like to see the band at the Clarkson game as much as anyone else. But a group of people not affiliated with the band complaining about how much better the band was an arbitrary number of years ago isn't going to make that happen.
No one's asking for the full complement, we're only asking the band to give a **** instead of demanding credit.
This is just ridiculous. Clearly the band gives a ****. They attend more games than anyone except for the team itself and the most die hard of fans, no matter how the team performs, and are a huge part of the home ice advantage at the Field House. They've been doing that for almost 90 years despite almost complete turnover every 4 years. If the band didn't give a **** membership would fall to nothing and there wouldn't be a band anymore.
There has always been a subset of the band that would go to every game if even if the band was going to play at that game. And there was a small group planning on being at this weekend's games, before anyone contacted the band this week. There's also always a subset that only shows up for the big games. That's just how things are.
Also, (at least for the past 10 years), although "it's break so we won't be there" isn't the approach the band has taken in the past, it doesn't mean that that was the approach taken here. Just because nothing was discussed over email doesn't mean it wasn't discussed in person. Not to mention that the band asking who is available over breaks isn't a guarantee that the band will play at any games over break. Traditionally the band requires at least 10 players to sound good enough, or they won't play. That was likely the case for this weekend.
And I can't remember a single instance of the band "demanding credit", if that has even ever happened.
These are not children. They are adults who are able to make their own decisions, and those decisions can be criticized.
Fair enough.
If you have no loyalty whatsoever to the band's mission, then what are you even doing in the band?
So what exactly is the band's mission, or what do you think it should be (or both)?
To welch out like this is to tell the fans, to tell the team, that you don't really care, and you're only going to show up when it's convenient to show up. Failing to show up when the opposition is bringing a band is to put an emphasis on not caring.
No. If the band was run by the Athletics Department I'd agree with you, but what I think this says is that the band is prone to making mistakes just like the rest of us. So let them not show up, catch some real flak from a much larger number of people, and they won't make that mistake again. If you really think the band is in as poor shape as you say it is, making the band scrape together a skeleton crew for one game is like putting a band-aid on a broken leg - they'll make the same mistakes down the road, and you'll have to keep yelling at them. If they are adults as you say they are (and I agree with you), you should let them make their own mistakes and fix their own problems.