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Post by vuweathernerd on Feb 20, 2011 12:04:24 GMT -5
Over the summer Athletics and Music created a partnership to manage the pep band. Athletics provided funding and the Music Department recruited a music professional to serve as director. Dan Zeigler, a Valpo grad and local music teacher/band director now leads the pep band. He has done a very nice job of improving the quality and the organization of the group. The group is asked to do a lot for Athletics. They play at all home football, volleyball, men's and women's basketball games. This year they marched in the Popcorn Festival parade for the first time ever. They also developed the drum line intro we used yesterday. They are a hard working group and you will see them continue to improve. They add a lot to the games. this is great to hear. i look forward to continued improvement in that regard. a great pep band adds quite a bit to the environment.
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Post by jhbertram on Feb 20, 2011 17:36:24 GMT -5
I've been a season ticket holder for 17 years sitting in the bleachers, faithfully attending all the Men's and Women's games and traveling to as many away games as possible. Our Pep Band is on par with the rest of the conference (except Butler) but it was definitely better during the `94-'98 run. You have to give it to the students who play in the Pep Band because they love it and love VU Basketball
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Post by valporun on Feb 20, 2011 18:49:28 GMT -5
The biggest problem with making pep band a "credit" situation is getting a member of the music faculty to want to be in charge of it. None of them want to be in charge of it. Also, when the band was reconfigured in the mid-'90s, it was started by students, and most schools of our size have student-led pep bands, though in most of those cases, the band is led by a music ed major, not just a general student interested in leading a band like this. It would be nice to have an auditioned pep band, but it becomes a major hassle with the requirements and academics that Valpo makes a student endure, with all the studying, homework, projects, meetings, and such. It was always found to be a better option to keep attendance open, and not credited. i do understand this, but i feel that most of the time, the quality of our pep band suffers as a result. It lacks due to the priority of some of the teams that we play, and if the mens team isn't playing up to par for jumping on the bandwagon.
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Post by letsgovu on Feb 20, 2011 19:50:04 GMT -5
Glad you got to go to the game. This was a great one. I have been to nearly every home game this year and this game was probably the most fun I've had all season. It worked out great since there were prospective students there for the scholarship weekend. They couldn't have gotten to see a better game.
I've always been impressed with the band. i think they do a great job. They play well and seem to be having fun.
The lack of participation by other students has been a little sad. Many games the student section is more than 50% pep band. I know they have tried to get students there and recently there have been a lot of giveaways (including that moped!) contests for greeks, and residence halls, etc., but there still tends to be a lot of empty seats behind the basket.
I have so enjoyed watching this team. They have great personalities, and just seem to be enjoying every minute of it. I was lucky enough to sit behind the bench for a couple of games as well and the parents are a lot of fun and are always there in force. How great is that.
Go VU!
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Post by crusadermoe on Feb 20, 2011 20:49:42 GMT -5
Any theories on the low student turnouts?
As you say the band generally shows up ok but it takes a TV game to draw out any decent number of others. Classwork would seem a factor on Thursday games but other nights are harder to understand. Not many Thursday games this year.
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Post by stlvufan on Feb 20, 2011 23:07:36 GMT -5
I see I was dreaming somewhat when I expressed my wishes for the broadcast. In truth, I was expecting failure, so there's no let down. I do give props to Dave O'Brien for pronouncing our name correctly (and I have no problem whatsoever with him resorting to the shortcut "Valpo" at times, either). But, as usual, neither one of them could resist overlaying Big Ten talk with action on the court. LOVED the drummers -- an alternative to not being able to douse the lights for the intros. First time I've ever seen it. I thought it was awesome, baby! My impressions on the play: 1. In the first half, Cory really seemed to struggle. I though Kevin played better than him. 2. It appears that Valpo was just too tough for Missouri State. They fought hard to remain in the game, but every time they got semi-close, we clamped down on them. It was analogous to a mid-major fighting hard to stay relevant in a game against Kansas or something. Not probably a perfect analogy by any means, but they really seemed to have no answer for us. 3. You can tell Dickie V is in the house when the walkway just behind the scorer's table is barred from traffic. I wanted to say hi to Mark Lazerus, but there was a large bouncer standing in my way. 4. Brain cramp moment of the game -- and O'Brien and Vitale barely noticed it: early in the 2nd half, a Bear makes a layup and gets fouled. He misses the FT and the VU players just stand there while a Bear player casually rebounds the ball and puts it up and in. ?R#*%&%&(@*%#^%&*)^_$^#*@$# Wake up, guys! The guy made the basket, this is "and-1" not "2 shots". Could not believe my eyes. Fortunately it was a minor speed bump. Memo to Mr. O'Brien -- who cares about Lunardi? He puts absolutely no thought into his bracketology (to say nothing of the fact that *every* bracketologist out there automatically "projects" the auto-bid as the current 1st place team in the conference. A child of 7 could calculate that algorithm). I'm sorry I didn't get a chance to say hi to agibson or Ryan's mom. I was up in section DD and I had my 80+ year old Dad with me who doesn't move too well. I also didn't know where anybody was sitting and don't know what either of you look like, but I could have tried to set something up ahead of time. If I can somehow swing a trip back for the HL tourney, I'll try to find Ryan's mom and say hi.
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Post by agibson on Feb 20, 2011 23:22:56 GMT -5
Sorry to miss you as well! I did take a swing up by DD, but, as you say, without a little groundwork it's not so easy to identify people from the board. You should have worn you stlvufan name tag (By the way, did you have an HLN hat on?) Ryan's mom was kind enough to wave an Australian flag around. That, and the #45 "Mom" jersey. So, I did manage to track her down (And we were in the same section, anyhow.)
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Post by stlvufan on Feb 20, 2011 23:28:56 GMT -5
Sorry to miss you as well! I did take a swing up by DD, but, as you say, without a little groundwork it's not so easy to identify people from the board. You should have worn you stlvufan name tag (By the way, did you have an HLN hat on?) The very one they handed out at the Butler return game in 2007, yes, along with a Valpo cheer rag hanging out the back. Perhaps you spotted me after all?
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Post by agibson on Feb 20, 2011 23:33:09 GMT -5
Indeed, my fault, or at least my timidity! Sorry not to be more courageous. Scanned the crowd, guessed at your age bracket, looked for a fellow in that range with someone who might be their father. Apparently I guessed correctly!
If you happened to see a fellow in his early 30's, maybe still wearing a grey trench coat at that point, lurking around the track below you, before the game - that was me.
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Post by aussiecrusadermum on Feb 20, 2011 23:53:41 GMT -5
We will be at the last two home games before leaving for home. I will be wearing my Valpo 45 jersey so please come on over to say "hi" love to have a chat. Jo, Ryan's mum
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Post by agibson on Feb 20, 2011 23:55:04 GMT -5
Not staying for the tournament? (Or the NCAA's? ) Too bad! I do hope you enjoy the rest of your stay.
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Post by aussiecrusadermum on Feb 21, 2011 0:02:21 GMT -5
That's a shame, but thanks so much for taking the time to come over for a chat. Safe trip home.
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Post by theladybook on Feb 21, 2011 0:07:46 GMT -5
"4. Brain cramp moment of the game -- and O'Brien and Vitale barely noticed it: early in the 2nd half, a Bear makes a layup and gets fouled. He misses the FT and the VU players just stand there while a Bear player casually rebounds the ball and puts it up and in. Wake up, guys! The guy made the basket, this is "and-1" not "2 shots". Could not believe my eyes. Fortunately it was a minor speed bump." __________________________________________ Please--referee did not give signal clearly; players, as well as others, thought it was a 2 shot, as it seemed too early in the half for a bonus situation.
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Post by agibson on Feb 21, 2011 0:14:59 GMT -5
I figure it's sort of like Obama and the World Cup, no? If the Crusaders make it into the tournament, you'll think about coming back to the states. If they make it to the Sweet 16, you might come back. If they make it to the Final 4, you'll find a way [I'm just joking, of course. But, I was amused by the story out of the White House ahead of the World Cup.]
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Post by valpofan56 on Feb 21, 2011 0:15:47 GMT -5
"4. Brain cramp moment of the game -- and O'Brien and Vitale barely noticed it: early in the 2nd half, a Bear makes a layup and gets fouled. He misses the FT and the VU players just stand there while a Bear player casually rebounds the ball and puts it up and in. Wake up, guys! The guy made the basket, this is "and-1" not "2 shots". Could not believe my eyes. Fortunately it was a minor speed bump." __________________________________________ Please--referee did not give signal clearly; players, as well as others, thought it was a 2 shot, as it seemed too early in the half for a bonus situation. The MSU player made the basket. There was no bonus involved at all, regardless of whether the ref clearly told them or not, they shouldn't make that mistake. That does remind me though of the massive tomahawk Michael Rogers threw down against Chicago State (??) his freshman year in a situation similar to the one StL was discussing. I believe that was also the same game that Haanpaa dropped the 10 bombs, but I may be off a year on that one.
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