1 post tagged “western marching band”

While Jenn and I got up to a bunch of home stuff today (clothes washing, preparing for Jenn's "Girls Night", tidying up the house, dish washing, etc), I managed to watch a ton of football (2 Canadian University football playoff games, and the battle between Ohio State and Michigan), today.  I don't watch a lot of football.  In any given year, I will nearly guarantee that I will watch The Superbowl, The Vanier Cup (Canadian University Championship game), likely of the Canadian University playoff games, and usually part of, if not all of The Grey Cup (Canadian Football League final game).  Otherwise, it's hit or miss.  I haven't been this way forever.  As a kid, I watched no football.  Didn't understand it.  I AM a baseball guy after all.  Then I lived with my friend Jason, while we were in University.  Jay used to be the QB for his high school football team here in Belleville (strangely, where Jason and I both live now).  Jay is a good teacher of football, because you can ask questions, and he doesn't treat you like a moron.  He actually gives you an intelligent and useful answer.  So for an entire year, we would watch football nearly every Sunday.  All day.  Which I'm sure explains how I used to weight 260 lbs (I do not weigh that now.  Nor do I watch football all day Sunday ever.  Coincidence?  I would say no.).  Point is I grew to really like and appreciate football (though I will still take a walk-off homer over a hail Mary pass any day). 

During my time in University, I also was in the Mustang Marching Band (now the Western Marching Band), which played at every home game, away game, and distance permitting, playoff games, including the Vanier Cup (see above).  At one point, we received (somehow!) an invitation from the Ohio State Marching Band, to come visit with them in Columbus, Ohio.  We would get to "live the life" with them, and stay with them, and yes even get to attend a football game, as we would be there on a Saturday.  I was lucky enough to be one of the people selected to go to this (they could only afford to give us 4 tickets.  I later saw why!).  And I became an instant Buckeye fan for life.  We got to come into Ohio Stadium, and see 95,000 people, mostly clad in scarlet red and grey, absolutely going crazy for their home team.  There were people who were over the top excited about the Marching Band being there (in fairness, they are awesome, but it's also their life.  We in the MMB were mainly the people who weren't in music, and knew how to play an instrument).  We used to get told to get out of the way, when a bunch of drunk fans couldn't see the play on the field.  It was awesome, and I still have amazing memories of that trip (we also, unfortunately were there, when the Cleveland Indians lost the World Series in 1995, to the Atlanta Braves.  That kind of stunk.  For Ohio anyway).  So I love Ohio State, and I get a warm fuzzy feeling whenever the Ohio State Marching Band shows up in TV during a game.

I will go on record right here as saying that today, I got to watch a classic matchup.  In the end, Ohio State won, by 3 points, over the Wolverines.  This is important because coming into the game, both teams were 11-0, with Ohio State ranked #1, and Michigan ranked #2 in the land.  With the win, Ohio State is into the National Championship Game in early 2007.  But I personally hope that the people voting for who will meet them there, put Michigan in there for a rematch.  This was the 2 best teams attacking each other today, and really, if you want the best, you hope they put the 2 best teams in the Championship game.  This is no shot at USC (who also could get there).  They are very good.  BUT when you have a matchup of the #1 and #2 ranked teams in the land, at the end of the regular season, and it comes down to 3 points separating them, that tells me that both teams deserve to be in the Championship final.  I'm guessing that the 1st loss of the season will send Michigan to the Rose Bowl instead, and I guess that's fine.  But I will always wonder how great the National Championship could have been, if we had another battle between The Buckeyes and the Wolverines.  I guess time will tell.