BQs,

The first halftime performance this year had an announced 411 member FTAB. The band was so big, that the bottom of the Block T was every bit as long (so to speak) as the top of the Block T. Since the first performance at halftime against Lamar, the FTAB has been announced at 360ish. What gives? Have 50 fish punched?

I have only seen these performances on video, and in the videos I also see a few stragglers in the BQ section of the stands? Is it only those that earn it during practice during the week allowed to march? Also, it seems as if there are no young ladies waiting for the BQs to return to their seats, i.e. where are the dates? I know it's a lot of questions, TIA.

The date thing may be related to the high cost of tickets in Jerryworld and/or the fact that most of the Corps seats were donated.

The policy always used to be to have a fish sit out as little as possible. So the guys left in the stands were either medically out or it was their turn to sit. Best case scenario, no one fish skips more than one halftime.

The size on the field is a function of how the formations work. Since the block band is 12 wide, you put a multiple of 12 on the field +3 for the drum majors. For instance, back in my day, 303 was normal...12 wide by 25 long and 3 drum majors. The next size down was 291. But I seem to recall that 278 did not work for some drills, so the next workable size was 266.

That may not be the right numbers, but you get the idea. So it's possible that they started the year with 411 (408 +3) but when they dropped 5-6 fish, the holes got obvious and the next size down that works with all drills is 363 (360 +3) So 30-40 fish might not get on the field.

Also in my day, it was not out of the question to fill halftime holes with dead elephants, so their would be no gaps and to prevent dropping the formation size so that people had to sit out. Did that once or twice myself, was a heck of a lot of fun.

Thanks CanyonAg, I always thought that every BQ marched no matter what. It would seem that they had everyone march for Lamar.

Is it a shaming thing to be left out of the drill? or is it just part of life being in the band, some march others don't due to seniority?

Not a shaming thing, just a thing of "it's your turn, you drew the short straw". There are only so many slots, as I said, multiples of 12 plus the 3 DM. Again, speaking only from my ancient days, but we strove to never make a fish sit out more than once. Upperclassmen always marched if physically able. And as I recall, when fish were chosen to sit out a drill, we always asked if they had family or girlfriend coming in from out of town. If they did, we let them march and somebody else got the short straw.

BQs recognize what a motivating thing it is for a fish to set foot on Kyle Field. Ideally you want every fish to march every game to give them a reason to hang in there. When you march a military block band, it can't always happen.

Conversely, you can't put a formation full of holes out there at halftime, doesn't look good and it could mess up the follow-the-leader portion of the drill.

I also heard of dead elephants marching back in the 60-70's but didn't ever happen when I was there. Like the above poster some have to sit out. I think it was attempted to rotate out so folks didn't have to miss multiple games. I was scheduled to sit out once as a fish and on wed someone got sick and I stepped in and never missed a game. If I remember right the DM would call for a replacement and the fastest most red ass fish would run and try and get there to fill the spot. Been 20 years so I could be fuzzy on that.

From a current BQ here, after the first game we march the standard 363 as it isn't feasible to squeeze over 400 bandsmen onto the field once drills start getting more intricate. Nowadays fish are given a chance to march several drills, and fish and upperclassmen alike are cycled out to make sure everyone can march. There are several alternates to spare each week but usually you are not forced to sit out of a drill unless grades, PT standards or discipline is an issue. Otherwise you just wait your turn.

As far as the dates go, starting my butt year (I'm a zip) we started the policy where only seniors could bring dates to games. Previously seniors could bring dates to every game and the other three classes cycled out each week. This was done because of the huge numbers the band was getting from increased recruiting. We just couldn't fit everybody in the stands.

Looks like the Commandant got back to you first though...

I was wondering about the date situation. It seemed obvious that there were far fewer in the stands than in the old days.


That stinks.

Thanks for the detailed responses. I'm sure it is a great problem to have too many cadets!

It's great that the band doesn't have a numbers problem. But, I have to say that in my era when we would start with 320 (in the Fall) and finish with 265 (in the Spring), there was a lot of goodness to being a fish in the FTAB. It sounds like a lot of that specialness has been diminished. I realize that some of it is out of the Band's control - Midnight Yell on Kyle field, Bonfire, travel to all the away games, dates in the stands, Corps Trips to Austin, Houston, etc. I'm sure that they're doing the best they can do under some of these constraints but, man, there's a lot of stuff that I really cherish that they don't get to do today (bus trips to Lubbock and Fayetteville not included in my list). It is unfortunate but, it also makes me very grateful that I had the experience that I got as an Aggie Bandsman.

On the bright side, the band still looks good and still sets the standard as far as I'm concerned. But, as Aerosmith put it, I "was a High School loser never made it with the ladies", so if I had to wait until I was a Zip to bring a date to the game, I think I'd take a harder look at being a Corps Turd. Of course my analysis of the delta between the Band and the Corps is a bit irrelevant. In fairness, I signed up for the Band without having any idea what I was really getting into. Then, I was just too stubborn to quit.

Out of curiosity, does the Band still march at "Mardi Gras" in Galveston or play at "Blessing of the Fleet" in Clear Lake? Those were both fun little trips.

EDIT: For any current cadets who read the rumblings of this grumpy old man. Keep doing what you're doing. As things change over time it's hard for some of us olds to let go of the past. Every cadets experience will have some similarities that bond us together like fish spurs or a March-In in Fort Worth and there will be some differences that make everyone's experience unique - like when (somebody currently active on campus) made us take an APFT when there was a freak cold snap in April and the temperature was 22 degrees F - I'm still complaining about that In the end, you're still doing that something extra by participating in the Aggie Band and/or the Corps of Cadets and that extra effort will pay off in the future.

General, any truth to the rumor that some excess fish have been moved into other outfits inside the Corps?

Thanks,


Out

No truth to that rumor at all. No fish have been "moved" at all.

Unlike when I joined the Band in the mid 70s, ALL fish have to audition to be in the Aggie Band now. Those who didn't get accepted into the Band due to their audition were offered the opportunity to join a Corps outfit and to be placed on an "alternate" list to join the Band in the future, based on attrition. Some joined Corps outfits, some didn't and became non-regs.

To date, many of the alternates have been offered the chance to join the Band now. I don't have exact numbers, but I believe the number of those not selected was less than 20, and I believe at least 10 have been offered the chance to join the Band now. I will verify with Jay Brewer, but the numbers of non-selects was very small, and as I mentioned before, some joined Corps outfits and some didn't, and some have joined the Band at this time.

And Hollywood, while the Corps/Band experience is much different than when WE were in the Band, its still a great experience for the cadets, still challenging, but also very rewarding. The quality of the young men and women we are producing out of the Corps is better than ever, and I am proud of all of those who endure the four years in the Corps, graduate, and go on to great success in the "real world." We can ALL be proud of our Corps, our Band, and all the cadets who represent all of us who were in the Corps in the past.

Thanks for your support of our Corps! Gig 'em!

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No truth to that rumor at all. No fish have been "moved" at all.

Unlike when I joined the Band in the mid 70s, ALL fish have to audition to be in the Aggie Band now. Those who didn't get accepted into the Band due to their audition were offered the opportunity to join a Corps outfit and to be placed on an "alternate" list to join the Band in the future, based on attrition. Some joined Corps outfits, some didn't and became non-regs.

To date, many of the alternates have been offered the chance to join the Band now. I don't have exact numbers, but I believe the number of those not selected was less than 20, and I believe at least 10 have been offered the chance to join the Band now. I will verify with Jay Brewer, but the numbers of non-selects was very small, and as I mentioned before, some joined Corps outfits and some didn't, and some have joined the Band at this time.

And Hollywood, while the Corps/Band experience is much different than when WE were in the Band, its still a great experience for the cadets, still challenging, but also very rewarding. The quality of the young men and women we are producing out of the Corps is better than ever, and I am proud of all of those who endure the four years in the Corps, graduate, and go on to great success in the "real world." We can ALL be proud of our Corps, our Band, and all the cadets who represent all of us who were in the Corps in the past.

Thanks for your support of our Corps! Gig 'em!

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Thanks.

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Commandant79 - And Hollywood, while the Corps/Band experience is much different than when WE were in the Band, its still a great experience for the cadets, still challenging, but also very rewarding. The quality of the young men and women we are producing out of the Corps is better than ever, and I am proud of all of those who endure the four years in the Corps, graduate, and go on to great success in the "real world." We can ALL be proud of our Corps, our Band, and all the cadets who represent all of us who were in the Corps in the past.

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Agreed General.

As I look back on my era, I see a lot of things that don't get done anymore and naturally I focus on the good things that are missing (In my opinion). But, in fairness, it's easier to overlook the bad things that have fallen by the wayside and should remain that way.

The quality of the Corps of Cadets is significantly higher now than it was 25 years ago. There are quite a few bits of nonsense that are no longer part of the Corps experience.

• I'm sure that cadets are no longer allowed to register at the beginning of the semester and then drop all their classes after the first round of tests and continue to live in the dorm where they spend most of their day harrassing fish. A guy who was a DFW baggage handler did exactly this during the Spring of '89.
  
• I was pretty impressed to hear about the PT standards and height/weight for D&C cadets (or all cadets, I guess). That would have fixed a big problem we had during my era where cadets would not take contracts specifically so they could load up on donuts and not have to run.
  
• Another item from the bad column that is long gone is the nonsense that my buddies and I endured in order for us to be the last Aggie Band Class without females. That was ridiculous and I'm very glad that sort of thing doesn't happen now.
  

So, the Corps of Cadets today is definitely a much better program overall. But, I still miss all that cool stuff we used to get to do.

Does missing those old things make a difference to the cadets experience? I think the answer is, not if you don't know any better. I'm sure these folks haven't missed playing in Basketball Band and are happy to let the Hullaballo Band do whatever it is that they do during basketball games.

Here's my experience with an "Old Ag" telling me what I had missed out on during my era. When I was first out of college and started working in Austin, I worked with an Engineer who was I-1 Class of '85. When I met him, we talked about some of the stuff we did in the Corps and eventually he told me a story about Quadding. I literally had no idea what he was talking about so I asked him to explain it to me. As he explained it, he was just in absolute shock that not only was this something that the Corps didn't do anymore but, it was something that we didn't do to such a level that I didn't even know what it was. He acted like it was the highlight of every fish's day. (his perspective was) How could something so important have been eliminated? Since I didn't even know what it was, from my perspective, I didn't miss out on anything. Plus, we probably wouldn't have had time for it anyway since we had band rehearsal to get to.

quote:

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quote:

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Commandant79 - And Hollywood, while the Corps/Band experience is much different than when WE were in the Band, its still a great experience for the cadets, still challenging, but also very rewarding. The quality of the young men and women we are producing out of the Corps is better than ever, and I am proud of all of those who endure the four years in the Corps, graduate, and go on to great success in the "real world." We can ALL be proud of our Corps, our Band, and all the cadets who represent all of us who were in the Corps in the past.

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Agreed General.

As I look back on my era, I see a lot of things that don't get done anymore and naturally I focus on the good things that are missing (In my opinion). But, in fairness, it's easier to overlook the bad things that have fallen by the wayside and should remain that way.

The quality of the Corps of Cadets is significantly higher now than it was 25 years ago. There are quite a few bits of nonsense that are no longer part of the Corps experience.

• I'm sure that cadets are no longer allowed to register at the beginning of the semester and then drop all their classes after the first round of tests and continue to live in the dorm where they spend most of their day harrassing fish. A guy who was a DFW baggage handler did exactly this during the Spring of '89.
  
• I was pretty impressed to hear about the PT standards and height/weight for D&C cadets (or all cadets, I guess). That would have fixed a big problem we had during my era where cadets would not take contracts specifically so they could load up on donuts and not have to run.
  
• Another item from the bad column that is long gone is the nonsense that my buddies and I endured in order for us to be the last Aggie Band Class without females. That was ridiculous and I'm very glad that sort of thing doesn't happen now.
  

So, the Corps of Cadets today is definitely a much better program overall. But, I still miss all that cool stuff we used to get to do.

Does missing those old things make a difference to the cadets experience? I think the answer is, not if you don't know any better. I'm sure these folks haven't missed playing in Basketball Band and are happy to let the Hullaballo Band do whatever it is that they do during basketball games.

Here's my experience with an "Old Ag" telling me what I had missed out on during my era. When I was first out of college and started working in Austin, I worked with an Engineer who was I-1 Class of '85. When I met him, we talked about some of the stuff we did in the Corps and eventually he told me a story about Quadding. I literally had no idea what he was talking about so I asked him to explain it to me. As he explained it, he was just in absolute shock that not only was this something that the Corps didn't do anymore but, it was something that we didn't do to such a level that I didn't even know what it was. He acted like it was the highlight of every fish's day. (his perspective was) How could something so important have been eliminated? Since I didn't even know what it was, from my perspective, I didn't miss out on anything. Plus, we probably wouldn't have had time for it anyway since we had band rehearsal to get to.

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Highlight of our day when we were Fish?

Yep. I'd agree with that. With the exceptions of chowhounding after the upperclassmen left Duncan, finally getting rack time, kissing our dates when we scored, etc.

When we were Sergebutts? Not so much.

Quadding gone ??
When I was a non-reg in Dorm 12 in 72 we quadded guys, just like our "friends" in the corp. They also quadded over in the non-reg dorms on the north side.
Have Silver Crappers gone also ????

Re: Corps being so much better than in the past - tell that to the guys shot up in WW2 and Korean War !

Our guys in Korea were the FIRST ones to be sent to the front !

That said the Corps will always be ready to serve regardless of what class they were in !



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