When are the BQ's traveling to Memphis?

Aggie Band departs Houston Intercontinental on Saturday December 27, flying United.

I heard a rumour that the BQs went to the Liberty Bowl in '75....

Those Ags, they stole my hat......

Those dirty rats....

Right off the bus!

The one with the brush?

Call me a grumpy old man but... I hear so much about how much it costs for the band to travel and I see that they're flying from Houston to Memphis (assuming that information is correct). That doesn't seem like the best use of funds to me.

Granted, they probably already had flights to a bowl game baked into the budget but... we used to travel long distances by bus regularly. With the TSA hassles these days, I prefer to drive for personal trips closer than 500 miles. Of course part of my motivation is that when I get to the destination, I get to drive my own car instead of some sketchy rental car.

Are they taking all 400+ members and do they all get to march?

Just to qualify my bus statements (using Google Map distances - I'll put bus times from memory, the buses might be capable of slightly faster speeds today given relaxed speed limits and improvements in roads), from College Station, the following destinations are this far away:

• Louisiana State - 366 miles = 8 hours by bus
• Texas Tech - 427 miles = 10 hours by bus
• Oklahoma State - 435 miles = 10 hours by bus
• Arkansas - 512 miles = 15 hours by bus (would probably be faster now since they've improved the roads)
• Memphis Liberty Bowl - 581 miles = guessing 16 hours by bus.
• El Paso Sun Bowl (John Hancock Bowl 1989) - 678 miles = 16 hours

The times and distances aren't linear due to driver changes, refueling and meals.
I hope these current BQs appreciate the fact that they're getting fly. I would have made them take a bus if it was me.

Yep, it was bus for us to the Liberty Bowl in 1975. However, the Band flew to the Sun Bowl in El Paso the next year.

Sadly for me, it was only 300 miles to drive to El Paso myself, as opposed to 450 miles from home to College Station to catch the plane. So I drove to the bowl. I should have flown anyway, just for the experience.

Lucky y'all got to fly to El Paso. I'm sorry you were deprived of that bus trip and the flight

Using College Station as the starting point was a hassle for a lot of folks but... what else could you really do? We bussed back from El Paso to College Station with just enough time to drive back to Waco to ring in the new decade (the 1990s that is). One of my buddies who was from Virginia came with me because he didn't have anywhere else to go.

I only attended 2 bowls, the Cotton, so logistics were easy. Drive to Dallas from Fort Worth on the 29th, drill at SMU on the 30th, drill at the Cotton Bowl with the other bands on the 31st, and then the game on New Years Day.

Yeah, more than once I spent Thanksgiving with buddies because I wasn't able to drive home and back for a Friday or Saturday "Thanksgiving" game.

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I would have made them take a bus if it was me.

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Fortunately, you aren't making that decision.

Normally the cost of bring the band is figured in the bowl payout

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Fortunately, you aren't making that decision.

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I admit, it's about time for me to get more involved. I think I'm going to move back to the US in about 3 years. I'll put getting more involved with the FTAB and the Corps of Cadets near the top of my list of things to do then.

I remember the marathon bus trips to Lubbock, Arkansas, etc., too. They were a big part of the whole BQ tradition, experience. Now, BQ son flies to the games they march. And those are few compared to ours -- we went to all away games and he makes just a couple a year. Too bad as the cadets miss out and the visiting crowd misses out too.

I'm guessing it's all part of saving time for grades, money as, although a flight is more expensive, if you only fly once or twice a year, that's cheaper than several bus trips. Maybe some other reasons we don't know about.

Anyway, the halftime product is still amazing and the Band is a great representative of A&M.

The City of Memphis STILL hasn't forgotten TXAGBQ76's visit for the Liberty Bowl in '75.

I doubt that the Holiday Inn has forgotten, either. Back then, the BQs stayed on campus after everyone else left for Christmas break, awaiting our rather lengthy bus ride to Memphis. (I've lost a few brain cells since then, but it seems like it was several days.) Of course, we had to find some creative ways to keep ourselves entertained, and that seemed to carry over to the Memphis trip....

Having to spend part of your Christmas vacation doing corps crap? That really suck, especially for the fish.

HillCountryAg86 were you in the band?

Aggiewyn, bowl games were pretty fun to go to. We had plenty of time to do stuff not Corps related with a free trip, free place to stay and some spending money in our pocket. Too bad in my time ( 2000 - 2004) we only went to two games (Shreveport and Houston). Still had good times with my buddies and stuff

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HillCountryAg86 were you in the band?

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Yes

shoot me an email to communicate offline

jeff at behavioral skills dot net

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aggieswyn3 - Having to spend part of your Christmas vacation doing corps crap? That really suck, especially for the fish.

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Remarkably, part of being in the FTAB means that you're part of the event - Backstage Pass - Artist, etc.

Everyone who joins knows this. Do you reckon the Football team sits around and says, NO, we don't want to go to a bowl game because that would interrupt our time off during Christmas vacation? It's no different for the band.

And don't worry, there are provisions for shirkers to skip out. Fortunately, those folks are few and far between.

As stated earlier, those 5-6-7 day long trips during the Christmas break were some of the best times with your buddies because the Corps game was relaxed and as long as you showed up when you were supposed to show up and didn't get in too much trouble, it was a good time. A lot better than sitting at home watching the game on TV, that's for sure.

Also, participation in The Band/The Corps of Cadets is only 4 short years of your life. It's well worthwhile. But... you might have to "give up" a week of your free time. Here's what I experienced for the Christmas/Winter breaks during my 4 years as an Aggie Bandsman:

1988/89 - Worked four weeks as an Apprentice Union Ironworker building the Alfred D. Hughes Unit @ Gatesville, followed by a 6-7 day long trip in mid-January to Washington D.C. for the Inaugaration of George HW Bush as the 41st President. Texas A&M was ineligible for a bowl that year and Coach Jackie Sherrill left quite abrubtly, ushering in the R.C. Slocum era. Would I have rather put a few hundred more dollars in my pocket or spent a week in D.C.? Easy answer to that.

1989/90 - 16 hour bus ride from B/CS to El Paso and back for the 1989 Sun Bowl where we lost to Pitt. Bus rides always seemed longer when we were outscored. We spent about 5 days or so in El Paso. Plenty of hijinks sneaking across to Juarez back when that was safe.

1990/91 - Flew from Easterwood to San Diego and stayed in SD for about 6 days or so for the 1990 Holiday Bowl where Texas A&M dominated BYU 65-14. I think that's still probably the most enjoyable football game I've ever attended. We also snuck across to Tijuana a few times back when that was a reasonably safe activity. The hospitality in San Diego was amazing. And this is where we got the picture of the Aggie Band on the USS Independence. After I got back to Texas, I did the Camp Swift FTX with Rudder's Rangers where I scattered about 10 hours of sleep across 5 days of patrolling in 31 degree F raining weather. Literally the most miserable I've ever been. And the poster bigplay didn't make it any easier on us.

1991/92 - Spent probably 4 days in Dallas for the Cotton Bowl including NYE - obviously. Ironically, the Cotton Bowl was the prize for winning the Conference but frankly, I liked the Holiday Bowl way better.

As for your concern about fish getting their time screwed over. I wouldn't trade that 6-7 days in Manassas, Virginia and Washington D.C. with my fish buddies for anything. Even though we were attrited down to 15 from the original 30 by then. Walking around the wrong parts of D.C. being mistaken for skinheads. That was too funny. I can only imagine how much funnier that trip would have been if 1989 had cell phone cameras and data plans.

Hey I'm not challenging anyone here! I just would not want to have my Christmas boofed. But then again, that's why I didn't join the band. Saw some pics from the parade, they looked awesome! Looks like they barely squeezed onto that street.

Traveling to bowl games was always fun....it was never seen as a "boofed" Christmas break.

Wasn't a BQ, but from my 4 years in the Corps, I don't ever remember being screwed around. I'd gladly go back to my fish year, or my pisshead year, or sergebutt or zip years now. Back then, no permanent job, no responsibilities, no taxes (not that I remember), no maintenance on the house, no in-laws,......