ISU press conference about band situation

[Cy$]

After video review, the call on the field is confirmed - **** Iowa

Fify

 

[Cycsk]

The video inside the stadium shows them going OUT OF THEIR WAY to go out the west entrance where they knew fans were trying to exit.

It also shows some of their support team heading out the correct exit to the right while the first group of band members veers to the left. Talk about symbolism for Iowa City!

 

[BillBrasky4Cy]

Some band geek hating going on, come on guys, a marching band operates similar to a military unit, you may think it's stupid, but us dorks took pride in that stuff. You can "disagree" with it all you want, but it's what we were taught.

As a prior service member I take offense to this....

 

[MartyFine]

For cripes sakes....when one avenue is blocked, try a different direction, eh Gary?

The director of the U of I's Office of Sexual Misconduct Response...

 

[keepngoal]

question needs to be asked, and answered:

Why did the band choose to go through the W gate, who made that decision, and where they told to use the E gate?

 

[Clonefan32]

It's really not though. Imagine you are in the ISU marching band marching to or from Kinnick Stadium. You are required to march in step and play your instrument half the time. Do you think it's a good idea to just let a Hawkeye fan walk right in the middle of your formation? Nothing good can come from that.

Even when they (the ISU band) are marching to and from Jack Trice they don't let people into their ranks. It's tradition for marching bands to march as a parade to and from the stadium for games. This is not just a group of people walking around. The Cyclone fans at Jack Trice don't have anything harmful in mind, but they may be trying to screw around with people and make it harder for them to march to the stadium or at best are just clueless and are holding up the band and splitting it apart during the march to the stadium. This doesn't apply just to hostile environments.

I have absolutely no problem with the Iowa marching band trying to close its ranks and keeping people out. That's probably the one good thing they did that day.

You typically try to avoid crowded situations, yes.

We were always very strategic getting in and out of Kinnick or other stadiums -- avoided bunched crowds, had known routes, no drum cadences or playing school songs, no chanting or cheers, and keep close to one another when going through tailgating lots.

Even then, you are unavoidably have to go through some crowds in the lots or the concourses, and the bands naturally draw a crowd/build up stopped traffic around them. But we were taught to do absolutely nothing to antagonize or make a tense situation worse.

The Iowa band, either through a willful effort to gloat about their win, miscommunication about which route to take out of the stadium, or just pure incompetence somewhere in their leadership, decided to basically do none of those things above.

Your job as a band is over at that point. You're only job is to get to the bus. I guess I can understand the need to stay in ranks when you are performing. But this is no longer a performance, this is literally just a group of people trying to get to the bus.

Can you imagine the players after the game huddling up, breaking the huddle, getting into an offensive formation, and all walking in formation to the bus? It's absurd, because after the game is over, there is no need to be in a formation anymore. After the game you just became a regular ol' person trying to get home.

 

[keepngoal]

As a prior service member I take offense to this....

you do know where marching bands come from, do you not?

 

[CloneFan4]

On a different note, nothing like a hawk **** up to unite this board.

I'm "so proud of this community".

 

[Alswelk]

Your job as a band is over at that point. You're only job is to get to the bus. I guess I can understand the need to stay in ranks when you are performing. But this is no longer a performance, this is literally just a group of people trying to get to the bus.

What's the best way to keep track of your people? Keep them in your (rehearsed daily) parade block formation.

 

[UNI1ISU2]

Here is an example of the Iowa marching band playing their fight song in a crowded area. Check out the sousaphones not swinging.



Whether the motions are normal or not, they clearly have the ability to play the fight song without them.

They were standing still and not walking in formation

 

[BCClone]

They were standing still and not walking in formation

Probably should have done that for 10 minutes more at Trice also.

 

[Clonefan32]

What's the best way to keep track of your people? Keep them in your (rehearsed daily) parade block formation.

Or do what every other organization in the world does and go through a roll call before you leave, which I'm sure they do anyway.

 

[Sigmapolis]

Some band geek hating going on, come on guys, a marching band operates similar to a military unit, you may think it's stupid, but us dorks took pride in that stuff. You can "disagree" with it all you want, but it's what we were taught.

Yes, there is an element of pride about it, but it is for safety, too.

Some drunk idiot runs in there, trips, falls over, and... pretty sure you have a cascading pile-up, a few expensive instruments damaged or broken, and probably some injuries.

We are being sticklers about it for safety, not for pride.

 

[CyBobby]

This is just baseless accusations by a peed off u of i athletic dept because we had espn gameday and they never will...I wanna know....WHERE IN THE HELL IS YOUR PROOF ...toe....I WANNA SEE YOUR PROOF.....NOW!!

 

[Alswelk]

question needs to be asked, and answered:

Why did the band choose to go through the W gate, who made that decision, and where they told to use the E gate?

<Tin foil hat goes on>
Unless of course, they were told to cause an incident as a way of getting the Iowa AD out of the Cy-Hawk series

9-14 WAS AN INSIDE JOB. VALVE OIL CAN'T MELT STEEL BEAMS.

 

[jdcyclone19]

 

[alarson]

question needs to be asked, and answered:

Why did the band choose to go through the W gate, who made that decision, and where they told to use the E gate?

This is the first question any media member needs to be asking Iowa.

I would also accept "why is one of your own band members trying to enter an ISU-only area an allegation of impropriety on ISU's part?"

 

[Clonefan32]

Yes, there is an element of pride about it, but it is for safety, too.

Some drunk idiot runs in there, trips, falls over, and... pretty sure you have a cascading pile-up, a few expensive instruments damaged or broken, and probably some injuries.

We are being sticklers about it for safety, not for pride.

I guess this comes back to my ignorance about marching bands. I had no idea that drunk idiots infiltrating the ranks of a marching band was such an issue. Shame on me.

 

[agrabes]

The correct decision would've been to go out the east gate. I really don't understand the decision making process that led to them trying to go out the west side while fans were trying to leave as well. That failure in decision-making is the root cause of the whole issue - and the narrative should be centered around why it happened.

I don't disagree with that. They should never have gone out that exit. They never should have played their fight song, there are a lot of things they should not have done. That was the fault of leadership or whoever was in the front. That said, if you're in the middle or back of the band, you watch out for your own and don't let anyone into the formation. Once they were committed to that path, they did the right thing in keeping themselves together.

 

[Gunnerclone]

Just heard from a co-worker that they were separated from their 5 year old son for about 15 minutes because the Iowa band came charging through that exit. Luckily the kid was crying and some other ISU fans stepped up to keep him in one spot and wait with him for the parents to find him.