Blitzer just said Iowa State University Marching Band

Clone9

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....as the Ohio State University marching band performed in the parade.

FINALLY somebody gets it wrong the other way....usually we miss out on the recognition.
 

dinger

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yes i was going to post this. he said it right the second time. but for one shining second someone in the world thought that we were THE Iowa State University.
 

Angie

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Did anyone see the Isisirettes (sp??) earlier today in the parade, too? That was pretty nice to get them national exposure.
 

wxman1

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Did anyone see the Isisirettes (sp??) earlier today in the parade, too? That was pretty nice to get them national exposure.

It should have been us but oh well, that's politics for you. At least it was not the Grant Wood Drum and bugle corps from cr, their director is very annoying and unlike in cedar rapids.
 

Angie

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It should have been us but oh well, that's politics for you. At least it was not the Grant Wood Drum and bugle corps from cr, their director is very annoying and unlike in cedar rapids.

I wish it had been the marching band, too. How did some of the school bands even get chosen?? Do they audition or something? Win a contest?
 

vmbplayer

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It should have been us but oh well, that's politics for you. At least it was not the Grant Wood Drum and bugle corps from cr, their director is very annoying and unlike in cedar rapids.

Obviously I'm biased, but I think we would have been a better rep of the state than the Colts were too. They looked to be about a third of the VMBs size and although they are solid at what they do, we actually have indication on our uniforms of the state we are from. And we would have been way more solid than the Isiserettes, even though they seemed to illicit the biggest response from President Obama.

Then again, maybe not, I'm probably just bitter we didn't get the selection:wink:
 

vmbplayer

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I wish it had been the marching band, too. How did some of the school bands even get chosen?? Do they audition or something? Win a contest?

The JCIC (Joint Congressional Inauguration Committee) I think is the the group/acronym of the decision makers.

There's a fairly large application plus the submission of video and audio to the selection committee. Along with all that, groups get recommendations from the governor and the States Congressional Delegation etc etc.

The Isiserrettes were present and performers at many of the rallies during the campaign for Obama, so there may also have been as with anything in Washington a bit of politic involved.
 
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Angie

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The JCIC (Joint Congressional Inauguration Committee) I think is the the group/acronym of the decision makers.

There's a fairly large application plus the submission of video and audio to the selection committee. Along with all that, groups get recommendations from the governor and the States Congressional Delegation etc etc.

The Isiserrettes were present and performers at many of the rallies during the campaign for Obama, so there may also have been as with anything in Washington a bit of politic involved.

That makes a ton of sense. I had no clue how anyone was chosen for that - thanks! I officially learned something today.
 

wxman1

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The JCIC (Joint Congressional Inauguration Committee) I think is the the group/acronym of the decision makers.

There's a fairly large application plus the submission of video and audio to the selection committee. Along with all that, groups get recommendations from the governor and the States Congressional Delegation etc etc.

The Isiserrettes were present and performers at many of the rallies during the campaign for Obama, so there may also have been as with anything in Washington a bit of politic involved.

Ya I have a feeling our size might have hurt us.
 

theshadow

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Ya I have a feeling our size might have hurt us.

Doubtful. Tennessee has 300+ members, but they've performed at 12 consecutive Inauguration Parades. Each state gets one representative group, and the UT marching band has filled that bill for their state since the LBJ parade in '65.

From the UT band site:

The University of Tennessee Pride of the Southland Band received its 12th consecutive invitation to represent the State of Tennessee at the upcoming 56th Presidential Inaugural Parade on January 20th in Washington, DC. The band’s first appearance of twelve was in 1965 for Lyndon B. Johnson’s inauguration. Since that time, the Pride of the Southland Band has marched at every presidential inaugural parade for the last 44 years. “We are absolutely thrilled with this invitation. It is a truly a great honor for us to represent the State of Tennessee at this international event. No other college band in the country has achieved this performance record, and we are thankful for all of the support we received from Congressman Duncan, and Senators Corker and Alexander in working with the Inaugural Committee in Washington to win this invitation,â€￾ says Dr. Gary Sousa, Director of Bands.


According to Peter Gage, Director of the Inaugural Parade, an unprecedented number of applicants applied to perform in this year’s event. Each group must submit an extensive application to the Presidential Inaugural Committee including letters of support from political leaders. The Pride of the Southland Band will depart for Washington on Sunday, January 18th. They will spend time in Washington on Monday preparing for the parade, before marching in the Inaugural Parade, scheduled to begin at 2:30 p.m. on Tuesday.
 

vmbplayer

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Ya I have a feeling our size might have hurt us.

nah, They had the University of Tennessee and the University of Ohio, both of which are pretty comparable to our size. Colts probably beat us on quality, they do a lot more parades than we do, comparing apples to oranges when you throw a Drum Corps into the mix, and the rettes had the benefit of having campaigned a lot for the President.
 

wxman1

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Doubtful. Tennessee has 300+ members, but they've performed at 12 consecutive Inauguration Parades. Each state gets one representative group, and the UT marching band has filled that bill for their state since the LBJ parade in '65.

From the UT band site:

The University of Tennessee Pride of the Southland Band received its 12th consecutive invitation to represent the State of Tennessee at the upcoming 56th Presidential Inaugural Parade on January 20th in Washington, DC. The band’s first appearance of twelve was in 1965 for Lyndon B. Johnson’s inauguration. Since that time, the Pride of the Southland Band has marched at every presidential inaugural parade for the last 44 years. “We are absolutely thrilled with this invitation. It is a truly a great honor for us to represent the State of Tennessee at this international event. No other college band in the country has achieved this performance record, and we are thankful for all of the support we received from Congressman Duncan, and Senators Corker and Alexander in working with the Inaugural Committee in Washington to win this invitation,â€￾ says Dr. Gary Sousa, Director of Bands.


According to Peter Gage, Director of the Inaugural Parade, an unprecedented number of applicants applied to perform in this year’s event. Each group must submit an extensive application to the Presidential Inaugural Committee including letters of support from political leaders. The Pride of the Southland Band will depart for Washington on Sunday, January 18th. They will spend time in Washington on Monday preparing for the parade, before marching in the Inaugural Parade, scheduled to begin at 2:30 p.m. on Tuesday.

Well in that case...we got robbed. oh well
 

theshadow

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I stand corrected. There is more than one representative per state (obviously). I gotta stop listening to Wolf Blitzer.

University bands in the '09 parade (from a full participant list courtesy of the Denver Post):
*Florida A&M
*Delaware
*Delaware State
*George Washington
*Tennessee
*Arkansas
*Hampton
*Grambling
*Howard
*Ohio State
*Utah
 

JRCampy

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Colts probably beat us on quality, they do a lot more parades than we do, comparing apples to oranges when you throw a Drum Corps into the mix

The Colts (or any drum corps for that matter) do a lot less parades than you would think. Being an alum of the organization, the only parades that we did in season were Memorial Day and a few on the 4th of July... and the only reason we did 4th of July parades was purely to stuff the coffers. The Colts sent out invitations to current and former members to go and play for the parade, anybody you saw today paid to be there. I'm guessing the ISU marching band members would have had to pay their own way as well. BTW, 119 members marched for the Colts today, I believe there were close to 300 members in the ISU band back when I was around...
 
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vmbplayer

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The Colts (or any drum corps for that matter) do a lot less parades than you would think. Being an alum of the organization, the only parades that we did in season were Memorial Day and a few on the 4th of July... and the only reason we did 4th of July parades was purely to stuff the coffers. The Colts sent out invitations to current and former members to go and play for the parade, anybody you saw today paid to be there. I'm guessing the ISU marching band members would have had to pay their own way as well. BTW, 119 members marched for the Colts today, I believe there were close to 300 members in the ISU band back when I was around...

yep, those numbers are still about accurate, I think we were a little bit over 300 this year. I'd agree that they do fewer than a lot of people think, but at the same time most corps spend a heck of a lot more time in fundies blocks which translates to cleaner parade marching. While the "V"MB is for the large part done after band camp and after that focusing mainly on the next show.

I actually got into a huge argument with a buddy of mine who was in Blue Stars and the vmb about who would be better to represent the State isucfvmb or the colts. I backed the vmb and he would not budge on saying any drum corps would be better even if it was rival corps.

Seems to me though that from what I saw today VMB would have been better because the whole group would've been required for the performance. The finances hadn't actually been figured out if we made it, we may have been selling cheese in sausage lol.:wink: