2020 Season

[Quann]

Edsall said ukon is not following UMass back and is still planning on spring football.

[Jack]

As somebody who has met Randy Edsall, I can safely say that he's a complete jerk. He is despised everywhere he has ever coached including uconn and Maryland.

Does anybody know if the UMASS Marching Band is planning on performing during the football games?

[e_parade]

Last I heard the band was not playing. The band alumni group had a question about whether or not they'd start something up with the return of football and there was no answer.

Almost certainly the band will not be a part of the season.

[Jack]

That's a real shame. I would think having the band perform would be a significant boost. I enjoyed watching the college games this past weekend and having the band performing was great to see.

[DrG]

But there was at least some attendance at those games in the south. Our band would be playing in a completely empty stadium, so what's the point unless it provides some kind of boost for the players? I also expect the University will not allow people to go anywhere near McGuirk, and they probably wouldn't want the sounds of the band to lure folks down there. Just speculation on my part; that's the difference between college FB in the Northeast and other parts of the country. I will miss the band terribly this fall, but it is what it is.

[Steve81]

But there was at least some attendance at those games in the south. Our band would be playing in a completely empty stadium, so what's the point unless it provides some kind of boost for the players? I also expect the University will not allow people to go anywhere near McGuirk, and they probably wouldn't want the sounds of the band to lure folks down there. Just speculation on my part; that's the difference between college FB in the Northeast and other parts of the country. I will miss the band terribly this fall, but it is what it is.

Really, watch any Boston College.

[Quann]

I'd still prefer the band there to liven up the place a little bit. They can easily socially distance in an almost empty stadium.

[Quann]

As somebody who has met Randy Edsall, I can safely say that he's a complete jerk. He is despised everywhere he has ever coached including uconn and Maryland.

Does anybody know if the UMASS Marching Band is planning on performing during the football games?

That definitely seems to be the rep of Edsall wherever he's been from Rutgers to Tampa and beyond.

[e_parade]

I'd still prefer the band there to liven up the place a little bit. They can easily socially distance in an almost empty stadium.

In the stadium for performances is one thing. Rehearsal is another.

If it's just plain music rehearsal (say, not learning any drill on the field) then the best place for that would be at the GNP building, where unfortunately (for this year, not in general) everything is in a single large room where people would be essentially next to each other. Outdoor rehearsals would require some last minute renting of equipment, not a huge issue I'd imagine since I doubt there's much of a demand for scissor lifts at the moment...more importantly any sort of drill would take time to produce, in addition to musical arrangements that are typically done fresh each season. Of course this year being this year it would likely be a rehash of old music, but that would still mostly require indoor or not at all socially distanced outdoor rehearsals (the further you are apart the harder it is to stay together without practicing it first).

As an FYI, typically by the time the first game has happened, all the freshmen and other first timers will have about a week and a half straight of 12+ hour days, and all returning students will have had about a full week of that. Then there's additional rehearsals that go on every day during the week (hour and a half or so), and for 3+ hours on saturdays before every game. They're together enough to warrant including them all in the same level of testing provided to athletes really, especially considering there's 0 chance of masks at any moment when you need to use your mouth for music.

[UMass'96]

Covering your mouth in the band would be the least of my concerns. Some dude blowing a trumpet corona fogger near me might be the bigger issue.

Solution, place a face condom on the instrument.

[InnervisionsUMASS]

Or, let's not worry about having a band in this weird, truncated season. I think we'll all get by without the band there just fine this one year.

[Jack]

I don't think that anybody is worried about having a band or questioning whether football can get by w/o the band. Other programs are having their bands play at games hence the question as to the possibility of having some version of the band participate to liven things up a bit and provide some hint of a college football atmosphere.

[DrG]

If they want to enhance the television presentation (assuming there is one), they can always pipe in "Fight Mass" and other music on the PA system. It's a moot point anyway; my understanding is most of the band members are not on campus.

[R&G]

I thought that students were not on campus. How could there possibly be a band without them being allowed to live there?

[InnervisionsUMASS]

Oye.