This should make some posters happy!

[Zak57]

Took this from the Round Table:

From the Rutgers Alumni Association of New Brunswick Facebook page:
"Timothy G. Smith, Rutgers director of athletic bands, has announced that this is his last season guiding the Marching Scarlet Knights and the Rutgers University Pep Band. Under his baton, he has guided the program to unprecedented growth and exposure. Thank you Tim for your dedication to Rutgers and to all the students that have been part of the program."

Edit: Changed the title from: "Where is AreYouNuts?"

 

[mikefla]

Is this a good thing? From what i have read here I think yes...

As a former drum corps guy, I fancy I know a bit about field marching etc>(won a national championship years ago)
its time to START some tradition......
I have LOVED the band in the past despite being somewhat small.....
but its TIME
to put a kickass show on the field!!!!

hey...the birthplace of college football needs to make a statement!
:beer::beer:[cheers]:beer::beer:

 

[ScarletCrimson]

bands are about as relevant to college football as manual scoreboards

 

[HeavenUniv.]

Does Rutgers have someone who visits all the high schools in the state to talk to their marching band members to A)--Recruit them to come to Rutgers and B) Talk to them about the Rutgers Band and try to interest them in joining should they go to RU ?

 

[Knight Shift]

bands are about as relevant to college football as manual scoreboards

:thumbsdown::thumbsdown::thumbsdown::thumbsdown::thumbsdown::thumbsdown::thumbsdown::thumbsdown::thumbsdown::thumbsdown::thumbsdown::thumbsdown::thumbsdown::thumbsdown::thumbsdown::thumbsdown::thumbsdown::thumbsdown::thumbsdown::thumbsdown::thumbsdown::thumbsdown::thumbsdown::thumbsdown::thumbsdown::thumbsdown::thumbsdown::thumbsdown::thumbsdown::thumbsdown::thumbsdown::thumbsdown::thumbsdown::thumbsdown::thumbsdown::thumbsdown::thumbsdown::thumbsdown::thumbsdown::thumbsdown::thumbsdown::thumbsdown::thumbsdown::thumbsdown::thumbsdown::thumbsdown::thumbsdown::thumbsdown::thumbsdown::thumbsdown::thumbsdown::thumbsdown::thumbsdown::thumbsdown::thumbsdown::thumbsdown::thumbsdown::thumbsdown::thumbsdown::thumbsdown::thumbsdown::thumbsdown::thumbsdown::thumbsdown::thumbsdown::thumbsdown::thumbsdown::thumbsdown::thumbsdown:

 

[RutgersUnion]

bands are about as relevant to college football as manual scoreboards

As an RU fan I kind of agree but I don't know anything else. If we had a legit band some of us might feel differently. Looks like a really cool tradition from what I see on TV.

 

[PatrickRU92]

bands are about as relevant to college football as manual scoreboards

Completely disagree.

In many schools--and in many B1G schools--the band is great source of school spirit and pride.

The band IMHO should be an integral part of the college gameday experience.

 

[koleszar]

Is this a good thing? From what i have read here I think yes...

As a former drum corps guy, I fancy I know a bit about field marching etc>(won a national championship years ago)
its time to START some tradition......
I have LOVED the band in the past despite being somewhat small.....
but its TIME
to put a kickass show on the field!!!!

hey...the birthplace of college football needs to make a statement!
:beer::beer:[cheers]:beer::beer:

Have you seen our band? They have a tough time making an R and U. Friggin Ohio St can make a dinosaur walk and eat Coach Crappy pants. You do that at halftime and I'm not leaving my seat to get a half frozen pretzel. The band is very important to college game day experience, we're just used to sh*tty band direction. The kids can play, but they need someone to direct them.

 

[Extra Point]

I think he is in the nut house.

 

[Extra Point]

Completely disagree.

In many schools--and in many B1G schools--the band is great source of school spirit and pride.

The band IMHO should be an integral part of the college gameday experience.

I agree. If it wasn't for the band we would not know when to go get snacks.

 

[srru86]

bands are about as relevant to college football as manual scoreboards

I'm guessing you have never been to Ohio Stadium.

 

[RU848789]

bands are about as relevant to college football as manual scoreboards

Agreed. If I never saw another marching band, it wouldn't bother me - would rather hear recorded music and/or have other halftime entertainment. And yes, I've been to see the OSU band.

 

[RUchip]

Completely disagree.

In many schools--and in many B1G schools--the band is great source of school spirit and pride.

The band IMHO should be an integral part of the college gameday experience.

Well we wouldn't know because our band is a joke. My high school band was nearly the same size as Rutgers.

 

[needmorecowbell]

Is this a good thing? From what i have read here I think yes...

As a former drum corps guy, I fancy I know a bit about field marching etc>(won a national championship years ago)
its time to START some tradition......
I have LOVED the band in the past despite being somewhat small.....
but its TIME
to put a kickass show on the field!!!!

hey...the birthplace of college football needs to make a statement!
:beer::beer:[cheers]:beer::beer:

ok... Everything improves (including the band) when you win. It doesn't happen the other way.

 

[brodo]

I'm guessing you have never been to Ohio Stadium.

That's a very cool gif.

 

[DJ Spanky]

Have you seen our band? They have a tough time making an R and U. Friggin Ohio St can make a dinosaur walk and eat Coach Crappy pants. You do that at halftime and I'm not leaving my seat to get a half frozen pretzel. The band is very important to college game day experience, we're just used to sh*tty band direction. The kids can play, but they need someone to direct them.

In the 1980's, the Rutgers Marching Band was exactly that. We used to get comments about the fact that the band had gone big time before the football team did.

Sadly, the video cassettes with the recordings of the shows were stolen from Nicholas circa 1987-89, so there's very little footage of those shows back then.

 

[rubaseball78]

bands are about as relevant to college football as manual scoreboards

No, bands are part of the game day atmosphere

 

[RUChoppin]

:checks calendar:
:not April 1st:

 

[Scarlet_Scourge]

Well he was very good at getting the band some high profile gigs.

However hia programs were dated and he couldn't keep students to stay in the band. Whwn compared to the awesome Big Ten bands, we looked bush league.

Very classy that they let him retire.

We need to get a Big Ten level band leader.

 

[KaKaKen]

do band members get scholarships?

 

[LotusAggressor]

Does this mean that there will be no more halftime tributes to Looney Toons, Michael Jackson, and Earth, Wind, and Fire?

 

[MrsScrew]

The band was actually much improved last year. Making actual shapes, moving about the field. They did particularly well on Armed forces day with the shape thing. They are, of course, nowhere near tOSU, which rightly owns the name The Beat Damn Band In The Land"
They are, however small. Very small. They don't even fill in the spot in the stands allotted for the band.
The drum corps part of the band is very, very good. They put on an excellent show in the Block R Party area after the Scarlet Walk every home game.

 

[mwcllc]

bands are about as relevant to college football as manual scoreboards

Tell that to Ohio state

 

[ScarletCrimson]

We are not going to field an impressive band anytime soon, and frankly, our approach should involve new approaches and tactics versus trying to get ahead of our neighbors. Sorry traditionalists and old timers...

 

[seels2662]

Have you seen our band? They have a tough time making an R and U. Friggin Ohio St can make a dinosaur walk and eat Coach Crappy pants. You do that at halftime and I'm not leaving my seat to get a half frozen pretzel. The band is very important to college game day experience, we're just used to sh*tty band direction. The kids can play, but they need someone to direct them.

I will freely admit that I get my info second and third hand, basically from these boards in the past.

But from what I have been told it runs much deeper than the band direction. The Rutgers music department discourages anyone in its program from playing in the band. The support of the band from the school and the athletic department(which I think is in charge of the band), inducing money, academic support, scheduling, etc. is not good at all. Once Tim leaves they should seriously burn every part of the program and start all over again.

 

[Scarlet5]

I, for one, would welcome more band on game day, and less music blaring thru the speakers.

 

[RUChoppin]

We are not going to field an impressive band anytime soon, and frankly, our approach should involve new approaches and tactics versus trying to get ahead of our neighbors. Sorry traditionalists and old timers...

Actually, with the right band director and the right decisions/support from the athletic department administration, we could probably field a pretty impressive band in about 2-3 years. We've been getting a high number of freshmen each year - it's attrition that's been the biggest problem because of the way the band is run. Dramatically reduce the attrition, and we may have a band of 200+ in 3 years.

 

[DJ Spanky]

This was posted a while back, but for those who haven't seen it, take a look at these videos. The video and sound quality is horrendous, but this will give you an idea of what the band was like in the 80's. This show (broken into 4 videos) was done, I believe, at the Tropicana Music Bowl in Rutgers Stadium. The Tropicana Music Bowl was a national high school music competition: we hosted either the eastern or northeast regional. As the host, at the end of the competition, we did our show for the high school bands and their supporters.

 

[Purple-Ed]

I, for one, would welcome more band on game day, and less music blaring thru the speakers.

Amen!

 

[RBNY87]

The Pep band at basketball games is a very important part of the atmosphere.

 

[RUChoppin]

The Pep band at basketball games is a very important part of the atmosphere.

Even at the basketball games, the band can be a lot better... though it's always been better in the RAC than on the field. Hoping the wild saxophone swinging nonsense stops, and there are more coordinated band-wide horn movements, too.

 

[Saint Puppy]

Bottom line our band has not been very good recently. I love having a marching band for college football - it really adds to the ambiance...if done right. I wonder if Tim Smith was forced out because I know on just these boards alone there has been a lot of negativity towards him.

 

[OTBOTOR]

Actually, with the right band director and the right decisions/support from the athletic department administration, we could probably field a pretty impressive band in about 2-3 years. We've been getting a high number of freshmen each year - it's attrition that's been the biggest problem because of the way the band is run. Dramatically reduce the attrition, and we may have a band of 200+ in 3 years.

When I went to JMU, which has one of the top bands in the country, one of my hall mates was in the band and said that the opportunity to be in that band was one of the top factors in his decision to go to JMU.

I'm not a band geek (sorry) but I think you'd be right. UVA went from having a little rowdy pep band at their football games to a large (and not too bad) marching band within a couple or few years. I see no reason Rutgers couldn't grow similarly under the right leadership.

So I think under the right leadership we can have a band that kids will want to come to Rutgers to be a part of it.

 

[oldman87]

Regardless of how you feel about marching bands, I think we can all agree that the next director must have deep NJ ties.

 

[red sail]

The guy should have been fired a long time ago.

 

[RUTGERZ_R00LZ]

I think Tim Smith is a (welcome) casualty of the AD's goal of improving the fan's experience at football games.

 

[RUHouston]

I'm glad the nightmare is almost over!

 

[alden1]

I want band that can go "1 - 0" every Saturday! ;)

 

[RUonBrain]

Can we hire the Kenny Parker of OSU's marching band?

 

[LotusAggressor]

The Pep band at basketball games is a very important part of the atmosphere.

Not as important as playing defense, rebounding, and putting the ball in the basket.