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SOTOGAB

DeaconJoe said:
I'm curious, does the experience of the students who do stay in band for four years matters? Those band members love band, love Wake, and go on to be great fans. They find their "people" at Wake through band. If they love the activity, does that matter at all to the "scrap it" folks? I'm assuming, no.
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That's right -- no.

Considering it's 50 students we're legitimately talking about here, I don't think it's that big of a deal. Marching band is not the #1 reason they chose Wake.

And frisbee dogs are a more than reasonable replacement alternative imo.
 
PaddyWF said:
Many more Wake fans see the band than will ever see soccer, tbh. I love what we are doing in soccer, its not really a fair comparison to football and basketball.
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The band also plays at soccer pretty often - at least they did pre COVID
 
06deacon said:
It’s not even close to serious HS marching band rigors in college. The time commitment is really not that bad. I think we came back to campus a week or so early in the summer. A couple hours a week during the season for practices. 4 hrs early on game days was kind of tough for 12pm games but if you’re going to the games anyway you’d be there close to that early. If folks reading this are concerned about joining for time reasons, please reconsider.
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OK yeah, that's not bad at all, especially compared to HS marching band (at least HS marching band here in Texas, which they take as seriously as their football).
 
if wake football and bball stink, then you're left with only people that REALLY want to be in the marching band
 
BiffTannen said:
That's right -- no.

Considering it's 50 students we're legitimately talking about here, I don't think it's that big of a deal. Marching band is not the #1 reason they chose Wake.

And frisbee dogs are a more than reasonable replacement alternative imo.
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So, since baseball is not doing so great these days, and there are only about 25-30 of them, we should just eliminate that too, right? If you are one of those 50 band members, it would be a HUGE deal to eliminate it.
 
Baseball was one win away from the College World Series 4 years ago. Just sayin’.

My gut reaction is what I posted previously. Keep the band. But until it is bigger there is no need for them to march on the field.
 
I am surprised at the lack of support from Wake for the band - both financially and in terms of providing contact information for incoming students. My son is a freshman percussionist at Campbell this year. He was contacted multiple times by the band program after he accepted AND he has a scholarship (it's not much, but it's better than nothing). His only requirement is being part of an ensemble in addition to marching band, which provides course credit. This is a ridiculous miss on Wake's part and it's easy to fix.
 
banddeac said:
So, since baseball is not doing so great these days, and there are only about 25-30 of them, we should just eliminate that too, right? If you are one of those 50 band members, it would be a HUGE deal to eliminate it.
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People intentionally attend baseball games. People walk out and take a piss every time the band shows up.
 
BiffTannen said:
People intentionally attend baseball games. People walk out and take a piss every time the band shows up.
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BiffTannen said:
People intentionally attend baseball games. People walk out and take a piss every time the band shows up.
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That happens everywhere, not just Wake Forest. My grad school had 400 people in the band, and people still left at halftime. Most people come to see the game, not what happens at halftime.
 
I'm late to this thread, but I'm still gonna chime in with some #80sDeac observations/memories. Undergrad enrollment between 3,200-3,400 in the mid 80s, yet marching band was over 100 and had a decent sized color guard and a featured twirler. Band members were not only GDI, but from a number of fraternities and societies as well.

I don't know why the increase in university enrollment numbers seems to have led to a decrease in band numbers, but the university really should make a concerted effort to recruit students in HS band. Today's musical kids are naturally drawn to schools with larger bands or as in the case of wakegrrl's son, schools who are putting resources into their band programs. I see no reason why Wake shouldn't be doing the same.
 
deacdixieboy; ---------- . I guess they are ok in the stands at football games (even though I can’t hear them). There legitimately are not enough of them to march on the field though.[/QUOTE said:
I was in the band, and all, for 3 years in the early '60s as a walk-on at first, enjoyed. I agree with this, no marching now, until we can put a larger product on the field, but we should try to do it. If we admitted this situation, maybe it would shame and embarrass the admin into doing more. Thanks to all the students who do participate. much appreciated.
At one Deacon Club function I attended years back, Ron Wellman was touting the fall football game against A&T and come to see the famous band. So I asked why we were not putting more support for our own band. Our band then was larger than now, but not a lot. He really never addressed the question.
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The message our band (unintended and against all their goals, hard work and passion) sends to the world is that WF doesn't give two cents worth for their band nor the image the band projects especially about the size of the school. I have friends who were in the band who will not really like my language here but speaking directly is sometimes the best way to move the currently immovable within the organization. This "band problem" could and can be fixed but it will not be fixed until leadership admits the problem and decides to do something about it.
 
Interesting that the band has shrunk exponentially over the years, while cheerleading and dance squad have enough to spread out practically between the 20's on both sides of the field. Whoever took cheerleading from a half dozen ea. dudes and chicks on the home 50 to what it is today needs to be put in charge of getting SOTOGAB up to speed.
 
I’m down with frisbee dogs replacing the band, that would be awesome. Also we would be the only school with such a thing. Recruit some frisbee dogs/handlers, we would only need like 5. Money and time saved, entertainment level increased 100 fold.
 
On top of all that we could play good music through the PA system while they perform.
 
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