OT pep band looking to expand

[Deleted]

Beyond the usual 15 members, there is some momentum to get the pep band up to full strength starting in November. A recent alum has taken over the direction of the pep band and has already gotten a jump on recruiting for this season. Sounds like La Salle is getting the best out of the 25-5 home record and sweet16 run. This couldn't happen at a better time.

[luhoopsfan]

Next up: Cheerleaders and Dance teams need to merge into one squad of the top performers.

[explorer88]

Sept 18, 2013 16:01:04 GMT -5 luhoopsfan said:

Next up: Cheerleaders and Dance teams need to merge into one squad of the top performers.

Can we also make an edict that band members and cheer squads commit for the entire season and not permitted to go home over break?

I love the 4 man pep band in December. Sound like a wounded animal.

Sorry, pet peeve of mine.

[durenduren]

There's also talk of adding alumni to the band for home games as well, as size regulations don't apply to the band in the same extent as they do during tourney time (think that's 26 max).

[luhoopsfan]

So long as the alums are at least relatively recent grads that look like they could be in college- not a bunch of dudes 10+ years out

Unless of course that tuba player wants a spot.....

[durenduren]

I think that's the idea. Joe the Tuba guy has a lifetime pass.

[coqui900]

Sept 18, 2013 20:03:08 GMT -5 luhoopsfan said:

So long as the alums are at least relatively recent grads that look like they could be in college- not a bunch of dudes 10+ years out

Unless of course that tuba player wants a spot.....

I actually think it would be really awesome to see some oldheads in the band with current students. I don't think any other school does that. It also reflects on what I really love most about La Salle -- the ties that bind.

[glorydays]

Sept 18, 2013 20:03:08 GMT -5 luhoopsfan said:

So long as the alums are at least relatively recent grads that look like they could be in college- not a bunch of dudes 10+ years out
.

You just eliminated the Woodstock Generation in one fell swoop.

[stlexplorer]

I don't care if we add employees of Cold Beer to the band, the more the merrier.

[JoeFedorowicz]

This is the best news I've heard in a long time.

[durenduren]

Eh, I think St Joes encourages alumni to come back. But I also know that good portions of their band is professional musicians hired out for an easy side gig. You'll notice their band has an average age of 50 cool.

That aside, this is an important step forward for the band's development. "If you win, they will come" applies in multiple ways. It's a tough sell when the school has no performing arts program, but they're making good on the momentum.

[jellybean]

My understanding is all the band, cheerleaders and dance team are volunteers. They give the time for practice and games. Correct? They get no money. They aren't getting any credits unlike some of the "big time" schools which require Music and/or Dance majors to participate. I think the most the get are a pretzel at halftime and maybe an invite to the banquet at the end of the yer if they are a senior.

A few years ago during Christmas break, I happened to park my car in the Haymen Hall lot next to a cheerleader. She seemed to be a little older (early 20's)than most students. She was there doing her part and so was her mother and little daughter.

[durenduren]

What jellybean said is spot on. Did it for four years, and I was lucky enough that they remembered me when we learned of Kansas. Good timing.

The Winter Break situation is a tough one. Considering they aren't getting much in return, a housing extension for a two games in a week isn't much incentive when compared to seeing old friends and family around the holidays.

The big thing though was that the culture changed with the Sweet 16 run. They got excited for making rollouts, face paint, and leading chants. Thinking it'll possibly set a good example for the student section, not leaving that those handful of hardcore fans to do it all.

[La Salle 08]

The state of our pep band has always been a pet peeve of mine. The fault lies on the admin though, not the kids who are doing it for free. It's time to put some investment in it because it can and will make a tangible difference on the student section/home court experience.

Ever notice how we are the only student section in the city that doesn't have organized chants (other than the horrible Penn State/Jack White chant and the standards like DEFENSE, etc)? I fully attribute that not to the dark ages of 1993-2006 wiping away any tradition we had, but to the fact that we had/have no pep band to carry on and hand down La Salle centric cheers/chants.

Timeout after a big Temple run? Band and student section go right into the T for Temple U U for University chant.

Stoppage after a big Hawk dunk? HA-WK, Let's Go Hawks. TWND, etc.

Big La Salle 3 forcing the other team to call timeout? Umm let's play the fight song that no one in the student section knows the words to again for the 10th time this game? Tshirts with the fight song printed on them are great and all, but if the pep band was bigger and sang the fight song as they played (asking a lot I know), it would catch on much more.

2 things the band desperately needs: Money and a good band leader that will keep them prepared and organized. Will encourage them to learn songs released after 1975.

I think this is great news, looking forward to seeing an upgrade.

[luhoopsfan]

I'm not knocking the older generation of alumni, I just think it's more important to engage the young alums now more than ever, especially those that missed any semblance of a competitive team.

I've said for years that they should offer 2 or 3 scholarships for the band and Dance/Cheer squads. That doesn't mean 1 person gets a full ride, you could take those scholarships and spread them around and maybe everyone gets $1,000 towards tuition. 1- it would deepen the pool of potential members and 2- increase the likelihood of a really talented member being interested and enhancing the overall strength of the group.

I would even go so far as to offer a scholarship for the student band director that's only for their senior year as a a full time member the previous 3 years with the director being selected by someone with some sort of musical expertise.

[talkinbball]

I know this is not directly related to this discussion but something that always bugs me at the games so am taking this as an opening to ask. I always remember the cheer as "We fight GOOD, We fight well, etc.". Now the cheer is "We fight HARD, We fight well, etc.". Is there any other old head that remembers it this way, and, if so, any idea when or why it changed? Or, maybe I was always too "under the influence" as a student at the games to remember it correctly now.

[durenduren]

My take - The band got a good director in the past few years, and with some of the older influences no longer involved, I expect the band to be much more "up to date" than we're used to. God bless him, but not having a Christian Brother as a faculty advisor opens the doors some more.

Supposedly there's support for an alumni group under the band, particularly focusing on those crucial young alumni.

But you can't lose sight that La Salle isn't in the same situation as many of our counterparts. Temple has a school of music, so does VCU etc. With that comes warm bodies and money. The Pep Band's director is never going to be a full time position at La Salle. That's another distinct disadvantage. That said, they currently have one that's awfully dedicated to the job despite the terms.

Can't say the scholarship idea is a bad idea, but we'll be lucky to ever see anything near it. I mean the mascot gets paid in books last I heard. I think that culture change I spoke of has things going in a very good direction, and I'll be curious to see how they capitalize on it.

[theneumann64]

Regarding the band for this year's Christmas break, the only true home games over break are the 12/19 game against Wagner, and the 1/9 game against GW. The GW game is only 2 days before the dorms open back up, and you would hope the full squads are there for that. The Wagner game is the Thursday after Finals end, but I'd expect that to be the "3 cheerleaders and 4 guys in the band" game. Of course the Penn game is dead set in the middle of break, but its a Saturday, so maybe they can turn out for that one (weird how that Saturday game @ The Palestra barely registers as a Big 5 game anymore, need Penn to get good again).

One thing to consider on housing extensions, like say until the Wagner game, which would be almost a week after Finals end (and most people are done with Finals by Thursday at the latest): even if you have kids willing to stay, the school has reasonable concerns about giving people extensions when they don't have much to do. You're basically inviting them to hang around and make trouble.

[coqui900]

Sept 18, 2013 21:45:46 GMT -5 stlexplorer said:

I don't care if we add employees of Cold Beer to the band, the more the merrier.

I wonder what the 10-year-old who used to ring me up behind the bullet proof glass is up to these days. He was a minor presence in my life for four years.

[Deleted]

I generally agree with the sentiments on here, that the pep band is very important, and the fight song at times could be anticlimactic, and repetitive. I also believe that "Hey Baby I want to know how to finish this song" should be dropped from the repertoire or upgraded because it is almost pointless without the singalong, crowd participation element. When they added that song, it was probably supposed to replicate what other bands are doing, but unfortunately it fell short of the mark which is to ENGAGE THE CROWD.

But please don't cross that line further and cast any blame on student volunteers for their individual efforts. I am receptive towards constructive criticism and how to make this better in quality and numbers. I just wanted to share the good news that there were efforts being taken to expand. I did not realize how popular this news would be. I thought that the band had become somewhat of a lost cause, particularly during the break games, so I was glad to hear otherwise. It is sounding as though the efforts will start off better this year than in past years. That has a lot to do with winning, but it's also due to the fact that these hardworking individuals that were a part of the band from two to eight years ago are all still very interested in supporting La Salle.

[theneumann64]

I'm not blaming individual kids. If I was in their shoes, with very little incentive to hang around, or come back in to the city during break, I probably wouldn't either.

[JoeFedorowicz]

Sept 19, 2013 19:27:34 GMT -5 hykos1045 said:

But please don't cross that line further and cast any blame on student volunteers for their individual efforts.

Exactly, but direction would be great. The band is the guiding force behind participation. I know VCU has talent, but mimicking their enthusiasm shouldn't be impossible.

[luhoopsfan]

You don't have to be talented to be enthusiastic and fun

[durenduren]

Think we're all on the same page. And I agree that things probably fell into disarray during those dark years. Things can regress quickly in a culture that's very frustrated.

I can forward this thread to ears that have an active say, so any constructive suggestions would be appreciated. Just keep in mind that updating the music selection is not going to be full, overnight overhaul because i know that's a popular one, and that these kids, like many of the others at La Salle, are involved in many other things around campus outside of class.

[Deleted]

Sept 19, 2013 9:42:18 GMT -5 talkinbball said:

I know this is not directly related to this discussion but something that always bugs me at the games so am taking this as an opening to ask. I always remember the cheer as "We fight GOOD, We fight well, etc.". Now the cheer is "We fight HARD, We fight well, etc.". Is there any other old head that remembers it this way, and, if so, any idea when or why it changed? Or, maybe I was always too "under the influence" as a student at the games to remember it correctly now.

We fight hard and we PLAY well. I don't know. Maybe a grammarian fixed it? We only have the screamer to thank for this chant's resurgence, because he is the one who keeps it going. He can change it to whatever he wants to say, because he's the only one with all the vocal initiative.

If you wanted to change it back to We Fight GOOD, you can't because the screamer would shout over you.

[lasallescreamer]

Its became We fight hard, We fight well... since I became the LaSalle Screamer in 1977, my last year on campus.