Penny Thoughts: The Pomp and the Color

Those of you who know me and those of you who read my last column know how much I love football – not just the game itself, but all the activity which accompanies it.  Can you imagine a game without cheerleaders, or as Texas A&M calls them “yell leaders”?  How would a game be, if the team came charging onto the field and there were no fight song to accompany their robust “taking” of the field to begin play? 

To my mind, that would just NOT be a real football game.  All of it – every single bit of it from the pompons to the rookie reed-instrument player who hits one of those really shrill off-key notes – makes football what it is – America’s favorite sport.

As I see it, all this intense activity – the cheerleaders, the majorettes, the flag line, the band – make a football game more colorful, more forceful and more meaningful not only for the players on the field, but for the loyal fans who follow their team to some really far-reaching opponents’ fields.   

And we are familiar with the stories and legends of “those practices” which former players are fond of regaling us with.  Oh! the tales of how “tough” and “brutal” they were.  In truth, though, it seems that those practices are enhanced in geometric proportions as each year goes by and separates the reality from the “revised” fiction which is given to us as Gospel Truth. Nevertheless, it is a significant element in the continuous lore of American Football.

Still, not many know or appreciate the endless hours of near monotonous repetition members of a band with its entire accoutrement endure for a scant few minutes on the field at halftime.  The fact is, fans expect perfection from these performers whose movements must be precise and flawless.  Not one marcher out of step!  Not one flag waved erroneously!  Not one baton dropped! Not one rifle flipped and uncontrolled!  And not one note mis-played!

Thing is, many do not even stay in the stands at halftime to watch these musical warriors whose summer months of practicing in heat and humidity have molded them into something which is truly amazing – a cadre which performs with unity and precision!  And these fan “absences” from the stands are really quite thoughtless, to my way of thinking.  Of course, the friends and families of the marchers on the field stay to witness their presentations.

Now, I was a quarterback and there was timing for hand-offs to backs and timing to receivers.  I remember reviewing the individual, measured steps we practiced over and over and over so that during a game there would be no fumbles. Likewise, the specific patterns receivers would run endlessly in practices to make certain there were no interceptions or incompletes were just as grueling.

Those tedious “reps” were nothing compared to watching the majorettes whose mastery of twirling a metal pipe – cunningly called a “baton” – with such dexterity and craft that it makes my mind spin.  Just about every man and boy who is viewing their artistry can throw a football, but just ask them to try twirling a baton or waving a flag in unison with other flag corps members or move a rifle with specific, staccato precision or play an instrument in harmony with other band colleagues and my bet is that they will decline like a wilting flower too long standing in the sun.

The universe of band members – ALL of them – in preparation for one, rather brief, shining moment in the midst of the stress on the field before and after their precise exhibition, is far more demanding than one takes time to imagine.

Yes, they cheer more loudly, more intensely, more dedicatedly throughout the game and then they explode with pride and joy when their team scores or wins the game. 

They lead the fans in coordinated cheers and in singing their fight song seemingly incessantly, and even in the face of little action on the field their background din reminds all of us the nature of what we are there to witness and to enjoy.

Ultimately, the players banging heads on the field are given more meaning by the color and pomp the band corps contributes to America’s greatest game and spectacle – football!