Sheet Music
This one is for all the folks that have ever had the pleasure of hearing FAMU’s Marching 100 Band in person; and especially, to all the folks that entered FAMU in the Fall of 2001...
The Notes to this Song (written by Sakina Bowser, Carnell Hawthorne, remastered by Black College Wire):
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Seventy-four members of the Florida A&M University Marching 100 have been placed on academic probation and, separately, the entire band faces possible suspension after accusations that some members stole sheets, pillows and other articles from a hotel after a road game in Detroit.
"As of right now we are not pressing charges; furthermore, the school has been very cooperative in negotiations. We have not restricted the band from returning," said Raynard Lawler, the residential manager of the Detroit Marriott hotel.
After the team's losing 34-14 performance Sept. 2 against Delaware State University at the Detroit Football Classic at Ford Field, members of the Marching 100 returned to the hotel to rest before the long bus ride back to Tallahassee, band members said.
Hotel officials stopped the band members Sunday morning as the band was departing, alleging items were missing from their hotel rooms, Band Director Julian White said.
Body towels, face towels, pillows, irons and comforters were among the items recovered, delaying their return by three hours, White said.
"Some of the property was recovered and immediately given back," White said.
White said he could not give an estimate of how much was stolen.
The incident could result in suspension of the entire band from traveling from Nov. 18, the date of the Florida Classic, through the end of the spring semester, White said in a memorandum distributed to band members and university officials.
---------
This song played quietly underneath the sounds of FAMU’s and TSU’s bands…though true fans of the Classic may have noticed…
FAMU’s band was somewhat limited, and the diminished sound of the traditionally amplified bunch was noticeable, even without TSU’s band drowning them out…
Sadly, the worst was yet to come.
For my folks that became legends of the Fall in ‘01, it is unimaginable to see the depths of how FAMU’s band has fallen, especially having seen the Marching 100 establish its dominance time after time during our freshman year.
The triumph of FAMU’s band accentuated our free spirits; the crisp drumline matched our heartbeats, the sounds of the tuba capture the rise and fall of our emotions; the horns were the herald to the dawning of a new era.
The crescendo for me, personally?
Had to be the game against Southern freshman year…I mean, the bands battling back and forth was background music what was happening on the field…like one of those NFL Films videos…you had current third-string Jaguars QB Quinn Gray on the run…and running, and running…and then, he heaved a pass that if I saw the Frog Prince right now and ran this story back, a big smile would come across his face and the floodgates would open to all the memories of freshman year.
But, the pass. Gray heaves what had to be a 60-yard hail mary on the run…off his back foot…for the FAMU lead…the band is poised to play the subsequent touchdown music…I hear a pin drop, and the ball is in a receiver’s hands, and…
How. HOW?!?!?!?!? Does that ball squirt out of his hands and harmlessly in the end zone…
But so many battles…Southern, NC A&T…I mean, people leave after the band’s played…not that I agree with that AT ALL, but it displays the power of that orange and green sound at…
Halftime.
It wasn’t about FAMU being down by 7-3 at halftime because of a blown coverage IN THE END ZONE that led to TSU’s touchdown, oh nooooooooooo…it was about…
This wasn’t my band, I thought…not the band that provided proverbial soundtracks for the likes of Marquis Grissom, Althea Gibson, and directly to Bullet Bob Hayes and yours truly…
Sure enough, though…even with small numbers…
You can’t deny the Nine.
Those cats look…cool.
If they could be renamed, I’d rename them the Inevitable. They walk, so slow, so sure…nine drum majors…yes, nine…the true heralds to what has traditionally been a historic experience.
Ultimately a ruse.
The band played ‘hits’ like Rihanna’s Unfaithful, which, oh irony of ironies, I would’ve rather heard SOS.
(The preceding was a test to see if you’re in step…)
When the band came in formation to play the Family Guy intro…I was stunned.
Stunned like…seeing Reggie Miller push off MJ in ‘98 to make that three…knowing that MJ was going to gut-punch him in a few minutes…and watching that three go halfway down and come out…
Stunned like…I can’t believe John Kasay kicked that ball out of bounds and I NEED EVERYONE from the Carolina Club to get as far away from me as possible right now, man…and seeing Iceman just as stunned.
Stunned like…stunned like you were when you found out I wasn’t coming back for my senior year…
(The preceding was a test to see if you’re in step…)
Just stunned.
My homegirl said she was going to cry…
But why cry?
The thieves of those sheets were only clairvoyants.
Because for the first time ever, orange and green blood shown on the Georgia Dome turf, on any turf, field, or anything for that matter…
Tennessee State’s band wasn’t amazing, but it was just enough to show up the Kings of the Seven Hills…and all they had to cover up the wounds were those fateful towels…
But what do the fans have to cover theirs?
The Good Doctor
The Notes to this Song (written by Sakina Bowser, Carnell Hawthorne, remastered by Black College Wire):
---------
Seventy-four members of the Florida A&M University Marching 100 have been placed on academic probation and, separately, the entire band faces possible suspension after accusations that some members stole sheets, pillows and other articles from a hotel after a road game in Detroit.
"As of right now we are not pressing charges; furthermore, the school has been very cooperative in negotiations. We have not restricted the band from returning," said Raynard Lawler, the residential manager of the Detroit Marriott hotel.
After the team's losing 34-14 performance Sept. 2 against Delaware State University at the Detroit Football Classic at Ford Field, members of the Marching 100 returned to the hotel to rest before the long bus ride back to Tallahassee, band members said.
Hotel officials stopped the band members Sunday morning as the band was departing, alleging items were missing from their hotel rooms, Band Director Julian White said.
Body towels, face towels, pillows, irons and comforters were among the items recovered, delaying their return by three hours, White said.
"Some of the property was recovered and immediately given back," White said.
White said he could not give an estimate of how much was stolen.
The incident could result in suspension of the entire band from traveling from Nov. 18, the date of the Florida Classic, through the end of the spring semester, White said in a memorandum distributed to band members and university officials.
---------
This song played quietly underneath the sounds of FAMU’s and TSU’s bands…though true fans of the Classic may have noticed…
FAMU’s band was somewhat limited, and the diminished sound of the traditionally amplified bunch was noticeable, even without TSU’s band drowning them out…
Sadly, the worst was yet to come.
For my folks that became legends of the Fall in ‘01, it is unimaginable to see the depths of how FAMU’s band has fallen, especially having seen the Marching 100 establish its dominance time after time during our freshman year.
The triumph of FAMU’s band accentuated our free spirits; the crisp drumline matched our heartbeats, the sounds of the tuba capture the rise and fall of our emotions; the horns were the herald to the dawning of a new era.
The crescendo for me, personally?
Had to be the game against Southern freshman year…I mean, the bands battling back and forth was background music what was happening on the field…like one of those NFL Films videos…you had current third-string Jaguars QB Quinn Gray on the run…and running, and running…and then, he heaved a pass that if I saw the Frog Prince right now and ran this story back, a big smile would come across his face and the floodgates would open to all the memories of freshman year.
But, the pass. Gray heaves what had to be a 60-yard hail mary on the run…off his back foot…for the FAMU lead…the band is poised to play the subsequent touchdown music…I hear a pin drop, and the ball is in a receiver’s hands, and…
How. HOW?!?!?!?!? Does that ball squirt out of his hands and harmlessly in the end zone…
But so many battles…Southern, NC A&T…I mean, people leave after the band’s played…not that I agree with that AT ALL, but it displays the power of that orange and green sound at…
Halftime.
It wasn’t about FAMU being down by 7-3 at halftime because of a blown coverage IN THE END ZONE that led to TSU’s touchdown, oh nooooooooooo…it was about…
This wasn’t my band, I thought…not the band that provided proverbial soundtracks for the likes of Marquis Grissom, Althea Gibson, and directly to Bullet Bob Hayes and yours truly…
Sure enough, though…even with small numbers…
You can’t deny the Nine.
Those cats look…cool.
If they could be renamed, I’d rename them the Inevitable. They walk, so slow, so sure…nine drum majors…yes, nine…the true heralds to what has traditionally been a historic experience.
Ultimately a ruse.
The band played ‘hits’ like Rihanna’s Unfaithful, which, oh irony of ironies, I would’ve rather heard SOS.
(The preceding was a test to see if you’re in step…)
When the band came in formation to play the Family Guy intro…I was stunned.
Stunned like…seeing Reggie Miller push off MJ in ‘98 to make that three…knowing that MJ was going to gut-punch him in a few minutes…and watching that three go halfway down and come out…
Stunned like…I can’t believe John Kasay kicked that ball out of bounds and I NEED EVERYONE from the Carolina Club to get as far away from me as possible right now, man…and seeing Iceman just as stunned.
Stunned like…stunned like you were when you found out I wasn’t coming back for my senior year…
(The preceding was a test to see if you’re in step…)
Just stunned.
My homegirl said she was going to cry…
But why cry?
The thieves of those sheets were only clairvoyants.
Because for the first time ever, orange and green blood shown on the Georgia Dome turf, on any turf, field, or anything for that matter…
Tennessee State’s band wasn’t amazing, but it was just enough to show up the Kings of the Seven Hills…and all they had to cover up the wounds were those fateful towels…
But what do the fans have to cover theirs?
The Good Doctor
posted by The Good Doctor at 10:25 AM
2 Comments:
k-mack (hehe),
man, you seriously have a way with words. i wanted to leave that comment on the humility blog when i read it, as I felt humble to be entering a profession in which i depend on my writing yet knowing that a friend of mine could lap me in any written contest. Your eloquence is often enviable - at least on b.l.o.g.
Yet brevity and bluntness will often times get the job done at least as well. And so, to sum up "Sheet Music" for your fans who appreciate a brief statement as opposed to serious prose:
I hate black people (and so do you).
"I can’t believe John Kasay kicked that ball out of bounds and I NEED EVERYONE from the Carolina Club to get as far away from me as possible right now, man…and seeing Iceman just as stunned."
This earned a laugh that burned at least 7 calories and did like 53 crunches. I only can laugh 3 years later though. :)
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