Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, September 17, 1993 TAG: 9309170072
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-7 EDITION: STATE
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: CHARLOTTESVILLE LENGTH: Medium
The new Sports Band played at Virginia's first home game Saturday as the Cavaliers romped over Navy 38-0. While there were a few shouts of "Scab band go home" and a large "Free the Pep Band" banner, the Sports Band played on.
Several fans had complained that the Pep Band, which had been performing since 1974, was obnoxious. Among its antics were poking fun at school administrators, wearing hats with moose ears and performing handstands in the football field.
The school's athletic department warned the band in May that if it wanted to continue giving pre-game and halftime performances, it would have to stop using a microphone and work with a faculty member to help coordinate its performances.
Rather than accept those conditions, the Pep Band cut its ties with the athletic department, losing much of its funding and the opportunity to play during Virginia sports events.
Instead of performing at Scott Stadium on Saturday, Pep Band members put on a pre-game show at noon outside of the Observatory Hill Dining Hall, within earshot of crowds walking toward the stadium.
"The only message we're trying to send is that we're still here supporting students and student athletes," said Matt Fader, 20, the band's interim director. "We feel the best place to do it is in Scott Stadium. But we're still going to do it wherever we can."
In the band's former place in the stands was the Sports Band, a group of 22 students and five community musicians assembled in the past several weeks.
Unlike the Pep Band, members of the new Sports Band didn't wear hats with moose ears, the Statue of Liberty's crown or twirly-bobs on top. They didn't decorate their uniforms with buttons. They also didn't march or do handstands on the football field or make disorganized formations of letters and shapes.
And they didn't ridicule the other team, Navy in this case, criticize school administrators and rules, or poke fun at Chelsea Clinton and campus life - some of the subject material for the Pep Band's pre-game performance in front of the Observatory Hill Dining Hall.
Pep Band founders Steve Mershon and Hugh Riley had used the phrase the "Creeping State U-ism" to define what they didn't want the school's band to become - a regimented, administration-directed group lacking student individuality.
At its very first performance in 1974, the band imitated the football players' calisthenics and jokingly referred to Virginia's opponent, the College of William & Mary, as "Mary and William," referring to a women's movement at the time.
The Sports Band didn't make any jokes. Instead, its members sat quietly in the stands wearing unadorned orange polo shirts, played Virginia's fight song and tried to ignore taunts from Pep Band fans.
Chris Skinner, a sophomore in the Sports Band, said the taunts didn't bother him.
"I don't think it represents the entire student body - just a few people," he said. "My ultimate goal is to sound good and support athletics."
Although several fans complained about the Pep Band's antics, reactions to its replacement were lukewarm.
"They don't make enough noise," said Glenn Johnson, a 35-year-old University of Virginia Hospital employee. "If I didn't see the instruments shining, I wouldn't know they were there."
But Kim Record, associate director of athletics, said the Sports Band is just what the athletic department wants - a band that "sounds good, has fun, and is supportive of our student athletes."
by CNB