Rutgers band plays The Victors in U-M section while score is 57-0 (VIDEO)

Submitted by Wolverine Devotee on

Even their band in addition to all the top NJ football talent wants to come to the good side and be Maize and Blue.

 

@mgoblog this was 2 sections over from me. A Rutgers fan tried to fight the band director over it. Got restrained by police and ejected.

— Eric Rettig (@EricRettig) October 9, 2016

FauxMo

October 9th, 2016 at 1:04 PM ^

...but they fucked it up massively, it was embarassing not only to Rutgers but to the entire B1G, and all of the best instrumentalists in New Jersey will now be leaving the state to attend UM... 

ajh

October 9th, 2016 at 1:11 PM ^

Fun fact: While all Big Ten bands play the opposing teams fight song so they've got it memorized anyway, at least in the MMB we did our own arrangements of them. Rumor has it, one of our most popular arrangers made sure they were slightly "off" to make it a bit harder for the opposing fans to sing along. 

 

So they were probably playing a weird arrangement. Also, this is hilarious, but as someone in band during some dark RichRod years, I couldn't imagine sinking THAT low.

Bando Calrissian

October 9th, 2016 at 1:34 PM ^

Right, Joan, but also the woman who was on staff for a couple years at the end of the Nix years, whose name I am completely forgetting.

I think there was a problem with the Minnesota fight song, too, like we were playing the wrong section of it, as if you played half a verse of the Victors and didn't get to the chorus.

Man those arrangements were just universally bad...

Bando Calrissian

October 9th, 2016 at 1:10 PM ^

I'll say it: I don't get it. I know Wisconsin's band plays the opposing fight song after the first score because they haven't had an opposing band come there since like the 80s...

But when you're getting spanked in a blowout... Clown move from a clown program. Have a competitive backbone.

gruden

October 9th, 2016 at 2:49 PM ^

My son is in the MMB, I was watching practice last week and the band simply left the field for Wisconsin's band to practice.  I didn't even see the directors shaking hands and talking at all. 

Wisconsin's band is an interesting bunch.  Many of them showed up shirtless, some wearing kilts, throwing frisbies around, and doing these odd warmup calisthenics.   Kind of a different vibe there, not that there's anything wrong with that.  Kinda reminded me of Stanford's band in a way.

WolverineHistorian

October 9th, 2016 at 1:28 PM ^

Wisconsin doesn't still do that, do they? When Michigan played there in '88 (Bo's second to last season) we won 62-14 and on the TV, you could clearly hear The Victors being blasted over the speakers for more than just 1 touchdown. Even if your program sucks, I don't understand the point of that. When they stopped being a dumpster fire in the 90's, I figured they stopped doing that.

Squader

October 9th, 2016 at 1:30 PM ^

I was at the game and thought it was a nice move on the band's part. For a lot of people, including some band members, football games really are "just a game" and don't mean much, especially at schools that have always been terrible at football like Rutgers. As a band member, here are your options in the 2nd half:

1. Do nothing, because Rutgers is giving you zero opportunities to play the first down tune, much less your fight song.

2. Grab fifteen of your friends and go kill some time walking around the stadium and playing for the remaining fans (85% Michigan).

And for the record, they left the Michigan sections and continued to a section where it was mostly Rutgers fans and played the Rutgers fight song there. They were just trying to have some fun in the middle of a total evisceration.

LSAClassOf2000

October 9th, 2016 at 1:52 PM ^

It was actually funny when this first broke on Twitter last night, almost as if they'd finally given in and realized that perhaps a win was not in the cards. Of course, if only their fans had felt the same way and been as gracious, or at least attempted to be gracious. That wasn't happening on Rutgers Twitter.

rockediny

October 9th, 2016 at 3:10 PM ^

Bands tend to be friendlier to each other. We act more like "family" than rivals (this excludes Wisconsin as they've done some real shitty things in the past). We play each others' fight songs as a sign of respect, but that's usually before the game starts.

BlueinLansing

October 9th, 2016 at 5:38 PM ^

of ammunition with the Rutgers fanbase, but I can appreciate fans and students of schools who have a sense of humor.  Northwestern fans were the same before they started winning under Barnett.