I was in the MMB at the same time as Mark Brown. At that time we certainly thought his backbend was cool, but didn´t perceive it as the beginning of a tradition, of course. There was a number of milestones in the 69 MMB which were spotlighted at our 40th reunion last fall: Bo´s first year at Michigan, the Block-M which the band floated down the field, the then-controversial "Peace" show, and Michigan´s historic 24-12 upset over the national champion favorite OSU.
As for those of us who marched with Mark, I don´t think his backbend is what we predominently remember him for, but rather as the class act and the natural leader he was. Last fall I had the good fortune to spend some days catching up with him at our reunion. We roomed together and I was amazed to see Mark, nearly 59, doing his yoga exercises before bed. When I saw what figures he could still mold his body into, I knew that he could still do that backbend.
But at the Saturday game, he chose not to, opting to twirl like most of the other alumni drum majors. I didn´t ask him why, I just sensed that he didn´t want to grandstand or upstage the others. And that´s the way the ´69 band will always remember Mark Brown. As a genuine class act and our leader.
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I was in the MMB at the same time as Mark Brown. At that time we certainly thought his backbend was cool, but didn´t perceive it as the beginning of a tradition, of course. There was a number of milestones in the 69 MMB which were spotlighted at our 40th reunion last fall: Bo´s first year at Michigan, the Block-M which the band floated down the field, the then-controversial "Peace" show, and Michigan´s historic 24-12 upset over the national champion favorite OSU.
As for those of us who marched with Mark, I don´t think his backbend is what we predominently remember him for, but rather as the class act and the natural leader he was. Last fall I had the good fortune to spend some days catching up with him at our reunion. We roomed together and I was amazed to see Mark, nearly 59, doing his yoga exercises before bed. When I saw what figures he could still mold his body into, I knew that he could still do that backbend.
But at the Saturday game, he chose not to, opting to twirl like most of the other alumni drum majors. I didn´t ask him why, I just sensed that he didn´t want to grandstand or upstage the others. And that´s the way the ´69 band will always remember Mark Brown. As a genuine class act and our leader.