It Is What It Is

It was Father's Day. That means I get to do what I want, right?

Instead of holding their preview show at Gardner Webb where they do spring training, Carolina Crown brought the show home, instead showcasing in Fort Mill, where they are headquartered.With about an hour shaved off of the round trip from Greensboro, I decided a couple of weeks ago to make the trip. So after brunch and with a twinge of parental guilt for heading out on Father's Day sans the kids, I made the trip south.

I made a couple of stops along the way: First Cabela's, because #rvftamademedoit, and then a planned stop at Full Spectrum Brewing, Fort Mill's first brewery, for a bit of beer tourism. I had a couple of brews I rather enjoyed at the latter, and brought home a six of their infrared IPA - a bit of a commitment for me as a serial trier. From there, it was on to Nation Ford High School for the show.

I settled into a spot in the shade of the press box and anxiously awaited the full corps while being treated to a pit feature. A few things were immediately evident: The color of the bibbers (matte and metallic gray) and the fact that Crown was re-incorporating purple, this time in the jacket.

On to their 2017 production, It Is. I'll give the key takeaways Ive provided in a couple of other venues:
1. Trying not to fly into a curmudgeonly rage over vocal soloist.
2. Trying not to curtail curmudgeonly rage just because it's Crown.
3. This brass. On preview day. With an entire season to mature? Good GAWD.

More specifically: With very little exception, I don't want any vocals in my drum corps. What made Crown's incorporation of the vocalist all the more egregious is that she sung through the ballad. Crown's brass alone has put together some beautiful ballads throughout the years, and it's a shame, in my opinion, that they saw fit to sing over it this year.

But to my last point: The only other time I've made it to CrownPREVIEW was the year of Inferno, and I found it refreshingly human that I was hearing bumps and flaws in the hornline that are typically absent from later season shows. This year, the corps seemed to already be firing on all cylinders, so I'm really excited to see what they become.

If you had any reason to doubt it, drum corps season us upon us.

Raise High the Black and Gold.

The College World Series gets underway today. Two weeks ago, I made a stop (and subsequently, an exit) on the Road to Omaha.

I headed a half hour to my west with my kids to see UMBC take on Maryland-College Park in the loser's bracket of the Winston-Salem regional. While I was gung-ho about catching both UMBC games, I allowed reason to get the better of me and didn't hightail it out there after work on Friday evening, knowing they were guaranteed a Saturday game.

While my wife didn't travel, I took both of the little double-legacies to cheer on the Retrievers at Wake Forest. We opted for the Bojangles tailgate as a way both to get something to eat before the game, and to pop up the flags. A fellow UMBC fan suggested I might confuse folks flying a Maryland flag and a UMBC flag; I reminded him that the flagship does not own the state flag. I also chatted with a College Park fan in the lot, and surprised myself with how much I was able to offer about the team's current events, despite not following regularly.

In the shade behind home plate that housed nearly all of the spectators on that hot early June day in the south, I watched the good guys get mollywhopped and end their season to the tune of 16-2. It wasn't anything I didn't expect, and it was great to see the ovation the team got as they left the field. Too bad I couldn't get anyone to join me in singing the alma mater.

Down Home

Anyone want to get an old dawg a new flag?

It's the end of a spring college sports season, so naturally I'm focused on... baseball?

While my spring sports attention is usually focused on lacrosse, I have a few dogs in the baseball postseason this year, not the least of which are my own Dawgs. From the moment UMBC won the America East Conference and with it an automatic bid into the NCAA tournament, I became a pretty fast study on the college baseball postseason. Of the regional sites, I hoped - and knew I had a fighting chance - for one of two sites within an hour's drive: The Wake Forest-hosted Winston-Salem regional, and the UNC-hosted Chapel Hill regional. They made the most geographic sense for traveling fans and, selfishly, me. Turns out we're headed to Wake Forest, a half hour from my home and a campus I know well.

Living in North Carolina has certainly been good to me in terms of postseason play for both alma maters. Since moving here in 2005, I've gotten to see USF play twice in the Meineke Car Care (now Belk) bowl; UMBC men's basketball in our only NCAA basketball tournament appearance in Raleigh; UMBC men's lacrosse in the NCAA tournament in Chapel Hill; and both men's soccer programs at Wake Forest, the most recent of which was a victory that would ultimately bring UMBC back to the state for the Final Four in Cary. A combination of generally strong schools for the merit-based hosting sites, and attractive venues and location for the bidded sites (provided we don't continue to screw that up) means there's a good chance North Carolina will host, and proximity to the mid-Atlantic and southeast stands to bring either alma mater here.

I'm no stranger to Wake Forest either. In addition to the previous tournament trips, they've been a frequent football destination - for and against, and of course they now host DCI's NightBEAT. I'll just be adding one more of their athletics facilities to my visits.

So I'll be there, with my outdated logo flag and likely a Maryland flag courtesy of Amazon Prime. It just so happens College Park will be at this regional - can't let the flagship claim sole ownership over the flag. And if we go two and a 'cue, at least I know the barbecue's good here.

Southern Hospitality

South Carolina is making big things happen from a tourism and hospitality standpoint.

I first saw it in action last month. While attending the Men of Color National Summit - hosted by Clemson in Greenville, SC - it was clear that the city of Greenville and Greenville County were fully committed to the conference, its mission, and the wellbeing of the guests to their region. The mayor and other public officials addressed conferencegoers, welcoming us. Many municipal agencies were showcasing in the hallways of the convention center. Greenville seemed fully committed to putting their best foot forward and meeting the needs of the conference, which they will host again next year.

Apparently that hospitality's not limited to the Upstate.

In the Marching Podcast's episode with National Collegiate Marching Band Championships and Festival founder Bob Lane, Lane spoke of the connections in Columbia that were committed not only to pulling off the first event, but to keeping it in Columbia as a point of pride and eventual destination for band fans nationwide. No less than the mayor are part of the team that is bringing this event to the Palmetto State's capital.

It's worth noting: With the removal of the Confederate battle flag from the State House grounds in 2015, South Carolina only recently gained back the right to host NCAA postseason play. While I don't know what other embargos other industries may have placed on the state, I"m certain that bringing business into - or back into - SC has been a priority. Judging from at least these two events, they're committed to making it happen.

The 'Ship

If you're like me, you lost your mind when you learned of the National Collegiate Marching Band Championships and Festival coming this year to Columbia, SC in early December. Still, upon its initial announcement, I found myself with more questions than answers. I knew they'd be answered in time, and as luck would have it, Friend of the Program Joe Beard over at The Marching Podcast chopped it up with the event's founder, Bob Lane, and got the answers we've all been waiting for.

Check out the podcast here.

Calvert & Crossland

Tomorrow's a big day in the Old Line State. In Baltimore alone, The Preakness Stakes will run its 142nd edition. Across town, at Oriole Park at Camden Yards, the Orioles will celebrate Maryland their own way. with Maryland flag-inspired uniforms, including the iconic Calvert and Crossland patterns on the bill of their hat and on the jersey's script.

No sir, I don't like it.

This may come as a surprise to those who know I'm a Maryland flag apologist. But the reason this design annoys me is the same reason I have passed on any number of similarly patterned items in Ocean City each summer. The flag doesn't need to be tiled. Two instances each of Calvert and Crossland will suffice. Tiling makes an already busy pattern obnoxious, even to me.

And by the way, O's, with another team playing just outside the state's borders and claiming DMV loyalties, don't think I don't see what you're doing as you Celebrate Maryland.

Give'em Hell

"I know the Tar Heel song," my six year old daughter said to me on the morning after the Heels won the men's basketball national championship. "Rah rah, Car'lina-lina," she continued, and I found myself intrigued by the impending denouement. "Rah rah, Car'lina-lina, Rah rah, Car'lina-lina, go to *pfft* Duke!"

I don't know who taught her the fight song. There is a boy in her class who she has said is a Tar Heel, and I suspect her teacher may also be complicit. She's a kindergarten aged North Carolina native, so I suppose it's about time she started crafting her allegiance. My wife and I aren't from here, so should she come away with a North Carolina ACC allegiance, I'm reasonably agnostic as to which. We're tax paying citizens and I'm employed by the UNC system, so either Carolina or State could make sense. We live in the Triad, so I wouldn't be against Wake. Put another way, I'm agnostic against who for, but adamant as to who against.

While I'm pleased whoever taught her the song opted for the radio edit, I noted that had they not, she certainly wouldn't be the first southern kid whose first foray into minor oaths is related to a college sports allegiance. The South corners the market on on Hell in fight songs, spirit songs, and changes - go to hell, give 'em hell, to hell with, beat the hell outta, who the hell are we, and helluvan engineer are all southern mainstays. The north hardly registers any ticks: Illinois's Don't Send My Boy to Harvard and Johns Hopkins' To Win are among the exceptions, and you can't even count the latter without a vigorous debate on Baltimore and Maryland's status as a southern city/state. Perhaps it makes sense that in the Bible Belt, Hell is so readily associated with the enemy. Or maybe it's just the elevation of athletic rivalries to biblical proportions. 

Halftime

Perhaps my biggest mistake was allowing three years' precedent to lure me into a false sense of security.

The change I once feared - the College Football Playoff National Championship halftime giving way to a recording artist instead of the marching bands as God intended - has been realized. Starting with the 2017-18 championship game this coming January, there will be a Super Bowl-style performance during halftime of the television broadcast, this year live from Atlanta's Centennial Olympic Park.

First, the good news: For us poor band nerds watching the game from home, the experience won't change too terribly much. The marching bands will still perform in the Stankonia Dome, and their performance will reportedly still be available on ESPN's Megacast as the Mothership airs the performance from Centennial Olympic Park. It will be easy enough for us to ignore Nickelback in favor of the Million Dollar Band (or whoever). While I fear the network's deemphasis of a proper halftime may ultimately push it out entirely in a matter of years, there doesn't yet seem to be anything to fear for the home viewer with this first go round.

If I make my way down to Atlanta as I intend, I'll be in a weird spot. The game, and the halftime that comes with it, will likely be financially out of reach. The recording artist halftime show will be available to my for free - and everything I've sworn myself against. Since the Playoff is offering the halftime show in the park for free, I think it's only fair they do the same for the actual halftime show in the stadium.

Waiting for April to Deliver

Don't worry, this isn't about a giraffe.

I managed to go nearly the entire month of April (and now half of May, but who's counting?) without a post  April's always a light month for me, both with the sports I follow most closely ending early in the month with the Final Four, and the frenetic pace that is working in higher ed in the month of April. To at least acknowledge that the month existed, I want to at least hit a few highlights.

-Carolina won the national championship in men's basketball (Yes, Carolina. Full stop.) South Carolina took home the women's hoops championship.
-Wichita State joined the American Athletic Conference, effective July 1, 2017. As a non-football school, they round out the scheduling void that Navy leaves as a football-only school.
-Starved for football (and a short road trip on a beautiful day), I headed to Wake Forest for their spring game.
-My friend Stacey set the record straight when our home state Goldey-Beacom College tried to come for arts education.
-The Stanford Band hired a director. Like a real live director, with credentials and everything. Not to be too glib or compare serious situations, but that he comes from supporting Baylor football to directing the Stanford Band is notable.
-At a conference for work hosted by Clemson, I got to hear from members of Clemson's national championship football team and Desmond Howard.
-And finally, reaching slightly into May, my wife did the Flying Pig half marathon in Cincinnati, which meant I got to head to a Reds game (and proudly wear green and gold in Bearcat country).

We now return you to your regularly scheduled programming, which will hopefully be more regularly scheduled.

Carolina

This ain't politically correct. This might offend my political connects. -Jay-Z

Minutes from now, the University of South Carolina will tip off against Gonzaga in the first game of the men's Final Four. Immediately following, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill will take on Oregon for the right at the second spot in the national championship game. Does the possibility exist that we'd have Carolina vs. Carolina?

No.

If you ever catch me using the term "Carolina" otherwise unqualified, It's the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Period.

It might seems strange for those who know I'm not always keen on letting flagships sit on simply the state name (most notably the University of Maryland at College Park). So why let the team in light blue take up two?

I would imagine part of it is the marketing machine. Even if both schools' machines hum at a similar clip, I've lived in NC for nearly 12 years and work elsewhere in the university system, so it's no surprise that one hits me closer. From a logical standpoint, UNC wins the age battle, predating South Carolina and laying contested claim to being the oldest public institution in America.

But perhaps no small part of it is that I've incorporated at least a bit of the NC pastime of disdain towards SC. Long before it was one of Mary Oates Spratt Van Landingham's "mountains of conceit," Lesser Carolina has been locked into a sibling rivalry with its northern neighbor. So while I have nothing personal against the University of South Carolina, letting the Mighty Sound of the Southeast camp on simply "The Carolina Band" is about as close as I get to calling the school in Columbia Carolina.