80 Minutes of Regulation

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Can You Feel It?

on August 30, 2012

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In a few short hours, college football returns.

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Deceptive Cadence

When I added the tagline "The Cadence of Gameday" to 80 Minutes of Regulation, the double entendre was intentional. As a bandsman generally, and a drummer specifically, I know that the cadence is the drumbeat that gets us going and keeps us going through the day's marching. But the cadence is also the pace of gameday in its entirety: While it was the pairing of marching band and sports that breathed life into this site, it soon expanded to include all of gameday, from the tailgate lot before hand, to the pregame, the game, halftime, the fifth quarter, the victory shakos after a win, all of it. This year, the cadence is deceptive. Like so many other things in the Year of our Lord Two Thousand Twenty, the cadence of gameday just doesn't hit as it ought to. Tailgates are nonexistent at stadiums that are only a fraction full. Bands are all but sneaking into the stadiums to avoid any situation that may draw an unwanted crowd. And once they're there, they don't g...

Logo à Gogo

Courtesy of The Daily Stampede The last year has been rebrand season at each of the universities I'm associated with. Both alma maters and my employer went through some sort of brand update, to either the athletic logo, institutional logo, or both, to varying success. First my graduate alma mater, USF. I've already given both its original ill conception and its eventual coup de grace considerable time here, so no need to rehash that. Thank U, next. UNCG has new looks with both the institutional logo and the athletic/spirit logo. Full disclosure: I like the change quite a bit, and if I didn't, I'd probably keep my mouth shut - can't bite the hand that feeds me. The institutional look has been termed a "brand refresh," and still features the tried and true Minerva shield. The colors have updated - slight changes to the shades of blue and gold used, and gray added - and the text emphasized the G, as it does in the athletic logo. The athlet...

One and Only One Ambition

The world changed forever a week ago as we lost Paul Parets from this mortal coil. While Parets made an impact on this world in many different arenas, he was best known by thousands for a role he served in for 36 years: Director of Bands at Alexis I. duPont High School in Greenville Delaware. I had the honor and privilege of being part of these bands from 1996-1999. I tend to operate with personal humility and collective hubris, and to the latter, I'm fully willing to say we were the best. The stat sheet speaks for itself: Five Rose Parades. Three presidential inaugurations. Multiple trips each to the Lord Mayor's New Year's Day Parade in London, St. Patrick's Day in Ireland, and the Pope's New Year's Day address in the Vatican. Fiesta Bowl Parade. Orange Bowl Parade. A standing invitation to the nation's oldest Thanksgiving Day Parade. And a bandroom full of trophies from competitions in the US and Canada boasting words like "SUPERIOR" and "C...

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