The Best Damn Band in the Land is headed west, and it's not even bowl season.
Despite being one of the most recognizable bands even by those who care little about halftime, Ohio State's marching band has factored very little into Band on the Road posts since they began. For that matter, I haven't spent a ton of time on west coast bands either, mostly because my east coast bias runs a mile wide. But this week, TBDBITL's trip to Cal gets the nod because it's a particularly interesting matchup.
A big part of the reason that Ohio State hasn't gotten a ton of burn is because they haven't been great at updating the band calendar with travel, but I realize now it's also true that there hasn't been tons to say. The trip to Berkeley - and the band's doing in a good deal more than that while out west - is TBDBITL's first out-of-conference trip since Ohio State played Texas in 2006 down in Austin.
Moving a band with hundreds of people and hundreds of pounds of freight in the form of instruments doesn't come cheap, and doing it several times a season - especially over great distances - requires significant financial commitment. As OSU blog ElevenWarriors.com uncovered back in May, Ohio State is making that commitment. It's worth noting that keeping up with the Joneses in the SEC was a major impetus; as you'll note from this and previous years' Band on the Road, the SEC's fall dominance extends to band travel. With this commitment, you can expect to see Ohio State's band at more major out-of-conference matchups.
And as for the band across the field? The Cal Band is no slouch either, and in fact owes some of its present form to Ohio State. The two bands wil join forces during pregame for a mass band National Anthem. Between Script Ohio and Script Cal, both bands will also remind us that cursive isn't dead.
Ohio State:
Cal:
Despite being one of the most recognizable bands even by those who care little about halftime, Ohio State's marching band has factored very little into Band on the Road posts since they began. For that matter, I haven't spent a ton of time on west coast bands either, mostly because my east coast bias runs a mile wide. But this week, TBDBITL's trip to Cal gets the nod because it's a particularly interesting matchup.
A big part of the reason that Ohio State hasn't gotten a ton of burn is because they haven't been great at updating the band calendar with travel, but I realize now it's also true that there hasn't been tons to say. The trip to Berkeley - and the band's doing in a good deal more than that while out west - is TBDBITL's first out-of-conference trip since Ohio State played Texas in 2006 down in Austin.
Moving a band with hundreds of people and hundreds of pounds of freight in the form of instruments doesn't come cheap, and doing it several times a season - especially over great distances - requires significant financial commitment. As OSU blog ElevenWarriors.com uncovered back in May, Ohio State is making that commitment. It's worth noting that keeping up with the Joneses in the SEC was a major impetus; as you'll note from this and previous years' Band on the Road, the SEC's fall dominance extends to band travel. With this commitment, you can expect to see Ohio State's band at more major out-of-conference matchups.
And as for the band across the field? The Cal Band is no slouch either, and in fact owes some of its present form to Ohio State. The two bands wil join forces during pregame for a mass band National Anthem. Between Script Ohio and Script Cal, both bands will also remind us that cursive isn't dead.
Ohio State:
Cal:
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