John McCann column: Battle of the Band?http://www.heraldsun.net/printer_friendly/15825410by John McCann The Herald Sun 09.29.11 - 02:00 am
"Sunny days, everybody loves them,
Tell me, baby, can you stand the rain?
Storms will come, this we know for sure,
Can you stand the rain?
-- "Can You Stand the Rain," New Edition"
A sportswriter in the press box at O'Kelly-Riddick Stadium the other night asked if I was enjoying the scenery.
The dancers of N.C. Central’s Marching Sound Machine were shimmying and sashaying all over the field.
But I actually was enjoying the music. For real.
The Sound Machine sure can play.
But the band hit a sour note just before kickoff.
Having finished warming up, Savannah State’s players began making their way off the field to await the start of the game.
As the Tigers were leaving, some of them cut through the Sound Machine’s formation at the edge of the visitors’ sideline.All you-know-what broke loose!
It was musicians clutching instruments versus football players in pads toting helmets. Oddsmakers would have given the advantage to the football players, although a Sound Machine drum major acted like he was ready to handle business with that baton of his.
The situation never got out of control. Law-enforcement officials and NCCU leaders quashed it. Nobody was arrested, but a couple of band members were escorted off the field and will be dealt with by NCCU’s student judicial council.
But, really, is that how it has to be? Turf wars on O’Kelly-Riddick’s artificial grass? Seriously?
As good as Sound Machine is, as beautiful as those band members play, and, just like that, feelings of disrespect can make it all very ugly.
“If that’s what we need to do to have a band, then we won’t have a band,” NCCU Chancellor Charlie Nelms declared.
“The Sound Machine is not an entity unto itself,” Nelms said. “When you put on that uniform, you cease to be an individual student. You’re operating as an ambassador for the university.”
But this is the mighty Sound Machine! The band in January went to California and marched in the Rose Bowl parade. Besides, Savannah State’s football players started the whole mess by walking in front of band members getting ready to perform.
“It’s immaterial who started the fight,” Nelms said. “The issue is, it could have escalated.”
To be fair to the Sound Machine, all of us act like fools every now and then. When you’re in a situation, when you’re in the moment, it’s not hard to lose it like that.
But the real sick thing that night was hearing folks in the stands on the home side of the stadium essentially encouraging the youngsters in the Sound Machine to whup some tail. It felt like the Colosseum, where gladiators went upside each other’s heads.
You know how those conservatives cheered Texas Gov. Rick Perry’s views on the death penalty? It was like that but with absolutely no room for justification.
In fact, it was worse, because, unlike the Sound Machine, the armchair cheerleaders in the stands were not directly in the situation. They were just voyeurs getting their kicks off the kids on the field. Barbarians!
The week prior to the Savannah State game, when NCCU played Elon, a couple of members from the group formerly known as New Edition showed up at O’Kelly-Riddick Stadium, where Nelms was among those recognizing them as honorary NCCU Eagles.
The Sound Machine covers a bunch of songs, but one they really nail is New Edition’s “Can You Stand the Rain,” a song about taking the bitter with the sweet. The Sound Machine played that tune Saturday — after the fight.
No doubt, we all could do a better job applying the words that go with that particular piece of sheet music.
You may reach John McCann at
jmccann@heraldsun.com or 919-419-6601.
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