[TallyW]

I'm not a band member but I did stay at a Holiday Inn Select once...

I would suspect that band practice is much like football practice in that it's usually longer and more grueling for longer periods of time than the actual game itself. I'd be super shocked if the lack of a 3rd quarter break out of the stands mattered more than a break back in the stands...

Not downplaying the tragedy... just offering some perspective.

[Libertine]

SJ, the guy was in pretty good shape. I believe he was in the reserves. He did appear to pass out during practice because of marching and the heat. The weird thing is that most people are OK when they pass out...he somehow developed some kind of clot.

Originally, from what I heard, they did rescue breathing on him at the field, because he stopped breathing right when he passed out. He started breathing again, but died on the way to the hospital. I think that they said they thought he had some kind of clot.

I don't know what caused his death...but it happened right at practice...

Jim, we probably know each other b/c that guy was my little brother. He collapsed while lining up into formation for practice after the dinner break. He was revived at the scene but died several hours later at Lynchburg General. At first blush, everyone thought it was due to heat illness but the autopsy showed nothing like that. In fact, the autopsy didn't show any real cause of death at all. The doctor in charge of the case was completely mystified. The kid was an athletic guy in great shape and all the post-mortem reports showed a human being who was completely healthy aside from the fact that he was, of course, dead. It turned out that the heat had nothing to do with it.
To this day, there's no person I feel more bad for than for Dr. Kerr. A good kid died on his watch for no explicable reason and there was nothing he could do about it.

[PAmedic]

LIB- thanks for that update and putting a human face on the tragedy. It surely IS important to stay hydrated (see ALL summer camps these days) but sometimes you can't control all the variables and God calls you home.

God bless you and your family.

FWIW- I'm in the camp that would love to see that band there at the start of the 3rd quarter- and its because we MISS having them there, not because I think the kids are lazy or self-absorbed. And I think we DID have a break back in my day as well, I seem to remember sitting against the chain link fence around city stadium with cold drinks outta one of the old LBC box trucks that was always parked with us. I just don't remember how long it was.

I also like the recording idea as a back up.

[bigsmooth]

NO COLLEGE BAND TAKES THE 3RD QTR OFF!!!!

[TallyW]

see bigsmooth... that's where you're wrong. Liberty University does.

[bigsmooth]

uh tally, i was being a smart ...

[jimflamesfan]

Libertine,

I am sorry to hear that this was your brother. I was in band in 97 and 98...I believe this happened in 99. I was in the seminary at that time.

I knew a lot of the people in band that year...Chris Weston I believe was in the drumline at that time...and I knew Tim Wooldrige who was playing trumpet and I believe wrote the drill that year. Plus I knew others.

I believe that your brother was in the band with me in 97....but I wasn't very social that year, so I didn't get to know him that well...

The thing was, people passed out all the time, and no one really ever thought that anyone would get hurt or pass away. I'm sorry for your loss...I believe they marched a hole for him the rest of the year...

[PeterParker]

In all seriousness (no joking), has anyone in the band considered wearing Camelbacks inconspicously in order to always have fluids at their disposal, perhaps they could tailor one of the existing styles to incorporate with the uniform, possibly under the jacket or just sew a "pouch" in the jackets to hold a solo reservoir. (Never having been a "bando" myself, I am not sure of what the feasibility of that would be given the uniform requirements, etc.)


http://www.camelbak.com/index.cfm

http://www.camelbak.com/index.cfm

[BJWilliams]

YOu know there IS a marching band thread where we could discuss all of this...

[SuperJon]

App St, the band that every traditional marching band in the Carolinas and VA should be judged against, does not get a break. If a member needs a break because they're tired or feel their blood sugar is low or something then that individual is allowed to take a break. The only time they're not in the stands is the 5 minutes it takes to get all 300 of them to the field and whatever time it takes them to get back into the stands.

[bigsmooth]

good point BJ....band stuff is not needed in the football board...it is moved to the other sports forum.

[SuperJon]

It started out as an idea for football games but has moved away from that.

[BJWilliams]

I say again what I said before...if you have a suggestion for the band talk to Dr Kerr about it. I know that things have not been perfect but the amount of growth the band has experienced even in the 4 years Ive been a part of it has been amazing.


Getting back to theg subject at hand, Im sure they could work the alma mater into the post game. I mean heck, Coach Rocco taught the team teh fight song, Im sure you would work that in as well

[PAmedic]

* Housecleaning: moved this to "Lynchburg Life"

arguing about the Alma Mater is a campus-life issue.

Now which Mod wants to punt this one next?

[mrmacphisto]

Am I the only one who thinks we should avoid any and all performance of the Alma Mater? That song is embarrassing.

Fan the Flames is okay musically as a fight song, but could be better lyric-wise. I'd much rather it be played by the band, with the words being ignored or unknown by the masses.

[SuperJon]

I still don't know what the alma mater is so I can't say if it's embarassing or not.

[LUconn]

It just sounds like a Hymn. Pretty typical, from what I've heard of other colleges.

[mrmacphisto]

Champions Arise features lyrics that are cheesy to the point of cringing, but the music is very highbrow. It's a song that few other than Hugo himself could really take seriously, IMO. It's begging to be given the Monty Python treatment, but it almost does the job for them.

[Libertine]

When I graduated in '97, the seniors were supposed to stand and sing the song during the ceremony. Unfortunately, none of us even knew we had one let alone knew how to sing it.