And the band played on.....too loud!

[MaestroOfBandX]

...........I mean, they write down in there that noisemakers and aren't allowed at games, they may as well write a clause about the band not playing at certain times. Then there wouldn't be any controversy.

They even go on in the rule to exclude band instruments used by the schools band from the noisemaker rule......"No noisemakers (horns, bells, victory bells, sirens, chimes, musical instruments other than those in the band, etc.) will be permitted inside the stadium at any CIF Southern Section contest (practice, league or playoff)."

I have seen the problem in the past and it seems to stem from the personal feeling or interpretation of the official at that moment. Usually it only occurs when the quarterback of the opposing team complains to their coach and that coach complains to the ref.

The ref really has no rule to refer to, so they lump it into the unsportsman like conduct rule. Eventhough it does not completely apply, the ref can interpret it any way he wants.

This happened to the pepband at OCC in the late 80's and again when I was running the band in the mid 90's. When the refs warned us, they got boos from the crowd. The players really supported us and were waving their hands up in the air to get the crowd to make more noise in the stadium. The head coach came up to the stairs and yelled at me "You play any time you want, as loud and as long as you want." We obliged. After 2 warnings, we stopped.

It was nice to have the support of the coach and players. I love the amplification that LeBard stadium produces.

[Surfersax]

Irrelevant, but it sounds like the time when our sax quartet was playing tequila at a football game and the next day the principal yelled at the band director because the song implied the use of alcohol when everyone yells "tequila".

[Mark Stone]

There is something going on...I've been doing this for a while and I don't recall ever have a ref talk to me before the game starts and it has happened twice this year.

[gangemi]

I remember posting a story about my school a few years ago. In 2003 when we won CIF the band was the unofficial "12th man" for the Westlake football team. We went to all of the games and made it our mission to help them throw the other teams off balance with our constant playing. There was one game we went to when we played a team we had not beaten in years. That team got more false start penalties because of us than I care to recall, and when we got into the tail end of the season we had a game at one of our rival schools, and the Athletic Director saw us coming and said "They have already insisted that the band does NOT play when the other team is on offense".

To go along with that, our game last week was against the SAME TEAM that had the issue with us 5 years ago, and it was a home game. Near the end of the 4th quarter, and having all but sealed the win, the band started playing and the officials blew the whistle and told us to stop playing. We got our "warning"...we were so excited!!!

The coach and the AD just laughed.

[SinfonianBrass]

Slightly off topic, but still funny...

A few years ago I was in charge of the basketball pep band at Cal St. Fullerton and we had a consistent run in with a certain Big West female ref at the women's basketball games. (Now keep in mind the CSUF women's basketball team was not a powerhouse then and many times there were about as many spectators in the stands as there were in the band). MaestroOfBandX knows of this ref, and most likely has more stories of her too.

The band was given a few warnings and eventually a technical foul because we were "playing too long." There are two buzzers given towards the end of the time out. The first is a warning and the second is get off the bench/huddle timeout is over. Oh, I might have forgotten to mention this certain female ref would have made better judgement calls picking out shoes at Footlocker than plays on the basketball court.

Apparently the band razed her so much she insisted the band stop playing after the first buzzer. Which left the gym in COMPLETE SILENCE, I think we could here the the 20 spectators in the gym breath for a good 10 seconds before the 2nd buzzer. The band was in an uproar because our favorite ref told us to stop playing. To the best of our knowledge and my verbal altercation with her and the AD, I asked to be shown where in the Big West or NCAA rules does it say the band must stop playing after the FIRST buzzer. The only thing we found was the band can not interfere with play or the ref's whistle.

The AD eventually told me to follow the ref's instructions and just stop playing after the first buzzer. That did not sit well with the band, so we went on strike. We stopped playing music at the first buzzer, but kept singing our parts, loudly, till the ball was thrown into play. The best part was one of the other refs came to us at the end of the game and thanked us for putting up with the other ref and thought our singing in protest was hilarious.

Back on topic... Neil, you rock.

[Jsaxm]

There is something going on...I've been doing this for a while and I don't recall ever have a ref talk to me before the game starts and it has happened twice this year.

This has happened to me this year too. I haven't been teaching as long as you, but in my seven years of teaching I haven't had any ref say anything to us, but this year a ref has come to me twice as we were warming up for the National Anthem and told me the "rules" of when we can play.

[IShallFollowYourSong]

Now you just need to whip up a quick chart for Rihanna's "Don't Stop the Music" and play that at the next game.

Yes, please someone come up with the score for that and send it to me!

It's the perfect music for the band banquet slide show...

[gotabasset]

Well, it's happening in the San Gabriel Valley too. At tonight's Mtn. View at Arroyo game, the Mountain View band was warned and then Arroyo got nailed because the band was playing when Arroyo was on defense. The ref told us we could not play when the ball was in play. After getting 3 different explanations from 3 different people, our director finally got ahold of someone from CIF who said there is an old rule on the books that bands can only play when the ball is not actively in play, which I take it to mean during time outs, when the teams are in the huddle (you have to stop when they line up on the line of scrimmage), between quarters, at the half, and when the ball changes possesion, (such as after a score by a team or a change from a punt or failure to convert a 4th down). All of this means we have to play REALLY short stuff (no more Kids Aren't All Right or Iron Man) and we have to stop immediately when the ball enters play. Pretty much makes going to away games a waste of time for our band. But now we'll have to get approval to stay home from administration... sounds like some refs have got their bloomers in a bunch! I've been going to high school games for 40+ years and can't remember the band ever having this much trouble. And if someone does have a band arrangement for the Rihanna song, send it to me at Arroyo too!

[thaiguy20fromla]

Well, it's happening in the San Gabriel Valley too. At tonight's Mtn. View at Arroyo game, the Mountain View band was warned and then Arroyo got nailed because the band was playing when Arroyo was on defense. The ref told us we could not play when the ball was in play. After getting 3 different explanations from 3 different people, our director finally got ahold of someone from CIF who said there is an old rule on the books that bands can only play when the ball is not actively in play, which I take it to mean during time outs, when the teams are in the huddle (you have to stop when they line up on the line of scrimmage), between quarters, at the half, and when the ball changes possesion, (such as after a score by a team or a change from a punt or failure to convert a 4th down). All of this means we have to play REALLY short stuff (no more Kids Aren't All Right or Iron Man) and we have to stop immediately when the ball enters play. Pretty much makes going to away games a waste of time for our band. But now we'll have to get approval to stay home from administration... sounds like some refs have got their bloomers in a bunch! I've been going to high school games for 40+ years and can't remember the band ever having this much trouble. And if someone does have a band arrangement for the Rihanna song, send it to me at Arroyo too!

that was really really darn frustrating. period.

[vore]

our director finally got ahold of someone from CIF who said there is an old rule on the books that bands can only play when the ball is not actively in play, which I take it to mean during time outs, when the teams are in the huddle (you have to stop when they line up on the line of scrimmage), between quarters, at the half, and when the ball changes possesion, (such as after a score by a team or a change from a punt or failure to convert a 4th down). All of this means we have to play REALLY short stuff (no more Kids Aren

I've read the CIF Blue Book and have never seen such a rule...

vore

[SRDM]

When I was a junior... the other Drum Major (other than myself that is) was the Football Team Captain.

[mredom]

our director finally got ahold of someone from CIF who said there is an old rule on the books that bands can only play when the ball is not actively in play, which I take it to mean during time outs, when the teams are in the huddle (you have to stop when they line up on the line of scrimmage), between quarters, at the half, and when the ball changes possesion, (such as after a score by a team or a change from a punt or failure to convert a 4th down). All of this means we have to play REALLY short stuff (no more Kids Aren

I've read the CIF Blue Book and have never seen such a rule...

vore

I don't think that this is CIF rule, but it IS the NCAA rule. Music must stop at the break of the huddle. It really sucks for schools running a no huddle spread offense!

[danrcook]

Last year Moorpark took a pep band of about 35 to 40 of our students to the away game at Westlake who is a big rivalry for Football in our area. The officials never blew a whistle on us but they complained to the administration and threatened a penalty. Our warning was gladly accepted in the 1st quarter! It was 35 kids, how loud could it have been?

[supermutant]

sounds like some refs have got their bloomers in a bunch!

And their mommies dress them funny

[jaehopark]

Something similar happened with our band at our most recent football game. We had just finished up warming up for our halftime show and one of the referees comes by and says, "Hey band! You guys can't play when they (the other team) are on offense!"

All the kids were struck silent. I thought it was funny.