There are rumors flying around from Southern California that the Stanford band again went over the line and created some controversy. I was not in Los Angeles so I can not tell you how it went over. That said, I do have a copy of the script that was used for the halftime show. So you can decide for yourself if it was offensive or funny. Here is the LSJUMB:
GIRLS GONE WILD
GOOOOOOOOOOOD MORNING, USC! Fresh from some really sweet parties over at UCLA, it’s The One The Only The Truly Incomparable Leland Stanford Junior University Marching Band!
We all know that Stanford gets a lot of credit for producing countless successful entrepreneurs, including the founders of Google, HP, Charles Schwab, and more others than you can shake a tree at. But did you know that USC also has successful alumni? It’s true! In 1995, the founder of Girls Gone Wild graduated from USC with degrees in Business Administration and Entrepreneurship. That’s right: Girls Gone Wild founder Joe Francis is a full-blown, hardcore Trojan.
Formation: USC->GGW
Song: “I Wish”
USC Diploma
A lot of people criticize business administration degrees as meaningless pieces of paper that don’t require skills to earn, but tell that to Joe Francis, who overcame childhood adversity and learned how to make millions of dollars every year in the previously unexploited dirty old man market. Which just goes to show you: give a Trojan a break, and miracles can happen.
Formation: BA -> B$
Song: “Short Skirt/Long Jacket” by Cake
Life of Crime
That said, USC can’t take all the credit for the successes of its students. After all, it takes a special kind of man to be wanted for sexual harassment, drug trafficking, tax evasion, prostitution, child abuse, and disruptive flatulence, but that’s just the kind of captain of industry Joe Francis is.
Formation: Bar of soap
Song: “Sample in a Jar” by Phish
Girls Gone Mild?
In fact, we were so inspired by Joe Francis’s Trojan-driven spirit that we decided to start our own video series: “GIRLS GONE MILD.” But it’s harder to make videos than it looks—we’ve been filming literally all week, and no matter how many free hats we offer, you USC girls just won’t let us film you studying.
Formation: WILD -> MILD
Song: “Drunken Lullabies” by Flogging Molly
Never Forget
Since we can’t get any footage, we’ll just sell the next best thing: 2007’s Stanford-USC football game, for only $24 and 23 cents. It might not have as much bare skin, but you'll feel just as much despair after finishing.
Formation: 24-23 --> HAHA
Song: “All Right Now”
Thanks, USC, you’ve been great. Come up to Stanford Stadium next year when the Band holds open auditions for Equus. We think Tommy Trojan and Traveler would be perfect for the leads. You've been watching The One The Only The Truly Incomparable Leland Stanford Junior University Marching Band!
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A PICTURE VIEW OF STANFORD VS USC
STANFORD ROSE BOWL POSSIBILITIES
Comments
I wasn't particularly offended by the halftime show, although I thought it was considerably less funny than some other Stanford shows I've seen in the past.
What really bothered me (and a lot of other people) was that the Stanford band played during the USC band's pregame show. I have seen a LOT of college bands, but I've never seen that kind of behavior before. The USC band sits down during other bands' performances, but they absolutely do not play.
The Stanford band also played during an announcement about the USC program to combat childhood cancer. Disrespecting the USC band is one thing, but was it REALLY necessary to do the same to a video about children with cancer?
Ah come on, Deanna. These days schools with video boards play practically non-stop promos. Does the USC band never play when there's something going on a video board?
I can't speak for the coliseum but they certainly played during a bunch of Stanford announcements last year in Palo Alto.
If you see that as a jab at kids with cancer then you're being too sensitive.
Overall I think it's a pretty funny and not offensive script (or certainly a lot less offensive than I'd been anticipating after hearing all the buzz).
As for playing during the cancer video, it's customary to play during videos-- I'm sure the Band didn't even realize what the video was about.
Similarly, it's typical to play while the other band is playing, but I'm a little surprised that Stanford played during USC's field show-- they normally show (a little) more class than that. But boy, hearing "Fight On" every five seconds on TV left me rather nauseated by the end of the game...
Bravo to the Stanford band geeks - they have successfully mocked both SC and ASU during their halftime shows.
Ironically, half of the Stanford Band members would gladly transfer to SC if they thought they had the chops to make a "Girls Gone Wild" video.
It's too bad that a great school like Stanford hasn't found a way to teach a course on class, because no doubt those insecure misfits you call a "marching band" could use it.
I like the script better than the live delivery. Whoever read the LSJUMB scripts in the 70's and 80's did a much cleaner job. I vote that the band work harder to identify the "right" voice to deliver the read. Really. Seriously. It would magnify the impact many fold. USC douche bags will whine about anything. What a great feeling it was to go for two and shove their crap right back in their tanned and botoxed faces. Suuuuuuuite.
Oh also below. Deanna is an idiot. No one cared that the band played during the video screenings in LA. No one. And the band didnt play over the SC band. I was there. Deanna's a liar.
TT below is also an idiot.
Bud, you're the liar. The Stanford Band DID play over the TMB's pregame show. It was caught on video, you can see it if you look up "USC Band - Follow" posted 11/15 on Youtube.
During the first 10 seconds of the song, you can hear the Stanford trumpets wailing something or another in the background. There are no USC trumpets playing in that part of the song.
You can also look up "USC Band - Pregame Show" posted on 11/15 by the same user.
From 1:16 to 1:20, there is only a drum part, but you can hear Stanford's horns in the background.
So, y'know, way to call someone a liar and then get proved wrong. If you're not too lazy to look up the videos (can't post links here) you can hear it for yourself.
So Band, how about a sequel on Tiger Woods at your house next year? I mean you recognized him for his accomplishments this year! Wow.
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