I imagine Baylor fans have moved on, they whacked us pretty good, settled down, talked about Rice as a bunch of weirdos, and are moving on to bigger and better things. Everybody gets over it.
(09-17-2016 10:38 AM)Owlmaha Wrote: Pardon me in advance for making a rare appearance to spread an unpopular opinion that has nothing to do with baseball.
The Rice MOB has had some great moments over the years. I personally loved the anti-aggie antics and I appreciated the fact that the MOB was once a student organization. If we limited the performers to current students, I wonder if we could even spell an "I"? For me, the shows of recent years do not stir positive emotions of the times when the MOB was in fact, funny, but rather they are a glaring visual reminder of how pathetic they have become.
I am going to make some of you really mad, but I want to say that I think the actions of the MOB last night justify its end. I would urge the administration to immediately stop funding it and I intend to bring this argument forward to anyone who will listen.
THERE IS A TIME AND A PLACE FOR EVERYTHING. YOU DON'T PISS OFF PEOPLE YOU NEED A FAVOR FROM UNTIL AFTER THEY GIVE YOU THE FAVOR.
I hate Baylor and what they did to those women, but how did the MOB's show generate any feelings of empathy for those people who were brutally attacked and ignored? So we made ourselves giggle and maybe even feel a bit superior to those silly Baptist from Waco. Too bad that in the process we made an enemy out of someone with the ability to help or destroy our chances to get into a P5 conference. Yes, Virginia- they have a vote on Big 12 expansion. A very important vote because three no votes and you are out. This fact is exactly why UH is going to have a really hard time getting in. You see the Northern schools are not real crazy about adding more Texas schools. Rice might have a chance because they are not much of a threat to recruiting and still provide a footprint in the region's largest city. Up until last night, I thought we enjoyed pretty solid support from the Southern branch of the conference. Our AD has been working his ass off to help us with this and the MOB just said F it, we don't care! Let's go out and try to make ourselves laugh and ignore the realities Rice athletics faces. And the results are in-some people thought it was funny for the second time in a decade.
This just goes to show you how clueless the MOB really is. There is no mission for the MOB unless Athletics finds its way to a more profitable place. If Baylor votes no and ends our chances (citing this show as a reason) will the MOB make up the missing $20+ M a year? I hope you Rice fans who are applauding the rare slightly funny half-time show are feeling really smug today. Was poking fun at the obvious really worth it? Is it really funny to call out people for the most obvious things? Leebron is bald, ha ha. Graham is old ha ha. The Baptists are hypocrites ha ha.
Some of you have become so numb from the string of moronic shows produced by the MOB that anytime you understand one enough to chuckle at it, the show is a great success! If I was one of those victims and I saw this, I don't think it would be very funny. As a Rice supporter, I am disgusted at the shortsighted decisions of this once funny, now just a waste of Rice's time group. If there was a reason to preserve the tradition of the MOB it passed a long time ago.
I am making it a mission to contact everyone I know at Rice with any with authority to put an end to this non-student infested organization once and for all. If a new group reemerges that is completely student based, all the better.
I encourage all of you to do the same.
Interesting viewpoint but I vote for the MOB and biting sarcasm every time. I would be in favor of giving them more money after last night. Kowtowing to Baylor should be beneath our dignity.
I wish Adam Coleman (Houston Chronicle Rice sports beat reporter) would have chosen different words than "making fun of Baylor’s sexual assault scandal" in his initial tweet about last night's MOB show:
My take is that the MOB was criticizing/lampooning Baylor's limp institutional response to the scandal, and certainly not the sexual attacks themselves. I think Adam's tweeted "making fun" comment was the genesis of most of the media mischaracterization of the show. (Shortly after halftime, for example, ESPN asked for Adam's permission to use his short video in their broadcast.)
His subsequent Chronicle story had a different headline, but didn't help much, as he said in the text that the MOB was "poking fun at Baylor's sexual assault scandal," and many folks seemed to take this as saying the band was making light of the sexual acts that precipitated the institutional-response scandal. Such a narrow line to tread to get the correct impression across.
(Unfortunately, you need to toggle between the graphics (above) and the video to make sense of it.)
(Frankly, I think the worst part of the show was the final joke, which implied that Baylor-educated folks couldn't spell. To me, this diminished my Rice pride in the N-achievements of nanotechnology and neurobiology that were touted just before.)
(This post was last modified: 09-17-2016 02:57 PM by Almadenmike.)
(09-17-2016 10:38 AM)Owlmaha Wrote: Pardon me in advance for making a rare appearance to spread an unpopular opinion that has nothing to do with baseball.
The Rice MOB has had some great moments over the years. I personally loved the anti-aggie antics and I appreciated the fact that the MOB was once a student organization. If we limited the performers to current students, I wonder if we could even spell an "I"? For me, the shows of recent years do not stir positive emotions of the times when the MOB was in fact, funny, but rather they are a glaring visual reminder of how pathetic they have become.
I am going to make some of you really mad, but I want to say that I think the actions of the MOB last night justify its end. I would urge the administration to immediately stop funding it and I intend to bring this argument forward to anyone who will listen.
THERE IS A TIME AND A PLACE FOR EVERYTHING. YOU DON'T PISS OFF PEOPLE YOU NEED A FAVOR FROM UNTIL AFTER THEY GIVE YOU THE FAVOR.
I hate Baylor and what they did to those women, but how did the MOB's show generate any feelings of empathy for those people who were brutally attacked and ignored? So we made ourselves giggle and maybe even feel a bit superior to those silly Baptist from Waco. Too bad that in the process we made an enemy out of someone with the ability to help or destroy our chances to get into a P5 conference. Yes, Virginia- they have a vote on Big 12 expansion. A very important vote because three no votes and you are out. This fact is exactly why UH is going to have a really hard time getting in. You see the Northern schools are not real crazy about adding more Texas schools. Rice might have a chance because they are not much of a threat to recruiting and still provide a footprint in the region's largest city. Up until last night, I thought we enjoyed pretty solid support from the Southern branch of the conference. Our AD has been working his ass off to help us with this and the MOB just said F it, we don't care! Let's go out and try to make ourselves laugh and ignore the realities Rice athletics faces. And the results are in-some people thought it was funny for the second time in a decade.
This just goes to show you how clueless the MOB really is. There is no mission for the MOB unless Athletics finds its way to a more profitable place. If Baylor votes no and ends our chances (citing this show as a reason) will the MOB make up the missing $20+ M a year? I hope you Rice fans who are applauding the rare slightly funny half-time show are feeling really smug today. Was poking fun at the obvious really worth it? Is it really funny to call out people for the most obvious things? Leebron is bald, ha ha. Graham is old ha ha. The Baptists are hypocrites ha ha.
Some of you have become so numb from the string of moronic shows produced by the MOB that anytime you understand one enough to chuckle at it, the show is a great success! If I was one of those victims and I saw this, I don't think it would be very funny. As a Rice supporter, I am disgusted at the shortsighted decisions of this once funny, now just a waste of Rice's time group. If there was a reason to preserve the tradition of the MOB it passed a long time ago.
I am making it a mission to contact everyone I know at Rice with any with authority to put an end to this non-student infested organization once and for all. If a new group reemerges that is completely student based, all the better.
I encourage all of you to do the same.
I respectfully disagree with almost everything you said. I have always found it odd that MOB membership included so many non-students.
The Marching Owl Band, or MOB, has a tradition of satirizing the Rice Owls’ football opponents. In this case, the band’s calling attention to the situation at Baylor was subject to many different interpretations. Although the band’s halftime shows are entirely the members’ projects with no prior review by the university administration, we regret any offense, particularly if Baylor fans may have felt unwelcome in our stadium. While we know that the MOB did not intend in any way to make light of the serious issue of sexual assault, we are concerned that some people may have interpreted the halftime performance in that vein. Sexual assault is a matter of serious concern on campuses across the nation, and all of us have an obligation to address the matter with all the tools at our disposal. The MOB sought to highlight the events at Baylor by satirizing the actions or inactions of the Baylor administration, but it is apparent from the comments of many spectators and Baylor fans that the MOB’s effort may have went too far.
(09-17-2016 03:44 PM)Almadenmike Wrote: Rice administration releases this statement:
Quote:
Rice University statement on MOB performance
The Marching Owl Band, or MOB, has a tradition of satirizing the Rice Owls’ football opponents. In this case, the band’s calling attention to the situation at Baylor was subject to many different interpretations. Although the band’s halftime shows are entirely the members’ projects with no prior review by the university administration, we regret any offense, particularly if Baylor fans may have felt unwelcome in our stadium. While we know that the MOB did not intend in any way to make light of the serious issue of sexual assault, we are concerned that some people may have interpreted the halftime performance in that vein. Sexual assault is a matter of serious concern on campuses across the nation, and all of us have an obligation to address the matter with all the tools at our disposal. The MOB sought to highlight the events at Baylor by satirizing the actions or inactions of the Baylor administration, but it is apparent from the comments of many spectators and Baylor fans that the MOB’s effort may have went too far.
-30-
Media contact:
David Ruth
david@rice.edu
Apologizing is a mistake. More safe space crap. Some folks got their feeling hurt because the truth hurts. Waaaaaa! Grow up!
(09-17-2016 04:20 PM)ETx Owl Wrote: How ironic that the long haired weanies of the 70s evolved to stand up for justice now morethan the conservative (only in public) Baylorites.
I'll probably hate myself for this. But I already hate myself for other things.
Neither the left nor the right defends "free speech" or justice anymore.
Both just defend themselves and attack the other.
And free speech was never meant to be free from consequences .
This gets back to another post of mine. Either it Ok to make fun of everything or its wrong to make fun of anything.
(09-17-2016 04:20 PM)ETx Owl Wrote: How ironic that the long haired weanies of the 70s evolved to stand up for justice now morethan the conservative (only in public) Baylorites.
I'll probably hate myself for this. But I already hate myself for other things.
Neither the left nor the right defends "free speech" or justice anymore.
Both just defend themselves and attack the other.
And free speech was never meant to be free from consequences .
This gets back to another post of mine. Either it Ok to make fun of everything or its wrong to make fun of anything.
(09-17-2016 04:20 PM)ETx Owl Wrote: How ironic that the long haired weanies of the 70s evolved to stand up for justice now morethan the conservative (only in public) Baylorites.
I'll probably hate myself for this. But I already hate myself for other things.
Neither the left nor the right defends "free speech" or justice anymore.
Both just defend themselves and attack the other.
And free speech was never meant to be free from consequences .
This gets back to another post of mine. Either it Ok to make fun of everything or its wrong to make fun of anything.
Regardless of end the MOB or not, I would encourage Rice fans to consider the following:
- Rice is generally considered one of the friendliest, happiest, most welcoming campuses and groups of people anywhere.
- The MOB projects the opposite impression: snarky, critical, judging,
non-welcoming
- even if the critiques of the MOB are funny or correct in certain situations....is this who we are as a community?
- I think back to hosting Kansas two seasons ago. The MOB took on the hapless Jayhawks (who by the way turned out 10,000 fans in our stadium for a good game) and basically just insulted them for being from the rural sticks. Is that really funny? Is that how we treat otherwise good folks with whom we have no quarrel or funny rivalry history (aka not Aggies)?
- Maybe some might say that comedy is hard and will sometimes miss the mark. Fine - I agree.
- HOWEVER if we as a community don't care two bits if the miss equals just sounding pompous and mean then I simply don't get it. Those qualities are not characteristic of any other Rice individual or group that I know. Do we want to be known more as the MOB or more as other qualities that make Rice great?
(09-17-2016 10:38 AM)Owlmaha Wrote: (redacted... possibly the stupidest post in the history of the Parliament)
Those are bold ideas from someone with no connection to Rice other than writing checks.
Frankly, I don't give a rat's arse how much you donate to athletics. There are certainly Universities where you can go and have booster dollars take precedence over student education and well-being. I recommend UT, 1980's SMU, or Baylor or under Briles. We see how well the booster-focused approach has worked in the past.
If you are really concerned about activities which will help Rice improve its station in the athletic world, I would encourage you to redirect your efforts to things which are actually relevant to that endeavor. Examples include improving the coaching staff or removing the institutional barriers that exacerbate the growing irrelevance of our only recent nationally-prominent big 3 program.
There's a saying about opinions and a certain anatomical feature - I recommend you merge the two in this case. Alternately, you could actually set foot in a Rice classroom before offering suggestions regarding student activities.
Thank you.
(This post was last modified: 09-17-2016 08:45 PM by Eat More Vole.)
For those worroed about the impression the MOB makes on others, I can honestly say that when I tell someone from Texas that I was in the MOB, the comversation is all about good old shows and how they miss the old SWC days and how Rice and the MOB are quirky and fun. Every time. I'm proud to have been a part of the tradition.
Saying that the MOB show made light of sexual assault--rather than what it really did do, which was to skewer Baylor for not taking sexual assault seriously when it should have--is akin to accusing comedians who made fun of OJ Simpson (who was spending his time on the golf course when he had pledged to find the "real killer") as making light of the murder of Nicole Brown and Ronald Goldman.
(09-17-2016 08:48 PM)jwn Wrote: For those worroed about the impression the MOB makes on others, I can honestly say that when I tell someone from Texas that I was in the MOB, the comversation is all about good old shows and how they miss the old SWC days and how Rice and the MOB are quirky and fun. Every time. I'm proud to have been a part of the tradition.
We live in an era where fun is outlawed apparently. Every time there is something like this out in the media, we always hear about "classless" and "embarrassing". If someone vlogged any NOD party these days and the public saw it, it would probably be shutdown the next day with tons of people coming out of the woodwork saying they think it's a disgrace the University. This is unfortunately the world we live in now. The Todd Graham Inferno show, probably the most famous in recent MOB history, would get them shut down today.
