(01-03-2014 11:32 PM)GonzoOwl Wrote:  

(01-03-2014 10:32 PM)Barney Wrote:  Part of the problem with numbers - - times have changed from the days when almost every high school kid in Texas that WASN'T an athlete was in band. Not so anymore, with more extracurricular activities available for the academically elite.

I was talking with two young alums during the bowl game, and they were relating the various allowed "college courses", that provide an hour or two of credit for non-academic study. (e.g. Herpetology - where they'd entertain a Hermann Park Zoo guy who'd bring snakes and lizards to campus and talk about them) The creative people in the MOB could be given credited time to make really good shows for the big dates (big crowds) on the calendar. For example, this year might have included A&M, Homecoming, Liberty Bowl, UTSA, Houston.

But, as you've said, first thing is they just need alot more bodies. The University needs to study this and try to find out what it would take to inspire more students to take part.

My freshman nephew planned to join the Mob, but didn't "click" with anyone during the first week's meeting, so he moved on to other activities (theater arts) that kept him too busy to do both. With more initial effort at recruiting, I think the Mob might have had at least 1 more member.

One other thought, my senior niece at Rice sees the Mob as being a bunch of band nerds, and tried to discourage her brother from the Mob.

If I had to guess, I would say that the majority of Rice students have played an instrument at one point or another.

On campus, the MOB's problem isn't a lack of people who can play, it's a lack of interest in the MOB. For better or worse, the MOB's antics have given them a "weird" reputation around campus, and many new students end up not joining because of this.

I'm sure I'll get flamed for this, but it's just an observation.

It used to be that MOB members got a stipend. Is this true today?

(01-04-2014 02:38 AM)Rice81 Wrote:  It used to be that MOB members got a stipend. Is this true today?

Hasn't been true since at least '95 when I joined. In fact, back then (don't know if a similar policy is in place today) there was something of a "negative stipend" .. members who went on the big away trip, which was often early in the season (e.g. NYC/West Point my freshman year) were required to hand the MOB a check for a certain amount which would be cashed if said member did not attend X number of rehearsals/performances the rest of the year.

No stipend when I was in the MOB and pre-BOB 1987-90/91. We also had 200+ members in those days - probably almost 10% of the undergrad population was involved. I had 2 friends who had never played an instrument in their life who joined - one played cymbals and one played bass drum. We're back in that critical mass situation - if you have friends who played, you're more likely to step up and try it. The undergrad population is much larger, but participation is down. Not an easy thing to solve.

(01-04-2014 12:37 PM)gsloth Wrote:  probably almost 10% of the undergrad population was involved.

In the pre-MOB days, the band billed itself as "The largest Per-Capita Band in the Southwest Conference"

(01-03-2014 03:06 PM)Afflicted Wrote:  The MOB is great. It's original and part of the Rice tradition. What the MOB needs is about 20 more instrument-playing members. Someone donate some money to help make it happen. They aren't loud enough.

+1,000

(01-03-2014 10:38 PM)jwn Wrote:  Not giving the MOB old gym with 6 second reverb for rehearsal would be a good start.

If you're talking about the MOB of today versus the MOB of 5-10 years ago, this is very relevant. If you're talking about the MOB of today versus the MOB of the 1980s, then there's probably more to it than that (but it'd still help).

(01-03-2014 10:32 PM)Barney Wrote:  Part of the problem with numbers - - times have changed from the days when almost every high school kid in Texas that WASN'T an athlete was in band. Not so anymore, with more extracurricular activities available for the academically elite.

I was talking with two young alums during the bowl game, and they were relating the various allowed "college courses", that provide an hour or two of credit for non-academic study. (e.g. Herpetology - where they'd entertain a Hermann Park Zoo guy who'd bring snakes and lizards to campus and talk about them) The creative people in the MOB could be given credited time to make really good shows for the big dates (big crowds) on the calendar. For example, this year might have included A&M, Homecoming, Liberty Bowl, UTSA, Houston.

But, as you've said, first thing is they just need alot more bodies. The University needs to study this and try to find out what it would take to inspire more students to take part.

This was discussed earlier on the year.

One significant point made by Grungy is that the MOB is prohibited from any recruitment of new members during freshman week.

That policy just adds insult to the injury imposed by the Shepard school prohibiting music students from participating in the MOB.

Both of these policies are self inflicted wounds that need treatment.

I'd be interested to know how much of a difference loosening the Shepherd School policy would make. I suspect very little, but the policy itself just doesn't make sense, especially given how little the MOB supposedly practices when compared with other marching bands. It would seem that the lack of practice time, often mentioned as a significant factor inhibiting show/performance quality, could be converted into a major selling point to on-the-fence students considering participation.

What % of the MOB are current Rice students? I took my dad to the Liberty Bowl, and he was shocked at "how many old students" Rice had. Once I explained, he was shocked that alumni and even those with no Rice affiliation are permitted to participate. I'm thankful for the policy, given that MOB might have already folded were it forced to rely solely on undergraduate participation, but the fact that some long standing members may retire some day re-enforces the need to boost participation from undergraduates.

(01-04-2014 03:14 PM)Memphis Owl Wrote:  

(01-03-2014 10:32 PM)Barney Wrote:  Part of the problem with numbers - - times have changed from the days when almost every high school kid in Texas that WASN'T an athlete was in band. Not so anymore, with more extracurricular activities available for the academically elite.

I was talking with two young alums during the bowl game, and they were relating the various allowed "college courses", that provide an hour or two of credit for non-academic study. (e.g. Herpetology - where they'd entertain a Hermann Park Zoo guy who'd bring snakes and lizards to campus and talk about them) The creative people in the MOB could be given credited time to make really good shows for the big dates (big crowds) on the calendar. For example, this year might have included A&M, Homecoming, Liberty Bowl, UTSA, Houston.

But, as you've said, first thing is they just need alot more bodies. The University needs to study this and try to find out what it would take to inspire more students to take part.

This was discussed earlier on the year.

One significant point made by Grungy is that the MOB is prohibited from any recruitment of new members during freshman week.

That policy just adds insult to the injury imposed by the Shepard school prohibiting music students from participating in the MOB.

Both of these policies are self inflicted wounds that need treatment.

(01-04-2014 03:55 PM)Traveler413 Wrote:  I'd be interested to know how much of a difference loosening the Shepherd School policy would make. I suspect very little, but the policy itself just doesn't make sense, especially given how little the MOB supposedly practices when compared with other marching bands. It would seem that the lack of practice time, often mentioned as a significant factor inhibiting show/performance quality, could be converted into a major selling point to on-the-fence students considering participation.

What % of the MOB are current Rice students? I took my dad to the Liberty Bowl, and he was shocked at "how many old students" Rice had. Once I explained, he was shocked that alumni and even those with no Rice affiliation are permitted to participate. I'm thankful for the policy, given that MOB might have already folded were it forced to rely solely on undergraduate participation, but the fact that some long standing members may retire some day re-enforces the need to boost participation from undergraduates.

(01-04-2014 03:14 PM)Memphis Owl Wrote:  

(01-03-2014 10:32 PM)Barney Wrote:  Part of the problem with numbers - - times have changed from the days when almost every high school kid in Texas that WASN'T an athlete was in band. Not so anymore, with more extracurricular activities available for the academically elite.

I was talking with two young alums during the bowl game, and they were relating the various allowed "college courses", that provide an hour or two of credit for non-academic study. (e.g. Herpetology - where they'd entertain a Hermann Park Zoo guy who'd bring snakes and lizards to campus and talk about them) The creative people in the MOB could be given credited time to make really good shows for the big dates (big crowds) on the calendar. For example, this year might have included A&M, Homecoming, Liberty Bowl, UTSA, Houston.

But, as you've said, first thing is they just need alot more bodies. The University needs to study this and try to find out what it would take to inspire more students to take part.

This was discussed earlier on the year.

One significant point made by Grungy is that the MOB is prohibited from any recruitment of new members during freshman week.

That policy just adds insult to the injury imposed by the Shepard school prohibiting music students from participating in the MOB.

Both of these policies are self inflicted wounds that need treatment.

I will add one way the Shepard School could help that they have refused to in the past...

They can assist with practice and rehearsal space.

General response:
The lack of identifiable conference rivals, and their bands, has really hurt the perception of The MOB.
Our fans had an ongoing relationship (positive or negative) with the fans of the other SWC schools, and those schools frequently sent their bands to HRS for games.
This provided The MOB with both material and contrast for their shows.
It's much easier to write well when you know which buttons to push for a given opponent, and the scatter band format was different from all of the visiting bands.
Now a visiting band is rare, and the Rice audience is jaded with the "same old MOB".

Specific response:
There were a lot of constraints on The MOB for the bowl show.
The personnel who could make it during winter break - not everyone could.
Time was limited to 4:00 or 4:30 (a normal show used to be 8 minutes)
That short script was subject to review (read: censorship) by both the bowl and ESPN.
As mentioned above, there was only one rehearsal, in Memphis, at night, with temps in the mid-30s.
The props were limited to what could be built by personnel still in Houston after classes ended, and they had to fit under a bus.

Fans who recognized Anubis should receive extra credit.
I had to ask to find out...

All I can say is that I look forward to the salute to the armed forces before each of the six home games next year....an the following year...and the following year...

Do we have 6 home games next year? We haven't for awhile.

(01-05-2014 12:34 PM)bobreinhold1 Wrote:  Do we have 6 home games next year? We haven't for awhile.

Five, I believe. Four conference, NMSU is our only home OOC game (@ND, @aTm, @Army).

The way I see it, they (they being the athletic depth., the pres., the university in general) are trying to and succeeding in slowly killing off the MOB. The MOB already has plenty of hurdles and obstacles in its way. Why more are put into place is beyond me. As much as the MOB has been called an asset to the university, Rice certainly does not act that way. They treat the MOB like an afterthought at best and a nuisance at worst. At the rate they are going, it would not surprise me if the MOB was defunct in 3-4 years. If that happens I don't think I would give Rice University another cent of my money in any form.

(01-05-2014 03:04 PM)Chef Owl Wrote:  The way I see it, they (they being the athletic depth., the pres., the university in general) are trying to and succeeding in slowly killing off the MOB. The MOB already has plenty of hurdles and obstacles in its way. Why more are put into place is beyond me. As much as the MOB has been called an asset to the university, Rice certainly does not act that way. They treat the MOB like an afterthought at best and a nuisance at worst. At the rate they are going, it would not surprise me if the MOB was defunct in 3-4 years. If that happens I don't think I would give Rice University another cent of my money in any form.

I think you're confusing ignorance and apathy with malice here. The administration only seems to pay attention to groups that have large donors. I'd argue that the grad program in Linguistics is probably more important to the main mission of the university than the continuing studies department or the Turrell Skyspace, but that's not where the donor money is, so tough for them. It would be nice if the university would lead the donors rather than the reverse, but apparently leadership is too much to ask for from our leadership. As long as the MOB is donor-less, we'll be bottom priority for everything.

Also, the MOB has to deal with an ever-increasing divide between the expectations of the students and the expectations of the administration. The students want a MOB that takes every available opportunity to kick our opponents between the legs. The administration wants a band that never generates any bad press. It's a tightrope act, make no mistake.

Even when we do mock an opponent, half the time the students don't even realize it because how much does your average Owl know about UAB or UTSA? Nothing. What we wouldn't give to play UT and A&M every year...

(01-05-2014 05:09 PM)Klobasnek Wrote:  Even when we do mock an opponent, half the time the students don't even realize it because how much does your average Owl know about UAB or UTSA? Nothing. What we wouldn't give to play UT and A&M every year...

This. There were at least a dozen times in my five years in the MOB that we made a joke at a visiting school's expense that the students didn't get, and couldn't hear the smattering of boos coming from the opposing side's 500 visiting fans. Then they say we should be meaner to the opposing school. But hell, what do they, or anybody here for that matter, know about Middle Tennessee State?

"Hey they're the Blue Raiders! You should make a joke about blue balls! Ha ha ha!"

Yeah, thanks, for the help....

(01-04-2014 03:14 PM)Memphis Owl Wrote:  

(01-03-2014 10:32 PM)Barney Wrote:  Part of the problem with numbers - - times have changed from the days when almost every high school kid in Texas that WASN'T an athlete was in band. Not so anymore, with more extracurricular activities available for the academically elite.

I was talking with two young alums during the bowl game, and they were relating the various allowed "college courses", that provide an hour or two of credit for non-academic study. (e.g. Herpetology - where they'd entertain a Hermann Park Zoo guy who'd bring snakes and lizards to campus and talk about them) The creative people in the MOB could be given credited time to make really good shows for the big dates (big crowds) on the calendar. For example, this year might have included A&M, Homecoming, Liberty Bowl, UTSA, Houston.

But, as you've said, first thing is they just need alot more bodies. The University needs to study this and try to find out what it would take to inspire more students to take part.

This was discussed earlier on the year.

One significant point made by Grungy is that the MOB is prohibited from any recruitment of new members during freshman week.

That policy just adds insult to the injury imposed by the Shepard school prohibiting music students from participating in the MOB.

Both of these policies are self inflicted wounds that need treatment.

This wasn't true when I coordinated orientation a few years ago. I seem to remember MOB members coming and making an announcement in my college during orientation this year. Where are you getting this from?

(01-05-2014 08:15 PM)EOL_Owl Wrote:  

(01-04-2014 03:14 PM)Memphis Owl Wrote:  

(01-03-2014 10:32 PM)Barney Wrote:  Part of the problem with numbers - - times have changed from the days when almost every high school kid in Texas that WASN'T an athlete was in band. Not so anymore, with more extracurricular activities available for the academically elite.

I was talking with two young alums during the bowl game, and they were relating the various allowed "college courses", that provide an hour or two of credit for non-academic study. (e.g. Herpetology - where they'd entertain a Hermann Park Zoo guy who'd bring snakes and lizards to campus and talk about them) The creative people in the MOB could be given credited time to make really good shows for the big dates (big crowds) on the calendar. For example, this year might have included A&M, Homecoming, Liberty Bowl, UTSA, Houston.

But, as you've said, first thing is they just need alot more bodies. The University needs to study this and try to find out what it would take to inspire more students to take part.

This was discussed earlier on the year.

One significant point made by Grungy is that the MOB is prohibited from any recruitment of new members during freshman week.

That policy just adds insult to the injury imposed by the Shepard school prohibiting music students from participating in the MOB.

Both of these policies are self inflicted wounds that need treatment.

This wasn't true when I coordinated orientation a few years ago. I seem to remember MOB members coming and making an announcement in my college during orientation this year. Where are you getting this from?

... Grungy sometime during the past season...

I think one thing that might keep me from joining the MOB of today is being one of only 4 or 5 people playing a particular instrument. When I was in the MOB in the 80's there were around 30 people playing my instrument (similar to my HS band) so it was OK to not be the most talented musician in the world. I don't know if I would be comfortable being perhaps the only person playing a part.