THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, December 3, 1994 TAG: 9412020095
SECTION: DAILY BREAK PAGE: E3 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Column
SOURCE: Larry Maddry
LENGTH: Medium: 84 lines
YOU GOTTA love 'em. Marching helter-skelter, violinists side by side with trombonists, the University of Virginia Pep Band looks like amateur night at the asylum.
The good news is that the pep band is back after an absence of nearly two years.
The bad news is that it isn't outrageous anymore.
To its credit, the band did look pretty ridiculous - as usual - when it performed at the U.Va.-N.C. State football game in Charlottesville last weekend.
There was the drum with Mickey Mouse on it, everyone out of step, a huge tongue poking from the bell of a tuba.
Yep, they're still wearing the orange vests, button-down shirts and ties that appear to have been splotched in a food fight. And, yes, they were as synchronized and focused as the Democratic Party.
But they were not outrageous - even though it is true there are better looking bands on cigars and motel toilet seats.
I certainly hope the pep band can get its act together before the Independence Bowl game with Texas Christian University and give a truly tasteless performance on national television. Hopefully one that will shock and offend some while amusing nearly everyone else.
I have been a fan of the pep band since the Virginia-Maryland game of 1977. Remember that one? The game was played at College Park. The pep band announcer said the band would be led by ``our distinguished guest conductor Marvin Mandell!''
A pep band member dressed in convict stripes, pulling a ball and chain walked before the band with a baton. (Mandell was a former governor of Maryland who was convicted of criminal charges.)
That little skit raised the ire of Mandell's successor, Gov. Blair Lee II, who publicly blasted the pep band for its indiscretion.
``I'm glad they lost the game,'' he pouted.
Beautiful.
And remember the Sugar Bowl game a couple of years ago when the Cavaliers played Tennessee and the band's skit included an Elvis impersonator who was trampled by band members? Tennessee fans - predictably - complained that the skit was offensive, particularly the part in which the announcer proclaimed, ``Elvis is dead,'' as the impersonator's body was dragged from the field.
``I understand the governor of Tennessee wrote a letter of complaint about that one, although I didn't see it,'' said Jeff Scarlotta, the pep band's director.
Over the years, the band - excuse me, the award-winning University of Virginia Fighting Cavaliers Indoor/Outdoor Precision Marching Pep Band and Chowder Society Unlimited - has taken pride in offending the pompous, the prim and the politically correct.
It's always fun to watch Sousa-loving traditionalists' faces when the pep band marches onto a football field. Their jaws drop as though Dracula had swooped through a window at the blood bank.
Two years ago, the university administration, smarting from real or perceived objections to the band, would not allow the peppers to use microphones during their halftime performances.
Last year, the band didn't play at all - protesting the denial of microphone privileges.
A compromise has been reached with university officialdom, hence the appearance of the pep band at last Saturday's game in Charlottesville. Band director Scarlotta - a third-year student majoring in foreign affairs and economics - said band members were not eager to tone down their act but were torn with conflict because they wanted to support the football team.
``We have tried to be exceedingly careful,'' he said.
Exactly the problem, Jeff. It is a formula for disaster that will turn the band into marching weenies. Texas is a big state, and there's no reason why the band can't do a big number on it this December at the nationally televised Independence Bowl. So forget exceedingly careful. Let's talk exceedingly tasteless. . . .
I see cowboys dressed in tutus dancing to the music from ``Swan Lake.''. . a car agency for the rental of a Cadillac limo. . . . I see a presentation of the the official flag of Texas with a Lone Star Beer can smack in the middle.
What's the pep band for, anyway? Remember, we're counting on you, Jeff.
And looking forward to a truly memorable halftime performance that will put the band on suspension for three more years. by CNB