EarlVolFan

I don't know where you get your information, but I don't know of any high school in East Tennessee that doesn't have a band, in fact Maryville High School has a very fine orchestra in addition to their award winning marching band. Also, ALL kids are required to participate in orchestra or band in their intermediate school (5th & 6th grade) Doesn't matter about who came first, but what fans pay their money to see - the football game or the band. Wonder how many people would pay good money to see the band without the football game?!! Bands are great part of high school football in Tennessee, but shouldn't interfere/influence the outcome of the game by playing at inappropriate times - like during game action... It's about the game and the fans, not the band!

Well, I got to experience what we've been talking about here at the Maryville - White Station state championship game last night in Cookeville and it was very enlightening. First of all, let me say that White Station had the superior team with two superb athletes that the Rebels had no answer for and deserved the win last night. However, their band had far more participants than their football team (and maybe larger than the group of fans they brought). They had more bass drums and tubas than any band, including UT's, than I have ever seen. They played pretty much the entire game, especially loudly when Maryville had the ball, and I believe, responsible for a couple of false start penalties when Maryville was lined up in front of them. For the first time I've ever noticed, Maryville's band played during game action, but wasn't able to get much volume in the large Tennessee Tech stadium. I guess they finally decided that if they couldn't beat them, they would join them. What was the net effect? The fans were taken out of the game. Maryville's fans outnumbered White Station's 10-1, but there is no need to yell and make noise when no one can hear you due to the 300+ piece band playing across the stadium from you at full volume. So what's the solution? Should Maryville and other schools like it ramp up their bands to play thundering tunes during game action by the other team to remain competitive with the metro schools? I hope not. I think if this continues, many fans will choose to stay home, since there is no purpose to their presence, other than to watch a game with a loud dance track. This will hurt the schools and the TSSAA where it hurts - the pocketbook. That's why it's time for the TSSAA to take action and match the NCAA and NFL (and Georgia High School) regulations before football games are about the bands and not the teams and the fans. Somebody need to get this ball rolling.....

Well, I got to experience what we've been talking about here at the Maryville - White Station state championship game last night in Cookeville and it was very enlightening. First of all, let me say that White Station had the superior team with two superb athletes that the Rebels had no answer for and deserved the win last night. However, their band had far more participants than their football team (and maybe larger than the group of fans they brought). They had more bass drums and tubas than any band, including UT's, than I have ever seen. They played pretty much the entire game, especially loudly when Maryville had the ball, and I believe, responsible for a couple of false start penalties when Maryville was lined up in front of them. For the first time I've ever noticed, Maryville's band played during game action, but wasn't able to get much volume in the large Tennessee Tech stadium. I guess they finally decided that if they couldn't beat them, they would join them. What was the net effect? The fans were taken out of the game. Maryville's fans outnumbered White Station's 10-1, but there is no need to yell and make noise when no one can hear you due to the 300+ piece band playing across the stadium from you at full volume. So what's the solution? Should Maryville and other schools like it ramp up their bands to play thundering tunes during game action by the other team to remain competitive with the metro schools? I hope not. I think if this continues, many fans will choose to stay home, since there is no purpose to their presence, other than to watch a game with a loud dance track. This will hurt the schools and the TSSAA where it hurts - the pocketbook. That's why it's time for the TSSAA to take action and match the NCAA and NFL (and Georgia High School) regulations before football games are about the bands and not the teams and the fans. Somebody need to get this ball rolling.....

Well, I got to experience what some of you were talking about at the Maryville - White Station game last night in Cookeville and it was very enlightening. First of all, let me say that White Station had the superior team with two superb athletes that the Rebels had no answer for and deserved the win last night. However, their band had far more participants (anybody have an idea how many?) than their football team (and maybe larger than the group of fans they brought). They had more bass drums and tubas than any band, including UT's, than I have ever seen. They played pretty much the entire game, especially loudly when Maryville had the ball, and I believe, responsible for a couple of false start penalties when Maryville was lined up in front of them. For the first time I've ever noticed, Maryville's band played during game action, but wasn't able to get much volume in the large Tennessee Tech stadium. I guess they finally decided that if they couldn't beat them, they would join them. What was the net effect? The fans were taken out of the game. Maryville's fans outnumbered White Station's 10-1, but there is no need to yell and make noise when no one can hear you due to the 300+ piece band playing across the stadium from you at full volume. So what's the solution? Should Maryville and other schools like it ramp up their bands to play thundering tunes during game action by the other team to remain competitive with the metro-size schools in 6A? I hope not. I think if this continues, many fans will choose to stay home, since there is no purpose to their presence, other than to watch a game with a loud dance track. This will hurt the schools and the TSSAA where it hurts - the pocketbook. That's why it's time for the TSSAA to take action and match the NCAA and NFL (and Georgia High School) regulations before football games are about the bands and not the teams and the fans. Somebody need to get this ball rolling.....

Why don't you just give them all airhorns then? Attitudes like yours is why it's time for the TSSAA to pass the same rule that the NCAA and the NFL has - no noise during game play by 'game participants' which includes each schools bands. If you want to have a 'battle of the bands' do it at halftime!

My argument isn't with people making noise with their voices, hands or feet. What if I set off an air horn while your basketball player is shooting free throws? The TSSAA needs to draw a line at artificial noise during game action, like the college and professional leagues have for years...

My team doesn't do it and they are playing for their 12th state championship on Friday...How about yours?!

All of those items, with the exception of the foam finger, are already banned by stadium rules, at many high schools. The TSSAA needs to set a standard.

Nope, there is a rule that specifically prohibits it - just like we need in the TSSAA.

So what's next? Playing music loudly over the PA system during game action?! It would only be fair for the schools that don't have large bands.. There's a reason, folks, that the NCAA and the NFL ban team-sponsored artificial noise during gameplay. Feel free to yell and scream all you want, but trying to affect play by mechanical means (including musical instruments) is detrimental to the quality and fairness of play...and it is poor sportmanship. The TSSAA needs a rule just like the NCAA and the NFL.

Football regulations say this (Section II.K.): "K. No explosive devices shall be allowed in regular season or play-off games." Basketball regulations say this (Section II.D.): "D. No explosive devices shall be allowed for regular-season or tournament games. In addition, no air horns, cowbells, sirens, clackers, cans with marbles or rocks inside or any other artificial noise makers are allowed." Baseball regulations say this (Section II.F.): "F. No explosive devices shall be allowed during regular-season or tournament games." Clearly, what is permitted in football and baseball games is different from what is permitted in basketball games. I haven't seen anything in the TSSAA rules regarding when a band should play versus when they shouldn't play. However, from what I have seen generally in youth sports and high school sports what historically has been considered good sportsmanship has largely been discarded. That is a generalization and I know there are exceptions. At one game this year, I saw a senior quarterback from one team console and encourage a sophomore quarterback from an opponent after a sub-par game. That young man made an impression. On the other hand, I could also list numerous examples of poor sportsmanship. It is a sad day when exemplary sportsmanship is an exception rather than general rule. I'm afraid that's where we are...What's next? Playing music loudly over the PA system during game action?! It would only be fair for the schools that don't have large bands.. There's a reason, folks, that the NCAA and the NFL ban team-sponsored artificial noise during gameplay. Feel free to yell and scream all you want, but trying to affect play by mechanical means (including musical instruments) is detrimental to the quality and fairness of play...and it is poor sportmanship. The TSSAA needs a rule like the NCAA and the NFL.

No, our band at SC does it way too much also. In the Pearl Cohn game they played every time we got the ball, and for some reason our band tried to drown them out, there were at least 3 or 4 false starts in the second half. I disagree, the band is part of the high school football atmoshphere. The boys just have to be disaplined and the quaterback needs to be loud. You don't hear big time colleges and NFL teams complaining about thousands of fans screaming and throwing them off. Noise is a part of the game no matter if it's from the fans, cheerleaders, or the band! So who decides what composes 'atmosphere' at a high school game? What's next? Playing music loudly over the PA system during game action?! It would only be fair for the schools that don't have large bands.. There's a reason, folks, that the NCAA and the NFL ban team-sponsored artificial noise during gameplay. Feel free to yell and scream all you want, but trying to affect play by mechanical means (including musical instruments) is detrimental to the quality and fairness of play...and it is poor sportmanship. The TSSAA needs a rule like the NCAA and the NFL.

not sure if high school follows these rules, but if not they should. I emailed the TSSAA about this a couple of weeks ago and the response was that there was no rule to prevent this....

honestly, it's just you. you're in the state championship. if a tuba player had 3 sacks on your qb i could see it being an issue, otherwise just let it go man. I hope it's not just me - for the sake of our young men that we are trying to teach life lessons through athletics. Yes, we've been fortunate to win a lot of games at Maryville and yes, we're gong to be playing for our first 6A championship Saturday... but IT'S NOT ABOUT WINNING - IT'S HOW YOU WIN (or lose, for that matter)

honestly, it's just you. you're in the state championship. if a tuba player had 3 sacks on your qb i could see it being an issue, otherwise just let it go man. I hope it's not just me - for the sake of our young men that we are trying to teach life lessons through athletics. Yes, we've been fortunate to win a lot of games at Maryville and yes, we're gong to be playing for our first 6A championship Saturday... but IT'S NOT ABOUT WINNING - IT'S HOW YOU WIN (or lose, for that matter)

honestly, it's just you. you're in the state championship. if a tuba player had 3 sacks on your qb i could see it being an issue, otherwise just let it go man. I hope it's not just me - for the sake of our young men that we are trying to teach life lessons through athletics. Yes, we've been fortunate to win a lot of games at Maryville and yes, we're gong to be playing for our first 6A championship Saturday... but IT'S NOT ABOUT WINNING - IT'S HOW YOU WIN (or lose, for that matter)

Maybe it's just me, but I have noticed this year at home games that a few of Maryville's opponent's bands have been playing during the time we were running plays on offense - Oak Ridge's band played through the entire first through third quarters, finally stopping when Maryville had the game in hand.. I didn't notice this again until we played Dobyns-Bennett in the first round of the playoffs. Their band played very loudly ONLY we we had the ball. In fact, they didn't even play during halftime. Their only apparent reason for being there, was to try to disrupt our offense. That didn't exactly workout for them! Then the same thing occured during the Riverdale game last Friday - any time our offense was near the band's side of the field, their band played as loudly as they could while we were running plays. It wasn't a very effective strategy for them either... Maybe I'm old fashioned, but I think this is very poor sportmanship...you don't see bands doing this at the college and pro levels. I hate trying to pass rules to solve every problem, but maybe it's time the TSSAA regulates this before it gets out of hand....

Maybe it's just me, but I have noticed this year at home games that a few of Maryville's opponent's bands have been playing during the time we were running plays on offense - Oak Ridge's band played through the entire first through third quarters, finally stopping when Maryville had the game in hand.. I didn't notice this again until we played Dobyns-Bennett in the first round of the playoffs. Their band played very loudly ONLY we we had the ball. In fact, they didn't even play during halftime. Their only apparent reason for being there, was to try to disrupt our offense. That didn't exactly workout for them! Then the same thing occured during the Riverdale game last Friday - any time our offense was near the band's side of the field, their band played as loudly as they could while we were running plays. It wasn't a very effective strategy for them either... Maybe I'm old fashioned, but I think this is very poor sportmanship...you don't see bands doing this at the college and pro levels. I hate trying to pass rules to solve every problem, but maybe it's time the TSSAA regulates this before it gets out of hand....

Maybe it's just me, but I have noticed this year at home games that a few of Maryville's opponent's bands have been playing during the time we were running plays on offense - Oak Ridge's band played through the entire first through third quarters, finally stopping when Maryville had the game in hand.. I didn't notice this again until we played Dobyns-Bennett in the first round of the playoffs. Their band played very loudly ONLY we we had the ball. In fact, they didn't even play during halftime. Their only apparent reason for being there, was to try to disrupt our offense. That didn't exactly workout for them! Then the same thing occured during the Riverdale game last Friday - any time our offense was near the band's side of the field, their band played as loudly as they could while we were running plays. It wasn't a very effective strategy for them either... Maybe I'm old fashioned, but I think this is very poor sportmanship...you don't see bands doing this at the college and pro levels. I hate trying to pass rules to solve every problem, but maybe it's time the TSSAA regulates this before it gets out of hand....

I appreciate the messages of sportsmanship in the previous post-game post, but why was Riverdale's coach throwing for touchdowns, 2 point conversions, and onside kicks in the fourth quarter against Maryville's subs when he stated that the game was over at the end of the third quarter? Did he have money on the game or does he get paid by the margin of vctory (or loss!). At least George Quarles subs know they get a little playoff playing time when the outcome of the game is no longer in doubt...