Creativity & Objectivity

Someone dialed up WTKA this morning to offer an explanation as to why the MMB went with the ‘Opera’ set, after Delaware State’s band did their thing.  He said that a parent of a band member told him the more traditional set was a deliberate attempt to come off as more of a stereotypical “Ivy League”-like routine, almost as a joke in the wake of The Approaching Storm’s performance.  I don’t know if that’s true, or if as some have suggested, Michigan simply didn’t want to upstage TAS, or maybe more likely, the MMB wanted to demonstrate acoustic quality over flash.  It’s certainly not a huge deal to me, but with much talk about bands I’ll offer this:

I grew up watching games in Spartan Stadium.  I remember one year the Michigan band came in and did their thing, probably in the early 80s.  At one point they dropped their instruments and ran around, I forget why, but I remember thinking, ‘Wow, those bastards guys are damn creative.’

This band seems to have stretched traditional limits over the years, including my favorite, the Jaws theme played at the 1976 Orange Bowl (white pants!) where they formed the shape of a person swimming along peacefully before being engulfed by the Great White shark:

The Oklahoma band was thoroughly ‘served’ in ‘76

I’m not losing sleep over this, but count me as someone who thinks the band should have “brought it” on Saturday.

Objectivity
Switching gears, I usually try to give the two Sunday morning shows on WTKA a listen.  Sam Webb and Tom Beaver lead the ‘GoBlueWolverine Hour’ from 9-10am, and John U. Bacon and Jamie Morris host the long running ‘Off the Field’ show from 10-11am. 

Lately I’ve been frustrated with Morris, who as everyone knows is an employee of the athletic department.  I’ll pad this by noting I’ll never forget his words at the Bo memorial at Michigan Stadium and he’s a fine example for anyone, especially the players, as someone who arrived in Ann Arbor as a kid and found this to be a special place.  He obviously made the most of his talents on the field and eventually returned to serve the University.  He’s one of the faces of this football program and that’s all great stuff.

But as a radio host in what I feel is a critical time slot, listening to Morris can make you grind your teeth.  It’s not that he doesn’t have anything to say or isn’t equipped to handle the mic.  It’s that he’s clearly hopelessly handicapped by his position at the school.

A couple weeks ago Bacon asked/prodded him for his outlook for the rest of the season and Morris refused to project any particular game as a loss.  He wouldn’t do it..he just danced through it.  During this exchange I think Bacs even half-jokingly said something like, (paraphrasing) “this is radio show where we offer opinions.”

But then there was this on Sunday.  Each week the hosts pick a winner and loser for the week that was.  Morris seriously selected Bill Martin, Mary Sue Coleman and the administrators from Delaware State for making Saturday’s game happen.  Dead serious.  Apparently Bacon was (thankfully) giving him the intergalactic sign for brown nosing as he spoke.  Here’s the audio:

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Let’s not give Bill Martin or anyone at Delaware State a medal for making this game happen, and please let’s never do this again.  If anyone deserves a prize it’s the season ticket holders for shouldering the financial burden of this “game”, and I guess, for the large proportion of fans who decided to stay for most of the “contest.”  Never again please!