Friday, January 4, 2008

Orange Bowl performance goes unaired

BY ERIC LINDBERG
DAILY SOUND STAFF WRITER

As the clock slowly ticks down in the second quarter of the Orange Bowl, the intensity starts to grow among those seated in the restaurant.
Many are wearing red and royal blue, matching the jerseys of the Kansas players. But they aren’t there to root on the Jayhawks. Most of them don’t even care about the football game.
They are waiting for a glimpse, never mind how brief, of the San Marcos High School marching band as it performs during halftime.

As the seconds tick away and the half ends, a momentary camera shot shows crews setting up a stage for a ZZ Top performance. The broadcast cuts away to commercials.
Minutes drag by. Football analysts break down the first half. A teaser for the ZZ Top show runs. More commercials air. The long-bearded rockers finally hit the stage to muttered comments from the crowd.
“Who cares about ZZ Top, show us the band.”
More commercials run. A text message from a parent chaperone in the stadium comes through. They are on. Eternities drag by. Finally the commercials end and the camera shot reveals a scattering of football players standing on the field. Another text message confirms what everyone already knows.
“It was done in a flash,” it reads. “Don’t feel too bad, I couldn’t see too much or hear anything.”
“It was never a sure thing,” says Patty Berns-Golas, whose son Zane plays saxophone in the band. “At least we were here to support them and they know we are here. They really feel like they are representing Santa Barbara.”
As the store manager puts on an earlier performance of the band, the same show that earned them top prize in their division during a New Year’s Day competition in Miami, news starts trickling in from Florida.
“They called and said they did really well,” says Sue Renaud, the grandmother of Molly Richardson, a freshman drummer.
Another mother receives a text message from her daughter in response to her message asking how it felt to perform in such a huge venue.
“Horrifying.”
So in the end, those who came to the upper State Street McDonald’s in hopes of catching a glimpse of their sons, daughters, siblings or friends never saw their faces flash across the screen. But they knew it was never about that.
It was about the band members experiencing that feeling, however horrifying, of stepping out onto the grass in front of tens of thousands of fans and putting on a show.
“Everybody at our school is so proud of them,” Berns-Golas said.
“They’ve just progressed so much over the course of the time I’ve been away,” said recent San Marcos grad Michael Favuzzi, who helped out during the band’s summer preparations. “It’s been a great culmination for them to go to the Orange Bowl.”
Michael’s sister, Christina, is a freshman flutist in the band.
“She’s been really excited,” he said. “I’ve talked to her and she’s had nothing but good things to say about the trip.”
Even with the knowledge that the band likely wouldn’t get any airtime, family members, drama and vocal students, band alumni and community supporters filled virtually every seat in the restaurant. Befuddled customers had to fight their way through the crowd to fill up sodas.
“We all depend on each other,” said senior vocal student Connor Fatch. “We do things like tonight all the time, where we support each other.”
As the taped performance draws to an end, the restaurant is filled with cheers and applause.
“They have worked so hard to get here,” says David Holmes, chairman of the performing arts department. “It’s a big deal for the whole community that a local band is selected to perform at the Orange Bowl.”
As the supporters start to trickle out of the restaurant, Berns-Golas speculates about what the band members are doing. Probably loading up the semi-trailer with heavy equipment for the 2,800-mile, 48-hour journey back, she says, a truck piloted by two fiercely dedicated ex-band fathers.
The band members themselves, 59 strong including the color guard, will stick around in Florida for a few more days, enjoying a trip to the Everglades before setting off for Santa Barbara on Saturday afternoon.
And as they pull back into the San Marcos High School parking lot at 2 a.m. on Sunday, the electronic marquee will greet them with a message from their supporters.
“Just a very personal message,” Berns-Golas says.
It will mark the culmination of endless hours of practice and preparation at the direction of San Marcos alumni Dan Garske and Jason Nam. The end of their award-filled season, complete with a gold medal from the state championships.
The final performance of their field show, aptly titled “Journey of Dreams.”

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

I hope some took some good video and will come back to edit and approach City TV channel 21? and see if they can show it for the enjoyment of ALL of Santa Barbara. Then maybe the kids can join everyone and their parents and watch together! I am sure youtube will have something.. but i want to see our local SM Royals on TV!

Anonymous said...

It was certainly a great experience for our kids, and a great disappointment on Thursday Night. Let's not miss the bigger picture here.

Each well-funded college team took home millions of dollars for their school. Meanwhile, underfunded music programs are struggling to survive all over the country. Our San Marcos band kids and their families gave up countless weekends to raise some of the $97,500 needed to send the band there. The rest of the funds had to come from the families themselves. Some of that money went into the coffers of the Orange Bowl Committee. More shockingly, four out of the ten bands invited to play in the Orange Bowl couldn't even raise the funds to go--and the Orange Bowl saw no reason to help them out. Why couldn't the Orange Bowl see fit to give cash awards to the desperate music departments of the schools that participated? Why do educational departments in need have to struggle to support educational departments that have everything? But then, if we do this, why can't we get a mere five minutes of airtime on national TV in recognition?

The Orange Bowl has the distinction of having the most prestigious half-time show in the sports world. The decision to preempt the high-school portion of the show for commercials was one of the more shocking, outrageously cynical actions we've seen on TV. Or not seen. I urge you to write to the sponsors of the half-time show, especially those whose ads preempted our kids, and express your dismay.

They are:
FedEx
Fox Sports
Southwest Airlines
The State of Kansas
Ford Motor Company
Jack-in-the-Box
AT&T
Allstate
Daytona
and Virginia Tech

Anonymous said...

You're wanking because you were did not see your kids on TV!?! Did the kids want to go to the Orange Bowl? Did they raise the money to do it? Did they meet their goal? Did they have a good time, creating life long memories? Did they come away with a sense of satisfaction?

I would bet the answer to all these questions is yes. It's not all about you and being deprived. Be thankful the kids accomplished so much.

sbsailor

Anonymous said...

I'm under the impression that the second word of your flame is mildly obscene. I'm surprised that the Daily Sound posted it.

Anonymous said...

Actually the answers would be: Yes, no, no, no, and a big no.

Anonymous said...

Anonymous. wow, do you know anyone who went to the orange bowl? because i do. I'M the one that went. i strongly agree with sbsailor. this was supposed to be the pinnacle of my high school experience, and not only did our show fall appart, but to add insult to injury, the BGA didnt have the galls to air it. i also know for a fact that i am not alone in feeling this. kids were crying. yes crying. we all paid about 2 grand each to make fools out of ourselves in front of 80 thousand people.

and yes, we are IMMENSELY proud at taking home first in our division as well as almost all captions, however, it would have been nice to get even a little recognition for the countless hours we, as the San Marcos High School Royals Marching Band, had committed.

this season has been amazing and after also becoming SCSBOA Champions, i cannot think of a better way to end my senior year. i personally find it rude for you to say these things.

Anonymous said...

Look in all honesty there was never anything that guaranteed us that we would be on air. BGA said we might be but that was about it. Also there really isn't anyone to blame in this case. The broadcast truck from fox actually broke down during the commercials that were supposed to air between the end of ZZ Top and us so the controllers in LA kept running commercials while the truck was reset causing the commercials to run much longer than they were supposed to. All in all i think that the trip was great and we won our division and just because we didn't get televised doesn't mean we should let it ruin our whole experience. Things like this happen and we just have to move past them.

Anonymous said...

As a dyed in the wool Royals fan and an advocate for the arts in public education I share in the "Pride" that all the Royals feel when they accomplish something extraordinary. You know in this day and age where schools seem to be celebrating the "Excellence in Mediocrity" It is extremely rare to see the type of extra ordinary effort that the team of SMHS Marching Band students, staff and parents embraced to do something way beyond expectatons. Mr. Garske and Mr. Nam didn't have to work as hard as they did. They chose to do something quite remarkable and way beyond their job descriptions. You can applaud everyone's efforts in this Orange Bowl endeavor but remember that it takes a dedicated, tireless classroom teacher to reach for and push for the Extra that takes a program beyond ordinary. Congratulations Royals! Embrace your accomplishments with pride. You have done something very few have done. Be proud of yourselves.

--The Professor--

Anonymous said...

to anonymous who posted about the fox truck breaking down: how did you even find out about the truck...do you work for fox or something?