- 2 days ago
Hail To the Victors way too low
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Twitter: AJMckenzie94847
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00:04Welcome to this edition of ESPN Classics, Who's Number One?
00:08I'm Trey Wingo.
00:09One with me here.
00:10Buffaloes and Bulldogs.
00:11Schooners, stallions.
00:12Lunch pails, little brown jugs.
00:14You see where we're going here?
00:15What all these share in common is that each autumn, as faithful as falling leaves, they
00:20come to the forefront.
00:21They're part of the rich tapestry of collegiate sports.
00:24They are the traditions of college football.
00:27And now, ladies and gentlemen, for your viewing pleasure, ESPN Classic ranks the 20 best
00:32college football traditions.
00:35Number 20.
00:53Michigan's stirring fight song was written in 1898 by Louis Elbel, who was inspired by
00:59watching the Wolverines upset Amos Alonzo Stagg's powerhouse University of Chicago team.
01:05Hail to the Victors is one of the oldest and most recognized fight songs.
01:10So why is it only number 20?
01:12When you hear the victory, you feel like you're part of a great history.
01:16The song, which has been passed down from generation and generation in the University of Michigan,
01:22it really pulls us together as a team.
01:25If we're on the drive and the slump and you get a victory to come on, you know, it's time
01:31to go.
01:34Michigan's 225-piece band plays the song as the team takes the field and after every score.
01:38In the locker room after games, the song is reserved for just the right occasion.
01:43Our tradition is that we sing the Victors after every victory.
01:48The lyrics themselves kind of speak for themselves, you know, the name of the song is the Victors.
01:53You got to sing it from deep down the side.
01:55You got to, it's like when you sing an opera, you have to bring it from the gut.
02:00Everybody head out to the concrete hills, head out to Michigan, the champions of the world.
02:09Number 19.
02:21We like to think we invented the walk and tailgating at Ole Miss.
02:25Really had its origin really back in the 40s when Coach Vaught's teams were so good.
02:34The stroll through the grove is an Ole Miss pregame ritual.
02:37Hey, look at Eli, look at Eli, man.
02:40En route to the stadium, the football team files past as many as 50,000 fans who interrupt
02:45their elegant dining on the green in the center of campus to exhort their rebels.
02:51In 1985, Coach Brewer decided he wanted to start taking the team through the grove beautifully
02:58lined with oak trees and magnolias.
03:01The stroll through the grove is unique because you feel like you're in 1953 with the way people
03:09are dressed.
03:10It's an event.
03:12Oxford, Mississippi is one of my all-time favorite places to visit.
03:15It's just...
03:19...quaint...
03:19...hang chandeliers.
03:21And the food is like something...
03:22...anotry...
03:34You see that smoke when you're younger and you say, one day I'm going to go through that
03:38smoke, you know?
03:40I'm telling you that...
03:41Smoke?
03:42How long has that even been a tradition?
03:45What, 20 years when this came out?
03:47As a high school kid, you sit around and one day I want to come out of that tone.
03:51I want to come through that smoke.
03:55That's a Miami tradition that goes back that they started in the 1950s.
04:00Trying to drum up more interest in the fans coming to the games.
04:03It is a great tradition and it's something that the University of Miami originated.
04:07And then recruiting and the guys come here, that's what they want to run through the smoke.
04:10So it is special.
04:12Miami uses fire extinguishers as the smoke screen for the hurricanes to burst through onto the field.
04:17Other programs, collegiate and pros, have imitated that special effect.
04:22You're in a tunnel, you're rocking, and you know, everybody's saying a little chance,
04:26everybody getting focused, talking to themselves, and it's just like nuts.
04:30You can't see nothing when you come through it, man.
04:33Just keep your feet moving, keep going straight.
04:35It was almost like these guys were just coming out of a mirage, you know, of some higher place,
04:40football heaven.
04:46Number 17.
04:49I don't think either of those should have been above Michigan.
04:57Bring me a real, honest-to-goodness Buffalo out on the field.
05:02Bring me Ralphie.
05:08When you go to Colorado Stadium and you see Ralphie, the Buffalo, and he leads the team out,
05:14and all these handlers are supposedly in control of him, I don't think so.
05:20I think Ralphie is in control.
05:22Bob Grease, Hiena, ESPN, sports, and such-and-such analysts.
05:26I think Pro Football Hall of Famer would have been a more appropriate title.
05:37Colorado adopted the Buffalo as its official nickname in 1934,
05:41when a live mascot began appearing at games.
05:44In 1966, John Lowry, the father of a Colorado freshman,
05:48donated a six-month-old calf named Ralph to the school.
05:51An exam revealed Ralph to be a female,
05:53and ever since, each mascot has been named Ralphie.
05:57It seems like having a Buffalo run around could be kind of dangerous,
06:00but it's pretty exciting to see, and I know that the fans out there love it.
06:04It's got to get the players pumped up.
06:06Ralphie became more than just a symbol of Colorado.
06:09It was a symbol of the Wild West.
06:12It is an awe-inspiring sight.
06:15Not only to see this buffalo thundering from one end of the field or the other,
06:19and literally thundering, if you're standing close by, you can feel the ground shake.
06:24Number 16.
06:35Frank Howard was an old-time Southern football coach.
06:39He just called a spade a spade, and he didn't care who he offended or what he said.
06:44He chewed the back and pretended to be semi-literate,
06:48although he graduated from the University of Alabama with honors.
06:52A flint rock from Death Valley, California, was given to Clemson coach Frank Howard in 1964.
06:57It served as a doorstop in his office until 1966,
07:01when it was installed at the top of a hill in Memorial Stadium, long known as Death Valley.
07:06Players rubbed it prior to a win over Wake Forest the next year,
07:09creating the belief that the rock brings luck.
07:13No matter whether Clemson's got a good team or a bad team,
07:16it is a big deal to touch that rock.
07:19It's kind of what people know about Clemson,
07:22that those crazy Southern boys rub that rock and come down that hill,
07:26they're going to kick your ass.
07:42It's a hard-fought, intense rivalry,
07:45but there's a lot of respect between the schools.
07:50You see this emotion that you'd never see in any other game
07:54because it's so important to the schools and to their state.
08:01Since 1899, Colorado State has clashed with Wyoming in the oldest inner...
08:06Of course, it's a great rivalry.
08:10What the heck else is Wyoming going to do?
08:14And also, they're not going to be competing for national championships,
08:17even in the one thing they do have, which is college football.
08:21Of course, they take the rivalry seriously.
08:24They've got nothing else to do.
08:26Interstate rivalry west of the Mississippi.
08:28Fort Collins and Laramie are separated by 66 miles.
08:32In 1968, Colorado State alums Major Vic Fernandez and Captain Dan Romero
08:37added a new dimension to the border war tradition.
08:40When Captain Dan Romero, CSU alumni,
08:43who went through the program, came back from Vietnam,
08:45they got together and envisioned the bronze boot.
08:49The size 8 paratrooper boot Romero wore in Vietnam
08:52was mounted and bronzed and goes to the winner of the border war game.
08:56Where's the line right here?
09:02As part of the tradition,
09:03ROTC cadets run the game ball to the state line,
09:06where a ceremonial handoff is made to the opposing school's cadets,
09:10the ball is then run the rest of the way into the stadium.
09:18That's actually pretty cool.
09:20I like that.
09:36Tumor's Corner, from the earliest origins of Auburn,
09:40was a gathering place,
09:41a place where people went for political speeches
09:44and any kind of town meeting kind of thing.
09:47Tumor's Corner became the center of the Alabama universe in 1972
09:51after Auburn toppled Bear Bryant's undefeated Crimson Tide in Birmingham.
09:56Auburn was down by two touchdowns late in the game,
10:00and we bought two punts, returned them for touchdowns,
10:03and won 17-16.
10:06Absolute delirium.
10:07You've seen pictures of Times Square at the end of World War II.
10:11This was that and more.
10:13Continuing the tradition started that day,
10:16alumni fans and townspeople gather at Tumor's Corner after a win
10:19and weave a web of teepee over it.
10:22They did what Auburn people do.
10:23They went back to Auburn and gathered at Tumor's Corner
10:26and rolled it in all kinds of toilet paper.
10:29Well, there was toilet paper shortage in Auburn for the next three or four days.
10:37Numero 13, number 13.
10:52The Sooner Schooner is a throwback representing 1889,
10:57the Oklahoma land rush.
10:59It's as good a tie-in with not just the school and the program,
11:03but the entire state.
11:05That's it.
11:06That's Oklahoma history.
11:08Should be a little bit higher state.
11:11The Sooner Schooner tradition began in 1964
11:14when Oklahoma alum Dr. M.S. Bartlett and his brother Charles
11:18donated a Conestoga wagon and two Shetland ponies named Boomer and Sooner.
11:22The Schooner became an official mascot in 1980
11:25and careens across the field after every Sooner score,
11:28although not everyone has found it cute.
11:31Sooner Schooner has been a great tradition for the University of Oklahoma.
11:34We probably saw more of it than we wanted to
11:36when we played the University of Oklahoma.
11:39I remember being quiet and sensed at seeing the Sooner Schooner
11:42marching up and down that field.
11:44When those wagons rolled in and the people were staking claims,
11:48later it became a tradition.
11:51It is one of the few rich traditions of college football
11:54that actually drew a penalty flag.
11:56And a flag is thrown on the Sooner Schooner there.
12:00As the 85 Sooner Schooner got involved in the game
12:03for getting on the field, got a penalty,
12:06and really affected the play on the feature.
12:09and then
12:13for the Conestoga wagon with horses going on the field.
12:17So they had to move back 15 more yards
12:19and try to kick the field goal,
12:21which they did not make,
12:22and they wound up losing the game anyway, 28 to 17.
12:25Sooner Schooner was the 12th man on the field.
12:43You know, the best way to describe Virginia Tech
12:45was blue collar, not blue chip.
12:48It's the lunchtail mentality throughout the whole team.
12:50Even though it is a defensive thing,
12:52it's pretty much the whole team.
12:54We need to get our minds right
12:55and get ready to play football here.
12:56One, two, three, hit!
12:58Virginia Tech's lunch pail tradition
13:00was started by co-defensive coordinator
13:02Rod Sharpless in 1995.
13:04The lunch pail is awarded to the defensive...
13:07Really?
13:091995?
13:10Today, that's 30 plus years.
13:12Back then, it was only 11.
13:14Shouldn't be on the list if it's an 11-year tradition.
13:17How traditional is it?
13:19...player who grades out the highest in the preceding game.
13:22The lunchbox may be scarred and dented,
13:24but to the Hokie who wins it,
13:25the right to carry the prize for a week,
13:27it might as well be the hope guy.
13:30When you first get there, you're a freshman,
13:32you see the big-name defensive stars,
13:34the lunch pail, you know,
13:35it's almost like,
13:37why is he carrying that?
13:38To have that lunch pail
13:39and to even carry it to practice every day,
13:41that means you were special.
13:42Either it was for that week,
13:43for that day,
13:44or however long you had it.
13:46It shows that you're a leader on that team
13:49when you have that lunch pail.
13:50It's such a coveted item for the defensive player.
13:53Not so much...
14:11The Tennessee River extends for hundreds of miles,
14:15travels north, east, south, and west,
14:17one of the only rivers in the country that does that.
14:21Knoxville is the headwaters of the Tennessee River.
14:26Rising up on the banks of the Tennessee River,
14:28Nayland Stadium is the country's third largest football venue.
14:32Each fall since 1974,
14:34Vol Faithful have owned the SEC attendance record.
14:37But with more than 105,000 fans converging on Knoxville,
14:41the gridlock became so massive
14:42that motorists took to the water.
14:45Vol Navy began in 1962.
14:47A man named George Mooney was our announcer at that time.
14:50And George, like everybody else,
14:52was getting caught up in traffic coming to the games.
14:54He decided to climb in his little motor runabout boat
14:58and come down the Tennessee River
15:00and docked right down at the foot of the stadium
15:02and walked up the hill.
15:03The Vol Navy was not designed to be a tailgating extravaganza.
15:08The Vol Navy was basically designed by one guy
15:10for convenience and an easy parking spot for the game.
15:14There's a constant trail of boats
15:17coming down the Tennessee River.
15:18It's sort of like the Rose Parade without asphalt.
15:21It's all on water.
15:22Tradition by accident.
15:24And they have a beautiful river.
15:27The Vol Navy is not tailgating.
15:29It's not boatgating.
15:31It's 50 or 100 miles coming up a river
15:35with 20, 30, 40 of your best friends.
15:38And they come in all shapes and sizes.
15:40The Vol Navy, everything from converted canoes
15:43to homemade houseboats
15:46to multi-
15:48Football Saturday in Knoxville, Tennessee.
15:55Welcome back to Who's Number One
15:57and ESPN Classics ranking
15:58of the 20 best college football traditions.
16:01Look, there was no shortage of worthy candidates for this show.
16:03And here are some of the few that just missed.
16:05The zany Stanford Bans.
16:07The Harvard-Yale tradition
16:08is one of the richest traditions in sports,
16:11certainly in college football.
16:13The Harvard-Yale game,
16:14in any estimation of a Yale or a Harvard player,
16:17is very special and unique.
16:19And we just call it the game.
16:22There are a lot of traditions
16:23that are involved with the Harvard-Yale game.
16:25They have played more than a-
16:27Ironically, Harvard-Princeton played more games
16:30against each other.
16:31That should be on the list, too.
16:32120 times over the years.
16:37One of the most intriguing traditions
16:39is when Cambridge neighbor MIT
16:40crashes the venerable Harvard-Yale party
16:43and sets about deflating pomposity
16:44and pretentiousness.
16:46MIT students dream up pranks
16:48that range from sophomoric
16:50to downright creative,
16:51all performed during the game.
16:53There was always thoughts and interest
16:57in terms of what these guys at MIT
16:59would try to do next.
17:00Through the years,
17:02it was almost expected
17:03when we played up there
17:04that MIT would be doing something.
17:07The first MIT stunt occurred in 1940
17:09when smoke began to curl up
17:11at the 50-yard line on the Harvard field.
17:13There followed bursts of flames
17:15that spelled out MIT.
17:17And then there was the day the earth moved.
17:19I was inadvertently involved
17:21in probably the granddaddy
17:23of all MIT pranks
17:24in the 1982 edition of the game.
17:27I was standing preparing for the kickoff
17:30and all of a sudden there was a pop.
17:34And I turned around to my right
17:36and I saw grass explode up out of the turf.
17:40We were just standing there
17:42and we saw what was happening.
17:44I think time stood still.
17:46I thought the Martians arrived.
17:48I really did.
17:49I mean, all of a sudden,
17:50a big balloon comes up
17:52in the middle of the field
17:53and the ground separates
17:54and all our players on the sideline
17:57are looking.
17:57They can't believe what's happening.
17:58I thought maybe it's the end of the world.
18:01It was inflated by a vacuum cleaner motor
18:04that was embedded under the sod of the stadium
18:07that the fraternity from MIT,
18:10the Deeps, had done this.
18:12At night, surreptitiously coming over
18:14at midnight over a period of weeks.
18:17We enjoyed it a lot.
18:18It was truly a surreal event.
18:37The little brown jug.
18:39Michigan again.
18:40I know it's going to be Ohio State soon.
18:43The jug, what I understand,
18:44it was not little or brown.
18:46It was a five-gallon earthenware jug.
18:49Looks like it has come from the dark ages
18:51or colonialism
18:53because there is a lot of tradition
18:55and a lot of history with the jug.
18:58It's a big old jug.
18:59Big old Beverly Hillbilly jug.
19:02I wonder if you think granny
19:03would have a moonshine in it.
19:04The jug was something
19:06that the Michigan team
19:07brought over to Minnesota in 1903.
19:09Michigan had that famous
19:10point-a-minute offense
19:11under Fielding H.
19:13Hurry up Yost.
19:15Well, they called them point-a-minute
19:16because they averaged a point-a-minute.
19:17There was a lot of nervousness
19:19in Minnesota, I guess,
19:20that they were going to get just wiped out.
19:22I mean, nobody could touch Michigan.
19:24Then Minnesota scored late in the game.
19:26They tied up 6-6.
19:28And then there was kind of a crowd mailing
19:29and the refs just called the game.
19:32Michigan fled, leaving the jug behind.
19:34It was taken as a victory trophy
19:36by Oscar Munson,
19:37the Minnesota equipment manager,
19:39and the giddy gophers
19:40painted the score on it.
19:42Wolverines coach Hurry Up Yost wrote
19:43asking for the return of the jug,
19:45but Minnesota athletic director
19:47L.J. Cook replied,
19:48if you want it, you'll have to win it.
19:51Mmm.
19:52I like that.
19:53Come and get it.
19:54Of college football's
19:5657 trophy game traditions,
19:58the Little Brown Jug
19:59is the oldest.
20:00You can go back 100 years
20:01and, you know,
20:02it's a rivalry that's lasted that long.
20:05The battle every year
20:06for the Little Brown Jug
20:07is more than a game.
20:09M-I-A-N-E-S-O-T-A
20:11Go back 100 years
20:13and, you know,
20:14it's a rivalry that's lasted that long.
20:16The battle every year
20:17for the Little Brown Jug...
20:18I wouldn't say as much of a rivalry.
20:20I mean,
20:21from 67 to, like,
20:23from, like,
20:241968 to when this came out,
20:27Michigan was 33-3
20:28against Minnesota.
20:29So how much of a rivalry
20:30is it
20:31when they won
20:34once every
20:3612, 13 years?
20:38The Jug is...
20:39is this more than a game?
20:40M-I-A-N-E-S-O-T-A
20:57Remember coming
20:58down Notre Dame Avenue
21:00as you're coming down
21:01in the Golden Dome
21:02staring you right in the face?
21:04And I've said it many times
21:06and I really felt it
21:07an electric charge
21:08went up my back
21:09because I had a sense
21:10of great responsibility
21:11to tradition.
21:13There's, like,
21:14all types of traditions
21:15and one of the traditions
21:16for the managers
21:18is the painting
21:19of the helmets.
21:21In 1964,
21:22Coach Ara Parsegian
21:24decided that
21:24Notre Dame's helmet
21:25should match
21:26the hallowed hue
21:26of the Golden Dome.
21:37But for each game,
21:39a dedicated corps of students
21:40puts on a fresh coat of paint.
21:58It comes off that Golden Dome.
22:01When you go back
22:02to Ara Parsegian
22:02and you look at
22:03that shiny helmet,
22:05I think there's a sense
22:06of pride there
22:07that you're a part
22:07of something
22:07that's very special.
22:08When we step into the stadium
22:10sharp from head to toe,
22:13our helmets are glistening.
22:15I mean,
22:16they're sparkling.
22:17I don't think
22:17there's a brighter,
22:19better sight
22:19in college football
22:20than that gold
22:21glistening
22:22on a fall afternoon
22:24when the sun comes out
22:25in Notre Dame Stadium.
22:27They have gold pants
22:29to match.
22:45as you begin to walk up
22:47and hear your cleats
22:47on the concrete.
22:48Just,
22:49that's,
22:49that's Gregory Holmes' theme.
22:53As you're walking
22:54in the stadium,
22:54you begin to see
22:55some rays of light
22:56and then all of a sudden
22:57the sea of fans,
22:59you know,
22:5980,000,
22:5990,000 fans
23:00and you've got the horse
23:02and you've got the cheerleaders.
23:04USC is as good
23:05as anybody
23:06at tying in
23:07all their various traditions.
23:10The ancient look,
23:11the full Trojan regalia.
23:13Football's a gladiator sport.
23:15Football's a tough sport.
23:16It's a tough Trojan
23:17on a tough horse
23:18with a band
23:20playing a tough song
23:21getting ready for a game.
23:22Roman music is playing.
23:24You feel like
23:24they're going to cut
23:25the lions loose
23:26on me any minute.
23:28USC's tradition
23:29of a white horse
23:30as a mascot
23:31was renewed
23:32after the school's
23:32director of special events
23:34was impressed
23:34by Traveler,
23:36a retired movie stunt horse
23:37ridden by Richard Sacco
23:39at the 1961
23:40Rose Bowl parade.
23:41Later that year,
23:43the two began appearing
23:43at Southern Cal home games.
23:45Since then,
23:46Traveler and his successors
23:48with a sword-wielding,
23:50tunic-wearing Trojan astride
23:51have become
23:52an emotional staple
23:53for USC.
23:54Every time USC scores,
23:56and recently,
23:57it's been pretty darn often,
23:59the sound of that
24:00Trojan fight song
24:02and the vision of Traveler
24:04galloping up and down
24:05the sideline,
24:06pretty impressive.
24:13Six.
24:14Number six.
24:16Six.
24:26The 12th man tradition
24:27originally started
24:28on January 2, 1922.
24:31Texas A&M was playing
24:32Center College,
24:33and there'd been
24:34a lot of injuries.
24:35They were a little bit down
24:36in terms of the number
24:37of players they had available,
24:39and they had a student
24:40that was sitting in the stands,
24:41and at halftime,
24:41they asked him to come down
24:43and suit up.
24:44They brought King Gill
24:45out of the student section.
24:47What?
24:48And they huddled around him
24:50while he changed clothes
24:52to the uniform.
24:53The Aggies pulled off
24:55a 22-14 upset win
24:57without Gill's physical services,
24:59but he did stand ready
25:00on the sidelines
25:01and was christened
25:02the 12th man.
25:03Eventually,
25:04Texas A&M's 12th man
25:05evolved into the
25:06raucous student section,
25:07which never sits
25:08during a home game.
25:10They make noise,
25:11they're swaying,
25:12they're chanting.
25:13It's almost like
25:18when we do the Aggie war hymn
25:20and the entire stadium
25:22locks arms
25:22and starts swaying
25:23back and forth.
25:26It's one of the lightest
25:27places I've ever played.
25:29When you stand
25:30on the middle of that field
25:30and they do that
25:31saw on the horns,
25:32I mean,
25:33you feel like the whole thing
25:33is going to fall down.
25:35There's no doubt
25:36the 12th man
25:37and our stadium
25:38is certainly
25:39a boost
25:39to our football team.
25:54The founding fathers
25:56of Pasadena
25:56decided on New Year's Day
25:58since flowers
25:59could actually grow
26:00that they needed
26:01to have a festival.
26:02And so they told everybody
26:04to get their horse
26:04and buggies
26:05and tie flowers
26:06on it from their backyard.
26:07And that's really
26:08how the Rose Parade
26:09was born.
26:10The Rose Parade
26:11originally was started
26:11clearly to attract
26:13people from the Midwest
26:15and the East
26:15to come to sunny
26:16Southern California.
26:17As it progressed
26:18over the years,
26:20it started to get larger.
26:21The idea of floats
26:22started being done.
26:23And then they finally
26:27being a hot place
26:33where it's very cold
26:35in other places
26:35is enough
26:36to attract people
26:37from the Midwest.
26:40But the idea
26:41that wouldn't it be nice
26:43to have American football
26:45as an annual event
26:47in Pasadena
26:48to be the companion event
26:50to this Rose Parade.
26:55America's first
26:56postseason football game
26:57was played
26:57on New Year's Day 1902.
26:59The game featured
27:00a Michigan powerhouse
27:01against the Western
27:02representative Stanford.
27:04It's because of that parade
27:05that bowl games
27:06got started.
27:07It's all part of the pageantry
27:08of the Rose Bowl
27:10which now has become
27:11part of the pageantry
27:12of college football.
27:13There are companies
27:14that exist
27:14to build floats
27:15for the Rose Parade.
27:17The difference
27:18about the Rose Parade
27:18than many other parades
27:19it is a true
27:20floral parade.
27:23The parade is spectacular.
27:25And I know
27:25the interesting part
27:26about the Rose Bowl Parade
27:28is I think
27:28the Rose Bowl Committee
27:29cares more about
27:30the parade
27:30than the game.
27:32The tournament
27:32at Rose Parade
27:33is the largest
27:33consumer
27:35of floral products
27:37at any one day
27:38in the industry.
27:40Great traditions
27:41not just of sport
27:42but I think
27:43of this country
27:44period.
28:12The ballad of the band
28:13began in 1975.
28:15That was the first year
28:16Southern and Grammar
28:17started playing.
28:17Man, I thought
28:18it was older than that.
28:20The Bayou Classic
28:21in New Orleans.
28:22It was an evolutionary thing.
28:24It started merely
28:25as home and home
28:27football games
28:28where the two bands
28:29simply tried
28:30to outdo
28:31one another.
28:32It's a sellout
28:33since 1975.
28:36You cannot
28:37find a ticket.
28:39When they play
28:39that particular game
28:40in New Orleans
28:41at the Superdome
28:42I mean
28:43people come
28:44from all over
28:45the South.
28:47Fans don't
28:47stray from their
28:48seats at halftime
28:49of the Southern
28:49and Grand Wing State
28:50games rooted there
28:51by the musical
28:52thunder and lightning
28:53produced by those
28:54two bands.
28:55The competition
28:56is actually conducted
28:57twice on Friday
28:58night when it's
28:59just the bands
28:59and then at
29:00intermission Saturday.
29:02Both are always
29:03S.R.O.
29:06The only people
29:07under more pressure
29:08to perform at
29:09halftime
29:10are the Super Bowl
29:11people.
29:13A week later
29:14you could ask
29:14people who were
29:15there who won
29:16the game.
29:17They might not
29:18be able to tell
29:18you but they
29:18could tell you
29:19who won the
29:19battle of the
29:20bands.
29:20It goes beyond
29:22the playing
29:22of music.
29:23It goes beyond
29:24the formations.
29:25It gets into
29:27the heart and soul
29:28of the individual.
29:30There's no business
29:30like show business.
29:32What the HBCU
29:33bands bring is
29:35not only good
29:36music, not only
29:37good marching,
29:39but entertainment.
29:48We have brothers
29:50who played in
29:51the Southern band,
29:52sisters who played
29:53in the Grambling
29:54band, but when
29:55it comes time
29:56for the Bayou
29:57Classic, we put
29:59on our wall face
30:00and we go to
30:00battle.
30:01All those
30:01ingredients that
30:02make Grambling
30:03and Grambling
30:03is there.
30:04The right amount
30:05of salt, the
30:06right amount of
30:07pepper.
30:07When we put the
30:08uniform on, it's
30:10like a change in
30:11personality.
30:13It's like being a
30:14superhero.
30:16It's irresistible.
30:17If you have never
30:18been to a Grambling
30:21game or a Southern
30:22game or anything
30:23out of the swag,
30:24you owe yourself.
30:25They touch your soul
30:26and they make you
30:27feel good.
30:28You've got to clap
30:29your hand.
30:30You've got to
30:30stomp your feet.
30:31You're going to
30:32jump and shout
30:33because the music
30:34is making you
30:35move.
30:42Number three.
30:55Is this, what is
30:57this, Liberty
30:58Bowl?
31:00Touchdown, Air
31:01Force!
31:03Versus.
31:05I agree with what
31:06General Douglas
31:07McArthur said.
31:08He said, on the
31:09fields of friendly
31:10strife are sown the
31:11seeds that on other
31:12days and other fields
31:13will bear the fruits
31:14of victory.
31:14So in other words,
31:15team building, how to
31:16work as a team, it's
31:18not about who wins and
31:19loses.
31:20The utmost respect,
31:22coach to coach,
31:23player to player, this
31:25is what gets me all
31:26revved up about this
31:27rivalry.
31:28Football games between
31:29Army, Navy, and Air
31:30Force end in stirring
31:31displays of sportsmanship
31:33and mutual respect.
31:34One of the most
31:35arresting scenes is the
31:36postgame singing of
31:37each team's alma mater
31:38while opponents stand
31:39at attention.
31:42I think it's more
31:43like two brothers that
31:45are in competition.
31:46They want to one-up
31:47each other.
31:47They want to do their
31:48best.
31:49When the game is over,
31:50we'll see the teams go
31:51to each other's sidelines
31:53and stand in front of
31:53their bands while the
31:55other team sings the
31:56third verse of their
31:56song, and they all
31:58come together.
31:59It's a tradition of the
32:01service academies.
32:03And it's one that I
32:03greatly respect.
32:04They'll come over and
32:06stand quietly and at
32:08attention while we sing
32:10our alma mater.
32:11The tradition of singing
32:12the alma mater at West
32:13Point grew out of the
32:16habit of the Corps of
32:17Cadets gathering on
32:18Friday evenings in the
32:19central area to sing
32:20songs.
32:21I've always liked it at
32:23the end of the service
32:24academy games when they
32:25stand together and hold
32:26hands, play each other's
32:28alma mater.
32:29And that really has
32:30always showed me
32:30something.
32:31They don't do that in
32:32Michigan, Ohio State, I
32:33don't think.
32:34We're brothers in arms.
32:35When you shake hands
32:36after that game, it's
32:37not like shaking hands
32:39with every other team.
32:40You know, you're going to
32:41see them again on the
32:42battlefield.
32:43I'm going to be counting
32:44on them for our
32:45soldiers' lives, vice
32:46versa.
32:47We're all on the same
32:48team.
33:06The University of Georgia
33:11in Athens, they have a
33:12great tradition of Ugga the
33:14Bulldog.
33:17The love affair that
33:18Georgia fans have with
33:20this dog goes back to
33:221956 when Sonny Seiler,
33:24who was a student at the
33:25time, was given a white
33:27bulldog as a pet.
33:28And the dog attracted so
33:30much attention at the
33:31Sigma Chi house that after
33:32a few drinks, they decided
33:34to take him to the
33:34football game.
33:35I asked Coach Butch to go
33:37out and see the puppy and
33:39he said he didn't have
33:40time, but if he was the
33:41grandson of the Rose Bowl
33:45Bulldog, he said sign him
33:46up right away.
33:50I don't know that any
33:51mascot gets more airtime
33:53than the Georgia mascot,
33:55Ugga.
33:55You know, he's a regal
33:57looking dog.
33:57He's got the red Georgia
33:59sweater.
34:01Ugga is the most
34:03attractive, four-legged
34:05dog you could ever see.
34:07Georgia Tech fans will
34:08tell you that Ugga is
34:09short for Ugga League.
34:10Part of the attraction of
34:11this Georgia Bulldog is
34:13that he looks like a
34:14linebacker.
34:15They're pugnacious.
34:16They don't give in.
34:18Never say die.
34:21He's always accompanied
34:23by pretty girls cheerleaders,
34:25so not all dogs can live
34:28up to that.
34:28It's a great dog's life.
34:30Usually you see him on a
34:31hot day and he's just
34:32laying there on a bag of
34:32ice trying to stay cool
34:34thinking, you know, I'm a
34:35dog and it's a dog's world
34:37and all the chicks dig me.
34:40Ugga's public appearances
34:41are not limited to game
34:42days at Sanford Stadium.
34:43One Ugga attended the
34:45Heisman Trophy Awards
34:46ceremony with Herschel
34:47Walker.
34:48Another appeared in the
34:49movie Midnight in the
34:50Garden of Good and Evil.
34:51And another adorned the
34:53cover of Sports
34:54Illustrated.
34:55Ugga's most celebrated
34:57photo was taken when he
34:58played defense at Auburn.
35:02When they beat him in
35:04overtime and Ugga was
35:06going after one of the
35:07Auburn receivers in the
35:08corner of the end zone.
35:12He caught the ball for the
35:13touchdown.
35:14I don't think I've ever
35:16seen a football player move
35:18as quick in my life as
35:21Baker did to avoid the
35:23jaws of Ugga.
35:26The main thing is, he had
35:28knee and thigh pads on.
35:30He probably could have
35:31taken the bite.
35:32Upon death, each Ugga is
35:34ceremoniously and reverently
35:36interred in a mausoleum.
35:38Ugga is the only mascot that
35:41is actually buried inside
35:42football stadium in this
35:44country.
35:45Ugga is as much a part of
35:47Georgia history as Vince
35:49Dooley and Herschel Walker.
35:51You have like a symmetry.
36:06When you look at, think of
36:08Ohio State football and their
36:09tradition, you don't only look
36:10at their great football
36:11players and their great
36:12football program, but you
36:13look at their band.
36:14When you see Script Ohio,
36:16it just brings chills to
36:18your body.
36:19And when you see that band
36:20come out on the field, the
36:22band is a special tradition.
36:25The signature of the 192-piece
36:28Ohio State marching band is
36:30its closing flourish.
36:31The Script Ohio Formation, a
36:34moving series of weaves and
36:35curves.
36:36It was first performed in 1936
36:38under the direction of Eugene
36:40Weigel.
36:45Every time I do see it, I'm
36:47just amazed.
36:48I mean, how do they do that?
36:49You know, to me, it's just
36:50like, how that can't be, they're
36:52going to kill each other.
36:55The first time we performed a
36:57script that I participated in,
36:59I had no idea going into it
37:02how tough it is.
37:04It's all about the exact size of
37:07your step, 22 and a half inches.
37:09It looks hard.
37:11Pretty much the whole thing.
37:17Just before the climax of
37:18Script Ohio, the drum major
37:20leads a senior sousaphone player
37:22to the highest honor of the
37:23Ohio State marching band,
37:24The Stoves.
37:26There are a lot of people that
37:27want to dot the I, and it's
37:30strictly for the lucky tuba man
37:33of that particular Saturday
37:34afternoon.
37:35Only a few people have ever
37:37doted the I at a game at
37:39Ohio State.
37:40That's an honor that is just
37:42unbelievable.
37:43Besides the designated sousaphone
37:45player, only a handful of
37:46civilians have been privileged to
37:48dot the I since the inception of
37:50Script Ohio 70 years ago.
37:52Most recently, golf legend and
37:54Ohio State alumnus Jack Nicklaus
37:56became the fifth such honoree.
37:58Wow.
38:02Why didn't they do it earlier?
38:04It's like a great piece of music
38:05that has a beginning, a middle, and
38:08the end, and the anticipation of
38:09it is part of it.
38:11Because once you get to the end and
38:13you see the sousaphone player, the
38:15place just, it erupts.
38:20When I watched the band do that, I
38:22really realized what a true Buckeye
38:23am, because I almost had a tear
38:25coming out of my eyes, my
38:26goosebumps were flying.
38:29This is something that's way bigger
38:30than me, and it's something that's
38:32part of our history.
38:37The hair on the back of my head stood
38:39up and I yelled, I'm a Buckeye, I'm a
38:40Buckeye, and I was a Buckeye forever.
38:50Now, as is our custom or
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