Paulette writes:
>rest of the fans.  No band is allowed to play while the puck is in motion.
>If they do they are given a warning from the refs, and if it happens again,
>their team is given a penalty. (Incidently, a friend told me that the rule
>actually reads, "If a band plays while the puck is in play, a penalty will
>be given to the team's band."  We always thought that that meant we should
>toss a tuba in the sin bin.)
 
Actually...note 1 to rule 6-25 reads: "...After a warning, a bench minor
penalty shall be assessed against the offending band's team."  No tubas in
the box. :-)
 
>As for being loud, that's what the band is there to do.  I understand that
>directly in front of the band is not where fans want to be.
 
Very true...that is why if the fans who attend games at a particular rink
are annoyed by the actions/loudness of an opposing band, then the band
should be moved or removed.  I was disappointed to read some of the
comments by some people that imply that the band somehow has more of a
right to be there than the fans.  In its place, a band has a useful part
in the setting of a college hockey game, but if it goes outside the bounds
and abuses its privilege to play (and it is a privilege, not a right), some
sort of action should be taken.  If the issue cannot be resolved, and it
may not be possible to do so with some bands, then the only alternative
seems to be to bar the band from the arena.
 
>Perhaps instead of banning bands, rinks should contact band leaders and e
>explain to them the problems that they feel exist (which many band members
>probably don't realize are problems) so that the bands can adjust their
>behavior to make everyone happy, if that's possible.
 
Unfortunately, we don't know what happened in this situation...perhaps
Union tried to contact the bands in question and resolve this and it didn't
work.  I agree that communication is useful, but a number of people have
already commented on how they observed quite a bit of obnoxious behavior
from bands.  The bands also need to get their act together because they are
not as important as the game itself - which some (not all) seem to think
they are.
---
Mike Machnik    [log in to unmask]   Color Voice of the Merrimack Warriors
(Any opinions expressed above are strictly those of the poster.)    *HMN*