On 9/25, Kurt Jaeger wrote: >RPI certainly has a VERY strong pep band tradition. I remember them from as >ocupying a platform with a band shell behind the RPI goal. From there they >managed to fill the entire 5000 seat Huston Field House. They weren't >particularly musical but they were sure enthusiatic. Their motto then, as now, >was "LOUD IS GOOD!". > I won't dispute that the RPI pep band is enthusiastic, but a big problem with the RPI pep band is that they forget that they are a side event to the hockey game and should complement the game and the crowd and not distract from it. I had season tickets during my student years and have faithfully attended many games since then, and my opinion has not changed over the years. Why the pep band insists on playing "Rock Around the Clock" or "Theme from Hawaii Five-O" just as the crowd is starting to gain strength with a "Let's Go Red" cheer is beyond me. Enthusiastic and loud, I'll agree to that. I'll also give the members a lot of credit for the sacrifice in time and money to travel to all of the away games (as a former announcer I know that you don't live too well on $40 per night for hotels and $5/day/person for food, and that as much fun as it is, it can get to be a drag after a while). But they are not in any way consistently helpful in rousing the fans or keeping the fans going with their own cheers. I'll add that other teams pep bands do a much better job of working the crowd than the RPI pep band. Hopefully we haven't beaten this pep band topic to death yet. -Ken Johnson RPI '87 HOCKEY-L is for discussion of college ice hockey; send information to [log in to unmask], The College Hockey Information List.