SALT LAKE CITY — The competition is going to be rough for the University of Utah this year. Here come USC and UCLA. Eventually there will be comparisons with Stanford, Oregon and Cal, too.
Clearly this is the biggest leap in Utah's history. But wait, did you think I was talking about football? Basketball? Softball? Naw, those people will be fine.
It's the marching band that's keeping me awake at night.
There are few things more jarring than the possibility of an A-flat when someone else is playing a middle-C.
For all the concern over Utah's Pac-12 worthiness in athletics, nobody has said anything in the press conferences about the marching band. You think the baseball team has worries? Take a look at USC's 300-member band. It makes Utah's look like kiddie parade.
The upgrade in band competition will be as big as anything the Utes encounter.
I'm no musician, but Utah's marching band doesn't seem bad to me. It has grown and improved along with the athletics. It calls itself the "Pride of Utah." That might be a stretch, but that's not to say there were no big moments. It did perform in Barack Obama's inauguration parade. Then there were the Sugar and Fiesta bowls. But Utah's band was eclipsed by Alabama's sheer size and sound at the Sugar Bowl.
Now it's up against bands that appear in movies. Seriously. USC'S contingent, called "The Spirit of Troy," gets over 700 requests a year. It has played the Chinese New Year celebration in Hong Kong, the Super Bowl, World Series and World Cup soccer. It has also performed in Australia and Brazil.
The USC musicians are sometimes referred to as "Hollywood's Band." That's not much of an exaggeration. Among their appearance credits: "Glee," "Conan," "Dancing with the Stars," "Forrest Gump" and "The Naked Gun." Guest performers or conductors have included Neil Diamond, Diana Ross, Ludacris and — get ready for this —John Philip Sousa, the granddaddy of all band leaders.
Similarly, UCLA's band is in two commercials (McDonald's and Honda). The Bruin band has performed in the Olympics, Hong Kong and been heard or seen in "Legends of the Fall" starring Brad Pitt, "In the Line of Fire" with Clint Eastwood and the Adam Sandler film "The Waterboy." It also has been featured on the Academy Awards, "The Gong Show," "Love Boat," CBS' "The Early Show" and NBC's "Today" show.
George Gershwin gifted the song "Strike Up the Band" to UCLA.
The Bruin band even has a juggler, which is a nifty alternative to baton twirlers, if you ask me.
If it's attention you want, this is the conference to do it. Cal's band ("The Pride of California") is over 100 years old and one of the few that employs the traditional (and difficult) high-step form. It has appeared on "Wheel of Fortune." The band's video game marching formations are nearly as entertaining as the real thing. Who needs Pac-Man?
Oregon's band goes by the fairly intimidating title of "The Wall of Sound." It's hard to imagine Dolby or THX not liking that.
Stanford's band is renowned for stunts like mooning its boxers at the crowd. You might see saxophone players wearing robot outfits or trumpeters dressed like giant pickles. And you'll always see band members marching around in white-and-red fishing hats.
Leland Stanford Junior University Marching Band (LSJUMB) has recorded 13 albums and has a 1,020-song repertoire. It performed 159 days last year — more days than the university held classes. It has entertained in China, New Orleans and played for the Queen of England.
It was actually a Pac-12 (Pac-10) game that featured the most prominent band moment in college football history: the 1982 Stanford-Cal game. Thinking the contest was over after a final kickoff, Stanford band members began marching onto the field. But the play hadn't been whistled dead and Cal players pitched the ball down field until they ended up in the Stanford end zone. The final exclamatory note came when a Cal player bowled over a Stanford marcher after scoring.
It was a moment in football and marching band history.
If I were Utah, I wouldn't worry too much about Stanford's quarterback, USC's tailback or even Oregon's wide receivers. I'd just stay up nights working on a bang-up version of "Stars and Stripes Forever."
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