People who are accustomed to seeing me on football gamedays over the past three years (probably more like 6 years) know that I’ve been very dedicated to Badger Pregame Parties. From my e-mails, all the way down to the caliber of my 7:00 AM breakfast/bloody mary hour, a lot has been expected of me. However, when Dave and I were enjoying a 5th Quarter in fabulous Las Vegas after the Badgers/UNLV game last Fall and I made a comment how awesome it would have been to be in the UW Drumline, he responded, “why don’t you give it a shot?” So I did. I tried out with all the other freshman and after undoubtedly the hardest week of my life (aka “Reg Week”) I am now the oldest freshman in the UW Marching Band – quite a unique way to spend my fifth year of college. Although a lot of people (including Tequila Dan) miss the pregame parties I used to throw, aside from being a lot more work than drinking and eating brats before the games, my gamedays as a Cymbal player have a relatively similar schedule to my gamedays as your average pregame partier. Here are the differences…
|
Partying Gameday
|
UW Marching Band Gameday
|
|
|---|---|---|
| 5:30 AM | Still passed out | Wake up |
| 5:45 AM | Still passed out | Arrive at Camp Randall with Bagels that I brought for the upperclassmen because I’m a “freshman” |
| 6:00 AM | Still passed out | Begin Drumline music rehearsal |
| 6:30 AM | Wake up, put on Euro Trunks, blast Jump around, and wake up roommates. | Drumline plays football on Camp Randall field |
| 7:00 AM | Warren, Matt, and Lee have typically already arrived before I’m even out of the shower. Bloody Mary Hour begins. | Entire Band rehearsal begins |
| 8:00 AM | Bloody Mary Hour ends | Band rehearsal ends |
| 8:30 AM | Flip cup commences and/or Peter takes four-beer beer bong | Drumline begins playing “rounds” (playing cadences at bars in exchange for cases of beer) |
| 9:30 AM | Mom and Dad arrive at Party bearing cheesy potatoes and brats. I try to hide inebriation. | End rounds, head to Union South. |
| 10:00 AM | Tequila Dan serves hundreds of brats to the masses, while my mom serves pounds of cheesy potatoes. | Begin concert at Union South. |
| 10:30 AM | Lose Yourself is played and David dances on back porch. | Play cadences into Camp Randall |
| 10:45 AM | Party approaching drunken peak. | Begin Pregame and Run on Show |
| 11:00 AM | Leave for game | Game begins |
| 11:05 AM | Light cannons outside of Camp Randall | |
| 11:15 AM | Enter Camp Randall |
So maybe they’re not that similar… at all. However, I’m having just as much fun, albeit a very different kind of fun. I’ve already been quoted in the Wausau Daily Herald too.
I find it funny that the bloody mary hour exactly coincides with band rehersal. Who knew?!
Question…for the night games, aka for The Ohio State when I come in 2.5 weeks, do you still have the same morning schedule with the 5:30am wakeup?
Another ironic coincidence is that now that I’m in band, me starting to drink directly coincides with me taking a nap on my previous gameday schedule. Also, for night games, I’m pretty sure that I’ll still have a very early wake up call, but I may have a bit of a break in the afternoon.