Historically Black College Marching Bands

I love Script Ohio, I can not explain how much I appreciate dotting the “i”, but let’s be real. That iteration of marching band is your grandfather’s marching band. That is military inspired, European descended, practical marching band. American marching band shouldn’t be practical. So I hail Grambling and Southern Universities the most American marching bands in America.

I became aware of the Bayou Classic, and the more culturally significant Battle of the Bands around 1995 and I would say it forever made me covet my new standard of marching band bliss. Like I said, I totally get the Big-10 model marching band. It serves a purpose, but does it serve the purpose most Americans are looking for; to go totally freaking nuts at halftime. I don’t think so. I know that there are traditions that can not be replaced like Script Ohio, and the “World’s Largest Bass Drum,” and the faux Trojan armor of USC. I can concede that we are a nation that was “birthed” (in some people’s eyes) from the cultural stew of Western Europe, but I find that (a) misleading, and (b) incredibly dull. I appreciate the musical styling of a well versed marching band, but not as much as I like seeing a bunch of 18-22 year old kids go bananas having fun and playing music that is actually culturally significant to there audience.

I will leave the stodgy institutions of the bulk of this nation to uphold their traditions but as for me, I want to see high knee marching-pop music playing-drum major back-bending-head bobbing-cape wearing- splits doing-marching bands that still march glockenspiels… and a little character. After all what is more American than taking an accepted art form and molding into something that anyone can take something out of. This was a nation born from the hard work of “common men,” let’s start acting like it.

American Football

There is nothing more American than this picture

I am going to make my first post cover something I already love about America, American Football. Let me start by saying that I understand the game of football as the world plays it, or soccer to the rebellious American sports fan. I like the game, I even play on a casually-competitive soccer team. That being said…it isn’t American. I find it fitting that the way we describe “our” football is by labeling it American Football. I have come to believe that this is not only an indication of where the game originated, and is still mainly played. (Many would contend that our friends to the north are not actually playing the same game, I won’t go that far, but I don’t TiVo Edmonton Eskimo games either.) I believe the descriptor American identifies the core values of the sport as well, and this is why I love American Football. Let me run through the American aspects of our football that I love.

1. the tie – I realize that in the NFL a tie can occur, but it rarely does, and it seems that most people are fairly irate about it when it does. The idea of a tie is so ridiculous that some players (Donovan McKnabb) haven’t bothered to familiarize themselves with the rules of overtime. Here is the thing, there is nothing less American than a tie. This is a nation driven by winning. Winning what you may ask. It doesn’t matter, but someone must win. How will we know who should feel shame, how will we decide who is allowed to gloat? If we don’t have a winner and a loser then who will tweet the week following the game. Ties are European!

2. 6 points for a touchdown – When we are scoring in multiples of 3,6 and 7 the scores can pile up pretty quickly. Welcome to America. The land of 100,000,000 point pin ball scores could not begin to imagine devoting 3 hours to a 1-nil or Lord help us all a nil-nil draw. If I am going to sit down to watch a game I want to know that the St. Louis Rams are going to be embarrassed, but I’d like to see them score 17 points in the process.

3. the Raiders – In the great states of our great nation there still remains a bastion of hope for everyone. If you tell people that you have a “commitment to excellence” you too can own an NFL franchise, run it into the ground, and no one will say a word about it. Al Davis may be the finest example on American freedom. If you can find a way to make a pile of money, you can do whatever you want to  with it. There are no limits (within reason.) Don’t injure anyone, harm any animals, kill people, employ children, or generally abuse your rights as a human and we will let you go crazy. It’s amazing. If we are honest probably 60% of the US population could run the Raiders better than Al Davis…but your not Al Davis, and this is America. Ineptitude doesn’t disqualify you from anything.

American Football, I love you. I will continue to fantasy play you, I will continue to watch the Lions on Thanksgiving (because I’m American) and I will continue to believe that this is the year that the chiefs won’t take an over-rated defensive lineman with the first pick. Because, as our president Barack Obama said “In the unlikely story that is America, there’s never been anything false about hope.”

Day 1 – An Explanation

So, I am off on a mission. A mission, not to become a patriot, but to at least become a tiny bit more patriotic. Over the next 365 I am going to study what exactly it means to be American. A few months ago I came to the conclusion that I culturally understood what it meant to be Mongolian more than I did to be American. I’m not saying that I don’t live as a cultural American, but I don’t think I have ever put any thought into the social and traditional mores that brought us to the United States of America that we live in in 2010.

My Road Map

That is where this blog comes into place. I am going to spend my free time (now that I’m not reading 50 books) to listen to the music that exemplifies America, be it Copland, LeRoy Anderson, or Charles Ives. I am going to read the greats of American Literature from Steinbeck to Twain. I will look at the great inventions and cultural contributions.  Through all of these things, and many others, I am hoping to get a handle on what it really means to be an American. I know this is a broad and complicated issue, but hopefully I can scratch the surface. Those things being said, I have undertaken a reference book on the very topic of American Literacy.

The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy: What Every American Needs to Know is my starting point for the road ahead. I am going to approach this task from an academic view. This book will be my foundation and should provide me with a base of information I need to get the job done.