Dangerous Games

I'm running something of a risky experiment.  I decided to cancel the pep band appearance at this Friday's football game.  My reasons include 1) possibility of rain (which actually, is getting less likely as Friday approaches :-/  2) The number of students that will be absent because of the Thanksgiving holiday (which is kind of true).  I probably could have scrounged up something of a band, but it would have been tiny.... I mean significantly smaller than our band is on a regular basis, which is pretty damn small for a high school band to begin with.  I mean you tell me: is it better to have no band at all, or an appearance by the musical equivalent of the Charlie Brown Christmas Tree?


I might get an inquiry from the administration, and I might get a few phone calls and e-mails from football parents - I'm prepared for that.  It certainly won't be enough to get me fired, and it's unlikely that it will result in any formal disciplinary action against me.  Unlikely.  I think.  So why am I doing this?  First and foremost, it's Thanksgiving... and my band has been faithfully appearing at the home games since the beginning of the year.  They deserve a break.  But secondly, I'm testing to see how the climate of the community has changed since the terror regime of Principal Palpatine, who attempted to use the band as a bargaining chip with the infamously influential football crowd.  Janeway appears to have no such ambition, and (so far) has been equally supportive of the music program as she is of athletics.  Appears to be.  So far.

It is also significant to note that our football team is far more successful now than they were during Palpatine's rule. The football parents are, I'm guessing, less desperate for public support.  Back in our mostly-losing years, the parents tended to complain about everything - the lack of general attendance at the games, the quality of the cheer program, the size of the band (and the lack of uniforms).  One parent, suggested to the AD that the school should require students to attend the games (because, you know, forcing someone to do something always generates enthusiasm).  Another mom wrote an angry letter to the cheer adviser, telling her that the team was losing because the cheerleaders failed at getting the audience appropriately hyped up (she offered to come in and give the girls a pep talk).
  With our current winning streak, the football parents have been (on average) more appreciative of the band presence - that's just a rough estimate based on the number of salutes and pats-on-the-back I get as people leave the stadium at the end of the game.

Early data from the experiment so far:

* Most of the people (staff) at the school who know about my decision don't seem overly concerned.  The Athletic Director just shrugged.  The only person who gave me grief was the cheer adviser - which is kind of funny because she's missing the game herself due to her own holiday plans (she's sending the girls with a chaperone :-/)

* The band itself is kind of split - some of the kids were happy to get their holiday weekend back, but some really wanted to go.

* As nice as it is that I get more time with my own family, I just might spend a lot of it worrying about the reaction to our absence.  I'm trying to beat those thoughts back with the security of knowing
that 1) I have rep to burn  2) Our appearance at the (very likely) following championship game will probably smooth everything out.  Probably.

Will let you know how that works out.