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neonvincentNow for the first of more videos from 1979. Today's show is very similar to My performances in the UCLA Band #5: UCLA vs. Stanford halftime with the substitution of "What a Fool Believes" for "Running on Empty" in the GAS? to GA$ sequence. I think "Running on Empty" was the better choice although I like how the routine for "Running on Empty" worked better. Also, I the band and announcer were better able to be heard performing in front of a friendly crowd than the hostile one at Stanford (at least they didn't chant "FUCLA" like Cal and USC did; Stanford's fans weren't that organized).
The band's performance wasn't what was most memorable about this game. Instead, it was the environmental conditions. Note that this was a day game, but there is no sunlight. This game also was played in early fall, too late for a coastal cloud deck yet too early for rain. What could create the overcast? I'll explain that after the video.
The one thing that can produce overcast like this in southern California during summer and early fall is fire. When this game took place, there were forest and brush fires all around Los Angeles, large enough to completely cover the sky even in the middle of the city. Worse yet, ash was falling out of the sky like snow. It was depressing and foreboding, the kind of day that fits my description of Southern California that I tell my students: "364 days a year the weather is beautiful and the people are too, so everyone forgets that one day a year, everything goes to Hell." Things were going to Hell that day.
The pall of smoke over L.A. even affected the cheerleaders. During the 1970s, one of UCLA's Yell Leaders was a grad student nicknamed "Frisbee." His traditional cheer was a bit of call and response prop comedy. He'd hold aloft a football and ask the students "Is this a football?" They would answer, "Yes, that's a football!" He'd point at the field and ask "Is that a field?" "Yes, that's a field!" the students would reply. Then he'd point at the visiting team and ask "Is that the loooosing team?" "Yes that's a loooosing team!" the students respond. "Are we the winning team?" "Yes, we're the winning team!" "Are we the Bruins?" "Yes, we're the Bruins!" He'd conclude with UCLA's traditional cheer, an 8-clap. At the start of this game, Frisbee inserted this comment on the weather. Between pointing at the field and the away team (OSU clobbered UCLA that day, so they weren't the losing team), he pointed at the sky and asked "Are we sick of this?" "Yes, we're sick of this," the students answered. I don't recall that happening at any other UCLA game I attended.
Next up, the Stanford pregame. Stay tuned.
The band's performance wasn't what was most memorable about this game. Instead, it was the environmental conditions. Note that this was a day game, but there is no sunlight. This game also was played in early fall, too late for a coastal cloud deck yet too early for rain. What could create the overcast? I'll explain that after the video.
The one thing that can produce overcast like this in southern California during summer and early fall is fire. When this game took place, there were forest and brush fires all around Los Angeles, large enough to completely cover the sky even in the middle of the city. Worse yet, ash was falling out of the sky like snow. It was depressing and foreboding, the kind of day that fits my description of Southern California that I tell my students: "364 days a year the weather is beautiful and the people are too, so everyone forgets that one day a year, everything goes to Hell." Things were going to Hell that day.
The pall of smoke over L.A. even affected the cheerleaders. During the 1970s, one of UCLA's Yell Leaders was a grad student nicknamed "Frisbee." His traditional cheer was a bit of call and response prop comedy. He'd hold aloft a football and ask the students "Is this a football?" They would answer, "Yes, that's a football!" He'd point at the field and ask "Is that a field?" "Yes, that's a field!" the students would reply. Then he'd point at the visiting team and ask "Is that the loooosing team?" "Yes that's a loooosing team!" the students respond. "Are we the winning team?" "Yes, we're the winning team!" "Are we the Bruins?" "Yes, we're the Bruins!" He'd conclude with UCLA's traditional cheer, an 8-clap. At the start of this game, Frisbee inserted this comment on the weather. Between pointing at the field and the away team (OSU clobbered UCLA that day, so they weren't the losing team), he pointed at the sky and asked "Are we sick of this?" "Yes, we're sick of this," the students answered. I don't recall that happening at any other UCLA game I attended.
Next up, the Stanford pregame. Stay tuned.
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