Ay-Ziggy-Zoomba.com

I was hashing things over with a few people the other day and we had a thought about pregame. We can all agree that we love our pregame the way it is but it feels as though something is missing.

One of the suggestions that came up that I REALLY liked was playing Beer Barrel in pregame. Reason being, many people don't stay for the ends of games anymore so the tradition of beer barrel is fading among the student population. Playing it in pregame could expose students to it a little more and give our pregame maybe thatlittle extra umph. On the other hand, many students aren't there for pregame anyways, which is really what started the whole conversation anyways.

Just wondering what other's thoughts are on this.

Can this involve fountains somehow?

Water makes the black sh!t in the new turf stick to everything, so I hope not.

Are you referring to doing it at the pre-game show (formerly known as the Field House Show) or during the actual pre-game?

Strouse wrote:Are you referring to doing it at the pre-game show (formerly known as the Field House Show) or during the actual pre-game?

The actual pregame.

I don't like this idea for 2 reasons.

1. Beer Barrel is an end of the game kind of song, and to me playing it in pregame just wouldn't seem to make sense.

2. Where would it go in pregame, and what would it replace?? Obviously you can't omit the fight song, alma mater, or Ay-Zig, so the only thing that leaves to get rid of is America. Correct me if I'm wrong (I may be, since I already forget the sequence of songs in pregame after only a year), but replacing America with Beer Barrel would result in Beer Barrel being played right before the National anthem. To me, that would seem a bit disrespecful. Not only that, but then the America drill has to be somehow reworked to fit Beer Barrel, and you lose the 45,90,45,90 stuff at the end of the drill. It just seems like a bad idea all around to me.

For once I think I'm actually agreeing with Lozer on this one. As much as I love Beer Barrel, it does not belong in Pre-Game, anywhere.

I overlooked Happy Days, however I don't think that makes much of a difference because Beer Barrel would take MORE time than Happy Days and America combined. Either way, Beer Barrel in pregame just is not a good idea.

We didn't see any reason that pregame has to be as short as it is. It has been reduced to less than 15 minute because of the AD I'm assuming. It used to be around 20 right? Beer Barrel is no more than 3-4 minutes giving us plenty of time to add it, and the visitor's fight song, into our current routine.


The reservation we all had was the fact that it was supposed to be a post game type of deal. our argument to that is that no one in BG really seems to care about post game outside of the band, the team, and about maybe less than 5,000 fans.

Just out of curiosity, considering that the time the FMB gets in pregame has been cut down, what makes you think that they would even consider letting the FMB have 3-4 more minutes to play beer barrel???

Even if they would give up the time, I will reiterate: Beer Barrel in pregame is a BAD idea.

If the fans don't want to stick around at the end of the game to listen to it, they're not going to want to leave their tailgating early to come hear it in pregame either!!

jlozer8 wrote:Just out of curiosity, considering that the time the FMB gets in pregame has been cut down, what makes you think that they would even consider letting the FMB have 3-4 more minutes to play beer barrel???

Even if they would give up the time, I will reiterate: Beer Barrel in pregame is a BAD idea.

If the fans don't want to stick around at the end of the game to listen to it, they're not going to want to leave their tailgating early to come hear it in pregame either!!

That was the other side of the debate. I don't belive its that people don't want to stick around to hear it, I belive that many fans don't even know we play it. I'm not in full support of the idea, it was argued about for quite a while amongst us with some very good and not so good reasons it could/could not be added. I was just wondering what side of the field other's fell on. I would really like to hear the opinions of "older" alumni on this also.

I LOVE the Beer Barrel. I love it so much I converted my mp3 of the 1995 FMB to my cell phone's ringtone. But you have to be retarded to put it in Pregame. I think we used to play it in between the 3rd and 4th quarter. What I love about the FMB playing Beer Barrel is the fact that we have so much fun playing and singing the song. It was like a little inside joke for just the band.

Pregame is about traditions and honoring your university and country. I guess that's just the high school band director mindset that Chief instilled in me.

tubachic wrote:I think we used to play it in between the 3rd and 4th quarter.

You would be correct.

Beer Barrel in pregame? Good intentions, Niz, but completely inappropriate. You're going to play Beer Barrel along side songs like the Alma Mater and the Star Speckled Banana? You can't compare Happy Days because that was a post WWII song.

Rightupinthere wrote:

tubachic wrote:I think we used to play it in between the 3rd and 4th quarter.

You would be correct.

Beer Barrel in pregame? Good intentions, Niz, but completely inappropriate. You're going to play Beer Barrel along side songs like the Alma Mater and the Star Speckled Banana? You can't compare Happy Days because that was a post WWII song.

Beer Barel was made famous all over the world during WWII

Sorry just arguing semantics.

Yes, pre-game was at one point approximately 20 minutes as opposed to the 15 it is now. I only remember that because we always started the entry sequence when the game clock hit 19:00. Part, and a strong emphasis on the word part, of the reason our time for pre-game is now 'shorter' is because the band would end up standing around for what seemed like days or years on end, waiting for the team to come out when we started at 19:00 minutes . Doc H saw no real reason for it, so now the band starts around 15:00ish and when the band finishes the tunnel, the team is either out and ready to come through OR is making their way to the doors to come out. Pre-game isnt really shortened by as much as you might think. By putting "patriotic fanfare" into pregame to make up for the amount of time that would be lost when the visitors fight song was removed, I'm fairly certain that pregame is still approximately the same amount of time that it was when I was a freshman, but I also admit that I could be wrong - what do you think Lozer?

I have to agree with the majority of those who have posted thus far. This thought of playing Beer Barrel during pre-game is most definitely inappropriate. Who cares if people don't stay after the game to hear it? They obviously are not as big of Falcon Fanatics as the rest of us that actually do stick around, so why cater to them? I also think that tubachic is right, pre-game is the time to show honor and respect for your school and country. I would also add that it is also the time to get all kinds of pumped up for the four quarters of football that are about to commence.

Beer Barrel is an end-of-the-game, celebratory song. The only time I've ever heard or played Beer Barrel outside of recording sessions and at the end of football games, was during the "Salute to Lou Marini" show because he wrote our arrangement of said song.

But anyhow, Win or lose, Beer Barrel is that song that says "hey go celebrate!" after a great Falcon victory or the song that says "hey its all good, we'll get'em next week!" after a not so great game - but it is definitely NOT a pre-game song...although I'm sure many of us do, in fact, 'pre-game' from time to time.

Keep it where it is. Word.