Pastides told the Board of Trustees on Friday that he plans to form a committee to review the school's marching band. There have been concerns from fans about the strength of the band in comparison to those of other universities.
Thank goodness someone finally wants to make the band better. Our marching band represents our school every time they perform, both at Williams-Brice and during away games around the country, so it's great that university officials are looking for improvement. We're not saying that USC's is the absolute worst band in the SEC, but they're definitely not the best. Seeing bands from small-time football schools like Furman and SC State constantly outperform us is embarrassing. If you're going to call yourself "The Mighty Sound of the Southeast," you need to live up to that name.
With weapons on both sides of the ball and a solid recruiting class this year, our football team has a promising future ahead of it and fans have strong faith in their team. If in the next few seasons, USC can prove itself to be BCS bowl caliber, so should its marching band, especially since those games receive national television coverage. The band's performance at halftime should reflect the team's performance during the game, and as the team continues to improve, so should the band. We hope to see results from Pastides' new committee, and we want 2011 to be the best season of Gamecock football we've seen here at USC. For that to happen, all aspects of the Carolina football experience must be held to the highest standard — the team, the fans, and yes, the band.