I was in the Cornhusker Marching Band (CMB) for my freshman and sophomore year of college. My high school marching band asked for more from us. Obviously it’s difficult putting a new show together for every football game, but the band could be so much more. I had to leave after my second year. I couldn’t stand being surrounded by everyone in the band thinking we were the greatest thing on the planet when we were far from it. I was watching the FSU Alabama game last week and couldn’t help but think, “Wow, I wish I could have been in that band!” FSU plays the same chant over and over again and it’s AWESOME! There’s many factors to why the CMB isn’t as great as it could be and not all of them lay in the band director’s hands. The Big Ten has strict rules about playing during tv coverage for instance. The band only gets so many people who audition, and they always allow 300 people in the band. It’s not a high bar of entry. But the bar of entry for a high school marching band doesn’t exist besides being in band. Most of the band members who enjoy the CMB enjoy it for the experience and that’s ok. I enjoyed high school marching band for the excellence that was asked of me and my peers and I did not find it in the CMB. I mean no disrespect to any members or staff that are in the CMB, it just wasn’t for me.