My lovely wife Dianne is a Longhorn. I took her to an Austin College football game for the first time about 20 years ago. Her first impression?
“Where the heck is the band?”
Haha. Come on now hon. This ain’t the 40 acres with its “Showband of the Southwest.” This is Division 3 my love.
Funny thing though. Austin College has a lot of Band history. No, for
real! I’m serious! The Austin College Band? It was a THING.
The November 9, 1924 Houston Post featured a large number of stories on
its Sports Page #1. Red Grange ran wild against Amos Alonzo Stagg.
Knute Rockne chalked up another win on the way to a Notre Dame national
title. Baylot beat the Longhorns in the first ever game at DKR.
But front and center of Page #1? The Austin College Band.
The band had made the long journey from Sherman to Houston to perform
at the AC-Rice football game. John Heisman (he of the Heisman trophy)
and his Owls had just defeated the mighty Longhorns of UT the week
before, but were no match for the Kangaroos. AC defeated Rice by a
score of 6-2; maybe the difference was the Austin College Band in the
stands.
I got word today that Austin College is forming a Pep
Band. Man, that is great. See the comments. There’s nothing like a
good band to get a fan base pumped up. As a kid raised in College
Station, I know that better than most.
Good luck AC Pep Band! Believe it or not, you are the continuation of a long and sporadic Austin College tradition.
And yeah, will the Austin College Band be a Roo Tale one day? You bet. Roos band together.
