as mentioned last week here on richyrocks.com, my alma mater, the university of iowa hawkeyes played in the rose bowl on new year’s day. it was a wholly unenjoyable event for hawkeye fans from start to finish, including halftime when the stanford band trolled hawkeye fans with a tipsy looking cow, jokes about iowans being farmers and a skit based on the dating website farmersonly.com.
i’ve seen more than one post by angry hawkeye supporters pointing out that iowa produces more pigs than cows. that may be true, but the boos generated by two drunk stanford students stumbling around the field in a tandem hog costume would have been equal to or greater than what the clumsy cow got.
Glad you liked our corn show, Iowa! Couldn't tell, was that booing or mooing? #imsosorry #1dayfromretirement
— Stanford Band (@lsjumb) January 2, 2016
had i been in the stadium, i would have booed too. if u weren’t pissed off about what was happening in the game, down 35-0 at halftime, u probably aren’t a very passionate hawkeye fan. then these sumbitches come out with their frickin farmer jokes. but like the stanford band account tweeted, boo does sound a lot like moo when hollered in a stadium. fuckers burned us with a cow joke twice. if the stanford band did indeed plan it that way, it was their cleverest trick of the afternoon.
You wanted Stanford Band, and instead you got STANFORD BANNED! https://t.co/93vQ4qe2ij pic.twitter.com/pYmKv9Kekb
— SB Nation GIF (@SBNationGIF) January 2, 2016
espn’s coverage of what happened was awkward like that eminem interview where kirk herbstreit didn’t know what to do with his hands. the producer got spooked. “pan out! pan out! aerial shot of pasadena. the pageantry of the rose bowl exists in a bubble void of humor and emotion.”
in espn’s defense, it was a pretty gosh darn messy halftime show. who could really be expected to explain this hodgepodge to the diverse audience watching the rose bowl nationally and internationally? not kirk herbstreit, for fucksake. it was an inside joke told sloppily by buzzed college students.
man, that’s alright too. in the iowa city i remember, it would not have been hard at all to find a bunch of pumped-up locos to run out on the field and do a bunch of random shit after enjoying beer bongs and bong hits for several hours beforehand. we woulda felt proud and laughed our asses off too.
but espn may be to blame for not making a better produced version of what happened available to the world, because based on what’s currently available on youtube and elsewhere, the images these young musicians created to accompany the music are as sloppy as their storytelling. oh. that’s a farmer? and that’s a corn maze? well super job! they really give clarity to your satire, stanford band kids!
heck of a lot of fun energy, but muddled. the stanford band’s defining cultural moment remains their role as the dumbasses who helped the cal kick return team go the final 15 yards to glory during “the play” in 1982.
what do u think? was the stanford band’s performance funny? did iowa fans overreact? share your comments under leave a reply
