Editor:

I am very disappointed how the Cougar Marching Band performs. Actually, I would not classify the band as a marching band, but rather a concert band with music attached to their instruments. The drum crew performs without music sheets, why can’t the rest of the band? All you have to do is watch how the UI Band performs, and you will see a true marching band.

My Hawthorne High School Band performed pieces at parades, special events, and home and away football games. They always performed different pieces that were exciting and energetic. While performing they were marching all over the area without pausing. They moved quickly and always in rhythm together as they marched.

By the way, they were 14-18 years old.

When I began classes at WSU in 1965, the Cougar band performed just like my high school band. The Cougar band had always been terrific until about the 1990s, when they gradually began to perform more like a concert band with their music in front of them. WSU Pep Band once made the UW Pep band look elementary. Today, it is the other way around.

The music the band played last week would be music I would like to hear at a concert, not on a football field. I do not want to hurt feelings. I just want to see Cougar spirit played out like it did in the past.

You are all very talented, so go for it.

Gary Johnson

Pullman Resident