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Jamie Pollard continued his recent Tuesday trend of dropping major #PollardBombs today, when he held a joint press conference with President Wintersteen and ISU Police Chief Newton to announce plans to host the 2020 BET Marching Band Classic inside Jack Trice Stadium next spring.
While this news is sure to strike a chord with musicians in the eastern part of the state after recent events, Pollard believes there is no better place for marching bands than Jack Trice Stadium.
In a bold move the Stanford University marching band will be the headline show, just years after facing the wrath of Iowa lawmakers following their much too realistic representation of Iowa in the 2016 Rose Bowl.
The #Stanford band #FarmersOnly jab at Iowa is by far the most entertaining moment of the #RoseBowl thus far pic.twitter.com/DAamxeG36S
— Matt Crawford (@Metro_Matt) January 2, 2016
Iowa athletic director Gary Barta, who knows a thing or two about harassment, has used recent incidents as a reason for boycotting the upcoming classic. Many within the marching band circles believe it is Barta trying to find better, more high profile, competitions for the band around the country, though none actually exist.
While Iowa’s marching band expects things to go south during this event, many other bands still question their ability to operate a compass, real or moral.
Pollard: Security advised band to exit east through gate 1 like ISU band did. Iowa band left through west side of Jacobson Building “where there were thousands of people still…” trying to get out of stadium. Iowa band was playing instrumts marching into crowd, per Pollard.
— Chris Williams (@ChrisMWilliams) September 24, 2019
As a sign of solidarity, crowd favorite Atlanta A&T has agreed to play Iowa’s fight song, The Flight of the Bumblebee.
While the field is not completely set at this point, the competition is expected to be fierce. Pollard said he expects a war out there.
“With the elite level of bands we have, it is sure to be a fist fight out there,” Pollard told WRNL.
With Iowa State, Stanford and Atlanta A&T already committed the lineup is off to a good start, but it is looking like you can wave Iowa’s chances of participation good-bye.