Observation Assignment

The scoreboard at Nelson Field is counting down the last few minutes before the start of the second half. The McCallum band finishes up their half-time performance. The band is made up of many people, moving around the football field on the same beat while playing their music with a big sound. McCallum also has their blue brigade and color guard with their big flags out on the field. They finish the performance and walk off the field with to all the parents in the stands clapping. Up next is Lanier's band. They walk onto the field and right away you can see a difference between the two bands, even before a single note is played. Compared to McCallum, Lanier's band is tiny. They probably have half the people that McCallum does, and the instruments the students are using don't look as nice. It is obvious if you just compare the two percussion sections. The McCallum percusion has about 12 members marching, all playing snare drums, bass drums, toms and cymbals. In "the pit", an area on the sidelines where percusionists are not marching, McCalum had about 12 more students, playing big keyboards and more cymbals and another bass drum along with some of the smaller percussion equipment. Lanier, however has only a few students playing snare drums and much smaller bass drums. When Lanier plays, the stadium seems to big for their small sound. It sounds like they are aways away instead of just six rows of bleachers down from me. As they walk off the field, all the football parents settle in for another half. The scoreboard indicates that the first half was good for the McCallum half of the stadium. 28-0 is the score as the Knights kicker starts off the second half. The second half starts off the same way the first half went. On the Vikings third play of the drive, a defensive linemen got pass the offensive line and brought the quarterback. After three plays McCallum is already set to get the ball back. The punt is a bad one, only moving the ball down about 25 yards. The stadium is not very electric at this point in the game, most likely because they see the path this game is going on. The stands are only full around the 50 yard line, with the exception of the band which is a little way out. The McCallum offense makes its way onto the field.