NCAAbbs

The MOB is back! Great show by the MOB....probably their best in 15 years!

Yes, I applaud the MOB's performance, not only at halftime, but although their spirited play throughout the game. Well done.

Great graphics on the Jumbotron too. I haven't seen the opposing fans boo the MOB since the Aggies used to do it back in the SWC days.

I thought it was a great show as well.

The reaction to the MOB on their rivals board is priceless. As were the boos. Oklahoma aggy?

Yes, the show was priceless!

Major Props to the MOB!

Is the MOB a 503C organization and can you easily make donations to the fedora crowd? If so, where, how?

It was a funny MOB halftime. The jokes were funny, the songs appropriate. The Tulsa fans seemed to organize a "boooo".
If the Tulsa fans really think they should be insulted, they should get a clue. Laugh a little, in the spirit of Don Rickles.
There was nothing you haven't heard before. It was simply a joke.
After all you really get the last laugh ... for now. You have TG and your team won the conference title. Enjoy it, while you can. You'll be looking for a new coach soon enough.

"I never give them hell. I just tell the truth and they think it's hell."

-- Harry S Truman

I like the outrage at TG = douchebag, but the apparent acceptance of Tulsa = hell.

LOL yeah I can't believe the MOB even had to state the obvious fact that Tulsa = hell.

What a bunch of whiney babies from Tulsa. The only other group that gets their panties in such a wad over the MOB are the Aggies. Great company, there, Tulsa fans.

When will the script be posted to the MOB web site?

When will the halftime performance be posted on YouTube?

There have been one or two shows along the way that really got the Arkansas fans riled way up. But your point is well taken.

For those of us who had to spend the afternoon in remote parts of the world, what did the MOB do?

Agreed. Synopsis, please!

I have so much respect and love for the MOB this year, as our counterparts at home basketball games.

For those who missed it, we'll try to have the full script up next week.

We did a spoof of looking through Dante's Hell for Todd Graham.

1st Segment: Started in the 2nd Circle, where the adulterers were. No sign of Todd Graham, but "Your Mom" told us to go lower. Played YMCA.

2nd Segment: Went to the 4th Circle, home of the greedy and avaricious. No Todd Graham, but we found torn up bits of his Rice contract leading like breadcrumbs into the depths...and being picked up by Dennis Franchione. Played Sell Out.

3rd Segment. Went to the 8th circle (technically, 8th circle Malebolgia 2)...home of the flatterers, who were "wallowing in donkey dung". But Todd Graham had gone farther down, because even they were sick of his BS. Played Cotton-Eyed Joe.

4th Segment. Went to the 9th Circle, home of traitors. No sign of TOdd Graham. We ask Satan, who tells us he's even further down...in the 10th circle. He leads us to a blacked door with a sign with 3 frightening words. Welcome. To. Tulsa. Louie and out.

The show was based on the nine circles of hell in The Divine Comedy - Dante's Inferno. It described a descent into Hell seeking Todd Graham.

They didn't find him in the first circle, but didn't expect to because those residents had spines.

They looked in the second circle (adulterers) but didn't find him. They did find a woman who knew him. Tulsa fans took this as an accusation the TG's mother was an adulterer. I'm not sure who they were talking about.

They looked in the fourth circle (greed), but didn't find him there

They looked in the eighth circle (liars and frauds) but didn't find him there.

They were sure they would find him in the ninth circle (traitors), but no luck, so they asked Satan, who told us that TG had been confined to the even-lower hitherto unknown tenth level. To approach that level, our searchers found a flame-blackened door with a three word inscription - "Welcome to Tulsa".

Then, in closing the PA announcer managed to refer to TG as a "douchebag".

The joke was a "Your Mom" joke. Just a regular old your mom joke. Admittedly, it was quite an elegant setup and came out of nowhere, which is where the best your mom jokes come from.

At least, that's what your mom said last night...

That's awesome. Thanks for the recap. It also sounds like some of the accusations from the DU fans (that the MOB called TG an adulterer, that his mother was insulted) are simply the result of them not understanding the English language. Shocking.

For some reason, an old SNL presidential debate skit with Chevy Chase playing Gerald Ford comes to mind where Chase is all flustered because the question involves some probabilities and Chase says something along the lines of "I was told there would be no math questions in the debate." That image comes to mind when Tulsa fans are being told the halftime was a spoof of Dante's Inferno ("I was told there would be no reading necessary...").

Nice! I wish that I had been there. I played clarinet with the MOB from 1993-96, and I don't think I can remember anything edgier from my time (although we did have the "Beavis & Butthead" bit with the Aggie fight song in Austin in '93...).

Yes, on top of being incredibly touchy, Tulsa fans simply do not have a good grasp of English. The MOB show spoke of Graham in the third person ("the MOB went looking for Todd Graham"), but the "your mom" joke was done in the second person. Clearly, they were not talking about Graham's mother. It was a randomly-placed "your mom" joke--nothing more, nothing less.

As for referring to Graham as "douchebag," I note that that, too, was done in the third person. As an epilogue while the MOB was running off the field, the MOB announcer said something like:

"A rabbi, a nun, and a priest walk into a bar. I can't remember what the punchline is, but I'm pretty sure it involves Todd Graham being a douchebag."

Again, it's just silly, random humor. Well played, MOB!

At least when the UH fans get upset at the MOB, it's usually because somebody pulls the plug on the PA and they can't hear the script. This one was read in plain English, and augmented by a giant scoreboard in the north endzone.

Bravo. Bravo.

Also, in an answer to a question asked near the top of the thread, you can make your tax-deductible donation to The MOB through the normal Rice donation channels -- just explicitly instruct that your donation is for The MOB and/or Rice Bands (and not the general fund).

I'll also make audio recordings of the announcer portion of the script on CD for anyone who donates $50 or more. PM me if interested.

By far the best MOB show in years. Every now and then it's good to have a show the Rice folks laugh at and the opponents just hate.

I was told that if you hold your breath, all of your wishes will come true.

Never happen. You realize though, what you are doing right now is exactly why this will go down as a great performance? Honestly, some kind of official sanction of the MOB would probably make them proud... but not nearly as much as watching this.

Having read a description of the show (and being an english major) the divine comedy stuff sounds very funny. I can really appreciate that kind of humor (tulsa fan seems incapable of this). Doesn't hurt that it was a lil cold and miserable today too...

Kudos to anyone who was watching football in this weather today.

I didn't know "wanton" was permitted in Tulsa. TulsaFan will probably be looking for a new home.

tulsa

TU fans hate Rice more than they love Tulsa.

And Rice is their Super Bowl... Halftime Show.

I will add my kudos to the MOB. You delivered a great show today. Best show I have seen from you guys in years. Long live the MOB!!!

According to teasips, "Oklahoma aggy" is the team that just got walloped by the paperclips.

Riiiiiggghhht, and you do?

Coming back from Boston, where it was 20 degrees when I left, this weather was positively balmy once the rain stopped.
The MOB show was as hilarious as it had been cracked up to be all season by my friends and acquaintances in the MOB (even though none of us in the student section could figure out why YMCA was played when it was). The inclusion of "Sell Out" into the MOB's repertoire, which I first noticed at a basketball game, made me (and the others who know the song who were standing around me) incredibly happy (made better by the fact that I imagine few in the Tulsa section knew the song, or they would probably be throwing a hissy fit about it now). This show bought the MOB a lot of goodwill among those students who usually grumble about the MOB (for those who weren't there, the MOB got cheers and applause and whatnot from the student section when they came over to play "Louie Louie" after the halftime show, more support than I've ever seen for the MOB at a football game). And the show was so funny, the last joke wasn't even really necessary, it was like the profane little cherry on top that made it all the more memorable. Can't wait to send the link for the script to my Mom (Jones '73) who used to tell me stories of the MOB's glory long before I was even thinking about college.

edit: This show was well worth any potential fine, and if y'all need some help paying it, don't be shy about letting us know on the board here. I know I'm willing to chip in an entrance fee and I bet my Rice-grad relatives would pony up a bit too after hearing the whole story and seeing the script or a youtube video. Tulsa can whine all it wants, if they had brought their band, I would've watched respectfully. Maybe Rice fans just know how to take an insult or, I dunno, a joke (we've certainly had to put up with a fair amount of it from the likes of UT, Tech, Houston, etc.)...

Seriously, are you this stupid? The mom bit was brought up in the second circle. Gosh.

Well given that there was no reference to Graham's mother, Tulsa fans should have found it half very funny, right?

From reading the Tulsa threads, here, it's fairly obvious that they either weren't personally at the game, didn't watch the halftime show, or simply missed the point. The Tulsa fans I saw at the game getting riled up over the halftime show were most upset over the "Sellout" segment, rather than the "Your Mom" joke that they seem to be focusing on currently. I noticed at least one Tulsa fan shouting "He never signed the contract" over and over again during the playing of "Sellout".

Also, for the record (I can't post this on their forums, as there's a minimum two day waiting period before posting, but they've been speculating that there were only 200 Rice fans and 1000 Tulsa fans at the game), the official attendance was 11742, according to Rice Athletics

Hey, welcome to the Parliament!

As far as the Tulsa rivals boards go, you'll also notice that they bash a Tulsa fan for pointing out that their defense gave up 700+ yards to us today and that their D might just be a problem in the CUSA title game. Logic be damned.

As far as the show goes, I was most amused by that one lone guy who was yelling "Rice sucks" and trying to defend Toad's honor. I was running around in a circle on the field, but I think he was the one looking silly.

I just want to say, as a UAB fan: Our loss to you at your place was painful, saddening, and depressing. It has now been made even more so because the MOB didn't do anything near this original and funny about Watson during halftime of the game. Shame on you MOB for missing a great opportunity... SHAME ON YOU!

There's a few differences between Brown's situation and Graham's situation at Rice:

1. When Brown left Rice, he was completely honest about the situation. He didn't try to pull any tricks with his contract buy-out, and he didn't sign an extension just a couple of days before he left.

2. Brown hadn't brought any great success to Rice; the team went 4-18 in his two seasons as coach. When he left for Vanderbilt, the general attitude was, "Well, if they want a 4-18 coach that badly..." (a sentiment that UAB perhaps should have had before it hired him).

3. Perhaps most importantly, it had been 21 years since Brown had left. Virtually no one in athletics was around who had any memory of him (and most of the few that were left were fired by Graham when he was hired). It would've been like playing Georgia Tech and doing a halftime show slagging on Homer Rice....

I am getting a few private messages complaining about Tulsa fans although to be honest, I don't think it's horrible and I think Rice fans here need to be mindful that the banter back and forth has been pretty intense the past week. I don't see any additional reason to take action from a moderator standpoint.

However in an attempt to deflect some of the posts, can I suggest to Tulsa fans that if you're that upset, you send your comments directly to the MOB? Their website for their forum is https://mob.rice.edu/forum/

Bylaws are bylaws, and the NCAA expects that you follow them, regardless of what aspect of the program they cover. Perhaps this is a lack of institutional control by Rice over their 'band'.

No such luck, stannous. If you had taken 30 seconds to search the NCAA bylaws (as I did - really, it's not that hard), you would find the word 'band' mentioned in the Division 1 bylaws exactly 4 times. Thought you might enjoy seeing where the NCAA has jurisdiction here (I'll make it easy for you and other fanatics):


13.4.2.1 Highlight Film/Videotape/Audio Tape.

An institution may show a highlight film/videotape/audio tape to a prospective student-athlete or the prospective student-athlete's coach but may not send it to or leave it with the prospective student-athlete or coach. Highlight films/videotapes/audio tapes are "game clips" that contain informational material that is related to a particular event or sports season. Any narration on the highlight film/videotape/audio tape must relate specifically to the event or sports season. Highlight films/videotapes/audio tapes may include only clips of actual athletics contests and activities that occur on the day of the contest that are directly related to the contest (e.g., pre-game player introductions, half-time band and cheerleader performances, locker-room talks, crowd reactions, sideline coaching staff activities, post-game on-field award presentations). The highlight film may not include clips of other activities that are only indirectly related to the contests (e.g., team travel, team meals, entertainment activities, practice activities, institutional facilities). (Adopted: 1/11/94 effective 8/1/94; Revised: 2/22/01)

Associated Enforcement Cases
Major Cases: 1

Associated Proposals
Proposals: 1


13.7.2.5 Visit Unrelated to Recruitment.

The limitations on providing entertainment to a prospective student-athlete shall not extend to a visit to the institution's campus for a purpose having nothing whatsoever to do with the prospective student-athlete's athletics recruitment by the institution (e.g., band trip, fraternity weekend, athletics team's attendance at a sporting event with the high school coach). The institution's athletics department or representatives of its athletics interests may not be involved in any way with the arrangements for the visit, other than providing (in accordance with established policy) free admissions to an athletics event on a group basis, rather than personally to the prospective student-athlete.

Associated Enforcement Cases
Major Cases: 0

Associated Proposals
Proposals: 0

13.15.2.5 Use of Bands Comprised of Prospective Student-Athletes.

An institution may hire a band (e.g., marching band, pep band) comprised of prospective student-athlete-aged individuals to perform at its regular season home contests and/or postseason home or away-from-home contests, provided the band is paid commensurate with the going rate in that locale for similar services and the organization providing the band is located within 150 miles of the competition site. (Adopted: 11/1/01 effective 8/1/02)

Associated Enforcement Cases
Major Cases: 0

Associated Proposals
Proposals: 0

31.1.8 Logo Restrictions -- Noncompeting Participants.

The logo restriction on student-athletes' apparel set forth in Bylaw 12.5.4 shall apply to commercial logos on uniforms worn by band members, cheerleaders, dance team members and the institution's mascot during NCAA championship events. (Adopted: 8/11/98 effective 8/1/99)

Associated Enforcement Cases
Major Cases: 0

Associated Proposals
Proposals: 0

In Tulsa, they think divine comedy is Larry the Cable Guy.

Well said, Optimistic.

I wouldn't exactly call what transpired this week as Rice fan knowing "how to take an insult or, I dunno, a joke"

The MOB show sounds funny, wish I had seen it in person.

Yes, finally we are recognized as one of the most liberal universities even it is by a bunch of tards who still think w is doing a great job. I thought we were commies, damn it! That Tulsa thread is worth the read. I am officially changing all references to them from tcu light to douchebag U. God I wish they played baseball! They get us pretty good on the game turnout though (2000 might have been high). I applaud the MOB as well- it is good to have you back from wherever the hell you went to in the last century.