The pictures of the Cal Band in the Cal-Utah Poinsettia Bowl Card made me think about the state of the Cal Band.

While I was watching the Rose Bowl parade and game, I couldn't help but compare my favorite college band to the band it was modeled after.  Check out this video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WHnxbmxVF6E.
The crispness, discipline, and overall "WOW!" factor showed by Ohio State makes the Cal Band look more like the LSJUMB than the OSUMB. 

Which Bay Area college band am I thinking of when I say that when they street march there are a half a dozen different groups doing different things at the same time?  The sousaphones and drum sections want to look different than the rest of the band by dressing differently.  On the field, there is a ton of twitching and moving around and even the formations are drawn so that not everyone makes it to their spots on time.

After the game, the OSU coach thanks their band.  Our coach tells our band to "shut up".

In the photo in the Bowl Card post, look at the Cal Band's bass drummers pants' cuffs.  In my day, they used to be hemmed the same as Ohio State's (the high water look that shows off the white spats)*.  This lack of attention to detail is what makes our band look sloppy, unimpressive to all but Cal fans, and ultimately kind of matches the performance of our football team. 
*check out these spats