By Paige GuritzkyUSCRipsIt staff writer
As the Trojans make their way into the second half of the football season, they have spent a lot of time in foreign terrain. After being away from the Coliseum for four weeks, there is a lot of anticipation to get back home. Drum major Kenny Morris, who has been with the band and team every step of the way, shares his unique perspective of the football season so far and what it means to be coming back home.
"It's always great to come back to the Coliseum. It's where we know how we do things...it's our house. We protect it. The team loves it, the band loves it, and our fans love it. Only great memories. It's always great to return to that. All of the home game traditions are there like kicking the flagpole and doing rallies on campus, and of course my favorite part, when I get to go out and stab the field...everyone goes nuts! It's always great to return to something that is comfortable, something that you know."
Morris shares his thoughts on the tradition of stabbing the field before every game:
"The best part about it though, and this is where the band especially shines, is when I stab the field. Cal fans just hated it. It drove them crazy. The band really feeds off that energy. I understand that some Cal fans were upset about it and it's been brought to my attention that there are a few message boards that are trying to ban the stabbing of the field during the pre-show. It's not a way of insulting the other team...it's just what we do. We're Trojans. We claim the field for our team, for Trojans and for Troy."
If you want to catch one of the rallies on campus lead by the band on Game Day, they start two hours before kickoff at Heritage Hall. From there they march through the music school and over to the Alumni Rally in Founder's Park. After that, the band plays in front of Bovard Auditorium by the flagpoles and continues their march all the way to the Coliseum, where you can then see them take the field for the pre-game show.
• Paige Guritzky is a USCRipsIt staff writer. Be sure to check back in the coming weeks for more inside information on what it's like to be drum major at USC.
Photo courtesy of Timothy Lutes
