To specify the apparent: The NCAA Tournament is a huge operation. 67 video games in 14 cities, numerous trainee professional athletes, and numerous countless fans all zig-zagging throughout the country for a month to crown one winner. Behind the scenes and frequently off screen are thousands of more supporting cast members that make March Madness the finest postseason in American sports. From the arena team that prepare the structure and keep it humming on video game day, to the group fitness instructors that keep the professional athletes in peak health to complete.
As the buzzer sounded in Spokane Veterans Memorial Arena on Friday and Yale’s August Mahoney jumped onto the scorers table to commemorate the 13-seed Bulldogs distressing 4-seed Auburn, the Yale band tore through a performance of their battle tune “Bulldog.” It wasn’t till after the video game that lots of learnt the fact: the artists who simply rallied the Ivy League champs to probably their most significant win in school history were in fact from the University of Idaho.
The call pertained to Idaho’s band director Spencer Martin on Selection Sunday. Yale had actually double reserved their band– the Bulldogs just received the competition thanks to a little March magic in the Ivy League national championship. As Idaho was the host school for the Spokane video games, they were asked to action in. “It was the ideal storm since we had actually simply returned from the Big Sky competition in Boise where we supported our groups,” Martin informed SB Nation “I stated, ‘I believe we can do it.’ Therefore I simply connected to [the band]There were 29 of them that were offered.”
Idaho hasn’t reached the guys’s NCAA Tournament in 34 years, and the females’s group has actually just certified 3 times in the last 40. For many in the Vandal band, this was their only chance to see March Madness up close. “I saw the e-mail with the Google Doc resembling, ‘Hey, register for this,'” stated tenor saxophone gamer Mysti Smith, “and I resembled ‘Yes! I wish to go travel once again.’ I like taking a trip with the band.”
The Vandals (or Vandogs as they began calling themselves) found out the Yale battle tune an hour before they boarded the bus approximately Spokane on video game day. The rest of their collection– pumping their instruments like weights while screaming “Get swole!” and singing the whole of the SpongeBob SquarePants style throughout challenger complimentary tosses– that was all Idaho. “We’ve been sneakily weaving in lots of Vandal things and we simply alter it to Bulldogs or we do some bow-wowing and things like that,” stated Martin.
Came the upset: behind an enormous 28-point video game from junior John Poulakidas, Yale took down a possible title competitor in Auburn. A frenzied last ownership saw the Tigers get 4 chances to connect or win, however Yale dominated to make simply their 2nd NCAA Tournament win in school history and their most significant upset. “My very first response was I much better count off this battle tune genuine quickly,” stated Martin “It was simply remarkable.
