MEAC/SWAC SPORTS MAIN STREET™: FAMU - BCU Bands battle in show like no other

ORLANDO, FL -- Legend says the ancient Scots marched into battle to the sound of Highland bagpipes within their ranks. The eerie, menacing sound of the pipes would pummel the enemy from as much as 10 miles away, instilling dread in foes long before the first clash of swords. But those Scotsmen might be quaking in their boots and kilts if they were here Saturday afternoon on the turf of the Citrus Bowl. It's halftime at the annual Florida Classic football game, and the Bethune-Cookman University Marching Wildcats are taking the field.

Sure, the Marching Wildcats will play a hip-hop hit -- Plies' "Who Hotter Than Me." But the song by the Tampa rapper boasts a defiant, martial beat, propelled by the brontosaurus stomp of the 'Cats tuba section and the Roman centurion blasts of the trumpets in the 275-member band. Forget the Scots. This is battle music that Orcs -- those monster dudes in "Lord of the Rings" -- would love.

Indeed, the Wildcat band is marching into battle. The foe: the Florida A&M University Marching 100. At the Florida Classic, the competition isn't just between the football teams of Bethune-Cookman and FAMU. "Come halftime, it's on," Marching Wildcat trumpeter Fletcher Harley said in rehearsals days earlier, a slight grin creeping into his game face. "You either put out or get put off the field."

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