State Fair Classic: Prairie View A&M 35, Grambling State 32

Prairie View A&M gets first win over Grambling State since 1986

The clock was ticking down, and the Prairie View A&M players were jumping. The program had waited a long time to celebrate against Grambling State. So when the game officially ended with The Panthers on top, 35-32, they stormed the field and tossed up a banner in the rain. Horns blared. Quarterback K.J. Black waved a golden champions belt. For the first time since 1986, Prairie View (2-1) had defeated Grambling (2-3), and this wasn't a celebration. This was catharsis, soaking-wet catharsis.

"People here have been waiting on this a long time," Black said. Black fooled them Saturday at the Cotton Bowl's State Fair Classic. He fooled everyone. His fake, one that hadn't worked all game, sealed the victory. It was fourth-and-1 with 1:22 to go. The Panthers needed a foot. Run it up the middle, right? Instead, coach Henry Frazier called a play that would let Black decide his team's fate. He took the snap with the option to hand off the ball or run it outside. Black saw a linebacker coming and sprinted outside for a major gain. No one saw it coming. "That was all K.J.," Frazier said. Black capped off his big day after running for two touchdowns and throwing for two more.



GSU loses to Prairie View

DALLAS — Greg Dillon did what Greg Dillon does against Prairie View. It just wasn't enough this time, as Prairie View won an historic State Fair Classic, 35-32. The Panthers hadn't beaten Grambling State since 1986 --- and had only bested its Southwestern Athletic Conference divisional rival 11 times since 1950. "The ball bounces a lot of different ways, and that has determined the winner," Grambling coach Rod Broadway said. "Prairie View has been good since we've been here."

Last year, Dillon secured the starting position in GSU's dominating win at the State Fair Classic. He found his long-lost rhythm again against these Panthers --- exploding for 293 yards and 3 touchdowns, two in the air and one on the ground. But Prairie View had this game in hand from the first, jumping out to a two-score lead, and only briefly falling behind as Grambling came alive in the third-period to make it interesting with three quick scores. "If you want to be the champs," Prairie View coach Henry Frazier said, as GSU's players silently filed off the field, "then you have to beat the champs."



State Fair Classic Attendance: 42,786 @ Cotton Bowl, Dallas, Texas

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Prairie View Agricultural and Mechanical University Marching Storm Band @ State Fair Classic 10/3/09, Dallas, Texas

Obama's Inauguration Parade Guide

There will be over 10,000 people marching all together, representing all 50 states. Based on Florida A&M University Marching 100 Band first division placement in the lineup, no doubt the hundred is the best band in the nation. It is the first marching band after Barack and Michelle Obama's alma maters.

FAMU Marching 100 Band --420 members

Here is the complete line up (as of last night) with the HBCU Bands highlighted:

Representatives from the US Army, United States Military Academy & US Army Reserve
Punahou School JROTC
Punahou School Marching Band
Whitney M. Young Magnet High School Navy JROTC
Isiserettes Drill and Drum Corps
Jesse White Tumbling Team
Florida A&M University Marching 100 Band

Crow Nation of Montana
Paul Laurence Dunbar Senior High School Marching Band (Washington, D.C.)
Illinois Home State Float
Brooklyn Music and Arts Program
Theodore Roosevelt High School Marine Corps JROTC Color Guard and Drill Team (Wash.,D.C.)
Colts Drum and Bugle Corps
Klein Collins High School Air Force JROTC
Cleveland Firefighters Memorial Pipes and Drums
Southern Ohio Ladies Aside
Redwood Middle School Marching Band and Auxiliary Units
Representatives of the US Marine Corps and US Marine Corps Reserve
Delaware Volunteer Firemen's Association
University of Delaware Fightin' Blue Hen Marching Band, The Pride of Delaware
Delaware Home State Float
Alexis I. duPont High School Band
Comfort Carriages
Tuskegee Airmen
Delaware State University Marching Band
Special Olympics Inc.
Sanford High School Marching Band
Peace Corps Community
Adams Central High School Patriot Band
Oneida Nation Veterans
Cadets Drum & Bugle Corps
Idaho State Leadership: State and Tribal Representatives
Roosevelt High School Marching Band
Suurimmaanitchuat Eskimo Dance Group
South Cobb High School Blue Eagle Marching Band
Representatives of the US Navy, US Naval Academy & US Navy Reserve
Brattleboro High School Marching Band
George Washington University
Petal High School Marching Band
Freedom Riders
Bonnie Brae Knights
Federal Protection Service
Trumbull High School Golden Eagle Marching Band

American Workers Contingent
East Greenwich High School Avenger Band
Commanding General's Mounted Color Guard, First Infantry Division, Fort Riley KS
Green Valley High School Marching Band
Angel Drill Team
Manning High School Golden Pride Marching Band
Wind River Reservation Youth Council
Lincoln Highway National Museum and Archives
University of Tennessee Pride of the Southland Band
Tempel Lipizzans of Tempel Farms
University of Arkansas Pine Bluff Marching Band
Representatives of the US Air Force, US Air Force Academy & US Air Force Reserve
Mountain Ridge High School Pride of the West Marching Band
United Tribes Technical College
Montana Delegation
Hampton University Marching Force
AmeriCorps Alums
North Allegheny High School Tiger Marching Band
World Famous Lawn Rangers from Amazing Arcola
Blue Springs High School Golden Regiment Marching Band
McCrossan Boys Ranch
Colony High School Knights Marching Band
54th Massachusetts Volunteer Regiment, Company A
54th Massachusetts Volunteer Regiment
Espanola Valley High School Mariachi Sol Del Valle
1965 Mustang of the DC Metropolitan Police Department
Grambling State University World Famed Tiger Marching Band
Nicholas County Army JROTC, the Wilderness Battalion
J. P. Taravella High School Band
Representatives of the US Coast Guard, US Coast Guard Academy & US Coast Guard Reserve
Morton High School Marching Band
U.S. Border Patrol
Harding University High School Marching Band of Gold
Hawaii Home State Float
Howard University Showtime Marching Band
Pennsylvania Home State Float
Lesbian and Gay Band Association
Mobile Azalea Trail Maids
Londonderry High School Marching Lancer Band and Color Guard
T.C. Williams High School Army JROTC
Windsor High School Marching Band
Michigan's Multi Jurisdictional Mounted Police Drill Team and Color Guard
Ohio State University Marching Band
Boy Scouts of America, Troop 358, Philadelphia, PA
Girl Scouts of the Nation's Capital, Troops 1803 & 382
Fergus Falls High School Marching Band
Representatives from the US Merchant Marine Academy
Evergreen High School Marching Band
Culver Academies
Carl Sandburg High School Marching Eagles
USO Float
Carnaval de San Anto, the URBAN 15 Group
Prevention Partnership, Warren County, KY Sheriff's Office
Siloam Springs High School Band
Chinese Consolidated Benevolent Association CCBA
Get a Life Marching Band
Union High School Air Force JROTC
University of Utah Marching Band
Virginia Military Institute Corps of Cadets
NASA Astronaut Crew and NASA Lunar Electric Rover

Tough times sack Grambling band: School notified TSU weeks ago about no-show

Houston, TX - To all those disappointed college football fans who were expecting a battle of the bands at Thursday's game between Texas Southern University and Grambling State, Grambling sends its apology for being a no-show. Challenging financial times forced the Grambling Tiger Band to stay home, school officials said Friday. "We have to be fiscally responsible to make our dollars go as far as they can," said Grambling spokesman Byron McCauley. "It does not mean that we don't love Houston. I really want people to know that we're hopeful there will be more opportunities for the band to be in Houston to perform."

Grambling has a big Thanksgiving weekend game, the Bayou Classic, in New Orleans on Nov. 29. It's the premiere game of black college football. TSU spokeswoman Eva Pickens said Grambling notified TSU several weeks in advance that its band would not attend the game. Mississippi Valley State University's band did not attend TSU's Nov. 8 homecoming game for the same reason, Pickens said. "We're thinking it's a sign of the times" Pickens said.






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Some Question Funding for Grambling Band Appearance

The University of Nevada has found what it hopes will be just the right draw to pack Mackay Stadium for its football season opener (University of Nevada vs. Grambling State University) - the world class Grambling Marching Band. The Grambling State Band is known as the best band in the land. It's a highly polished, highly entertaining experience on game day. And officials at UNR expect them to draw a crowd of 25,000 to Mackay Stadium for the game.

But here's the catch. They don't play for free. Unlike most marching bands who finance their own travel, Grambling State demands travel expenses to appear and they get it. Rumors are that that pricetag is anywhere from $30,000 to $150,000. And UNR is footing the bill which would probably not be causing heartburn if UNR's own band program weren't on the budget chopping block.

Grambling State University Marching Tiger Band


"I can't tell you the exact amount, but I can tell you that this cost a lot. We started working on this two years ago and to us it's great to have them on the schedule. But this money is money we raised though private doneos and corporate donations. It's not money that could go to anything else. It's not like we could reassign it to the band here or anywhere else. It was raised specifically for this show," says Assistant Athletic Director for UNR Rory Hickok. He's coordinated the trip and has set up the performance at the Peppermill as well as the game's halftime.

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