Cowbells at CAS

[jackmd]

If we host a playoff game (HUGE IF I KNOW) will cowbells be allowed? As noted on the Gopher thread the Miss. St. fans were using bells during the Florida game and making more damn noise than a bad band in a small town bar.

I'm not sure if the FCS has rules against noise making devices or if its a Valley thing. Did SDSU adopt a policy against noise making devices at outdoor venues? I could ask someone in the athletic department but that would be boring.

I've got a collection of cowbells that would love to come out later this year.

[SD-STATE]

Re: Cowbells at CAS

I was led to believe that the noisemaker policy was a MVFC thing, but maybe FCS has a play-off stipulation. So in the end i'm not sure and i'm not much help either.

[SDSU_TUBA]

Re: Cowbells at CAS

It looks like it still would be a no go.

This is from last years football playoff handbook

2. Artificial Noisemakers. Artificial noisemakers (e.g., thunder sticks, cow bells, air
horns) shall not be permitted inside the venue, and such instruments shall be removed
from the playing and spectator areas at the request of the NCAA game representative.
Bands, or any component thereof, shall not play while the game is in progress (after
either team breaks its huddle)

Really interesting reading about how the FCS playoff work can be found here

[zooropa]

Re: Cowbells at CAS

Not positive, but I believe they are banned in post season play.

Regular season AFAIK is up to the conferences, among which, it would seem, the SEC is willing to allow them.

[jackmd]

Re: Cowbells at CAS

It looks like it still would be a no go.

This is from last years football playoff handbook

Really interesting reading about how the FCS playoff work can be found here

With respect to hosting:

2. Proposed Budget and Financial Report. Please complete a budget for each round your institution is interested in serving as host, designating the round and appropriate date of competition at the top of each budget submitted. For example, if your institution is interested in hosting first-round, quarterfinal and semifinal competition, three separate budgets must be completed and submitted. The Division I football championship provides for a field of 16 teams. Eight first-round games will be conducted November 28 and four quarterfinal games December 5. Semifinal games will be conducted December 11 and 12 and the final game will be December 18, in Chattanooga, Tennessee. The first three rounds of competition will be conducted on the campus of one of the competing institutions.

[JayJ79]

Re: Cowbells at CAS

I was led to believe that the noisemaker policy was a MVFC thing, but maybe FCS has a play-off stipulation. So in the end i'm not sure and i'm not much help either.

SDSU_tuba quoted the playoff handbook on the matter.

As far as regular season play, it is addressed in the MVFC conference procedures (pdf available here)

Noisemakers. Artificial noisemakers shall not be permitted to be brought
into or used in Valley football stadiums. Member institutions shall not
distribute or sell any item(s) that may be used as artificial noisemakers.
The intent of the rule is to prohibit activities that disrupt play or create
unfair advantage. Thunder sticks, cow bells and horns fall into those
categories. Non-prohibited activities include the following:
(1) Putting “make noise” on the video board
(2) Shaking keys on kick offs
(3) Drum cadence prior to and during a kickoff that is non-disruptive.

[JackFan96]

Re: Cowbells at CAS

OK, I wonder if we could use cowbells during home nonconference games. We all know we can't during Valley games, and the playoff rule appears clear, too. But there might wiggle room for a home nonconference game.

For the heck of it, I went to the Mississippi State home page and read about cowbells. The SEC banned them by a 9-1 vote in the early 1970's, though fans still sneak them in and use them, it says. You can imagine which school cast the single opposing vote. Anyhow, the cowbells are confiscated if people are caught using them during conference games. The Web page says cowbells are still popular outside the stadium. And it also says Mississippi State fans are allowed to take cowbells to home nonconference games.

I think getting to use the cowbells even one game a year would be fun. Ready...discuss.

[JackFan96]

Re: Cowbells at CAS

From the Mississippi State Web page:

The Cowbell
The most unique and certainly the most resounding symbol of Mississippi State University tradition is the cowbell. Despite decades of attempts by opponents and authorities to banish it from scenes of competition, diehard State fans still celebrate Bulldog victories loudly and proudly with the distinctive sound of ringing cowbells.

The precise origin of the cowbell as a fixture of Mississippi State sports tradition remains unclear to this day. The best records have cowbells gradually introduced to the MSU sports scene in the late 1930s and early 1940s, coinciding with the 'golden age' of Mississippi State football success
prior to World War II.

The most popular legend is that during a home football game between State and arch-rival Mississippi, a jersey cow wandered onto the playing field. Mississippi State soundly whipped the Rebels that Saturday, and State College students immediately adopted the cow as a good luck charm. Students are said to have continued bringing a cow to football games for a while, until the practice was eventually discontinued in favor of bringing just the cow's bell.

Whatever the origin, it is certain that by the 1950s cowbells were common at Mississippi State games, and by the 1960s were established as the special symbol of Mississippi State. Ironically, the cowbell's popularity grew most rapidly during the long years when State football teams were rarely successful. Flaunting this anachronism from the 'aggie' days was a proud response by students and alumni to outsider scorn of the university's 'cow college' history.

In the 1960s two MSU professors, Earl W. Terrell and Ralph L. Reeves obliged some students by welding handles on the bells to they could be rung with much more convenience and authority. By 1963 the demand for these long-handled cowbells could not be filled by home workshops alone, so at the suggestion of Reeves the Student Association bought bells in bulk and the Industrial Education Club agreed to weld on handles. In 1964 the MSU Bookstore began marketing these cowbells with a portion of the profits returning to these student organizations.

Today many styles of cowbells are available on campus and around Starkville, with the top-of-the-line a heavy chrome-plated model with a full Bulldog figurine handle. But experts insist the best and loudest results are produced by a classic long-handled, bicycle-grip bell made of thinner and tightly-welded shells.

Cowbells decorate offices and homes of Mississippi State alumni, and are passed down through generations of Bulldog fans. But they are not heard at Southeastern Conference gamesnot legally, at leastsince the 1974 adoption of a conference rule against 'artificial noisemakers' at football and basketball games. On a 9-1 vote SEC schools ruled cowbells a disruption and banned them.

This has done little harm to the cowbell's popularity, however, or to prevent cowbells from being heard outside stadiums in which the Bulldogs are playing. They can still be heard at non-conference football contests, as well as other sporting events on campus. And bold Bulldog fans still risk confiscation for the privilege of keeping a unique Mississippi State tradition alive and ringing at SEC affairs.

[SF_Rabbit_Fan]

Re: Cowbells at CAS

Somebody mentioned in another thread the idea of having a giant cowbell people could ring as they walk into the stadium. I think that would be great.

I always expected more cowbell ringing in the backyard, I don't know why more people don't ring them like crazy during that time.

I think the reason for the blanket ban is that it would become confusing for a lot of people which games they could bring a cowbell and which they couldn't.

[jackmd]

Re: Cowbells at CAS

Somebody mentioned in another thread the idea of having a giant cowbell people could ring as they walk into the stadium. I think that would be great.

I always expected more cowbell ringing in the backyard, I don't know why more people don't ring them like crazy during that time.

I think the reason for the blanket ban is that it would become confusing for a lot of people which games they could bring a cowbell and which they couldn't.

I always have a cowbell in the tailgate lot, I just haven't taken the time to ring the thing lately. I'll ring it plenty for the SIU game.

[JackJD]

Re: Cowbells at CAS

Just donated $50 to Boy Scouts (popcorn sale) which caused me to wonder: How about this for a fundraiser for Boys Scouts, Girl Scouts, kids soccer, whatever....hire the tykes to hang out just outside the fences, shaking cowbells at appropriate times during the game.