Ivy Season Preview

This post is not about sports.  It's about the third most important/fun part of being in band (1. The sports; 2. The free stuff) going on road trips to other Ivy League schools. 

All the schools are equally worse than Penn, so they're all competing for number two, although some are more equal than others.

ON TO THE RANKINGS! (From expected to unexpected.  I'll list the tops at least two and then the bottom, if applicable.)

Best Band (Musically)

1. Harvard- They're unparalleled musically in the Ivys.  Great arrangements, great sound, sweet blazers.

2. Cornell- Not a true Ivy Band (they march, plus, it's for gym credit for many of them).  That having been said there are lots of them and if there's one thing I've learned in music it's that the more people making music the louder the music sounds and the louder music sounds, the better the music is.

3. Yale- I put them here provisionally, one more horrible performance like the one they had at Franklin Field this year and they're off the list. Though their gun formation is great!

Worst Band (Musically)

6. Princeton- I heard it was their fall break when they played Penn at Franklin Field this year, I hope that's true.

7. Dartmouth- Horrible, when we heard them this year in Hanover they sounded horrendous, really truly awful.

Best Band (Socially)

1. Cornell- They have 2 members with superfluous nipples, if that wasn't enough they're also really nice.

2. Dartmouth- At least I think those were band kids.  Maybe they weren't.  Whatever.  They were fun.

Worst Band (Socially)

7. Harvard- When we travel there we have fun, but not because of them.

Best City to Travel To (Sightseeing)

1. Boston- My personal feelings aside (I hate this city) there's usually fun stuff to do when we go here before a trip to Harvard.

2. Providence- Delicious hot dogs at Spike's and RISD, so a high number of weirdos.  Nifty!

Worst City to Travel To (Sightseeing)

5. New York- Crowded, expensive, overdone.

6. Princeton- Not crowded, expensive, eating clubs.

7. Hanover- Horrible, the closest thing they have to fast food is an organic grocery store.  There is nothing there, nothing at all.

Best City to Travel To (Partying/ WARNING 18 to read, 21 to understand)

1. Ithaca- Great, fun, plus if you've been drinking it's very hard to walk up their large, incline hills.

2. Hanover- There's a reason Animal House was based on a Hanover fraternity.  Plus, they know what to do with paddles.

3. Princeton- This is conditional to one trip I made as a member of an a cappella group.  An absolutely shockingly wild time.

Worst City to Travel To (Partying/ WARNING 18 to read, 21 to be depressed)

6. Providence- Eating hot dogs are the reason to go here.

7. Cambridge- Just sort of depressing.

Best Bus Trips (It's not the length baby it's how you use it.)

1. Ithaca- Only 5 hours.  Time enough for some sweet quizo or a pair of movies.

2. Hanover- 7 Hours, we always get lost, it usually snows.  Always excitingly unexpectedly horrible.

3. Princeton- Does not take very long to travel to or leave.

Not or Not (Ivy Bands in Terms of Attractiveness)

5. Harvard- Only raised because of Joe the Trumpet players love of French and tattoos, something they have in spades.

t.6 Yale

t.6 Columbia

t.6 Dartmouth

t.6 Princeton

t.6 Brown

7. Cornell- The ugliest band in America.  Sorry.

Place I've Never Been Even Though I've Been in the Band 2 and 1/2 years:

1. New Haven- I always liked Old Haven better so I have a vendetta against them.

Also, the Harvard Bowl is pretty cool, no other stadium/gymnasium compares to Franklin Field or the Palestra though.