The Spirit of the Stadium: Marching Chips use dedication, focus to perfect gameday performance
Lights flicker and fade to black inside the Indoor Athletic Complex. A hush falls over a throng of feathered helmets and maroon vests standing tall and still.
A few hundred yards away, a sea of drunken humanity is slowly meandering into Kelly/Shorts Stadium just before kickoff.
It’s Homecoming. Central Michigan University’s marching band has begun a decades-old ritual before their pregame arrival known simply as “30 seconds.”
It is a time of thoughtful reflection, focused energy and reverence to tradition.
Armed with an arsenal of brass, woodwind and percussion instruments, the Marching Chips contemplate a grueling week of preparation.
These Chippewas are ready to star in the leading musical role on the university’s most public stage: Football Saturday.
For these students, the day began hours before the sun had risen and the charcoal hit the tailgate grill. The time for rehearsal had passed. A highly-anticipated moment of truth was here.
Countless hours of practice, plenty of lost sleep and a dedication to excellence would soon culminate in an adrenaline rush that keeps members coming back for more each season.
“It never gets old,” said senior rank captain and trombonist Alex Markarian. “Everything is welling up; all the emotion is getting there. We just try to bottle it up and channel it. That’s one of the hardest things to do. There’s so much energy, but you have to remain focused.”
Their motto is one of passion and concentration. “Hearts on fire, minds on ice,” they remind one another, eyes directed forward and spine stretched at attention.
The group’s focus is unshaken as the IAC’s back gate opens and drum major Kurt Mai makes the first move. Mai leads a march through the tailgate lot and into the stadium. The crack of the snare drum acts as a metronome to each high step and “OO-WAH!” yelp.
Once settled in the north end zone, the band waits for its cue — a standalone chance to energize CMU’s fans and carry on a history that was passed down from generations ago.
But before the Marching Chips catch their euphoric fix, an early morning full of training and fine-tuning must be executed.
Get up for Gameday
It’s 6 a.m. and pitch black as 260 members of the marching chips file into the Indoor Athletic Complex before practice the morning of Homecoming.
Some nap on the floor and others attempt to work on homework while assistant drum major Brendan Wilk takes inventory for roll call.
“This is nothing,” Wilk smirks. “We start even earlier for a noon game.”
The occasional gulping yawn is the only thing that interrupts conversations about politics, relationships and of course, CMU football.
Though kickoff is eight hours away, the Marching Chips take the field at 7 a.m. for an initial round of stretching and practice routine.
Section warmups are preceded by a regiment of zumba and yoga exercises to relax both the body and mind.
Their early-morning gameday process fixates on a combination of calculated movement, controlled breath and rising energy as the day grows older.
Both the sunshine and band alumni will be arriving soon, so maintaining focus will be pivotal during what Director James Batcheller calls “distraction day.”
“We need to be at our very best today,” he tells the group’s senior leadership team before black strapped boots hit the turf.
It’s the same group that began its fall training camp by outlining a set of core values to live by both in practice and on gameday.
Integrity and excellence top the list.
“We have the capacity to be the loudest group on campus,” Batcheller said. “With that capacity comes a tremendous responsibility to represent who we are as a student body and a campus community.”
Because of those who came before and those who will come after, none of the Marching Chips take this responsibility lightly.
Old Meets New
Homecoming is a unique day for the marching band. It provides a chance for members to come face-to-face with those who played the fight song and marched to its melody decades before them.
It’s 9 a.m. when alumni of the Marching Chips join current members on the field for practice. The mashup of former and current musicians is set to play the halftime show together.
“Friendship” is this week’s halftime show theme.
The oldest Marching Chip in the ensemble is 72-year-old trumpeter Jerry Reed, who graduated from CMU in 1966.
“Being in the marching band was a life-changing experience,” he said. “It just took my breath away. It made me feel like I was home and I had always been there.”
Reed has watched the band, and CMU change over the last half century. one thing has remained constant — it’s the rush that fills Reed’s body when he plays the CMU fight song in front of thousands of fellow Chippewas cannot be dampened by time nor technology.
“The difference is like night and day,” he said. “The stadium we played in (in the 1960s) felt like an overgrown high school stadium. It never affected the attitude and enthusiasm of anyone in the band. We wer e proud of what we have, and these students are too. I can tell.”
Former trombonist Paul Worfel graduated from CMU in 1973. This year was the first time he joined current Marching Chips in an annual parade down Main Street.
“Playing in the Marching Band really made a difference with me,” Worfel said. “That development of the camaraderie … It was really important that we developed that community and that community stayed with me all four years.”
Otherwise strangers, former Marching Chips spent the entire day telling stories of days past and checking in on traditions, many of which are still intact.
“That’s something we tell the younger kids when they first come in,” Wilk said. “Once you’re a Marching Chip you are always a Marching Chip.”
Creating a Culture
Turnover is a reality for any group on campus with heavy student involvement. Where a gap in commitment or experience might exist, the Marching Chips have inserted pride and passion.
“As the freshmen come in, some of them are very nervous,” Wilk said. “We have a very traditional way of doing things. I’ll admit when I came in, I didn’t know what to expect. Sure enough I found I don’t ever want to leave this place.”
The group practices Monday through Friday for nearly three hours a day. They go over the week’s routine, the standard fight song, movement patterns and the halftime medley, which has a different theme every week.
Anthony Anger is a freshman from Chesterfield who was impressed with the level of commitment he saw from upperclassmen almost immediately.
“It downpoured rain on our first practice,” he said. “It was a pretty grueling experience. But when I first ran out (on the field) with everyone, it was worth it. It was unbelievable.”
The underclassmen in this year’s band are determined not to buckle under the pressure of a history stretching back to 1923 — the band’s first official year of existence.
“You have this reputation you have to keep after all these years of having such a good band,” Anger said. “When you are out there playing the music, you don’t think about the pressure. You’re out there to be with your friends.”
Anger and his fellow freshmen are training their psyche to be disciplined. It is constantly reinforced. Before each game, Bacheller leads a call and response chant that personifies the importance of this mantra.
“Hearts on fire, minds on ice,” he reminds the spirit of the stadium before they march to the north end zone.
The public address announcer declares their arrival. The maroon and gold clad crowd erupts in a stadium of more than 20,000 people.
The Marching Chips tear through the end zone and down the field.
“Down the field for CMU.”
