F*ck Em’ Up! Go CU!
filed in Fans on Sep.10, 2002
Ahhh, the words to an age-old Buffs cheer. If only fans had been accompanied by the band when yelling this at Saturday’s home opener under the lights at Folsom Field. I was privileged enough to attend Fan Training Camp in the pre-season and Gary Barnett himself encouraged us to make Folsom Field as hostile as possible. It seems to me that 50,000 people yelling Fuck ‘em up! Fuck ‘em up! Go CU! is just the type of cheer that can put the fear of the stampede in the other team. However, the Golden Buffalo Marching Band refused to play this song.
Based on gesturing from members of the band during the game, I was led to believe that a director or higher up had put the kibosh on our fun not fellow students.
As far as I can tell being a member of the band is thankless enough without having the entire student section turn on you because you won’t play the number one fan motivational song at Folsom Field. (Things really did turn pretty ugly.)
So why did they decide to stop playing this tried and true expression of Buffalo emotion? That has yet to be answered. Some say that Fox Sports Net didn’t want to hear the song during their broadcast. Some say that Matthew Roeder, the Director of the Golden Buffalo Marching Band is a straight-laced kind of guy. Still others say that the University is trying to change it’s image and this may be coming all the way down from Ms Hoffman. Me, I just think this is just another attempt to limit student fun on campus.
In any case, Matthew Roeder will know exactly why this is going on. I think he would appreciate an email from every fan who felt slighted in the least by the band at our last home game.
The Hey song will never leave the fan repertoire at Folsom Field. Let’s hope it doesn’t leaves the band’s.
September 10th, 2002 on 10:34 am
I was at the game on Saturday as well. The band must be really frustrated. When they started to play the “hey” song in the second half the crowd went nuts, only to start booing when they cut the end off. That was lame. I stayed late at the stadium. They eventually played the real version after the majority of the fans had left.
This song is one of the greatest things about Colorado fans, I’ve heard the “fuck ‘em up” chant in places like Bourbon Street in New Orleans and on 6th street in Austin, TX, it’s awesome. If the band won’t play it, I was glad the crowd would sing it on their own. We’ll need the crowd to get fired up this Sat.!
September 10th, 2002 on 11:53 am
Being a former member of the Golden Buffalo Marching Band, I can deffinitely tell you that the band loves playing that song. it truely is the best cheer we have. I am an alum in Boston, and whenever we get together to watch the games, we always sing that song in the bar. and of course everyone loves it, and everyone else in the bar knows the Buffs are in the house. As far as who put a stop to it, I don’t know, but I’m sure it wasn’t the students in the band.
September 10th, 2002 on 1:04 pm
I fully believe the students in the band had nothing to do with this decision. Why else would the play it way after the game. Because they wanted to play it.
I was lucky enough to go the the first “CU Fan training camp” earlier this year. It started off with a little pep rally at Folsom. The Cheer squad was there and they were trying to teach the fans new words to this particular cheer. This may have been sometime coming.
However, that still does not change the fact that this fight song/ cheer has become a CU tradition. They have been playing this for at least 20 years now. What ever the current administration feels about this bawdy little cheer, I don’t think they have the right to try to snuff out a tradition that belongs to every CU fan.
September 10th, 2002 on 3:00 pm
Look what I found.. Just in case you’re interested.
Roeder, Matthew
Interim Associate Director of Bands
Director, Golden Buffalo Marching Band
Office E278
matthew.roeder@colorado.edu
(303) 492-6585
September 10th, 2002 on 4:52 pm
Thanks for the link to the Band geeks’ email addresses. I took the liberty of emailing each one of them a piece of my mind.
I did manage to keep it civil, however.
September 10th, 2002 on 4:53 pm
PS. I’ll report back any responses I get, and I encourage everyone else to do the same.
September 10th, 2002 on 5:51 pm
Here’s an excerpt from a response I got from the webmaster, Lee J. Robbins:
The issues surrounding the “Hey” song are complex, and since I am only a student, I really cannot give an official explanation on the behalf of the Department of Bands. However, here is what I do know: The Marching Band is experimenting with different arrangements of the Hey song, in order to help promote a more “family friendly” environment at CU football games. We are still working on this challenge and will continue to work on it until we can find a compromise that will not only allow our student fans to show their team spirit, but also give our alumni and their families and children the chance to support
our Big XII Champs!
September 10th, 2002 on 9:47 pm
I too was amazed that the band did not play their best song last weekend. I found it even worse several times when the band began to play numerous times over the attempts of the fans to get the cheer going. I feel that the band is at the game to get the fans into the game and playing songs that do not have an associated cheer are unnecessary and actually decrease the intensity level. If the band continues to not play the Fuck Em Up cheer I for one think they should stay at home and allow the students to build their own intensity and cheers. Playing over the students attempts at initiating cheers hurts the team we are there to see.
Band, please save the songs for your concerts! Play us the cheers the team needs and deserves.
September 10th, 2002 on 10:47 pm
I have a couple of comments:
First of all I would like to quote an excerpt from page 38 of the “Official game program” handed out last Saturday at Folsom Field, “… the ‘Golden Buffalo’ Marching Band remains an integral and exciting part of the tradition and spirit of this great university” Yea right — not anymore. The band’s purpose at a football game is work with the crowd. We want to yell a time-honored tradition so let us. Maybe they could flash the “official” words on the big screen and it wouldn’t seem offensive … Buffaloes, Buffaloes, Go CU!
Secondarily, if obscenity is the concern here then the band has a lot of other habits to break. They must have spent half of the game humping the air and making “sexual” motions. Please stop with your inside jokes and help the fans support our team.
September 10th, 2002 on 11:01 pm
Apparently this has come down directly from the President’s office. She is the one who has made the decision to remove the infamous “Band Song #3″ from the playlist or at least bastardize it..
elizabeth.hoffman@cusys.edu
Office: 303-492-6201
Please call and email we must remedy this situation.
September 11th, 2002 on 9:02 am
This comes from Mr. Roeder himself. Looks like the problem is solved for now.
Ryan,
Thanks for your recent email regarding the “Hey” song.
As I’m sure that you’re aware, “Buffaloes, Buffaloes, GO CU!” is not what is
said by most of the student section in the stadium at the end of the “Hey”
song. Instead they respond with obscenity that has been complained about to
the President of the university. As a result, we attempted to revise the
tune so that it would not elicit such a negative response (which many
families with children and people at home on television hear) while still
trying to provide the “tradition” of playing the song. It proved
unsuccessful. We will be playing the tune in its entirety beginning next
game and will attempt to put the accurate words up on the Buffvision video
screen for all fans to see. Please know that we were in no way attempting
to remove tradition from a CU football game, but rather to improve the
reaction from the student section.
I hope that this brief explanation provides a better understanding on this
issue.
Matthew Roeder
September 11th, 2002 on 10:02 am
Its great to see so many responses!
Obviously, this song is very important to a great number of Buff fans.
Ryno, I received the exact same response, verbatim, from Mr. Roeder. I guess we were heard.
“Fuck ‘em up, Go CU!”
September 11th, 2002 on 12:25 pm
You bone heads should start mining for some class out in those mountains. Your language at games is about as tasteful as the patties your buffalo lay in your front lawns. Anyway, chanting doesn’t get the job done on the field and neither does your team, obviously. You only need to look as far as the CSU thrashing. See ya in Lincoln, where “class” is defined.
September 11th, 2002 on 12:28 pm
We’ll see how “classy” the fans are in Lincoln when we’re whipping your asses again this year.
September 11th, 2002 on 1:02 pm
No Gampp he’s right, Husker fans are classy. Assuming classy is defined as weeping on national TV after getting your ass handed to you.
September 11th, 2002 on 3:14 pm
Here is the email response I received from President Hoffman’s office:
Dear Josh,
In reference to your message to CU President Elizabeth Hoffman
regarding the CU Boulder Band not playing the “Hey” Cheer or band
Cheer #3 on game day, I wanted to share with you a statement written
by the CU Boulder Director of Bands, Professor Allan McMurray, as he
is the source of the decision to no longer play the “Hey” Cheer on
game days. Please see statement below. Thank you for sharing your
concerns.
Sincerely,
Amy Weinstein
Office of the Chancellor
University of Colorado at Boulder
The University of Colorado Golden Buffalo Marching Band is the largest and
most visible student organization on campus. The band has for over 100 years
been a representative of the University of Colorado at alumni gatherings,
athletic events, high school festivals, the State Fair and events sponsored
by the Foundation, the President and the Chancellor. When this student group
performs it must represent all the university in a way that brings positive
recognition.
The “Hey” cheer (band cheer #3) is a popular song that is recognizable and
encourages fan response at sporting events. Unfortunately, the words have
been altered over the years by many fans who believe that they have no social
responsibility while attending an athletic event. Families with children,
elderly fans, and the visitors to our campus who attend sporting events have
been offended by the unified use of derogatory language and have associated
the response of the crowd to the impetus—the Band. While the pursuit of a
positive identity and dignity need not be every student’s goal at an athletic
event, it is the goal of the Band. We have therefore decided to find a way to
alter the offensive response or, if that does not work, to withdraw that
music from our performances. It would be easier and more popular with many
student fans if we left the song in and lived with the results, but we do not
want to be responsible for creating an environment that causes embarrassment,
brings disrespect or tarnishes the reputation of anyone. The fight songs, the
“go CU” cheers, the “tuba cheer” and the many other popular pieces of music
in our repertoire will continue and our support for the team will be
energetic, exciting and unwaivering.
Go Buffs.
Allan McMurray,
Director of Bands
Robert and Judy Charles Endowed Professor of Music
September 11th, 2002 on 3:23 pm
“The pursuit of a positive identity and dignity need not be every student’s goal.”
“Impetus.”
Nice.
September 11th, 2002 on 3:32 pm
Here’s Allan McMurray’s info:
Allan.Mcmurray@Colorado.EDU
Office: 303-492-7258
September 11th, 2002 on 3:45 pm
Somebody needs to get Matthew Roeder, Allan McMurray and Elizabeth Hoffman on the same page. This is ridiculous.
The University of Colorado Golden Buffalo Marching Band is the largest and most visible student organization on campus
What is this? Wouldn’t the football team be the most visible student group on campus?
The University of Tennesee fans, no doubt a respected national university as well, scream “We’re going to beat the hell out of you!” at the end of their “Hey” song. This has been done for years. Yet nobody, feels that the University of Tennessee is offensive.
September 11th, 2002 on 6:47 pm
ok, I'm a member of the buffalo marching band. Lets lay some things to rest. First off, we in the band love that song, it is dear to us. How do you think we felt when you guys started to boo us for the decision that somebody else made. We have for a long time represented the football team in a very strong fasion. In fact, we have a close relationship with Gary Barnett and the team. We are students as much as any of you. I would like to point out that we are bringing back the "origional version" at the next game. Over the last few years, we have developed a lot of support from the student body, more than any other college band recieves. I WOULD REALLY LIKE TO SEE THE STUDENTS SUPPORT US LIKE NEVER BEFORE WHEN WE BRING THIS BACK. Remember, what we do is for you, the student body, we are there to keep the empty times noisy, and to give you something to yell FUCK too really loud. So don't penalize the member of this kick ass band for anything when you see us this weekend.
September 12th, 2002 on 12:11 am
Yes, the football team would be the largest student group on campus, if in fact it was a student group. But it’s not, the football team is an athletic organization, you dumb bastard.
September 12th, 2002 on 12:38 am
Hey Marc, the football team has a little over 100 people on the roster, while I bet the band has around 200 students in it, at least. Good call on that one, genius!! Also, the band has a longer history, plus bigger numbers, therefore many more alumni. In addition, the band is on tv nearly everytime the football team is, and plays more gigs than the football team does games. (think before you speak)
September 12th, 2002 on 12:52 am
Alright guys, I’m in the band, and I know how everyone feels about band cheer #3. Honestly people, we love it just as much as everyone else does. When we found out we weren’t going to get to play it, everyone was upset and thought it sucked. When we had to change it, everyone felt the same, except we were slightly happier, becuase we got to play it at all. We weren’t looking to kill anyone’s time on Saturday, we were just playing what we were told, and trying to bolster some spirit in the process. By the way, if anyone thinks that the band should stay home, that might be a mistake. Sorry, but without the band things would suck. Just think about what it would be without the band for 5 minutes of your night, and realize what we do. Most of all, just have fun at games, I’ll be in the top row of the band cheering with you all.
Go CU!
September 12th, 2002 on 1:10 am
All I have to say is that I am a big buffs fan. I know the Hey cheer is a tradition that has been long standing. The band doesnt want to play it because THEY get blamed for the obcenities that are screamed after it on NATIONAL TELEVISION. The band gets blamed cause they start it. If they dont want to play it, leave them alone, continue to sing it on your own. If you want to yell FUCK, thats just great, but I dont feel the band should take the wrap for a bunch of drunk CU students who think its cool to yell fuck. Arent you there to watch the football game anyway? Besides the band is there to support the football team, they go to more games than the students, and know more about CU and the football team than most students that attend the games. The band’s second priority is to entertain the “fans”. Show a little class CU and grow up.
September 12th, 2002 on 1:16 am
Doesn’t the administration, Hoffman or whomever, have better things to worry about than what songs the band plays???
September 12th, 2002 on 8:45 am
It’s great to have all of you post your opinions on the board. Welcome. I want to make it clear to everyone that nobody here was blaming the people in the band. We know that some of the best fans that CU has play in the band and we know that you were disappointed in the change as well. I think the thing that we had the most problem with is the “higher-ups” trying to change everything by creating a new version of the song. If they don’t want the cheer to happen, don’t play it at all. If the students want it to still happen, they can sing it on their own. I personally think we have a great band that does a great job at the games. For all of you in the band, thanks for all of your hard work and GO BUFFS!
September 12th, 2002 on 9:00 am
To all of you flaming Marc for what he said about the “size” of the band: re-read what he said, he claimed that the football team is the most VISIBLE, not the largest.
And to the people who think we hate the band, that couldn’t be more untrue. The band is great. Students weren’t booing the band, but rather that their favorite song had been bastardized. They were booing the people who made the decision to change the song, and to show them their dissaproval.
I guarantee the band will get a loud round of applause when they play the original song this saturday.
September 12th, 2002 on 10:50 pm
Okay so I dont mean to be and ass but, the band is the largest and most VISIBLE STUDENT GROUP on campus. Just because we dont do what we do on national tv, doesnt mean that we do less than the football team. Coach Barnett even told us that he was pretty sure we practice more than the football team. We work on recruiting all year long and work with high schools from all over the state. Im sure nobody knows this, but, we hold one of the largest marching competitions in the state. And obviously the student body knows who we are. How many other STUDENT ORGANIZATIONS are known by the entire student body? Thats all that was meant by those comments of “size and visability”.
September 13th, 2002 on 8:20 am
This is ridiculous. We can’t have any infighting. To be quite honest I don’t care who the largest or most visible student group on campus is. It doesn’t matter. The fans and the band are all at the games on Saturday to support the football team. And we all need to do the best that we can to inspire and motivate the team.
Fans this means yelling as loud as you can and band this means helping the fans yell as loud as you can. Folsom field is near its loudest point everytime the “Hey” song, aka Gary Glitter’s “rock n’ roll part 2″, is played. So let’s play and sing it together with avengeance.
November 8th, 2003 on 3:23 pm
Not sure when it happened but I started here this year and the song has been played all year. FUCK EM UP FUCK EM UP GO CU!
November 8th, 2003 on 5:04 pm
I’m not from around CU I don’t go there, but I was reading about your school problems with the Hey Song…. your school isn’t the only one that is having that song banned, I go to school in the East and I’m in the marching band, we are no longer allowed to play the song because of what the students chant… do get angry at the band members, in most band organizations we have little to no say as to what goes on… if your student section is nearly as rowdy as ours, they probably sing the song on their own, and sone of them even think its our fight song… All I’m saying is don’t blame the band, blame the higher powersm you chancellor, or the tv stations that complain about the strong words being heard on tv.
November 9th, 2003 on 8:55 am
This post was from year ago, fyi.
November 9th, 2003 on 10:57 pm
GEEZ WHAT A LAME ASS BOARD. NO WONDER CUZ YOU GUYZ SUCK BIG TIME!!!!!