TomBear said:
This is a sad situation, from my perspective.
The reason the team has always been on the east side is because the student section is on the east side. The student section was there in order to be "behind the team", sort of like the 12th man at A&M. It's symbolic ("we've got your 6"). Also, in the old days, the team could hear the yells and the encouragement from the students in the section better because they were right behind the team.
Cal Band was always an extension of the student section, and was "behind the team" (again....."we've got your six") for the same reason the student section was always behind the team.
The seating in the student section is different than any part of the stadium. The middle section has longer benches so the students can perform card stunts (something they would not be able to do in any other part of the stadium because of aisles that would interfere with the visuals).
I fully recognize today's students aren't willing to do the stunts as they were intended. But I keep hoping that the tradition will come back if the team starts to win.
As for Cal Band, as I said, they were always strategically placed as close to the student section as possible in order to be an integral part of the "Cal Spirit" in it's totality.
I feel like the whole game day experience is eroding into a wannabe nfl minor league. I've expressed my peripheral thoughts ad infinitum, so will just leave this reply as it is.
Couldn't agree more with TomBear, except I wouldn't characterize the game day experience as "eroding" anymore. Mutilated is how I would describe it.
The students belong together. That includes the students of the section, the band students and the student-athletes. That's how it's been my whole life, and much, much longer. I've seen pictures from the 1950s with the band embedded within the students just like it was before this season. It was probably always this way, ever since there was a Cal Marching Band. Not to mention how much harder it is for most of the stadium to hear the band now.
To rip up that configuration because some mediocre coach after 8 years doesn't want the sun in his face anymore is absurd. Did they poll the students? The band? Season ticket holders? No, they forced this change on us just like all the other harmful changes.
Aside from the season tickets I still buy, I haven't donated any money to the program in years and the "game day experience" is why. I don't really care about wins and losses. I've been around Cal football long enough to know winning will come and go. I care about the experience of attending a Cal football game at Memorial Stadium much more. They've butchered that experience and for absolutely compensating gain at all.
The last couple of years I've been strongly considering dumping my season tickets and only purchasing them on a per-game basis. The program is headed toward extinction and part of me wants to drive it there faster so the frustration over the self-inflicted wounds to the game day atmosphere can pass.