On January 1, 2016, the Stanford Cardinal put on a humorous half time show before they defeated the Iowa Hawkeyes in the102^nd Rose Bowl game. Stanford has made an appearance at this event three times in the past four years, and each year the engaging and spirited Leland Stanford Junior University Marching Band, LSJUMB, has put on a halftime performance that reflects their true colors. With each playful performance, LSJUMB has also managed to offend opponents and their fans with their engaging show, and this year Stanford did not disappoint. Some attendees, mostly Iowa fans, were less than awed by their performance. Stanford fans, however, found their playful field takeover entertaining, becoming a Rose Bowl 2016 highlight.

After storming the field and settling into a “uniform” state, Stanford made fun of Iowa stereotypes, such as farmersonly.com, and jabbing at Iowa’s farmers, cows, and corn. Predictably, this performance ended in uproar from the audience. As a Cardinal fan, I was swarmed by chants and laughter among the crowd as Stanford’s hilarious band took over the bowl. In the Iowa zones across the field, however, booing was heard… but considering the content of Stanford’s performance, they could be mooing along with the show.

Either way, officials were not impressed by LSJUMB’s witty halftime show. In repercussion, the band has been banned from a year of road travel, meaning no away games for the Stanford band for the entirety of 2016. This tragedy, due to the lack of humor among Rose Bowl officials, prevents opponents from witnessing the band at it’s finest. Officials who said in a statement reported by Mercury News, “the halftime performance was not in line with the values of the Rose Bowl Game.” Perhaps the Rose Bowl does not appreciate humor, and would rather host a mundane sporting event without lively entertainment.

The Stanford band was not in need of this overreaction. Officials from the bowl game had even approved Stanford’s halftime plans prior to the event. However, following the outrage of Iowa fans they changed their minds about the Cardinal showcase. Some people took to twitter, calling Stanford, “a disgrace,” “disgusting,” and “embarrassing.” Clearly, commenters on the matter do not understand Stanford’s goal. A statement released on Stanford’s page read, “The performance was intended to be irreverent fun,” which it was. In the show, Stanford joked about Iowa’s connection to their nickname of, “The Farm.” Going off of this name, Stanford deemed themselves farmers. As Iowans have a reputation of all being farmers, Stanford sought out farmersonly.com and worked to find their band a date. Iowa fans, however, were uninterested in the Cardinal quest. Perhaps their moods were related to them being down 35-0 at the half, a Rose Bowl historical low, which likely prompted booing and negative energy across the bowl. If only Hawkeye fans knew Stanford was making fun of themselves equally as much as they were the Hawkeyes. Their performance noted Stanford’s historical name of, “The Farm,” and based their soulful fun off of the connection between “The Farm” and the farms seen in Iowa.

In the next bowl game that has the LSJUMB in attendance, viewers should know better than to expect a traditional performance. They are truly incomparable and would not be who they are without the puns and jabs they make on a regular basis. Perhaps the inner crops of Iowa fans will have to adapt to this kind of fun.

For future interaction with the bands, Iowa should take things with a grain of salt. After all, salted corn is better than plain.