Hall of Shame Sousaphone Sightings

While at a leadership development conference in Atlanta this week, we had some time to kill before our flight home, so we checked out the College Football Hall of Fame. It was a pretty cool place, featuring not only a lot of USC stuff (see below), but also some Sousaphones that brought a wry smile to my face!

In the small marching band exhibit, there were only two instruments displayed in the case - a trombone, held by a mannequin sporting a Morehouse College band uniform, and an Ohio State University Sousaphone, seen above, alongside a portion of a video montage showing a Stanford tuba player (I think).

Now, to be fair, I was thrilled at the representation of this glorious instrument, but I also loved seeing how they got the Buckeye horn completely wrong! Here's a close up:

Apparently, whoever was tasked with setting up this mannequin purchased the cheapest instrument they could find. From what I can tell, it is a Chinese-made horn that is sometimes marketed as the Fever Student BBb Sousaphone. And, as you can see, it has a lacquered brass finish. So, a double-fail!

The Buckeye tuba section marches with impressive silver-plated Conn 20K Sousaphones (as does the Penn State Blue Band, I might add), not this little gold-colored pea-shooter! While at first I was thoroughly annoyed that OSU was featured so prominently, I LOVED imagining how horrified a Buckeye tuba player would be at this disrespectful display!

But hey, at least USC made the display case - here I am next to the Trojan Marching Band helmet that is featured there:

And the display case just before this one proudly displays the traditional uniform of the USC Song Girls:

But USC popped up elsewhere, too, including in the display of college football's best rivalries:

And regarding the actual Hall of Fame inductees, USC has 34 players and 3 coaches in that elite company, including the two Heisman Trophy winners from my years as a Trojan: Charles White (79) and Marcus Allen (81).

But what I'll never forget about this visit to the Hall of Fame happened right when we walked in the front door. The official greeter took one look at my shirt and yelled, "Fight On!," and then he rolled up his sleeve to show me his tattoo:

In the heart of SEC country, where national championships have abounded in recent years, here was one more sign that my beloved Trojans are on the rise. Fight On, indeed!