Banding together

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I marched into the stadium with the band. Really.

It just worked out that way, with me happening to wander toward the entrance to the field at the same time as Culver City’s real marching contingent, a small delegation of maybe 25 musicians that made its way in, with me bringing up the rear but keeping in step ... sort of.

I bring this up because the chain gang and I got talking after a sort of muted rendition of the national anthem that I thought was the product of a poor stadium sound system but was told had more to do with the small size and relative inexperience of the band, made up in part of musicians from the middle school that’s adjacent to Culver City.

I told the guys the reason I was here to see Culver City (3-0) play Crenshaw (1-3) was because the Centaurs are a team that several of the pollsters who vote for The Times’ top 25 have considered for their rankings.

‘Well,’ one of the gang deadpanned, ‘our band is not in the top 25.’

- Lauren Peterson

(Editor Bob: Let me reiterate that I love band conductors and marching bands, so no nasty e-mails to me, please. Here’s my favorite marching band in front of THE Coliseum. Enjoy!)