re: New policy bans opposing bands from performing in TS

In my initial post (on p. 5), I wrote about how this policy was actually put in place last year, and how the "Safety" issue was only brought up after Alleva's first excuse for not allowing the Auburn band to perform didn't fly. I neglected to delve into the backstory. Here it is:

A few years ago Alleva proposed at the SEC meeting that there would be no full band trips by any SEC school to an SEC game. His ulterior motive for this is that he wanted to cut out Tiger Band's travel budget. (For background, Tiger Band used to go to two away games per season through the early 80s. At some point in the mid-80s, this was reduced to one trip per season.) His proposal was pretty soundly defeated by the other ADs. He then offered a new proposal: each school's AD would have total control over what goes on at halftime. The other ADs went along with this, at least partially as a way to mollify him after his initial proposal was shot down.

The decision to prevent visiting bands from performing at Tiger Stadium is his way to achieve his initial goal. The idea is that if visiting bands aren't allowed in Tiger Stadium, other schools will similarly refuse to let Tiger Band perform in their stadiums. So he won't have to pay for a Tiger Band trip each season, AND he can blame it on other schools.

What kind of money are we talking about? The average full band trip for Tiger Band to an SEC game runs about $100,000. But, of course, if the full band doesn't go, a pep band is sent. A pep band trip runs about $30,000. So he saves roughly $70,000 if Tiger Band does not go to an SEC game. (Remember, the athletic dept. budget is well north of 100 million! Seventy thousand is a rounding error.)

But, wait....it gets better! In the years when LSU participates in one of these kick-off classic games (such as our opening game against Wisky this season), the financing is similar to a bowl game. In other words, LSU pays little or nothing for Tiger Band's travel to such a game. But Alleva counts such a game as Tiger Band's full band trip for the year, thus saving the money he would have spent if the band went to a crucial SEC game such as Bama or Auburn. Pretty slick.....