re: Open The Union

Not what the thread was originally about but since mentioned - The only National Championship for college marching bands:

Chevrolet (GM) sponsored the competition during the 1970 season, with the winner to perform at the halftime of the East-West Shrine Game in Oakland, CA on January 2. LSU played in the Orange Bowl on New Year's Day evening (January 1). A few hours later the band packed up and took a chartered flight across country from Miami to SF. Arriving at the E-W game by noon kickoff, the band then performed a completely different nationally-televised halftime show, within 24 hours on opposite edges of the continent. The broadcast is on YouTube with the performance beginning at 3:00 mark. The opening Fight/March of American hymns is a classic drill.
1971 E-W halftime