TOLEDO, Ohio — The I-75 battle of the bands is a competition almost as popular as the game surrounding it.
"We came just to see the band, I mean go football, but we came to see the Falcon marching band," said Tiffany Nicely, a BGSU alum who is visiting with other alum.
But things were done different this year. In a statement provided by UToledo earlier this month, the college explained that they had informed BGSU their band wouldn't be allowed to perform at their usual time during the half time show. UToledo shared they would be "utilizing the time available at halftime for our Hall of Fame inductions and the Rocket Marching Band Performance."
While UToledo said BGSU's band was still welcome to attend the game, the decision stirred up some controversy on both sides.
" I feel like Toledo could have maybe handled this a little bit better, knowing what the tradition was and maybe that's just the direction we're going with," said Alex Scheer, a University of Toledo alum with band experience.
The decision forced Bowling Green's band to get creative.
Instead of a halftime performance, the Falcons put on a show during tailgate time prior to the game, right next to the BGSU Alumni Association's tent.
"The acoustics probably aren't the best, and where they're located, it's not on the field, but I think it's wonderful," said a BGSU alum.
BGSU's marching band director Jon Waters said while they were able to make it work, they were looking forward to tradition.
"We are still very disappointed not to be able to perform on the fields, you know halftime is for the marching bands and we will always stand by that, we support marching band performance at halftime," said Waters.
It was a performance many of the parents in the stadium were looking forward to.
"I have a freshman marching band member at Bowling Green and I also have a freshman marching band member at Toledo," said Joann Henry, a BGSU alum who has twins attending both schools. "I hope the kids feel that they've been supported on both sides, I kind of feel as an Alumni that they have and I hope they feel that as well."
Both Henry and Nicely say they have a feeling the tradition will return next year.
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