Man, I found a third Illinois song. So crazy. Illinois songs make me think of that 1930s college football mileau where they (at least the two earlier ones) originated. Here is the short and ridiculous 3rd song:

Hail to the Orange,
Hail to the Blue,
Hail Alma Mater,
Ever so true!
We love no other
So let our motto be
Victory, Illinois! Varsity!

I meant to say earlier how happy I am that JZ's new job seems to involve nice people. It's so hard to dread going to work every day.

Vanderbilt had a fight song. I think it began "Dy-no-mite, dy-no-mite when Vandy takes the field." I completely avoided college sports, except for a baseball game or two and one unpleasant football game, so I didn't hear it sung enough to learn it. We sang the alma mater pretty often, but I have the impression that's not the norm. It's possible I just went to more official functions than most students, since I covered many of them.

"Awww, where's your school spirit, Mudhead?"

"Over there in the rumble seat. Want a snort?"

t /Firesign Theater

I was in the Marquette pep band, so I could play both the fight song and alma mater at the drop of the director's baton. Heck, I could probably still dredge up the fight song out of the depths of my brain even now, 23 years later. I never did learn all the words to the alma mater, though.

I can also play "Beer Barrel Polka" by heart, because we played that at the end of every basketball game--it was our final song of the evening, played after just about everyone had left the stadium and right before we packed up our stuff. It was played not long after the announcer finished reading off the stats on the speakers and then told everyone good night. The band would all shout back, "Good night, [whatever his name was]!" and he'd respond, "Good night, band!"

What did you play, Kathy?

Oddly, our high school football band played the Notre Dame Victory March when we won. We also played the theme from Rocky as the football players took the field.

I looked up my alma mater and it's pretty lame, but I'm reasonably sure most Americans would at least recognize the tune of our fight song: "On, Wisconsin." And, I never knew this, but Sousa wrote a march for us back during WWI, "Wisconsin Forward Forever."

I have no idea of my college had an alma mater. But my high school one? I know and can still sing toay

My college roommate (who was from Northern Ohio and therefore did not go to high school with me) knew -- and might still know -- my high school fight song, because I would sing it whenever I got drunk. Which was often. I still know it, as well as the camp song for the Girl Scout camp I went to in elementary school.

However, I have no idea what my college alma mater OR fight song are.

I used to know Notre Dame's fight song, because The Boy I Loved For 5 Years Who Didn't Love Me Back went there for undergrad.

Yeah, I know.

I played clarinet, and bass clarinet in the concert band. We actually had a great pep band, one that was recognized around the country as one of the best from a college that didn't have a music department or degree--we were all volunteers earning no credit, just having fun. My freshman year, we played Indiana University in the NIT basketball tourney and were able to bring about 25 band members to Bloomington for the game. Afterwards, Nick, the director, told all of us that he spoke with the IU band director during halftime who asked him how many music majors Nick had. When Nick told him none since Marquette didn't offer one, the guy was blown away.

Sousa wrote us a march back in the early '20s, as well. It was not a good one, but we still had to play it a lot in concerts, since Nick was a huge march enthusiast (he was involved in Civil War band reenactment).

So last night I went to my local hippie gourmet grocery, and they had Chobani!! They didn't used to. I just had some for lunch and it was delish.

How many of us remember our Alma Maters because they were basically drinking songs?

Yeah... thought so.