Scattered across the football field in the RCA Dome, Ball State University Marching Band, color guard and Cardette dance team members marched in and out amongst each other while playing instruments, spinning flags and waving pom-poms.
The color guard, dance team and marching band, The Pride of Mid-America, made their second appearance at the dome for the Indianapolis Colts versus Cleveland Browns halftime show.
"I felt really excited, especially in comparison to last year. Last year, the Packers came running onto the field while we were still performing our show. Luckily, this year, that did not happen, and our routine wasn't ruined," Jessica Johnson, a junior color guard member, said. "I would say our feature went really well. The best so far."
The band had six minutes in which they could perform, and they played in front of an audience of 57,127 people.
"It's absolutely awesome playing here. It is neat to cover all three venues from playing in high school, to college, and then on to the pros," Nick Luthy, a sophomore mellophone player, said. "It was just as fun this year as it was last year."
The band, guard and dance team left Ball State around 7 a.m. and arrived in Indianapolis at 9 a.m. At that time they warmed up and practiced on the field for 45 minutes.
"This is something the band can add to our list as an honor for being called by the Colts. By showing up and doing a show two years in a row shows the professionalism of our band and that we can produce a quality product for representing Muncie and Indiana," Andy Schultz, senior drum major and president of the band, said. "In a way, this makes us more marketable and helps get our name out to a wider audience."
In National Football League stadiums the hash marks that band members use to keep their positions on the field are different from college stadium hash marks so the band members, guard members and dancers had to get used to the different spacings.
"It is important for us to practice because we have to adjust to the atmosphere of being in a dome and marching on turf. The acoustics and echo is completely different from the open field and grass," Schultz said.
The band normally practices Monday, Thursday and Friday with the guard practicing on Tuesday and Thursday Jennifer Osborne, a freshman color guard member, said.
Chris Paulson, senior head drum major, said each week the band performs a different show with the guard or the dance team switching every other week for a special feature.
Between practicing and the actual performance, the band, guard and dance team were able to go shopping at Circle Center Mall, walk around Indianapolis or just wait in the ballroom they were assigned to. As soon as it was time to play, everybody lined up in an air-locked room, ran onto the field when given permission, played their show and then marched off the field playing the Ball State fight song.
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