![\"Austin](\"http:\/\/www.clarksvilleonline.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/08\/AP_logo-200x171.gif\" "\\"Austin"){kind=logo}
Clarksville, TN<\/strong> – In 2006, the sports writer Ivan Maisel published an article on ESPN.com listing the 20 reasons college football is better than the NFL. For reason no. 12, he listed \u201cCollege halftimes.\u201d<\/p>\n\u201cCollege halftime means tradition,\u201d he wrote. \u201cMarching bands dot the I in Ohio or at least rouse the emotions by playing the fight song\u2026it\u2019s an inestimable part of the college football experience. NFL halftime means, um, time to make a sandwich.\u201d<\/p>\n
![\"Members](\"http:\/\/www.clarksvilleonline.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/09\/Homecoming-Parade-8111.jpg\" "\\"Members")
<\/a>Members of the Governors\u2019 Own Marching Band perform during last year\u2019s APSU Homecoming Parade. (Photo by Beth Liggett\/APSU staff)<\/p><\/div>\n
He makes a good point, but this \u201cexperience\u201d that lingers over college football games doesn\u2019t occur only at halftime. Marching bands incite crowds from kick-off to the final seconds of the fourth quarter, and it\u2019s hard to imagine watching football on Saturdays without hearing the sounds of drums and horns.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe marching band is a part of the culture of the football game,\u201d John Schnettler, director of the Austin Peay State University Governors\u2019 Own Marching Band, said. \u201cThe band leads the cheers the crowd does.\u201d<\/p>\n
In 2010, Schnettler came to APSU with the job of increasing the marching band\u2019s presence and stature on campus. He has achieved that by cultivating a new, energetic attitude on the practice field, leading the program to grow from about 100 members when he first arrived to 155 members this fall. And he\u2019s still on the lookout for more student musicians seeking to be part of this APSU tradition.<\/p>\n