When Rice Whupped A&M's Butt & A&M Fans Took It Out on the MOB
Rice University, in celebration of its centennial year, has been running a video series on line of its great moments. 
The marching band that does not march
Just released is its history of the MOB or as it is more formally known, The Rice University Marching Band. The first director Wilson Betts was a student, and a student athlete and because he liked music, thought the school should have a marching band as well.
They did some kind of crazy things early -- wait'll you see the Snake (well for the time it was amazing) but as Rice notes: "It wasn't until the early 1970s that the persona of the MOB would be to make a mockery of current events with a sketch show, the early band's roots did show a flair for what would become a tradition at Rice University for years to come."
The highlight, which occurred early in those transitional years after the birth of The Mob, comes at the end of the video when current Rice Band Director Chuck Throckmorton -- in restrained fashion -- talks about the 1973 MOB halftime performance at the Rice-Texas A&M game.
As he notes in the video, stories about that day have been embellished and embroidered to no end over the years, but it still was a special moment, perhaps never to be repeated again. And shows the singular power that music, performance art and a few smart ass remarks can have -- which Hair Balls, of course, applauds.
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