Roesler: Time to put “Sandman” to sleep

Friday, August 28, 2009

The loud buzzing from the packed stands gets turned off like a light switch. Every one looks, whether sitting or standing, like dogs suddenly being called by their master.

The video board goes black under the shining Campanile in the fall evening Kansan sun. A familiar sound drums into the horseshoe of Memorial Stadium. A sound that has been heard coming from the giant video board for ten years now: “Enter Sandman”, by Metallica.

The repetitive, hypnotic, riff coming from Kirk Hammett’s guitar in “Enter Sandman” admittedly inspired me the first time I heard it in Memorial Stadium. I was a freshman walk-on football player with hopes of running out on the field as the next starting tight end.

I was in awe of the Kansas football experience. However, by the 17th game I had seen at KU’s home field, I was harder to impress. Not to say that it affected me like the Sandman should (making me fall asleep), but it no longer made my heart almost jump out of my chest.

Now, I’m all for traditions, especially at the University of Kansas where tradition make us who we are. The Rock Chalk Chant gives me goose bumps every time I hear it because it is original to us. But “Enter Sandman” is not original to us. Virginia Tech, our rivals in the 2008 Orange Bowl, use the song in their entrance to the field and have for a while longer than we have, and some of the Hokies fans complained that we had copied them and their own inspiring, traditional march to the field.

As mentioned before, the song “Enter Sandman” has been booming from our speakers for ten years now. According to Mike Lickert, the Director of Video Services, the song has been used ever since video board in the south end of the stadium was added in 1999. Since then, we have accompanied the song with attention-getting videos to add to the drama of “Enter Sandman” like our current video in which two jets fly over our great state and stadium. It shows our unique history of KU Football, and it shows our state with great panoramic views.

The song, however, is a rock and roll, get hyped up, cliché with at least one other college using it. I say keep the great video, but try a new song.

I don’t want to bash on our pregame football ritual too much, because I still enjoy it for what it’s worth, and I anxiously await every kickoff this season. So instead of just burying the Sandman back into the ground he came from, I’ll sprinkle some of my own advice on your eyes.

My top choice for a new entrance song would be “Cochise”, by Audioslave. This song has a similar feeling to “Enter Sandman,” with a repetitive, building bass and drum line. Then right as the doors would open to let the players loose, the guitar riff would send the crowd wild. Or that’s at least how I picture it. Other suggestions would be “Kashmir,” by Led Zeppelin, “X,” by System of a Down, or “Boom,” by Nelly (which was used in the movie The Longest Yard).

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