WILL THE BAND PLAY NICE? OFFICIALS WARY OF STANFORD'S HALF TIME ANTICS AT ROSE BOWL.

Byline: Ramona Shelburne  Staff Writer

With Wisconsin a huge favorite, the big question surrounding Saturday's Rose Bowl game in Pasadena is, what will the ever-irreverent Stanford band do during the halftime show?

The halftime show? Isn't that when most fans head to the concession stands and bathrooms?

But for those familiar with the Leland Stanford Jr. University Marching Band, which likes to think of itself as "the world's largest rock `n' roll band" and is known for its sometimes hilarious, sometimes offensive antics, halftime may not be the best time for a commercial break.

In the past, they've mocked the Irish, Catholics and nuns at Notre Dame, pretended to slaughter an endangered species in environmentally conscious Oregon and generally offended sensibilities wherever they've been.

"My suggestion to the producers was to tape it," said longtime ABC play-by-play announcer Keith Jackson, who will call the game on Saturday. "We've never had any problems with the Stanford band. They're crazy as hell, but we've never had any problems with them."

Although ABC wouldn't say definitively, it is considering using a 6-second delay when the band begins playing.

The Stanford band's most memorable foray into the public eye came in the 1982 big game against California.

With Stanford ahead 20-19 and just seconds left in the game, the band rushed the field at Berkeley's Memorial Coliseum to celebrate the apparent win. Much to its surprise, Cal used five laterals and returned the ensuing kickoff through both the Cardinal special teams unit and the band. The image of Cal's Kevin Moen bowling over a trombone player in the end zone was replayed across the nation.

That is just one of many incidents forever linked with the band:

In 1990, the band angered environmentalists and politicians in Oregon with a halftime show that poked fun at the debate of the endangered spotted owl. Specifically, the band brought a stuffed owl down onto the field and carved it in half with a chainsaw.

In 1994, while in Los Angeles for the UCLA game, 21 members of the band went on an unsanctioned field trip to the Los Angeles County Courthouse and played outside while the O.J. Simpson trial was in session.

In 1997, the band was banned from participating in the pregame and halftime shows of the 1999 Notre Dame game and from traveling with the football team to South Bend, Ind., in 1998 and 2000 after offending Notre Dame, Irish people and the Catholic Church in its pregame and halftime shows.

The band drew criticism from the university, Catholics and most famously, advice columnist Ann Landers, after its mascot, a tree, pranced onto the field in a nun's habit while the band announcer called Notre Dame the "Blightin' Irish" in reference to the Irish Potato Famine, which killed 750,000 Irish people in the 1845 and '47.

The Stanford Athletic Department, which reviews all of the band's scripts before a game, tightened its control to ensure against a repeat performance.

"I think the thing that differentiates us from other bands is our unrelenting desire to have fun, and that manifests itself in many ways," said the band's public relations director, Joey Pritikin, a junior majoring in physics.

For the Rose Bowl, Stanford officials have again instructed the band to represent the school well. According to both Pritikin and Rose Bowl game director Kevin Ash, who has seen the script and rehearsals of the three-minute halftime show, the band's performance will be more "mirthful mayhem" than offensive.

Should we trust them?

"All I can say is that I think it will ground-breaking entertainment," Pritikin said.

THE BAND PLAYS ON

Love 'em or hate 'em, the Leland Stanford Junior University Marching Band is truly incomparable.

1965 - Music professor Arthur P. Barnes takes over as director of the band and changed it from a traditional marching unit into the world's largest rock 'n' roll band.

1970 - Band members dropped their pants to reveal surfer jams while performing a Beach Boys song in front of the crowd attending the Stanford-Arkansas football game in Littlerock, Ark.

January 1, 1972 - The band debuts "All Right Now" in Stanford's 13-12 upset victory over Michigan in the Rose Bowl. Originally performed by the British band Free in 1970, the song eventually became Stanford's fight song.

1976-77 - The Tree becomes the official mascot of the Stanford Band after the university changes its mascot from the Indians to the Cardinal, as in the color, not a bird.

1982 - "The Play." After quarterback John Elway led the Cardinal to what appeared to be a game-winning field goal, California took the ensuing kickoff, lateraled the ball five times, broke into the clear of Stanford's defenders but then had to find a way through the Stanford band, which had taken the field in celebration. The image of Cal's Kevin Moen bowling over a trombone player in the the end zone is one of the most indelible scenes in college football history.

1986 - The band is suspended for the rest of the 1986 season after a photographer snaps pictures of two band members urinating on the field during a home game against USC and university officials hear that the band spelled out an obscenity while performing at a home game. The band did not play at that season's UCLA game but was allowed to play at the Big Game after students and alumni protested.

1990 - The Spotted Owl show. The band makes light of the debate over the endangered spotted owl. An excerpt from the show reads, "Oregon old growth timber. A place where one can find peace, serenity, and the dainty Hoot Hoot of the spotted owl. Ah well, 2 outta 3 ain't bad."

1994 - While in Los Angeles for the UCLA game, 21 members of the band play in front of the L.A. County Courthouse during the O.J. Simpson trial.

1997 - Advice columnist Ann Landers calls on Stanford University officials to punish the band after it made light of the Irish Potato Famine and the Catholic Church during a halftime show. Stanford president Gerhard Casper publicly responds to Landers' challenge and explains the band has already been punished. Both Casper and the band publicly apologize for the incident.

1998 - The band, which has covered everything from "Rubber Ducky" to Squirrel Nut Zippers, releases its Greatest Hits album.

CAPTION(S):

4 photos, box

Photo:

(1 --color) It was drop-your-drawers day when the Stanford band performed at the Coliseum.

(2 -- color) In typical unruly fashion, the known-for-outrageous-antics Stanford band performs at the Coliseum during Stanford's meeting with USC.

(3) With bare chests, shorts and fanciful headwear, the Stanford cutups make music that can add life to any halftime.

(4) Wheter prone or upright, the band can be counted on to be irreverent musicmakers.

Gus Ruelas/Staff Photographer

Box: THE BAND PLAYS ON (see text)