2008 Woodie Awards
ROTC Brings Extra Spirit to Home Games
Dominic Godfrey/Muleskinner
Issue date: 10/12/06 Section: Homecoming 2006
If you've attended a UCM football game, you have seen and heard the Army Reserve Officers' Training Corps (ROTC) firing the cannon and doing push-ups after each time the Mules score.
"Push-ups and cannon crew have been around since the inception of the school," said Sgt. Dale Land.
Land said the members in the cannon and push-up crews are all volunteers.
Cadet Tanner Smith said the 2006 crews have an increased number of volunteers. There are 22 members on the cannon crew and 8-to-12 on push-ups. However, when the Mules score, Smith said nearly everyone joins in the push-ups.
"We've had complaints about the cannon's [noise]," said Gareth Young, chair of the Department of Military Science and Leadership.
Sometimes, the Mules run the score up to about 70 points. For every touchdown the Mules make, the cannon fires blanks, followed by the ROTC members dropping down to a push-up for each point the Mules score.
The blanks rock the football fans and surrounding Warrensburg neighborhoods, and the loud boom of the cannon sometimes sets off car alarms and startles opposing fans at the stadium.
Cadet Bradley Wulff gives the command to fire the cannon.
While he said the cannon has never backfired, the crew sometimes misfires. These "false alarms" are usually due to a touchdown being overturned.
If the touchdown signal is given by an official, Wulff yells the command to fire. However, an offensive penalty may bring the play back and deny the Mules a score.
Wulff also recalls a 2005 cannon incident that caused some humor. He said it was the first game for a new mascot. The new mule had never experienced the blast. ROTC members said the mule must have been gun-shy, because the first time the cannon fired, the mule took off running down the track that surrounds the football field. The mule later had to be corralled.
The only complaint about the cannon's noise this year is that it is not as thunderous, Cadet Jake Root said.
"Push-ups and cannon crew have been around since the inception of the school," said Sgt. Dale Land.
Land said the members in the cannon and push-up crews are all volunteers.
Cadet Tanner Smith said the 2006 crews have an increased number of volunteers. There are 22 members on the cannon crew and 8-to-12 on push-ups. However, when the Mules score, Smith said nearly everyone joins in the push-ups.
"We've had complaints about the cannon's [noise]," said Gareth Young, chair of the Department of Military Science and Leadership.
Sometimes, the Mules run the score up to about 70 points. For every touchdown the Mules make, the cannon fires blanks, followed by the ROTC members dropping down to a push-up for each point the Mules score.
The blanks rock the football fans and surrounding Warrensburg neighborhoods, and the loud boom of the cannon sometimes sets off car alarms and startles opposing fans at the stadium.
Cadet Bradley Wulff gives the command to fire the cannon.
While he said the cannon has never backfired, the crew sometimes misfires. These "false alarms" are usually due to a touchdown being overturned.
If the touchdown signal is given by an official, Wulff yells the command to fire. However, an offensive penalty may bring the play back and deny the Mules a score.
Wulff also recalls a 2005 cannon incident that caused some humor. He said it was the first game for a new mascot. The new mule had never experienced the blast. ROTC members said the mule must have been gun-shy, because the first time the cannon fired, the mule took off running down the track that surrounds the football field. The mule later had to be corralled.
The only complaint about the cannon's noise this year is that it is not as thunderous, Cadet Jake Root said.
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