An unknown star of the MSU Saturday night lights is the Dream Team, more formally known as Physical Operations. The team represented in the photograph are Saturday Staff, Eighthmaster, and Quartermaster. Though another major section of Phys Ops is the Uniform and Instrument Team, these ten people handle the logistics of Game Day to make our Spartan Marching Band members perform to the best of their abilities. In the handbook, their responsibilities are stated as handling “marching band infrastructure planning and construction, field set up, logistical needs, the distribution of Game Day food, water, and necessary supplies, and maintaining approximately 15,000 sq. ft. of storage and rehearsal space.” In addition to the handbook layout, the staff also walks alongside the band while they are doing series, grabs any instrument or uniform piece that falls, and returns it to the player before pregame in the tunnel. Without this piece alone, marchers may injure themselves on a fallen mouthpiece or other piece of equipment. The team’s logistical practices are integral to the safety and success of the band.
As anyone could imagine, this job is no easy feat. Mark Bruey, Alto Saxophone Section Leader alumnus, gave us perspective on why he joined Saturday Staff for the 2022 season. “I love the SMB and Football, and helping the band out on Saturdays is a perfect way to mesh the two,” Mark says. “Also being able to listen to F-Tuning on Adams Field, instead of playing it, I realized how loud the second repeat is of that tune, and why people start cheering. The coolest part of Saturdays for me are when I get to hold the ladder for the directors to stand on when they are conducting Pregame or Halftime. It’s a perspective I never thought I would see.”
Another pivotal piece of the Spartan Marching Band year-round is Gizmo, the Eighthmaster and Tuba alumnus. Gizmo, along with Dylan Kelley, Quartermaster, seem to have all the answers anyone needs on a Game Day. His job is to extinguish little “fires,” or problems, on Game Day and to try his best to prevent them from happening. After asking why he took on his position, Gizmo said, “I decided to join Phys Ops in March of 2019, after helping the 2018 Phys Ops Team with some of their responsibilities that year.
I mostly helped out the instrument team (Aryka Thomson and Matt Schira at the time), and decided that area would be the best fit for me.” Since joining Phys Ops, Gizmo served on the Instrument Team from March of 2019 through March of 2022, and then became the current Eighthmaster. He decided to stay on Phys Ops long after he graduated from undergrad in May 2020 because, he recounts, “I have a true love for this band and all of the opportunities and friends that it brings into people's lives.” All in all, the Phys Ops Team takes a special group of people to run efficiently and this 2022 team is so excited to take on the opportunity!
Round of applause for the Phys Ops Team and
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