PRINTSupporting Cast
Without them, the game just wouldn't be the same
Charles Ludeke
Jake McKinney, left, of the Cannon Crew plugs his ears as the cannon fires.
October 22, 2009 | 12:00 a.m. CST
Think about the last time you were at a Mizzou game. Remember that beer can you pitched? Thankfully, someone came by and recycled it. The parking spot you snagged? The attendant kept your car safe. And the Cannon Crew and Marching Mizzou had your ears ringing for days.
There are droves of hidden jobs that make up every football game. Although the people behind the posts might be smaller in standing compared to the game on the field, these workers are no less important — they are the supporting cast to the big show.
Matt Madden organizes people for Tiger Tailgate Recycling.
Patricia Beasley directs cars into parking lot A.
- Score! Who won it, 2002 to 2008
- Game Day Guide
- The visor
- The tailgating zoo
- Hey buddy, you're in my seat
- The Price of Playing
- Know your enemy
- Letting 'em out of their cages and corrals
- Stat Showdown
- Game Day Whereabouts
- Remember the Tigers
- Studying the stereotype
- Censorship Uncensored
- And the winner is...
- Endzone ensembles
- I'm with the band
- Prep and pride off the field
- An Obituary for the beloved Reactor
- The Lost, the Found and the Confiscated
- Columbia's Hangover
- Play by play
- Mo' Money
- Makin' Bank
- Tiger Watch Party
- Uniformology
Shanon Bote, Helmet Car Driver
A lot of people drive the helmet car, and Bote would feel kind of selfish if she drove every time. She’s an events coordinator on the Student Athletic Board, which means she spends her time finding people to hold the banner, help out with the parade and, yes, drive the helmet car. But, understandably, she’s a little apprehensive about the job.
Last year was the first time she’s ever driven the helmet car during a game. When MU scored, she started to drive in her typical celebration figure eight and almost smashed three or four cheerleaders as they came running by on the field. “That’s another reason why I haven’t wanted to do it,” Bote says. “I don’t want to hit anybody.”
Patricia Beasley, Parking Lot Attendant
For Beasley, the biggest perk of her job is meeting people. Her 9 to 5 is at the Truman Veterans Hospital, but Beasley says she just needs to get out. Being a parking lot attendant allows her to do that.
Even though she has to show up to the stadium at 7 a.m., no matter what time kickoff is, the people she meets along the way help her get through. One early morning, a gentleman came through the entrance in a limo. In his fly wheels, he brought her two bratwursts. “I can’t do that, not on the job,” she told him. “You know we’re not allowed to do that.” The man didn’t relent and replied, “No, you’re going to, you guys have been here all day, you are wonderful. You guys help us so much.”
James Caldwell, Commander of the Cannon Crew
Following in his older brother’s footsteps, Caldwell joined the ROTC program at MU. As he worked up and worked out, instructor Lt. Col. Wallace asked him to join the Cannon Crew. Last year Caldwell was lieutenant and has now made it all the way up to commander, where he gets to lead Cannon Crew members every game.
Even though the days are long, from three hours before games, up until about an hour or hour and a half after games, Caldwell takes the tradition of Cannon crew seriously. “It instills a lot of pride in our cadets,” he says.
Andrew Wallace, Member of Marching Mizzou
Wallace plays trombone in the band. As a member of Kappa Kappa Psi (a national honorary band fraternity), he gets the added task of making sure everything’s ready before the rest of the band arrives at the stadium. “I get water to the band, make sure all the ladders are set up,” Wallace says.
Even though it’s an unpaid gig, Wallace says he doesn’t mind being the behind-the-scenes guy. He’s just glad that every sousaphonist is satisfied. “I wouldn’t want to be paid for this,” he says. “It’s just not the way I roll. I love Marching Mizzou that much.”
Mike Madden, Project Leader, Tiger Tailgate Recycling
As project leader for this recycling group, Madden’s job is to make sure those cans every Tom, Dick and Suzy Tailgate drink get recycled. At the first game of this season, the group recycled more than two tons of aluminum and plastic. “To know that you were a part of something that big is just amazing,” Madden says.
Madden’s got a green thumb and not because he has a garden in his backyard. Recycling is something that he’s been involved with since high school, where he started his school’s recycling club. “It’s probably one of the most fulfilling things I’ve done in college so far,” he says. “If I didn’t love it, I wouldn’t be here.”
Curtis Bohl, Scoreboard Operator
Way back in 1983, Curtis Bohl answered an ad in The Maneater to become a scoreboard operator. Twenty-six seasons later, he’s still doing it. Bohl always gets the best seat in the house. “It’s cool when it’s hot, it’s dry when it’s wet, and it’s warm when it’s cold,” he says.
The life of a scoreboard operator was more heated back in the ’80s, recalled Bohl, when the scoreboards caught on fire two times — once about a week before the first home game. The old boards had flyback transformers, heaters and all sorts of old parts. “They were like a big TV set,” Bohl says. “This new LED scoreboard has been great. It takes longer for my computers to boot than for the scoreboard to warm up.”
Tommy Munford, Manager of Custodial Services for MU Athletics
For Munford, it’s all about cleanliness. Although some days are excrutiatingly long — he says he worked about 20 hours during the Nebraska game — it’s worth it when fans and recruits say, “Wow, look at this!” He just needs to make sure everything’s clean so it helps the school and fans. When hired in 2000, Munford thought, “Hey, summer break, the kids are gone!” Wrong. “There’s still athletes working out, there’s still sports going on,” Munford says. “It’s almost a 365-day-a-year job.”
Rich Montgomery, Crew Chief
Back in the 1970s, Montgomery used to get a lot of oranges thrown at him. He’s been working the sidelines since the Big 8 Champions went to the Orange Bowl, when he says all the fraternities and sororities threw oranges after Missouri scored their first touchdown. There’d be 200 or 300 he had to dodge as he held the down marker. “It was just crazy,” Montgomery says. “Some people still do that, even today.”
Having oranges chucked at you is never fun, but it’s all gratis. A group of officials in Jeff City once told the athletic director they’d be glad to work the sidelines for the low cost of $50 per game. “The athletic director sent them a letter that said, ‘That’s $50 more than what we’re paying now, so we’re going to keep the crew we have,’” Montgomery says with a laugh.
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