City Councilman Howard Clement is still annoyed that the NCCU band wasn't shown during the Rose Bowl Parade telecast New Year's Day,
"I looked at that parade for 2 hours and there was no show," he said. "And I was very unhappy."
Clement made his displeasure known at Monday's regular City Council meeting and again at this afternoon's work session.
"A lot of people were very upset," he said. "We were unhappy with what didn't happen. This was a good moment for North Carolina Central's band to shine and we didn't see it." And he wanted the council to register its displeasure known as well.
Councilman Mike Woodard and City Manager Tom Bonfield, though, offered further information from an memo the university chancellor's office emailed to the council and city administration just before the work session began.
According to the memo, NCCU's Marching Sound Machine was held up by an engine breakdown in a float just ahead of the band. The parade's progress was delayed so long that the band missed its scheduled 90-second spot on network TV; however, it did appear in telecasts by the Hallmark Channel and HGTV on cable.
A Los Angeles TV station is sending NCCU a video of the parade, which the university will post on its web site; Bonfield said the city will also try to arrange for a rebroadcast on cable Channel 8.
Clement said he hadn't read the memo.
