Rice says it's sorry for insult

The director of the Rice University band issued a public apology Tuesday for his group's halftime performance during Saturday's Tulsa-Rice football game.

The 10-minute show, titled "Todd Graham's Inferno," mocked the TU coach, who spent one season coaching at Rice before taking the Tulsa job. The "MOB" (Marching Owl Band) performed music and a skit that paralleled Dante's "Divine Comedy," and acted like it was searching for Graham.

It ended with the band's announcer calling Graham a "douche bag" over the Rice Stadium's public address system.

"I always apologize when people are upset. It's just what you owe people," Rice director Chuck Throckmorton said in a telephone interview Tuesday. "When you're being creative and putting something out there, you know what you meant. But as soon as it's out there, it belongs to the people who heard it; and, when it upsets them, you apologize."

Tulsa athletic director Bubba Cunningham, who declined comment on Tuesday evening, said earlier this week that his school had issued a formal complaint with Conference USA regarding the show.

"The intent wasn't to be mean or insulting," Throckmorton said. "It was to poke fun and be funny. Since it came across different than that, then I certainly apologize."

Rice president David Leebron and athletic director Chris Del Conte were unavailable for comment.

The show was scripted by students and approved by Throckmorton, who has spent the last six years as Rice's band director. The group is known for its satirical humor and mocking nature of opponents.

Throckmorton said the Rice student body went through waves of emotions when Graham departed for Tulsa after only one season and plans for last Saturday's show began in August.

The show's script went through circles of Hell, with the band playing music and pictures shown on the stadium video board. The finale was when the group apparently found Graham in the 10th circle of Hell -- at the University of Tulsa.

The show ended with the announcer saying, "You know, that reminds me of a joke: A priest, a nun, and a rabbi walk into a bar. Now, I forgot how the rest of it went, but I think in the end Todd Graham is a douche bag."

Throckmorton said he was surprised at the reaction to the words "douche bag."

"It was sort of a mild insult . . . it was used to get the point across but not dirty," he said. "In all common usage I see, it's devoid of any literal meaning. I looked it up and it means someone that talks big about himself and that is a jerk.

"Going through the show writing process, I thought it was a mild vulgarity."

Throckmorton said he was surprised with the attention that the show received.

"Tulsa won the football game and still has their coach," he said. "This was his first time back since he left, and we gave him a rhetorical public flogging. Everyone expected it. It was as mild as we could make it with it still being funny."