The Marching Chiefs almost played at the Ice Bowl, 50 years ago

In December of 1967, the Marching Chiefs band from La Crosse State was getting ready for nationwide exposure.  According to a story in the campus newspaper, the “Racquet,” the Chiefs were scheduled to perform at halftime of the NFL championship game between the Green Bay Packers and the Dallas Cowboys, if the Packers hosted at Lambeau Field.  By the time the site was chosen, the band members had already gone home for Christmas break. 

The band had planned to play a medley of songs associated with TV sports programs, including the Gillette razor jingle and “The Stripper,” which was being used in ads for Noxzema shaving cream.  The Super Bowl game was in Miami two weeks later.  This was the famous “Ice Bowl” game played at Lambeau on New Year’s Eve of 1967, won by the Packers in the closing seconds, in sub-zero weather.  The band instruments were freezing up, with reports of brass players getting stuck to their metal mouthpieces.  Some Marching Chiefs reportedly were taken to hospitals for exposure to the cold, and the decision was made that the band would not play during the game, live on CBS-TV.  But the Chiefs did get to the Ice Bowl, 50 years ago, 1967, yesterday in La Crosse.