UV president apologizes for band's mocking halftime show

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. -- The president of the University of Virginia apologized Thursday for a halftime performance by the school's pep band at the Tire Bowl that mocked West Virginia's rural image.

West Virginia Gov. Bob Wise had demanded an apology Monday in a letter to John T. Casteen III.

The show, in which West Virginians were depicted wearing overalls and pigtails, "crossed the line between humor and the ridicule that the ACC, the NCAA and simple decency proscribe," Casteen said.

"We respect our colleagues at West Virginia University and also West Virginians generally," the president said. "We are all pretty much the same. We are related."

Casteen said he had not seen the halftime show on Dec. 28 in Charlotte, N.C., nor has he seen a tape of the show.

Pep band leader Adam Lorentson said Wednesday that too much was being made of the performance.

"A lot of people are trying to find something to be mad about when nothing's really there," said Lorentson, a 20-year-old junior.

The skit, approved by Virginia and bowl officials before the game, was a parody of the television show "The Bachelor," with a male Virginia student choosing between two female contestants.

One female had blue overalls, pigtails, a talent for square dancing and a dream to move to Beverly Hills, Calif. -- a reference to "The Beverly Hillbillies."

In his letter, Wise said "this type of performance merely perpetuates the unfounded stereotypes that we in West Virginia are fighting so hard to overcome."

Ken Haines, the Tire Bowl's executive director, said he approved a five-paragraph script presented by band officials before the game but decried the performance as "childish."

"Their performance was more embellished," Haines said. "The execution by the pep band was not in the same tone that we were led to believe. We were dismayed at the halftime performance of the pep band."

He said the pep band is not welcome at future Tire Bowls.