Affectionately known as "The Pride" by its supporters, the program enters its 72nd season in the fall of 2001 as the staff and students face a pivotal point in their band's program. After losing to their rival at state competition and barely making the coveted Top 12 at Nationals the previous year, the staff attempts to bolster the morale of the band with a show entitled The Ride of Your Life.

The show's title becomes a prophetic declaration of the band's own season.

     

     The patriarch of the program is Tom Stout. A veteran of The Pride for 22 years, Stout is often forced to balance between the younger staff members’ desire to win national prestige and teaching the students to obtain satisfaction from their performance and not a trophy. With what sounds like the philosophy of a coach with a losing record, Stout has instead produced walls and cases teaming with trophies and plaques from Oklahoma state championships to President Clinton's Inauguration parade.