The tryout starts at 5:40 a.m. with a 1.5-mile sprint to the top level of Tiger Avenue Parking Structure. Then, Army ROTC members gunning for a spot in Missouri Cannon Crew run laps, and workout leaders select individuals for exercise sets. Those individuals do burpees, flutter kicks and two-minute wall sits before running back to Stankowski Field to do pullups.
“They smoke you and see who is willing to put forth the extra effort and go the extra mile,” sophomore member Christian Elliott said.
After every Missouri touchdown or field goal, the crew fires a deafening cannon, and four members run into the endzone and do one pushup for every Missouri point.
The tryout for Cannon Crew is no easy task. Of the 25 or so ROTC members who tried out this fall, only about half — including Elliott — made the cut.
“The people that perform the best or don’t give up are the ones that get to do Cannon Crew,” sophomore member Kimberly Woods said.
The cannon was first used after an [1895 win over Nebraska](https://www.themaneater.com/stories/2010/10/12/cannon-crew-blast-past/) and has been a consistent game day staple since the mid-1990s.
“I’m from Columbia, and I’ve grown up watching the cannon go off,” Elliott said.
Tigers fans have a love-hate relationship with Faurot Field’s loudest tradition. It signifies a Missouri score, but it’s also quite startling.
Sophomore Coulton Becker comes to every home game and looks forward to hearing the cannon.
“It’s exhilarating, especially when freshmen come here and they don’t know about it,” he said. “I’ll watch out sometimes and they just jump.”
Cannon Crew members keep earbuds in their pockets to deal with the shots’ noise.
Members of the crew arrive around two hours before the game. After carrying parts from Crowder Hall to the field, they assemble and clean the cannon.
Making Cannon Crew goes beyond a preseason tryout. ROTC members must be in good standing both physically and academically.
“This is kind of the cream of the crop of our program,” instructor Michael Vance said. “So there’s a tryout, you have to have a certain GPA, you have to be able to score a certain score on your physical fitness tests.”
For Woods, Cannon Crew beats tailgating or any other pregame activities.
“It’s kind of a privilege that we get to be on the field with the team,” she said.
_Edited by Nancy Coleman | ncoleman@themaneater.com_