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And the irony is the “Cross” in Crossmen comes from John Cross American Legion Post in Norwood which was sponsor to one of the corps that merged to form Crossmen. So no religious meaning to the name. Added irony is Texas is a loooong way from Norwood

The incident I wrote about occurred 18 years ago. To this day it comes back to me when I am in conversations with people/groups. I will say this...it is sometimes exhausting to have to be conscious of every word that comes out of your mouth.

Tonight I watched a performance of the United States Naval Academy Drum and Bugle Corps. I thought I heard piccolos and looked closer to see there were indeed piccolos, clarinets and I think saxophones. They still go by the name USNA Drum and Bugle corps. If they are now making a change to include woodwinds in their standard instrumentation why not change it to USNA Marching Band?

Mandatory reporting where I live requires training of what, exactly, to report. If we see any of the warning signs we're trained on, then we must report it to a specific person in our building by law. From there, individuals with increasing expertise in child abuse, including law enforcement, make decisions. It takes any of the "do I want to get involved" out of the way because you're committing a crime that is very prosecutable if you don't automatically report. All adults who work in Indiana with minors do this? If so, that's awesome. It's pretty specific roles in my state that are mandatory reporters, and a lot of adults who work with groups of kids in music/sports/clubs aren't specified as mandatory reporters. I think this might be what Mike was talking about with it having different meanings in different states.

Excellent question and one that can only be answered by the corps. My point is that without context, I personally don't judge this circumstance. If that's me being naive, then that's ok. I'll formulate a more solid opinion once I have some data I can chew on. I think it would be an interesting conversation if someone has the background though. I personally don't have a dog in this fight and it's an interesting off season topic.

A few thoughts and questions. Regarding mandatory reporting; do you report on what you “learn”, if it has come to you as hearsay? Or Rumor without evidence? Do you report without anything verifiable or confirmed ? Do you report as a precaution? Like “I was told this by so and so (likely can’t be anonymous reporting) that blank did this”. Or must you have confirmed proof before you report? Now obviously first reporting should go to proper authorities; those not being corps admin or DCI. I mean police. How much time should pass once the reporting person, learns of an incident, until they properly report it? Within 24 hours? Less? What is a proper time frame. I would then assume, after reporting an incident to police, the reporter would quickly report to the org.? How quickly after is an appropriate time period? Within a day? I would also assume reporting to the org. would not be a one on one briefing. I would hope it isn’t. Lastly, would it not be an unreasonable policy for DCI to create a reporting protocol for any person directly associated with a corps; volunteer, souvie sales, instructor, truck driver, cook, executive staff, ANYONE; that makes reporting to authorities, mandatory. Geography notwithstanding. State laws regarding mandatory adult reporting notwithstanding. Report always, wherever it occurs. Wherever it is learned. Just my random thoughts to put some parameters to reporting criteria.

Had the exact same problem. Would take my information,but wouldn't complete the purchase. I was able to get a very nice lady from DCI on the phone that did the purchase on the phone. Couldn't get the same seats. But only 1 row lower. They did not sell anywhere as fast as usual,especially the lower sections.

What’s the context for Crossmen using the Maltese cross? Were they associated with the nation of Malta in some way? I’ve always associated it with a local biker “club” from my youth who thought they were bad*** lol

No problems on my end. Just not a very smooth or graceful process. Web formatting circa 2006.

Before I retired from IT I was the only male over 60 and had some newer hires in their 20s. Annnd let’s throw in I’m white and some of the newer hires were minorities. Got some hairy eyeballs when I would go up to them to ask anything. Problem was I needed to ask a lot of questions due to my job in the group. Took a while to gain their trust (except for the one guy and not sure what the issue was). Think it helped that I would throw in a compliment when I talked to them “glad you understand it, gonna take me a while so I’ll probably be back bugging you later”. 😁 Kicker was the huge hug I got from the one young Nigerian immigrant who was Muslim (and knew her stuff) when she left. Her hubby was in the Army and was transferred.

I walk every single trainer that I manage through classroom management, how to shut conversations down and what to listen for. In a virtual setting, you have to also consider what is going on in the chats. I actually had to do a write up for an agent a few weeks ago about something that was said in a chat. It's a shame. The people who seem to be the most offended seem to often be the ones who offend the most. And these are supposed to be adults....so.... Context apparently has lost it's meaning and it's generally easier to simply be ever vigilant and consider every word and action and how it impacts every person in a setting than it is to explain those contextual clues. The concept of "know your audience" is more important today than ever.

Bluecoats, you know what to do.

In some states, all adults are mandatory reporters. Including the state that hosts DCI finals.

Sorry for your bad experience, as I had zero problems and was able to login and purchase them pretty quickly. I also noticed there were lots of opens seats as well.

do better, do do do do better

Well that didn’t work too well. Deleted the video and couldn’t type below it. 😡 Keep hearing one 70s guy on a bus trip to a parade around 2010. DCI legacy Dvd was playing and his son asked “Dad did you carry a drum like that?” Answer was: “yes and that’s why I can’t pick up anything heavy anymore… what were we thinking?”

God bless whoever it is just for having a corps this year

Woohoo 1988! To repeat some context I shared in the 89 thread, 1986 I only went to one show and I had no idea what I was getting into. 1987 was also just one show. But the thing is, I saw SCV live in 87 and instantly became an all-in drum corps fanatic. 1988 I went no holds barred (as much as my parent's permission and money would allow. Much thanks to them.) Apologies for not paying close enough attention to the non-finalist corps when I was a kid. My first show was pretty early. June 20, 1988 Mishawaka IN 1 Cavaliers 67.300 2 Bluecoats 66.600 3 Colts 45.700 4 Glassmen 36.600 5 Northern Aurora 36.000 6 Northmen 30.200 7 Guardsmen 29.600 Bluecoats had just beaten Cavaliers for the first time ever just 3 days before. Bloo came out like gangbusters. Not only had they beaten Cavies, but they beat Star of Indiana AND Phantom at that same show. They were 1987 on steroids. Autumn Leaves had been more appropriately reprogrammed to the closer. Talent had beefed up nearly every section although some arrangements were ... similar. We didn't know it but we were just wrapping up an era where corps could repeat programming from the previous year and the fans would barely blink. They were really energetic and the crowd ate it up. I bought a signed tenor drum head that night. Ended up marching with one of those dudes eventually. I just pulled out it of my garage a couple of weeks ago, as I have been de-hoarding during quarantine. Wild stuff. The Cavaliers' stab at Firebird Suite had fans turning their head sideways. The crowd reaction between Bluecoats and the green machine was a complete 180. Not nearly as accessible, and downright difficult to pull off. I was sitting by my band director and he was the only one of our crowd that could see how this show would develop. ===Cut to 1 week later=== June 26, 1988 Goshen IN 1 Cavaliers 72.600 2 Bluecoats 71.700 3 Troopers 56.700 4 Glassmen 39.400 5 Bandettes 26.500 6 Guardsmen 24.500 7 Coachmen 24.200 This seems like a ditto, carbon copy experience of the previous week, but if felt different. Bluecoats still had the crowd on it's feet. But the Cavaliers had already started to feel more comfortable in these dissonant shoes. And personally for me, a kid that didn't have any background on Firebird, a few more viewings of Cavaliers would make a big difference in the appreciation. ===Cut to another 3 weeks later=== July 16, 1988 DCM Championships DeKalb IL 1 Phantom Regiment 84.000 2 Star of Indiana 83.000 3 Cavaliers 81.900 4 Madison Scouts 81.400 5 Bluecoats 78.300 6 Sky Ryders 71.700 I went with a friend and his father to DCM finals. Phantom was your definititive winner here. A friend of mine in Star percussion told me that the first time he heard the opening fanfare and then the snares crystal clean rallentando roll he thought "welp, so much for beating Phantom." That snare line was fire. A friend that marched contra at PR told me a story of learning the drill to the drum feature. Apparently Marty had to break it down the first 20ish seconds into 2, 3 and 4 counts at a time from the tower as the pulse was elusive the for the brass and guard. Sounded like a verrrrrry long ensemble session. First time seeing Star of Indiana that year. I had friends here too, including playing the famed Porgy and Bess mallet part. This was a cool show. It worked well for them for most of the season too. The were pretty much above Cavies, Cadets, Madison all season. Trading places with PR frequently. Madison was messy. This was there 2nd or 3rd show back after retuning from the their Europe mini-tour and honestly, it wasn't anywhere near as memorable as it would become as they continued to clean and edit into August. FWIW Madison beat Cavies at DCM Prelims that afternoon by 8 tenths of a point. Also worth noting here was an entirely fun Sky Ryders show. A real blast. So much fun that every show they did after 1988 would feel plain, stuffy and just a little too serious. ===Cut to 3 weeks later=== August 10, 1988 Bloomington IN 1 Blue Devils 95.200 2 Cavaliers 93.300 3 Star of Indiana 92.400 4 Bluecoats 87.600 5 Troopers 75.900 6 Quad City Knights 62.500 7 Beatrix 51.000 The final show at IU's Bill Armstrong stadium. A small soccer field on the opposite side of famed Assembly Hall in relation to Memorial Stadium. A very cozy show where I also attended my lone drum corps shows of 1986 and 1987. The 87 show is posted to youtube from a local PBS broadcast. Good stuff. Still looks a lot like it used to. This is still my favorite Blue Devils show. Hard to imagine what it would take to displace it. Swagger is right. And yet, a bit of a change, which should not be overlooked. Those of us there know how different this was for the BD designs that, no matter how well they were achieved, were getting a little stale. The beautiful look, the powerful and seductive sound, the completely swinging front ensemble. Incredible soloists. *chef's kiss* Cavaliers were now full-on embracing the aggressive discomfort of Firebird Suite. This was a risk that was paying off. It is a very interesting choice, historically. They were delving into what would become their signature visual approach and it was working well. But pairing the Brubaker's unique geometry (and that of his followers in Rosemont) would rarely happen with such dark musical material. This would be the first time they finished above Star of Indiana since the season opener on June 17th. After 14 opportunities. The Bluecoats were nearly the same thing that I had seen at the beginning of the season, but ... with maybe less energy. I ended up marching with more than a few veterans of 1988 Bluecoats and they were a hardened bunch. I'm not going to air anyone's dirty laundry here, but things did not go as planned for just about everyone. And I'm not necessarily talking about the numeric result although the evidence was on the scoresheets as well. There was staff/design turmoil very near the top of the chain. Imagine coming into the summer on fire and pumped about your new position as a DCI Finalist and then spending the entire summer dealing with drama and some reluctant "last-man-standing" situations on the tower. And let's not forget this was the summer of the famed drought of 1988. All hot and all dry. Kudos to the bunch of friends that came out of this situation. A very close knit bunch. === Cut to 3 days later === August 13, 1988 U.S. Open Marion OH 1 Star of Indiana 94.300 2 Garfield Cadets 93.800 3 Phantom Regiment 93.300 4 Dutch Boy 86.000 5 Blue Knights 80.000 6 Colts 78.500 7 Glassmen 65.600 8 Spartans (WA) 65.200 9 Beatrix 59.600 10 Oakland Crusaders 44.400 Exactly 1 week DCI finals night and my last show of the year. Why did my parents drive me and a friend nearly 3 hours to the US Open finals when I had just seen a show 3 days before? No idea. Up to this point, they had never been to a drum corps show in their lives. No doubt I didn't appreaciate their efforts until later in life. We pulled into park and a neighboring driver said there was a hiss coming from my father's van. We went back to inspect and couldn't find a thing. Into the show we went. Before we dig into any specific corps, check the Top 3 results from US Open prelims that day with the exact same panel. 1 Garfield Cadets 93.200 2 Phantom Regiment 92.800 3 Star of Indiana 92.300 That is how tight the middle of the pack was in 1988. The DCI finals results and spreads do not reflect just how competitive the season had been. Especially 4th through 7th. When things would gel for this Porgy and Bess show it was a fantastic result. But it was a very tough ensemble task. Not just with the syncopated Porgy and Bess theme. The extended Hurricane segment both before and after the percussion feature was a bear. At the US Open finals, it was ON. At DCI Finals, it was not. Sitting through The Hurricane on DCI finals video is unsettling. This was a great Prime horn arrangement. The entire pacing and book is remniscent of his Garfield work earlier in the decade. Additionally, this was one of those Brubaker side-gig drills. Solid drill and recognizable. But not his best stuff. In retrospect, it is easy to say that there was a better stylistic combination out there. Not to mention, having it be a dedicated visual designer. This group of "kids" was ecstatic with the result. I remember a verrrry long line at the payphone when visting friends post show. They were going into DCI finals week on top of Cadets and Phantom! (If they only knew). This was the first time I had seen Cadets live since 1986 Bloomington. It was a whole new ballgame. Being a big fan of the Copeland source material, this show was very rewarding to me. Was it as epic as 87? No. But the quality was unmistakable. Even if it was a little esoteric. In fact, when the show was over, my rookie-viewer mom turned to me and said "I don't understand it. I can tell that it was very good and they were doing it very well. But I don't get it." She loved the Phantom Romeo and Juliet, of course. Moms, right? We walked back to find a flat tire on the car. Tough to find a repair/replace on a late Saturday night in Marion, OH. Thanks again Mom and Dad! I'll save the finals week craziness and ruminations for others and stick to my live experiences.

At a prior job, one day it was the birthday of someone in our department. V was the youngest and newest member. She was talking to one of the admin assistants so when I walked by I said "Happy Birthday V - you don't look a day over 20!" (she was around 27 at the time). She snapped back "So does that make you better than me?" I stood there shocked, wondering how what I said was offensive and replied "I'm 40 years old, I wish I was younger." She then replies angrily "So being 40 years old makes you better than me?" It was one of those moments where you just start to backup and leave the situation. I went back to my desk and was really bothered that what I meant as a complement was taking so negatively. I thought about it for a few hours and then decided to ask my Manager for her opinion on what I said. V had already been to see my Manager that morning to complain about what I said. My Manager said that V had a real inferiority issue with being the youngest and newest in the department. I just shook my head and decided to keep my distance from V from that moment. You know how news travels quickly in a small group .... that afternoon another colleague came up to me and said she was upset about what I said to V. Her comment "How come you never tell me I don't look a day over 20?"

I KNOW of one, but the victims have never come forward publicly to my knowledge and its been a long time now.