fick

Yeah, but fortunately, this thread is about making a rule and sticking to it.

...just another door.

Pffft...this is the internet which seems to not have any effect on the real world (ingest that as you may). Fick has been through much worse that he has placed himself in and his stout butt has still broken doors off the hinges that have slammed it.

Welp, here we are. I just arrived home from San Antone. Do I have opinions? You bet I do, but they are not for this thread. I still think, regardless of tour schedule, supposed aggreements and/or votes (which I am not sure existed), that the advertised rule/stipulation/regulation should have been upheld. Again, this is not to point out any one or two corps in particular. However, prelims were, IMO, interesting... :feednotroll:

The showing of my firey, troll face is also pending...

Flamed troll here...obviously, this is a topic of discussion. This is not a bashing session for a corps - in general or in particular. This is not a discussion about finances or survival. My initial words, yes, were brash but sometimes it takes a little brashness to create something. I'm a firm believer of risk taking...to a point, and that is not the point of the discussion. I, personally, have nothing negative to say about Academy. Yes, I said that they have sitting on their butts - yes, I said they had time off but that is not the issue, either. I don't care who the corps is - my fav or least recognized...if a stipulation is posted for the public to view (DCI.org stating that appearance in San Antone is based upon placement in Atlanta) should it not be followed? I was told once to only speak of a problem when you have a solution. SOLUTION: 1) Adhere to the current rule/regulation 2) Omit the rule of appearance being based upon another show's placement and see a lot more be said about like-topics (?) 3) Either of the above and remove the verbage from DCI.org My opinionated solution is 1).

The context of this thread was not to point out the touring decisions made by a particular corps. Though I concur about the idea of cost saving through an abbreviated tour, cost of touring is irrelevant here. The point...corps face a like-panel of judges at one event for order of appearance at another. If you don't show, for whatever reason (tour schedule, finances, Gold Bond shortage) you earn your palcement to that particular event as prescribed, not granted a slot (i.e. document). I will favor this mentioned document though it does not seem to create an equal scenario for all, but as I understand it, the document and its existance is being disputed by various corps directors.

skajerk, thank you. I did not belittle my corps and your favorite corps (SS). I am a firm believer of giving credit where it is due. I didn't waltz into the Marines as a SGT just because I marched drum corps. If DCI made prearranged plans for this to take place, God's speed. I will not contest a decision made in April.

Every other Division I corps tours thousands of miles competing night after night to get to this little show called Atlanta...which suppose to, according to DCI.org, determine the order of appearance for San Antonio. Here we sit, Academy sitting on their butts half the summer because I heard from a reliable source that they had 4 days off in a row at one point this summer, and yet they get the privilage of not going on first, like they should, in San Antonio even though they were not in Atlanta. Sounds fishy. Is DCI developing a new pet which resides in Arizona?

In the early 90's, we made finals each of the 3 times we finished tour (I wasn't there in 1995). We did well with what we had but our success did not attract much attention in the recruiting arena (traction?). The only reason we went DIV II in 1994 is due to the fact that we received many members from Black Gold/Oklahoma when the corps did not make tour. While some vets of the earlier years frowned (?) on the coming of the smaller Suncoast, 1)the 70's and 80's of Suncoast were not tarnished and 2) it provided the opportunity for those who did march in the early 90's to have drum corps a part of their life...age-out...and/or make friends for life. Unfortunately, Suncoast was always a feeder corps to the traditional top 6 (please allow me to be general by saying this - purely all in one's understanding with many unknown factors). The staff that did get Suncoast back on the road in the early 90's were EXTREMELY dedicated and brought many of the right people in that know the Suncoast tradition. My thank you to all of those people - and to those who disagreed with the 2nd go round of Suncoast...thank you for creating a tradition that we took pride in following in the early 90's. Would I like to see Suncoast back out? Absolutely - ONLY if the members and staff from the 70's/80's and early 90's were there to imbed the tradition. The reality, I beleive, does not allow that to happen, reguardless of the money and effort put into it - even if it DID happen, I don't think it would feel right. Greatest Love...

Maryland Stadium 1992 - we were the first to go on. The timing of the entire event was crucial - the Marine D&B Corps was the intermission. Normally, we would march single file onto the field on the 50 without stopping. I was the head of the line, but was told to wait until qued to march on the field - I forgot, and made it to the first hash mark before I heard the guy behind me yell stop as he was standing on the sideline. The crowd was going wild.

Welcome to life, young lad. I was scared the first time I went to my corp's open house...but I brought my mouthpiece. I heard somethings that were merely awesome from the guys who had aged-out already. I twisted my piece in and found out that I could actually do what they were doing. That was surprise No. 1. Because I came back and joined, I was given the opportunity to be in the All Star Corps of 1992. So what if I stole the lead sheets from the table at rehearsal...just being there - Surprise No. 2 I don't know how THIS evolved, but someone in Canada like our uniforms (we were from Florida if you don't know about Suncoast Sound) and decided to use us in a Energizer commercial - to be aired only in Canada. Surprise No. 3 Now, of course these are not all of the surprises that I encountered. Yeah, there were a couple bad ones, but if I had attended that open house, I'd be kicking myself like the many I have talked to that always WANTED to march, but didn't. Who cares where you march first. You may be content with where you are. If your first corps is with a small fish, you can break the 'loyalty' and go big fish your next year. Just go march. $.02

I'm not expert like the rest on here, but I think that since San Antone isn't the first show of the year that the judges will have a good baseline from those who have been on tour - given that this isn't the judge's first show...

Suncoast had a town in WI, I think it was spelled Pardyville - anyway, I got to experience that tradition in 1992. It's pretty sweet when a town takes in a corps like that.

Spirit. I have not see any shows to date this year, but this is my natural choice.

That shirt sounds like a near-copy of a shirt we had on the 1994 Suncoast Sound tour which simply stated "SHUT UP AND PLAY". Also, it was our best seller and no shots were taken at us. BTW, in the less politically correct times of the mid-90's, no issue was made. I'm glad I'm not political.

I bet Donnie is laughing...

Madison tied Crown...?

I'm already in for the Houston and SA shows, but I now need to look into the 28th show (I have the week off). Got tix last night for the Quarterfinals showing in the theater. BB Ice cream...Cookies N Cream or Banana Pudding (I think it is).

So if we don't meet up show day, we could grab a steak or something sometime. I live on the west side of Houston.

Yeah, it actually rained at warmup for the Tampa show (that I vividly remember). I didn't know about the Houston show until a few weeks ago and I had already planned my vaca for the following week - headin to the San Antone show, so who knows when I'll get near the show sight. I moved to Houston in October from Tampa - the summer's the same but it got a tad colder here than Tampa...but I don't miss Tampa.

Everything has value to a point - we even made exceptions in the Marines (where we would kick your a** and you were ashamed to tell someone why you got your a** kicked if you broke our ranks). A funny story about an attempt in 1993 when I marched Suncoast...our home show was at my old highschool (I had just graduated) and a girl of whom I remembered from the band was trying to break right in front of me. I told her no twice then said "Lisa, go around!" Her jaw dropped, no knowing who I was. Till this day, I hope drum corps is such a mystery to her...

Medeabrass, we could hang - y'all were nice enough to head our Florida tour in 1993 and I was in awe the whole time...

Odd and disappointing, for whatever the reason...