CozyChopsCom

Espana Cani!!! A Mis Abuelos!!! Bring it on, Cabs!!!

John, I was quite impressed with the Sun Devils' inaugural season. Best of luck in aught nine! Great choice in Doherty.

Mike, I totally agree with you. It's a solid biz decision that saves $$ for DCI and each corps that will not have to spend needed funds for travel and lodging. Great foresight!!

Barry, It was a pleasure to talk with you in Rachacha about Sound of Philly. I'm delighted it is a reality. Keep up the fine work! Kudos to the Raiders Drum & Bugle Corps Director Tom Maiello for coming through in true camaraderie.

Best of luck in aught nine!

Shakos off to Fusion for getting the legendary Tommy Martin onboard!

Sam, I've PMed Chris Ferrara's e-mail addy. He's getting Small Drum Corps Associates going in the Illinois/Wisconsin region. Chris and I have traded e-mails re this as recently as yesterday. Charlie Groh is interested in the same idea, right there in your backyard. Contact Charlie, too. Get something going!

Minimum of 35 reset to 30, the same number as DCI. Starting from a core of like, say, Austin Stars that I saw at DCA Douglasville, GA, last August, with 9 horns, 1 kit drummer, and about 5 guard, 30 can kick butt. Whatever the minimum, I hope there would be no severe financial penalties for slipping under the minimum.

Jim, My thoughts are with you and your wife, Kris. May all go well.

Jason and Susie, Congratulations to Jason, Kevin, Robert and Susie (The Cincinnati Cru) for your commitment to Tradition and for continuing your '08 summer to march with the Crusaders. As one who has done both, marched Tradition and made the long drive to Rochester (Empire), I know the sacrifice it takes to make that drive. Try it in the winter. Best of luck to both Tradition and Crusaders in aught nine! Love the Tradition unis.

Congratulations on fielding a complete show for 2008. Being a Buckeye and Tradition vet, I look forward to Cincy Tradition making it to the festivities in Rachacha! Best of luck at the Open House and in aught nine!

Jeff, Fly Navy! Thanks for posting the results. I'm happy about the football game. Congratulations to both the USAF and USN. I'd love to make it to an interservice championships sometime.

Brent, Normally it would be in DCWorld, but with the new DCW/DCP partnership, the review can be found right here on the Home Page under Featured Columns. Check the latest DCW On-Line review from Douglasville-Alpharetta, GA. Lookin' forward to the '09 Austin Stars. Make it to Rachacha!

Brent, I'm delighted that the Austin Stars are making the next logical step! If you double the size of you horn line to 18 with the same talent I heard at the CorpsVets's home show in Douglasville, GA, it should make for an amazing corps. You guys rocked! Bring it on. Broadway is perfect for y'all.

Jeff and Bonnie, I have several. I've PMed you.

Doug 2.0 has an incredible selection here!!! Also like Pink Floyd Dark Side of the Moon or The Wall. Fran's 777 stock market idea is intriguing. Ray Fallon is right; bring back the coffins. Aught eight needed more shtick. Another Bonnie Ott solo! Ramp up another great drum soli!

Feliz cumpleanos...tarde!

Ed, I just found this thread. Wow! 'Tis great to see folks care. Thanks NanciD for posting. The Madison Reunion Corps, in a complicated maneuver, did post the American flag properly. However, at the Wednesday night performance at Memorial HS that preceded the Semis performance, Madison Alumni took a separate American flag out onto the field for a bit. It's too embarrassing to state what they did with the flag afterwards. I talked to them, and this was not repeated at Semis. The USMC Honor Guard reminds me of correcting a USMC A-team before a parade while marching with an Honor Guard for the CorpsVets in '06. It was fraught with disagreement but had a happy ending. I continue to be treated like a pariah when I talk to some about proper etiquette. I truly fear that some will simply not march the colors/colours in the future. Thanks to those who do and do it properly.

Congratulations to a successful initiation of the MCA Championship and I&E! Wish I could have made it. Special kudos go to Mass Brass for winning and Capital Brass for hosting. Keep up the fine work.

Bob, Thoughtful post! Ikes! Hope all goes well for our brethren and sisteren. Use lots of plywood. Smashing bug on monitor.....

U.S. Naval Aviation

Each year I observe more and more flag code violations, including in Rochester. What abhors me more is having officials, directors and other honchos yell or mumble (not at DCA), "Who cares?" "If you don't leave the field right now, I'll have you arrested." "He says we have our U.S. flag wrong and wants us to switch it."...Nothing done. Had to get someone else to go back with me. Watching a major hs band championships where an official gathered up all the issued U.S. flags...Yep, he drug half of them on the ground. What truly bothers me in politely trying to Prevent First or fix the problems is that many don't care. I'm actually concerned that some circuits will simply make the problem go away by stopping all patriotic displays. I've had some luck in getting officials to allow me to go prevent the violations before Retreat or some performances. We need more people to spend some time with the U.S. Flag Code and spread the mantra of proper respect. Google. It's easy to find, and it's not rocket science. One only needs to care. btw, I respect the flag immensely but I don't worship it. There's a huge difference. There are some laws involved, not just code.

I'm sure that OldStyle was talking about the fact that, if we move the championship site out of the NE, an idea that does have merit, the Alumni Spectacular is part of the package. However, moving the championships too far from the NE will cause some alumni corps to cancel plans as their budget is even more limited than competitive corps. We all love our alumni and want the Alumni Spectacular at any championship site. Moving it out of the NE is a noble idea, yet complicated. As someone said, bring on the bids. SDCA -- I'm watching that one closely, an indoor circuit during the current "off-season." An old idea reinvented at a good time. Chris Ferrara has a healthy start. Charlie Groh in SoCal has his own great ideas. Ferrara and Groh need to connect and chat as well as anyone else interested in small corps. All those who complain about where do 22 - 34 people perform, here ya' go.

At any stadium, I like to see the action as close to the fan$ as possible. However, I'd never like to see the skilled, dedicated photographers limited more than currently. Francesca DeMello, Harry Heidelmark, Dan Scafidi and Richard Wersinger for DCWorld, and Charlie Groh for DCPlanet all contributed superbly in their roles as photojournalists. All of us, whether we were in Rochester or sitting back home checking the excellent live coverage here on DCP should go back and check out the fantastic Groh photos of all 3 major field events. The October issue of DCW typically has more photos than normal and that's a lot. Steve Vickers, DCW publisher, has over 2,000 pics from our 4 photographers who worked hard on the field. Move the action closer, but let's keep our photogs who photograph the history of our activity. Contact these photogs to see if you were preserved as part of this history. Odds are good that you were.

I've learned that I've aged to the point that I'm typically the U.S. Flag Code expert at an event, including some Championships, unless Jerald Sheets is there to accompany me or most of the DCA staff. I ain't gonna say what first came to mind.