BigW

There's a LOT of truth to that, sarcasm or not. When you have an onfield judge- they're looking to see what the general skill level is. What does the average Jane and Judy in taht hornline know? What competence do they demonstrate? Usually, when people want the judge on-field, it's because they want that input. I'd think if the DCA membership wanted the guy in the box, they'd be there. It's very true that a lot of individual issues will also be readable up top, but some times , you can find certain issues that might be more helpful to certain groups down field- like embrouchure, fingering techniques, details on articulation and approach, mechanical issues. Sometimes, even finding out who really KNOWS the book and who's making stuff up on the fly. One would think that at the DCA level, a lot of that should and does get addressed and corrected, but... maybe it doesn't. The members asked for it to be that way for a reason. My guess is maybe they wanted that more detailed input, and given the youth out there in many instances, maybe they wanted a more educational kind of input on those subjects. I don't know the answer. Just my thoughts.

Robb's first gig was as a young man at Westshore as percussion head in '82. Even though I was in the horn line, we respected and liked him. He bright a lot of energy to the table and a positive attitude that was infectious. Ream and I will say it until we get blue in the face. Good musicianship is good musicianship, professionalism is professionalism- it's not exclusive to any section in a corps, and if it IS- they're looking at a serious disappointment come finals weekend.

The Blue Devils' philpoophy is just that, everyone plays UP to the strong people. In non-perfect situations, one can only do so much so quickly to develop people and get them into the program. People think all the work on breath control and support is a load of crap, but without it, you're goners. A good organization will have things such that the leads "lead" and help encourage and pull everyone else onto their boat. Frank Doritte got on us at Westshore to do exactly that and we responded, and it made a huge difference.

No, I don't think that's what is being said at all. For that matter there are some vets who have to work a lot harder to move well and master visual skills adequately. Clumsy people, like ME. Good drill writers and staff do try hard to put less able people into more challenging situations. Just as good arrangers and instructors don't try and over-write or rewrite parts for some people. Numbers do matter in terms of what can be attempted. Also, with the way things are nowadays, you get people with HS competitive experience, which is more valuable than it was BITD, so you effectively do get your "5 year vets" as you describe...

And Robb Muller at Kingston? Another fine percussionist, musician, and person.

Was down front last year with Tony. It is THE place to be for Shamrock. PERIOD.

GAH! that's Scranton, isn't it?

Galen took the job at NL in the fall of 1986 IIRC. Harlan retired in June of 1986 I do believe. That would have put him there for 23 years, so, add in the time for wherever he was before that, and it's likely not "early" by any means. And, about "the director's job?" YES! As I said previously, the word DIRECT is part of the word for a reason. It IS the responsibility of a director to do just that! Even as a kid I saw things begin to change. BITD, it was unusual for a Director to have an assistant- or a percussion specialist. North Penn in 1976 had I think a staff of six- which in that era was thought of as enormous and extravagant. Directors were their staffs- bring in a specialist for the twirlers and flags/rifles. That was it. Heck-- I remember when Gary was named show coordinator in 1980 at Westshore and Larry explained the position and the need for it to us at the beginning of the season. When Larry discussed it- the thought was in my head, "Cool! Why didn't we have one of those before?" Now, a band program that can afford it or gets enough suckers/volunteers to take advantage of has music techs, marching techs, a visual caption head, etc etc. If well coordinated and if the people are good team players and role players- it takes a lot of stress off the dirctor.

You can check my concerns with Bush on the Bucknell Review as well..... As for the coments on Hurcs vs. Cabs horns- I haven't seen Cabs yet-- but are the Cabs still at @42 horns? that would put them at about the Hurcs @38-40. The answer may not be as slam-bang clear cut as one thinks. And yes- if you only have one brass judge, especially with the impetus DCA is putting on entertainment and engagement in every caption. One would logically conclude the answer is to put the Brass person in the box or immediately beneath or on top of it.

Could it be that the panel was just less generous? Or maybe they performed very well but weren't as good as last week? It's not written in stone that corps get better from week to week. Things can happen. Show changes or additions, over-rehearsing parts of a show and allowing things in another section to deteriorate or backslide, People in a funk over something or another, someone in the hornline having an obviously bad night and not realizing it and keeps gunning away so the panel hears all of it... whatever. Seen it all at one time or another from many fine and not so fine organizations. There really just seems to be an assumption from a lot of people that "the scores must go up" (repeat over and over as a mantra...) That simply ain't so. I wasn't at Kingston, I don't know how better or worse anyone was. The answer would be to see if any of the Bucknell panel were at Kingston and see what numbers any corps that were at Bucknell got from them the week before and make the correlations.

Well now I know Scott is alive. Missed him! I worked with Scott in '82 with NL when He and Bart Sando were there at NLHS. Lots of Westshore people mixed up with them that year. Adlai Binger, Steve Hartman, Jim Shade, Larry... Won Liberty Class in CoB against a very, very good Spring Grove HS with Rich as their visual guru. Got me out of a bad funk I was in to work there, Scott knew I needed something to get out of the wreckage of a really ugly crash and burn relationship. Enjoyed every minute of it! Come to think of it, I think that was the only group I ever performed or worked with that ever won a championship. If winning was everything, I sure as heck wouldn't be still wanting to teach, LOL. The saving grace there was that Harlan's kids could play hard-core. The winds really understood how to play and were very well trained by him. One of the first bands out there in the area that understood that trying to totally emulate a Drum Corps was a bad idea and that woodwinds were quite useful if you staged and wrote to use them well. Sounded like a very nice Symphonic band on the field, a rarity for that era. One of the few other bands that could do that back then-- Williamsport, which was at the beginning of their killer run when PK got there and turned them loose. I think now they're a very small organization- Galen either retired or moved down to teach at a lower level, the young man there now works hard to make things happen as best he can. Talked to him a few times when I ran into him at some band contests.

Speaking of Beer, I remember BITD when Dickie Adams introuced several Westshore people including myself to Grolsch. I prolly owe him a glass of Stella or soemthing good in return.

Which could lead one to conclude Reading is at an estimated 92, and if one were to conclude this..... Now there's a lot of what if's about the missing horns, the long bus ride, etc. My educated guess having been at Bucknell and seeing both back to back-- you give MBI the what if's and the gap from first to second would have been noticeably tighter, but the placements would have remained the same. A better run from MBI at Bucknell- and there sure could have been-- would have pushed their number higher, and very, very likely would have also driven up the Bucs and Hurcs numbers as well. Food for thought.

Correct. the way it is now, the contenders are circling around each other until Prelims. Won't know what really happens until they make contact at the same contest.

Yes, but the numbers still appear to be trending a bit high. Some people are more generous, others more stingy with box placements, regardless if they're all DCA people or not. Panel members and that chemistry have more of an effect than many people realize.

Agreed. Note the Midwest scores are trending a bit higher than the NE scores. It's all within a reasonable margin. Even with the higher midwest trend, the Kilties are looknig stronger than they have for some time with their numbers. They have to feel good about it.

There are two things that would draw me to Kingston again. One would be the nearby Old Rheinbeck Aerodrome, and the Diner in Kingstion that served an incredible bone-in Prime Rib with simply incredible Steak Fries. They shut me down. Driving up the Ho Chi Minh Trail to get there... Hmm, I dunno... Beautiful drive but slow!

I'd like to hear the 84 show again out of curiosity. On field we didn't sound as bad as it could have been. Heck we beat 4 corps that day, LOL.

You're taller then Cossetti, he'd have to sit behind you with a parasol or on front of you with one of those MBI Viking Round Shields.

As I said to Jim about his Mom, same thing for your Mom- McD people are pretty clear about it, too.

Your Mom is not the only person that is very particular about being a John Harris Pioneer, or for that matter a William Penn Tiger, and I meet folks from all backgrounds that tell me this.

The year I was there, HHS Football, Basketball and Band Directors all left. To say all three of us were hard done by for different reasons would be an understatement. Carl Rachelson did a VERY good job with the Basketball Team, as did Coach Hamilton with Football. The story of how and why Poteat tied him up and threw him under the bus and made sure all the tires ran him over is sad and shows what a bunch of blithering idiots most of the people who have ran the district are.

John worked drill with the low brass at Westshore BITD, and we really appreciated him then, to say the least.

I ditto Jim on the 5-year planning to fiscally operate the corps responsibly. We ex-Westhore people respect and understand that thinking perfectly. People forget about long term stability far, far too often in their overall strategic planning for their corps. All I know is- keep doing what you're doing. If someone thinks FC isn't pushing the right buttons for their future, I can recommend a good brain care specialist.

There's only two situations where I spoke up. One was when I filled out the exit papers when I quite at Harrisburg... "Are people laughing AT us or WITH us!?" and "The foolishness has to stop for this program to have any educational value" And "The director should be allowed to DIRECT this program" were three of my more memorable quotes. The only other time I felt the need to say anything was my last gig. I was polite, but a dead last in class in CoB with at least 2 or three incompetent people beating them because the director listens to the wrong people and didn't listen to me and two people with multiple rings each from the Bucs says it all. IMHO, if that's the way the program is headed, they shouldn't waste their time, money or resources anymore. I have to wonder if that wasn't the intent.