BigW

Thanks, DB. Yeah, Mark, (RIP) was a good guy, but that incident must have been at another show over something else, then. Mark was so young, and well a lot of us were, esp. for DCA at that time. I joined in 79- Kind of Karma- Jim's last season for a stretch, then my last season, '84- Jim came back, LOL.

If you mean me and the Bucs, no, no. I had a close call in '95, though. Rook asked me to come in and work as Tony Y.'s understudy and along with Al Chez with Bucs. Al and I are polar opposites. I've worked with him before, and he's even more blue-collar than I am. His tirades were utterly hilarious, but stuff I wouldn't have ever done. Tony and I it it off, same profs in WCU, very copasetic, I like Tony a ton. He's also very nice to me. Approach is similar, he's evidently calmed down sicne returning from his missionary work in Slovenia. Went to a practice, had a great time, but I'd just got a new job with bad hours, which I still have, and I couldn't take the offer. I also have a sneaking suspicion they wanted my Baritonishly nasty noise-making "talent" on the field as well, LOL. And for the modern Bucs, I talked to a little bro in KKY at a recent alumni/actives party who I think is back for his second or third season, very nice kid. He needed a bit of that old school DCA thing smacked into him, which I did. I have my feelings I wouldn't be a good fit with the Bucs of today. Now MBI, I'd take a crack at if I was close- I seriously dig their book. A REAL horn book.

Blast! had been brought up- FutureCorps and it's Disneyland equivalent also existed. Quite good, too, quite, quite good. Disney canned them when they had to tighten their budgets. My guess is that conservatively, just to pay the corps members a conservatively reasonable salary and benefits, and provide their custom disney-designed unis and the intruments-- we were talking 250-300k a year. I guess I'm assuming For-Profit would assume the performers are treated as pros- like they were for Blast. As it is, I remember when I was at WCU, people like myself, Tom Aungst, Mike Klesch, John Miliauskas, Bill Pease, Dave Cooper, John Herlihy, and the mass of the rest of us who were doing DCA and DCI at the time got constantly mocked by one of the Jazzers- who ended up doing a pro military gig and having his own Pro Bone group for paying to do what we did. "HAH! Joo guyz gots ta PAY ta play when I git PAID to play. What good is dis Drum Corps crap?" (He has a great Joisey accent) Food for thought.... And I could still show this cat my pimp hand, BTW.

You look a lot better, actually. Eventually I'll have to get some shots of my ugly mug up here. In due time. Late night at work. Thinking more and more about stuff. Hoping Fran is reading some of this. He might be able to help from a different perspective. The more I think about it, us guys who marched back then were really involved in some interesting times for the activity in general. Serious transitions. the DCI corps shows really beginning to become more and more different from DCA shows, etc. Better educated people getting more and more involved. So many things to appreciate and make me feel good I marched when I did so I have an appreciation and respect for the old schoolers and also what's going on now. Time for

Read the reviews. The Microfiber is expensive but what may be the trick. You do need someting soft on the skin- you've been there- you're gonna burn eventually somewhere. The last thing you need is a towel acting as a rasp on the skin. And as has been said, figure out how to really mark that sucker or get a really ludicrous color. 33 bucks is a lot of bread for a towel, and read below. And has been said before, sharin' some of this stuff is... just grungy and grotty, even for a Bari player like me who will usually deal with all sorts of indignities. One a totally serious note- I have an allergy to my own sweat and also to any soaps with fragrances and oils in them- To make it worse, the problem wasn't properly diagnosed till about my 3rd or 4th year in corps, so, I went through some "interesting times" during and after a corps weekend (though not as bad as blowing out a knee, There were some moments of real pain!)- and... really- you wouldn't wanna be usin' my towel then, LOL. And- I wouldn't be wantin' my towel washed with anyone else's by accident unless they used specific laundry detergents free of fragrances. There's enough dust, dirt, mold, crud, and scunge in the activity. Gotta try and keep decently tidy and keep certain stuff distinctively marked for you and you alone. Sometimes, just feelin' clean after a long Corps day and the shower is a great feeling....

I WISH there was more video of those years! I don't have squat of Westshore, and I have two horrible videos from my Buc's years... I spoke to Hoover at length about this- there are some videos extant, he's been trying to format them to DVD evidently. I know the Allentown PBS Station did the 1977 and or 1978 DCA Championships- someone needs to see if they have anything in their archives. I also know they did DCI East Finals one year in like 82 or 83- When Crossmen did Explosion.

I thought we ditched "Granada Smoothie" for Prelims in '79, and our DM kinda paniced and froze, and the corps did what we rehearsed and saved our collective bacon and set up for the next segment. It could've been another situation that season- he was young, good guy, just very young- 18ish. I still remember sweating the bullets over something like that. Real, real palpable collective breathhold by everyone around me. My guess is that you checked a recording of Prelims? God bless you if you listened to us. Well, we had our moments both up and down....

Am I the only one who has winning as a goal. Drum corps really has changed. I'd say that in 1982 and 1983, it was a goal at Westshore, especially in '83. We had two good shots at it, didn't quite make it, but yes, we had that as a very realistic goal. In 1984, the goal was to get the corps on the field and as a long shot, maaaaaybe make finals. The circumstances had done a total 180. Depends on the situation and whether that's a realistic goal for the corps you're a part of. Only a few corps can really seriously think about that as a realistic goal. Right now- maybe 3-4 DCA and 3-5 DCI corps can really have a legit, realistic crack at the whole schlamozzle. Being delusional if you're not part of those units isn't mentally healthy. And if you're outside that group and DO get a crack at it, it's seriously delicious gravy for your poutine.

Bozz has just answered why your towel must be distinctive. Otherwise some guy like him will be drying himself off with YOUR towel.

Find one that's approved by intergalactic hitchhikers everywhere and you're set. I had a blue and white striped towel so I could tell what one mine was. It also made for a rather spiffy and natty turban for rain shows. Look bro- find one at Wal-Mart that's thick and plush, not thin and cheaply made, and is clearly distinctive from any other towel in the universe. You'll thank me later after the tour.

True, even back in the day, we had an ex-Bridgeman, ex-SCV, Ex-Madison, and an Ex-Cadet at Westshore for instance. Depends on the corps, and also the area. I'd bet the Renegades have a decnt percentage of ex-DCI performers.

Hmmm... Dave Rohrer and Frank Dorrite who taught me it was okay to teach with a smile on my face and a love for the activity. Eric Kitchenmen for breaking down visual technique so well and thoroughly for me that I never got yelled at from the box after he came to Westshore. Larry Hershman for making sure Westshore was run well and that things were organized on the business end so all we had to do was worry about working hard and playing hard at the right times. Ditto for Chuck Saia on the Business end and for telling my Dad I was behaving myself, which was prolly not 100% accurate. John Kreitzer for putting up with the Barleytone section when it came time to learn drill. So many corps friends who stuck with me and I stuck with them, too, even when things got incredibly goofy. Rook, Ben, Scott, Frank M., and more I'm missing for which I apologize to.

And yeah, having "Babby" on board was great. He was just the right guy to be there. Good for morale. In agree, so much happened earfly and middle that the actual championships became a blur. I'm hoping Fran reads this some of the time because he was with Sun through all the big wins and went through '80, which is like a cosmic abberation to the Sun universe. Something didn't click- I looked at a finals recap and think I know what happened, but I'd love it if Fran would tip us off from his perspective. Even so- that was a near-run thing, too!

No, I was not on any trendy adult mind altering substances- My ideas come naturally.

Thank you, Uncle Z for that classic shot of Kevin. I like it when people can confirm my crazy stuff after 30 years. I can't remember what I had for breakfast yesterday, but I can tell you corps reps and stuff that happened for near forever ago, LOL.

No, you activate Star Power when you lean back with your horn, shoot it to the stands, or lean forward with the drum. The game screen shows the crowd going looney, etc. You know, the 1990 or 1991 Star of Indiana version of the game would get me to buy one too. I'd imagine the Mello parts on Expert would be near impossible. I played EverQuest for several years- the problem with a Drum Corps MMO would be like any MMO, to get into the right corps you wouldn't be allowed to have a job or family to get in the way of playing. Spent 14 months trying to get into one of the top EQ guilds- working was a crime, LOL!

My guess is you could have a shorter Wii controller than an actual flag or rifle. the problem would be that you'd have to have some kind of dummy cord around your wrist in case you dropped it so you didn't hit your lamp, your parent's glass-topped coffee table, or your sister's Himalayan cat that's sleeping on said table with the thing.

Point well taken- I bought a second Wick for myself recently as a spare (I can keep it in the car to buzz or have to demo for kids at practice, have one for my Bugle and Euphonium cases, etc.) and it cost 80ish USD and that was a special deal on it. Not like it used to be in the old says when a Bach Low Brass Mouthpiece set you back about 12-15 bucks....

Thanks, Glen. I was gonna say something- Lewistown and Lewisburg get constantly confused by everyone. It's an honest mistake, and one that drives people who have lived in either town looney.

In a perfect world, I'd have the 1991 Crossmen edition of Drumline Hero and unfortunately, I'd have to have it set on "Severe Rookie Momo" setting but I'd be playing it all the freakin' time anyway. I'd also pray I didn't get the Crossmen booed off the field. I'd seriously die of shame. I'd prolly have to get Ream, Buzzgok, Ben and my drumline friends to play with me so they could hit Star Power and bail my sorry butt out.

Hmm.. okay... in the last episode of as the Westshoremen Turns.... Yeah- after all the parades, and the crazy competitions and dogfights, we get to champiohships. Reading was clearly out on their own planet, and Sun, Sky, and Cabs knew a lot about things we still had to learn. We were chasing the Hurcs, and getting chased by the Crusaders. I was just talking about the whole "Cutting the Concert" thing on another thread. I know as we got closer, that was discussed over meals at McD's and on the bus- were we gonna cut the concert or not for prelims? It kind of reminds me of Star Trek episodes when Captain Picard screams to dump the warp core. "Whoop... Whoop... CUT THE CONCERT NUMBER! NOW!!!!" I asked, "why would we do that?", being the goofy kid who wanted to learn stuff and understand WTF was going on most of the time, and no one really had a good answer. I think Rook told me it might save us a few tenths. I wasn't sure how, and still am not sure, but I just nodded my head. Rook always makes sense, a rule I keep mindful of even now. When Larry said we were gonna cut it for prelims, there was some grumbling, but we did it, my guess being it might give us a crack against the Hurcs. The other guess I have was that maybe the staff figured that maybe the Crusaders would do it and have a chance to get by us in Prelims. I prolly need to ask Larry over several beers about it. I think we were in a good spot to be in. We knew we could have a go at the Hurcs, and had very legit pressure from behind from the Crusaders, so we didn't go out there thinking our check was in the mail. I've seen one DCI corps get that attitude recently and end up getting blown out of a finals slot they seemed to have thought they had a lock on, so it was a good thing we had that pressure. Good competition does bring out the best in you. I know we had a touch and go when we skipped the concert number, I think Mark was nervous, but I also think everyone knew the routine and we spliced in okay. A real hold your breath moment on the field! we had a decent run, but the Hurcs really pounded us in movement, nicked us a bit in percussion performance, and we did get them in horns and GE, but by slivers. One thing I didn't realize after reading the recap was that we took 3rd on one judges Bugle x sheet. In terms of MA, we weren't too horribly out of the game either. The Crusaders nearly nicked us in M&M but had some performace problems in Brass and percussion- the T-Birds actually gave then a bit of a run. At Finals, our percussion had far better scores, whipped up on the Hurcs in GE Percussion, we faltered a bit in horns, beat them in GE, but they had a solid run in Finals- they held us off-- but we'd weathered the Crusaders' run at us, and we moved up from 9th to 6th-- part of the goal- move up every year. So, maybe we didn't get the Hurcs at the end, but I think we did show them something about what a "corps of our caliber" might be capable of. So, hey- we knew what the overall plan was, so why not go back? There were some tough moments my rookie year, yeah, really tough-- but I think most of us were gonna stick around. We knew we were getting better, we had potential, and we wanted to see how far we could go. I think Ben would agree with me. That year really made us kids hungry and gave us a bit of ambition. We were on the outside looking in at the real big names, and we wanted to take a crack at them, and with a bit of patience and over the next few years, we just might be able to! I know Jeff said earlier it seemed like the 5th place in 1980 was a miracle, but I know guys like Ben and I didn't think so. From the start of the off-season. I don't think we were cocky- but we knew what the corps goal was, we knew we could beat the Hurcs, and we knew we'd get better. I mean, we were kids, and I know I couldn't be any worse than I was my rookie year, well, couldn't I? Some other things fell into place as well, which I'll talk about next installment....

Hmm. When I was on board, I thought of Wally as one of "us"- not as a more normal fan, but a guy we figured could have been out there with us if he wanted to be. And that's meant as a real compliment to him! You had to make me think why I didn't toss your Dad in the mix back when I was on board. That's why.

There was another thing, Jeff. Something Jim or people around longer than even myself might be able to explain this because I'm not even fully comprehending the whole tactic. A lot of corps for prelims would axe their concert number to somehow save points if they were on the bubble as a desperate effort to get into finals. I'm not sure of the whys and wheres of doing this, but I do know it was done- '79 Westshore did it, but it was the last time it was done at Westshore while I was there. I wish someone would explain this one to me- Nowadays you'd get beat on for the program making less sense, less material for analysis, less everything--- or... Was the guess/estimation that you'd lose less in analysis and effect than you'd save in horn and drum ticks from playing the concert number!? Hopefully some of the "older timers" can explain that whole thing better to me.

You were relatively well behaved back then. And compared to some of the rapscallions mentioned in this thread over the history of this corps, you were....

Yes, Jeff. A case of what I think is different tick system tolerances, wildly different panels, and from reading between the lines of some of the historical stuff, some corps weren't very consistent- sometimes throw out an incredible performance one day, then lose it big time the next. I'm coming to think that the tick system had more and more to do with those fluctuations then I'd ever thought or realized before.