bstar82

Absolutely he is entitled to his opinion. I couldn't agree more. But I am also entitled to disagree with that opinion as is anybody on any topic on this site. Otherwise this would be a pretty boring site.

I don't care if you think I crossed the line. But to put 30, repeat 30 exclamation points in BK's paragraph, isn't that a bit much? And you clearly stated BD is this year's winner, they received a total of 9! points from you. And I noticed you mentioned Santa Clara was doing same old traditional stuff, but every other review I have seen as been very positive about SCV minus their closer which I agree. Nobody said you couldn't not like the Knights and be passionate. Just be a little more realistic for Christ's sake. And the reference about Crown wasn't 06, it was last year that you claimed BK would beat them by season's end. Whoever said you had irresponsible teachings? Who said it? Nobody but yourself. You are making up stuff now which puts your reputation on the line. Nobody called you a terrible person. Again you are making up accusations. Chill and take constructive criticism for what it is. Not to make up accusations that nobody has flung your way. But you did say Robbie has written the most amazing difficult drill. It's right here in black and white. What would that imply to others? Geez, stop being so sensitive and taking everything as a personal attack towards you.

Nope. just add between .3 and .8 point to everybody's score from last night.

Kicking butt? Who's butt are they kicking? Not Cavies, BD, Cadets, Phantom, Crown, Bluecoats or SCV. The most amazing difficult drill? Yeah right, that's all everybody has been talking about all summer. If that was true BK should place no less than 3rd after it is all said and done. Yeah, that drill is better than Zingali or Brubaker or Gaines has ever put on a field. Fact: Rob Billings has never defeated SCV head to head as a drill writer for BK. Look it up and ask him yourself. He has shared this with the kids for many years. I have no problem with alumni supporting and rooting for their corps, but this goes beyond reality. I can respect some of the other alumni who have been on here, but will call a spade a spade where they see fit such as laurakemb Mnm, Keith and Traveller30 and not look at their corps thru rose colored glasses or in this case, blue. I noticed you commented on June 24th here about, "What is so terrible about being 7th-11th place?" in the BK design thread but in last year's San Antonio review you made the comment you would like BK to rule the world. And to predict last year that BK would end catching up beating Crown was something a lot of folks knew had no chance of happening and then slowly backtracked in the San Antonio review on what a great show in fact Crown did have. I can appreciate folks being so rah rah about their corps, but as far as I can go back on these threads, I have yet to see one instance where you have been either realistic or somewhat critical of their show. Everything has been incredible, wonderful, amazing and most difficult, yet the fact remains BK remains a lower tier top 12 corps and that is not an opinion. That is a fact and facts do not lie. I want to see them excel and become a top 6 corps year in and year out, but praising the staff and corps for every show they have ever done just reminds me that this activity needs less band and soccer moms cheering and seeing good in every possible action their baby performs. I'm not trying to mean and degrading (because I can definitely be that) but why don't you see everybody perform live at least a couple of times before making such predictions. It is embarassing to myself as a Bk friend, fan and huge supporter to have read these unrealistic reviews of the corps. They have some issues percussion wise and marching for sure. The three techs I am close with conveyed to me that these kids are not "getting it" at the speed that they would like and probably will not all summer. Just part of the huge turnover and growing pains that they will have to endure which every corps goes thru at one time or another. Now TexasPRfan's review was much more realistic of what I have heard from many folks around the country and I have been to 9 shows this summer thruout the midwest and I ask a lot of folks what their impressions were not letting myself on as a BK fan. I want to hear the truth from them and no suger coating.

A few of years ago, I was on a flight back from a drum corps weekend and noticed a couple of caption heads on my flight flying first class. I hope their corps wasn't paying for it was my first thought. I know of a couple of techs who are provided with not one, but two RT tickets for the summer at the corps expense so they go home for a few weeks away from tour. I thought that was a waste. If a tech needs to go home during the season, their transportation costs should become their own issue. Another gal I know who techs took a bus to all days paid her own way and found out later the corps would have gladly bought her a RT air ticket. According to my calculations, it would have been about $250 minimum the corps was willing to shell out. If somebody is willing to get someplace on their own, doesn't that help the corps out in the long run? Somebody who I respect the heck out of is having a rental car and all his fuel paid for by a corps to tour as an advisor and has his own personal vehicle. I know this for a fact as he asked me to accompany him for a week or two, but I couldn't in good conscience. These type of issues drive me crazy when the corps comes around asking for more money because the reason given is, we are so poor! If this corps would work to use their funds in a much more efficient manner, they would see a lot more money from me.

BK is on last @9:39 PM High Country Brass is in the parking lot right now.

I heard Madison is planning to stay in the Denver area tomorrow to rehearse. Does anybody know what school they will be at?

So I went to see the Cavies rehearse for a while last night and something I have noticed the last 2-3 years. When this corps takes a water break, it is sometimes a 10-15 minute break and all the guys will come over the coolers and line up for the water and then sit down and relax and talk for while and some will even come up to the stands and talk w/ friends and family. I know in a lot of other corps, the members have their own water jugs, will race to get a few gulps and run back in place on the field. A friend of mine who is fairly new to the activity gave the opinion that maybe this gives the guys a few minutes to relax and keeps them fresher mentally and physically which I can see her point. The other tidbit I noticed is when the corps resets, they for the most part walk back to their set. I am used to seeing corps sprint back to their formation and start the process all over again being from the old school so to speak. I know a lot of corps feel that there is no time to waste and they can get in 2-3 dozen (or more) reps by sprinting for water and resetting. Not that I think how the Cavaliers approach this is wrong, it just seems different. Maybe the other corps are trying to catch them in the standings along w/ a couple of others and they feel the need to quicken their pace? This approach obviously works for the Cavies given their success. I'm not taking a side here either way, it just seems different from what I'm used to. I know some corps gave up on the personal water jug thing some time back as you just could not get some kids to keep their jugs clean and sterlized. I saw some of these on tour and they were disgusting. I would see a note on the daily board that kept reminding them to wash their jugs every day and I can recall a couple of corps having quite a few members who would come down with various stomach ailments that would sideline them for a spell. Any relation to this, I would not doubt after some of the jugs that I volunteered to wash for some members, I would just run to a store and replace them. So, any comments on how your corps practices these habits and their reasons why? BTW, the party starts @ Brooklyn's around 4PM. I'll be there in my Le Tour shirt. What a cool shirt the Blue Stars came out with this year.

99 degrees today in the MIle High city! But a cool 81 for tomorrow's show.

The place I'm having a hard time finding a room is in Allentown. Everything is at $100 a night!

This topic should be renamed," Belly up at Brooklyn's".

Good Luck. In the last 7 years, I have never found what you are looking for and close to downtown. Expect to pay at least $100 a night for something decent. The Red roof just north of The Alamodome was around $75 last year, but I'm sure they are sold out. The Staybridge suites is the place to stay just a block away though. I have never had a problem walking around San Antonio at night. I kind of use the Denver approach. Nothing good happens after midnight so that's probably the time not to be walking off the Riverwalk.

Troopers have a performance tonight @ 7PM At East High School in Cheyenne, but are probably not staying in the Denver area

Yup, They have never been too inviting of the corps for some reason. I know Aurora had a few for a while and Jeffco, but lately Englewood, Sheridan, and 5 Star have been the only places where BK has been able to rehearse locally outside of Northside

Phantom @ John Evans Middle School in Greeley Blue Devils @ Longmont HS Madison @ Sand Creek HS in Springs SCV @ Elizabeth HS in Parker Cavies in Brush? today or tomorrow? Every year somebody is at Sheridan, could be Cavies or Mandarins

FCO Blue Stars!! LaCrosse is such a special place and that town loves the Blue Stars. A place and a corps that truly connect with each other, and an amazing group of former members from the 70's i.e Dawn, Brian, Sev, Stueck, Robin etc...( and 80's) that keep this corps alive and kicking. And now one of my "gals" is on staff and mentioned to me in Madison how welcomed she feels being from so far away and never having an affiliation with the corps before this year.

Probably more than I should have. I housed three kids ( for free) last year, worked 60 nights of bingo for them and two others, paid all the dues for two of the three I housed, sent $200 each for fees to four others in two other corps, flew back east and cooked for two days, traveled to shows in Omaha, Ankeny, Allentown, Hershey, Dallas, San Antonio, Pasadena, Ogden, Boise and had goody bags for all three of them at every show. I also gave them some of my extra drum corps DVD's, VHS tapes and corp hats that I own. This doesn't include all the stuff I bought at the souvie stands. It makes me feel good for what I have done for what were total strangers a few years ago but it makes me wonder what I could have done with all that green had I not met them.. I could have spent it on some floozy I suppose

have any idea what school in the Springs?

I think I have mentioned this before, but at last count I was at 650 t shirts. I have heard the idea of having them sewed together as a quilt. I have all of my patches, bumper stickers and buttons framed. I need to figure out why I cannot attach my pics of them on here. I would to share them with y'all. I also have numerous Drum corps world, Contest Guilds, DCI Todays and drum corps news newspapers from as far back as the early 70's. I also have the entire Legacy and post legecy DVD collection and VHS as well, Cavie, BK, BD, SCV tour videos and DVD's, the entire DCI audio library collector's CD's and every once since, every DCI program/yearbook since 1977 all under plastic, a 2006 Cavies sash, a 1980 madison sash, Seattle Cascades sabre, a Cavies baseball jersey, 4 Madison scarfs from the late 70's?, way too many 2coolvk bumper stickers, patches and buttons and uniform baseball caps, DCI championships posters from 77, 81, 82, DATR posters from 85, 99, 06, 07, and every ticket stub from every show I have attended since 1977 in a photo album. A lot more stuff too numerous to mention. A couple of my most cherished items though is a 2007 finalist ribbon and I&E patch that my friend gave to me for being her sponsor the last couple of years. What is going to happen to all this stuff when I expire, I'm in the process of having it put in my will to the two kids I housed for three years and whose father is a band director and big drum corps fan. It's funny how people, even non drum corps folks will come over and just be in awe of my computer room and bar will most of this stuff is on display. Actually, you cannot go in any room in my house and not see drum corps artifacts. Sadly , I need a life outside of drum corps.

The smoking ban here in Colorado went into effect a year ago on July 1st and myself as a liquor investigator, I can tell you that the smokers were very upset went this started but have slowly gone back to the restaurants, bars and bingo halls. It is the casinos I believe that are taking away the entertainment dollar away from the corp's bingo games. The adjustment has been that the smokers go outside during intermission of a bingo game or if they out and about in a bar, every patio and area outside the premises are packed with people. It has made many establishments here construct patios for the smokers, but the interesting part about this is, as you drive by, it gives the place the impression of really being busy and popular what many bar owners have told me time and time again. I cannot imagine what would happen to the Blue Knights bingo game if the $5 limits were increased and roulette and craps were allowed in Colorado. I know I would be heading up there a lot more if dice were legal.

Garry, Are you talking about Barbara Hunter? Great gal to look at and a good TV voice, but I agree she had no clue what was going on. Where did they get her from? I heard she was an LA Tv personality. And of course, Gene Rayburn and his wife made me feel like I was watching the Macy's Day thanksgiving parade. I still have all the uncut footage and I have to break it out every now and then. Carmine was little out there too, but to have Rob McConnell talk over every performance in 82 was the absolute worse! I liked the professionalism of Jim Peck in 79. Thought he could have retained for a while longer. As much as I miss the full finals on PBS, I think I miss all day semis on Fridays and then having Friday night to do, well whatever floats your boat...ah, those Friday nights in Montreal!

Whitewater, Ivor Wynne and the Manning bowl all were great venues as a performer. I did a show in Decorah, Iowa in 1982 at a small high school stadium and I recall all the buses and equipment trucks were parked along the back sideline. Just a small little venue but had great sightlines. I also liked Fawcett stadium next to the pro football Hall of fame.

http://www.rockymountainnews.com/news/2008...e-in-the-cards/

Thank you for responding, but I must disagree on your premise that the top tier can afford to be the top tier. Correct me if I'm wrong but didn't the Cavaliers go 31 years between their 1961 undefeated season and their 1st DCI title? I don't recall hundreds of kids wanting to march with them in the 70's as may be the case today. I believe they had great leadership and a great sense of direction starting in the mid 80's where they wanted to be. Jeff Fielder was a big part of that, but some other talented individuals i.e. Steve Brubaker, Cosmo, De Grauwe who all were on the same page and knew exactly what their goal was . Same notion applies to the Cadets who were barely making the top 12 in the late 70's and a big addition that transformed them? Zingali who was putting 2-7 in position to win DCI in 1980. I'll never forget two instances when I knew I was seeing a change in the top tier of drum corps before my very eyes. Garfield in 82 in Montreal who really blew everybody away with what they were doing musically and visually. The other would be the Cavaliers with their 86 show of Canzona and the Planets closer even though it would take them a few more years to really make themselves a serious contender year in and year out. And currently, it looks like Bluecoats and Crown have both zipped right by BK which I am sad to say for all the hard working BK members and boosters that I know. George Hopkins was asked in a clip about what it was like to finally win a championship and the response was" We still have the same problems. "We have to go back and still have to fund raise, recruit, fix buses etc.." A DCI title wasn't the fix all that many have envisioned. My gripe isn't the money being raised, but the way it is being spent. I have spent countless hours volunteering for the corps and I wonder about some of the decisions that are made with the way the corps has used their some of their funds. You are right, fuel is at an all time high and donations are down, but some better long term decisions IMO need to be made. Bingo is pretty much a dead horse and you can only ask for so much money from the kids themselves before they have to wonder if the sacrifice that they make for drum corps is starting to be a little too much for them and their families. I personally have tried to make donations to certain kids that I know and some of them don't even respond back. I figure they must be from some of the wealthier families. So I have found other kids from other corps around the country I have decided to sponsor and help out. Sorry for ranting a little, but I would love to see the Blue Knights in the top 3,4 or 5 someday. I just don't think it is ever going to happen under the current conditions I have stated. On a side note, I went to Mankato in 2005 and thought it was a great small venue for a drum corps show.

I'm flying in from Denver for this show, and to play a little golf at the Oaks and to meet up with one hot bartender I met there in 06. But the weekend starts in Normal and then the Cubs-Sox Sunday afternoon ( hope it doesn't get moved to ESPN Sunday night) and another show in Naperville. Anybody know thw name of that bar about a block behind the stadium bar? Blue Stars had a reunion there in 06.