bstar82

Hopefully the weather will cooperate and DATR will go on without a hitch. Lots of street flooding last night around 6PM and some of the same pattern is predicted for today at the same time. The Englewood area where Blue Knights are staying got 2 inches of rain in one hour at one point and continued to drizzle the rest of the night. Skies are already overcast, so let's all hope it comes thru earlier than predicted. But who's going to Brooklyn's before and after the show tonight? The only decent restaurant/bar within walking distance of Invesco and a couple of steps from the warmup areas. Okay for the show, who wins? And who is making a major move? I not a big fan of them, But I have a feeling Cadets win tonight and DCI as well. I've seen them 1/2 dozen times already and they just seem to really be building up a lot of momentum. That being said, I would love to see Bluecoats win tonight and keep this race wide open. My major mover is Crown w/o a doubt. Very entertaining show and what a hornline!! Off to see SCV down the street where it's a crisp 64 degrees.

Nice shots of Tyler, John Matthews and Katie

Nothing to do with drum corps, but reminds me of being in Las Vegas once going in a car from the downtown to the strip. Me and my buddy met two really hot women on the Fremont street light show. Hung out with them, drank gambled and partied and then they offered to give us a ride back to the strip in their rental car and spend some more time together. Well my buddy was getting really drunk and we passed one of those seedy motels in the between area and he saw the sign that mentioned three hour rates and had the nerve to blurt out," Bhhh!! Threes hours? All I need is 10 minutes". Needless to say, he wasn't scoring that night.

Solid people at the top for many years although some have left for a while and returned. Scott Johnson, Wayne Downy, Jay Murphy, Mike Moxley, Dave Gibbs, Fred Sanford, Ralph Hardiman, Todd Ryan, Sheri McGuiness etc... the list goes on

Before my first show at our run thru, I tripped in one of those pole vaulter's holes (whatever they call them) carrying my 32" tympani tripping and opening a gash under my eye. All I remember was the tympani head covered in blood and the next thing I was in a emergency room hearing a guy next to me getting his stomach pumped. Filled me up with drugs and did the show that night but don't remember a thing about it. Heard I did a good job though from others. Also passing out three times that summer not knowing what I was getting into by marching tympani. And in Tifton GA, sweating so much, I had to borrow a shirt from the staff to keep wiping all the sweat I was dripping on my tympani head. I have never sweated that much to this day!!

Nancy, were her initials in back to back alpha order? Wow, if so you need to PM me here or on myspace my friend and give me some more of what I wasn't aware of.

Sorry, I hate to admit I was the one who yelled shut up to these guys in Orlando. Upper level on side one, they were sitting about the third row of the upper deck. I play this part for many people and they can tell it's me immediately. I thought I yelled shut up just loud enough for them to hear but didn't think it would be on the video or CD. Actually wish it wasn't on there. But I know the folks around me were a little antsy with all the yelling going on that night and it got to a point I had to voice my displeasure.

Freelancers 82 Garfield 82 Phantom 04 Crossmen 02 Madison 79

You can always tell the quality of the hotel you're staying at by the comfort and thickness of the towels. Motel 6 for the most part were fine 15-20 years ago, but they are one of the cheapest chains around and now they do attract some scary customers whether it be hookers, drug dealers or high school kids throwing a kegger next door. Kind of like the difference of customers you see at a Greyhound bus station and the airport. Super 8's can be hit or miss as can Days Inn as somebody else mentioned here. I have resorted to the fact I have to stay at a place more on price range now than star rating. I have never had a bad room when I've spent $100 or more nightly except in NYC and if the room had some flaws, I could complain about it and usually the hotel would make the corrections or had the ability to comp me for my dissatisfaction if something could not be corrected. I know there's is still great deals in the $60-$90 price range out there (i.e. priceline, expedia) but unless I have stayed there in the past, I won't take the risk anymore.

you go to the theatre and tell your friends, " So and so played this in 19__" You still reread all the old drum corps worlds, contest guilds and yearbooks many years later... You have a drum corps room in your house and every patch, button and bumper sticker is framed and in original condition... you're in mourning the day after finals.. what a long off season it is... You hear new sountracks and songs and think " What a great drum corps song this could be" You take the entire day off of work for your local show to check out the rehearsel sites. Your workplace knows you'll be taking off 3-4 weeks every summer for your "band" thing You stayed up all night after you received your new albums, CD's, Video tapes, DVD's playing them over and over You wonder why you can't see a drum corps show in the fall at a professional football game and wonder what the reaction from the sports crowd would be. In a new town and you think you're close to a school where a corps is at, you turn off the radio and start listening for drums and horns playing to lead you to the promised land. :)

General Butler Vagabonds CMCC Warriors Geneseo Knights The Thing Drums along the Rockies Drums along the Mohawk Pacific Procession Show of Shows A Carolina Fanfare Age out Rook Out Corps Mom Roto Toms Finis Coronat Opus Brandt Crocker Steve Rondinaro Curt Gowdy Barbara Hunter Gene Rayburn Whitewater Warhawk Stadium US Open World Open Fake Hype 2coolvk 2hipvk Dagenham Crusaders

[ George Hopkins is stupid like a fox folks. He knew exactly what he was doing when he decided to put spoken language into the show. Love it or hate it, you're talking about it, and I'm willing to bet there are at least a few hundred ticket holders at any given show that are there just because they want to see what all the controversey is about. Reminds me of the time Brian Bozworth of the Seattle Seahawks back in 1987 had a company print some shirts with a pic of his face and the circle and slash thru it and the question? "What is a Boz worth?" And on the back, "Not much" were sold at an away game and the hometown fans bought 10,000 of these shirts only to realize the Boz made the dough off of them. I didn't read all 36 pages of this, but did anybody notice the "Toss it, Beat it, Blow it" shirt son sale at one of the trailers? Made me crack up if nothing else. This would be a good shirt to wear if you want to start conversations with some non DC folks.

This is all very interesting. Kind of reminds me of being in Las Vegas every spring for March Madness. We should have some sort of pick'em pool. One idea is pick all top twelve in order. You would receive 1-12 points in reverse order for every corps you got right. For instance 12 points for picking the champion, 11 for 2nd place and so on all the way to 12th place, 1 point. Off the top of my head the max amount of points would be 78 points and throw in a tiebreaker picking the closest to the actual winning score. Any corps you miss in their slot, you wouldn't get any points. The idea is to get as many in exact order as possible. Wouldn't matter if you picked all 12 and only 4 turned out to be in the place you picked them. Have to figure out if corps tie though. Just a thought. $5, $10? But the important part is who would run it and be trusted to return all the money to the winner? I would be willing to run it although none of you know me from eve and I would be just as uncomfortable giving my entry to somebody I don't know as well. Is there a group getting together in San Antonio that would be willing to introduce themselves and run this and anybody there could get in if they wished? Would make for an even more interesting summer. Maybe no money at all. Just for the fun of it? Or if you were a good sport, mail your sawbuck to the winner after the season was over. Okay, I'm rambling...

Just looked at the miles I'm traveling to see DCI shows this summer. The count according to mapquest is 14,310 which includes me getting home and working three days a week the rest of the season. 3880 of them coming up next weekend to go to Allentown and Hershey. Hope they don't get rained out. But one of my gals b**bs is meeting me in San Antonio from Honolulu, so I'd better be on my best behavior with the jet lag she'll go thru and all... BTW, any Northeast fans. I get in LaGuardia at midnight Friday night and I need to be at PATH at 3:00 Am or I can go via Penn station at 6:30 AM. Not enough time to get a room, so which way is the safer choice? I've been to NYC many times, but I 'm a little leery of catching a subway around 12:30-1:00 AM or should I hang out at the airport until 5:30 and hope all the riff raff has turned in for the night? I know it's not the easiest way to see a drum corps show, but I'll do whatever I need to do to catch a show. And any ideas what a cab may charge me to get into Manhatten? Thanks ahead of time.

I'm excited to see Darla and Wayne Ball, Tim Sapien, Greg Meader and Scott Moreno all marching again!! Oh yeah and Tony Antonelli also. What about Rob Adams or Dave or Arlene Ball??? :) I hear Dr. Jim Brokke is in the percussion line. Is this true?

Beggars can't be choosers so I wouldn't turn turn down a dollar from a fan. Now if and I say if 500 fans would donate $1 to 6 different corps at their souvie booths at each show and the typical corps having maybe 25 shows, that would translate to $12,500 for each corps. Nothing to sneeze at. My donations are in the thousands of dollars yearly( i have the proof) so hopefully I make up for folks who won't or cannot afford to donate. I realize most folks are not in my financial situation, but I learned a valuable lesson a few years back. Instead of donating to Friends of DCI, I decided to volunteer and donate to the corps in my town even though I have no historical ties to them. I feel like I actually see my donations working. I know I do. The kids I sponsor told me there is no way they could have marched this summer without me sponsoring them. Self satisfaction is the best way I describe how this has impacted my life.

I paid the corps $2000 for the two I sponsor and worked bingo for them which knocked off the remaining $800 and that doesn't include the $40- 50 camp fees, uniform fees and shoes. And another $600 was deducted for being vets and $200 reduced for me paying the fees off early in the winter. So, $1800 each plus the camp fees etc...

If you follow trends, this happens quite often. Look at how well BAC and Crown jumped out of the gates a year ago only to flatten out in the end. It happened to us in '98. In NYC we were .1 behind Madison for 6th place at Giants stadium only to drop and stagnate in the end finishing 9th. It ain't how you start it is how you finish. Wes Perkins BK '97 '98

Events that occured in 1998 have no repeat no bearing on future events. I have invested tens of thousands of dollars in the stock market and gambled quite a bit as well on football, basketball, horse racing, cards, craps and there is one thing for sure is that past results have no impact on a future event. A couple of reasons. Human element and error. Now we as drum corps folks all know Troopers or Colts are not going to beat Cadets this year. No offense to either corps, but we all see and identify the difference in talent, staff personnel and show design. But when you mention an event that occured in 1998 and the result, these group of kids were what between 8 and 12 years old? And the other human factor we have which is hard to measure? Judging. And/or the bias in that which I will not get into. Somebody here earlier made a reference to the scores in relation to a golf score. I take that idea a bit further. Last night I hit a drive 320 yards dead center. Will I do it again the next time. No way!! Too much of a human element factor for that to occur. Can I over time learn to do this every time? probably not for the same reason. 50 -75% of the time? Possible if I put enough effort and time into it and have the exact mindset and stance and grip and swing path every single time. Myself, I would never base a prediction on what happened last year, 2 years ago, 1998 etc... well, you get my drift.

You can bet because they will all be at pretty close to the same competitive range in the end that Crown who has been scoring very well will have their score flatten out and that the Blue Knights and BAC scores will continue to climb. This is what has happened in the past and I think will happen this year. Even if it is not at the show in question. It's a fun season isn't it?? I can't wait to see all the corps in San Antonio, what a bad a@@ show that is going to be!!! Wes Perkins BK '97 '98 Now I'm a fan and a big supporter of BK, but why on earth does Crown's scores HAVE to flatten out and BK and Boston will climb? This could go in reverse or any other combinations of the three groups. If you have seen BK's show and from what I can tell that you have not, the concern I have with it is has a very down ending. It doesn't grab the audience and excite them to get off their feet w/ a standing ovation. I've spoke with some the kids I know in the corps about this (about 10--15 of them) and they are hoping for a change to the ending but at this point, and I sat with the brass staff the other night, there is no plans for any changes to the closer. The ovations have been more of the "polite" variety. Just a few more layers added here and there. I have watch the entire show w/ run thrus about 30 times and it is getting cleaner, but it is more of a question of getting it perfected by the time Pasadena rolls around. I enjoy the body movements and dancing that is now becoming a BK staple and I know many on here who do not care for it. Are the judges giving them credit for what they are trying to do as opposed to personally not being a fan of the movements themselves? Who knows, but if the choreography is dirty and distracting, I don't see them getting the love

I've already caught up with the kids I house and sponsor in Ankeny and will in Allentown, San Antonio, Denver and Pasadena. Too bad everybody cannot have a connection like with the folks I've housed. It'll make you go out of your way for them. I do bring extra socks, towels, rolls of quarters, Gatorade and snacks for others who I know in the corps as well.

I have not seen Crown yet, but I've spent a lot of time around BK and caught Phantom in Omaha, I think your spread is right between Phantom and BK. I have a feeling Crown may be slighty ahead of BK at this point from what I have read. Wouldn't be surprised if it is 1-2.5 points. A lot of cleaning going on the last week in BK's show mostly the closer. No idea on Boston though.

The three kids that I house and sponsor the last two years, I wouldn't tell them when I marched. Well they snooped around enough with all the memorabilia thru out my house and figured I'm a little older than their parents and they were shocked to say the least. Because they say I am nothing like their parents. Probably helps I've remained single w/o children of my own and I can go out any night of the week and folks think I'm 10 years younger than I really am. Seems like yesterday they were complaining about all days a year ago last June. And I told them to watch how quick August of 2007 will be here and they will all be done in the Jr ranks anyway. Well, here we are 8 weeks away from when they leave town for the last time. Not looking forward to that at all. I guess I'll have to look for new kids to pay for and house and follow around the country.

BK received a nice response despite appearing after Phantom. Can't wait for that 1st Phantom/Cavie showdown. The only knock on this show was the spectator side was facing east into the sun during the first 4 corps and the judges were put on the walkway above the crowd on tables. somewhat annoying considering the home side of the stadium is the west side and a private press box wasn't utilized. Only reasons I can think of was not having the corps perform in the blinding sun and their warmup area was directly behind the west stands. I was in Row 29 out of 35? maybe and not real good views of the visual programs. The show staff made this a 2 and 1/2 hour show with 7 corps. Nearly every corps passed in review after their performances. Hope Ankeny's stadium is a little steeper.