Buddyscudder

BTW, Kathy, the contra player from the crowd at the end of the video, is a little over the top. She said in all her years she's never seen anything like that before.. Now, I said they were very good in Bridgeport, but not the best. Just last years' DCA Top 5 alone beats them. Not to mention any Phantom, BD, Cavvies, Cadets, etc.

Historically speaking Kennedy Stadium in Bridgeport is a drum corps icon, IMHO. And Bridgeport itself is loaded with drum corps lore and pride. Hence the alumni corps name. In the '60s, showing my age, it was the first really big stadium I marched in with the Norwalk Hot Shots Jr.D&BC. It was the debut of the stadium during the Barnum Festival. The grass was like a thick plush carpet. The Parade of Champions D&B Competition would fill both sides. (Front and back, not Side1/Side 2.) Someone might help me here, I don't want to exaggerate, but that's how I remember it. Those were the days of Cabs, Hurcs, Sky, Yankee Rebels, etc., not always in that order. The PAL Cadets, St. Annes, St. Raphael's Golden Bucs, all Jr. corps, were just 3 out of, I believe 6 Jr. corps from Bridgeport. Bridgeport has always been in love with drum corps and drum corps is in love with her. And it's fitting that the KIdsgrove Scouts were introduced between the hallowed stands of JFK Stadium. The crowd loved the Scouts and hopefully the memories of this D&B icon will remain forever etched in the minds and hearts of our UK brothers and sisters. Buddy Scudder Silver Falcons-'61-'62 Soprano (1 valve), Dennis Gannon, instructor; Hot Shots '63-'64 French Horn (1 valve) Pepe Notaro, instructor; and Ct. Hurricanes-'04-'07.

You got that right! In the immortal words of Fran Haring, " Ladies and gentlemen, this is the only Hurricane I want to see In Rochester! From Seymour, CT, The CT Hurricanes!" The "Thunder from the valley!" will be there, so put out your storm warning flags!

If the crowd can get it right on it's "First Read", why can't the judges? Field visual alone they were in their own league. The problem with DCA is that the DCI/ex-DCI members make the vets look bad. Not so with KS. Those guys marched their butts off (and ran a bit as well!). And musically, wow! what a great sound. Whats good about all this is the drama next week in Rochester. Good luck Hurcs and good luck KS.

Fish, sorry I missed you last night. Don't understand the judges problems. KS performs, placement 1st. Bush performs, placement, KS 1st, Bush 2nd. Cabs perform, placement KS 1st, Cabs 2nd, Bush 3rd. Now the hard part for me. Hurcs perform, placement KS 1st, Hurcs 2nd, Cabs 3rd and Bush 4th. KS was so freakin' clean it was unbelievable. As one of the Hurcs I was sitting with said, "give me whatever that drill writer was smoking!". Those guys actually march and play as one. Their sound was fantastic, and loud when needed, but balanced overall as an ensemble. Did not hear any "stick outs" the entire show. Haven't seen recaps yet, but I had Field brass-KS, FE-KS, Percussion-Hurcs, CG-Hurcs, GE-KS. I love me some Hurricanes, but "that's the facts Jack!"

I joined the Hurricanes in January 2004. I was 55. Always wondered who the oldest marching performer rookie was in DCA. I loved all 4 years with the Hurcs and have memories I'll never forget. Unfortunately my legs and back caught up to me. I still walk proud and think thunder. The Captain (rookie name) mellophone '04-'07.

Hence the line "once in DCI camp........."

Same for me, but in order to vote for chocolate I had to pick "85. don't understand the reasoning behind that. Should've had a "No Cutoff" button. Buddy

Well said! When I go to a MB show I want see MB. When I go to a DCI/DCA show I expect to see exactly that! That being said, I fear that in 4-5 years DCI will become MB. Thank god for DCA! Now if we could only go back to G bugles! Buddy

Remember 2004, the 40th Anniversary year? We all got medals commemorating the event. On the back it memorialized Mickey Petrone, who passed in 2003. This medal is special to me because it was my first year marching with the Hurricanes and my first WC. IMHO there is no reason to recognize anyone but the Champions. Buddy

Hurcs announced last week their 2010 show is: Heaven Sent This energetic, emotional, and colorful production will feature source material from Newman, GLAD (the a capella group), Bernstein, and Rutter. The program will be presented in 5 parts: Part I - Angels in America, Thomas Newman Part II - Joyful, Joyful We Adore Thee, GLAD Part III - God Said, Leonard Bernstein Part IV - Before the Throne of God Above, GLAD Part V - Gloria, John Rutter This was posted on their front page, so I'm not talking out of school.[

Donny, Thanks for catching that. '04 was my first year with the Hurcs, after 40 years of not marching. You can probably understand my distress, on that Sunday morning in the middle of March at "The Bop", when they announced we were scraping "The Storm" and going to do a 50th Anniversary show. I remember well that Saturday in Reading when you appeared. It was like oxygen to a dying 55 year old. Once rescuscitated, we never looked back. Obviously, Scranton was my first WC, so my emotions were understandable. When we hit the wedge the entire stadium was on it's feet and the tears started flowing. I'd never experienced anything like that, other than the birth of my children Mackenzie and Christopher, who you know better as Scudder, who marched Contra and was the reason I was marching. DCI's in Madison '06 came close as I watched him perform with Phantom. You've had a great impact on my musical life and his and I'd like to thank you for being Donnymusic. Buddy Scudder Hurcs '04 - '07.

Bringing back the Color Pre, now that's a change that would be good. Not a bad time to show the kids where and how drum & bugle corps started, with veterans after the war. Not to mention understanding what the colors mean and stand for, as well as hopefully getting an understanding of the Flag Code. Ironic that a video featuring, satirizing, Hitler, would prompt this post.

The real answer is................ THE FANS WIN!!!!

Thanks to Michael boo for the heads up. I would think that even Nike is aware of the I-Dot-Arod competition at Ohio State for the right to dot the "i" in the script "Ohio". There was a great article in Sports Illustrated after Ohio State won the National championship in 2002. It was called "Remember the Tubas".