Pit Mac

I Sometimes worry that might be the case. After all, look at it this way, DCI judges usually judge other things as well, and some judges may worry that getting a bad rep for just doing their jobs might affect future employment. That's why I always cringe when I see threads that call specific judges out because a few fans think that a professional judge knew what they were doing when they called it as they saw it. While I'm sure that this isn't a widespread issue (and maybe not even an issue at all) it certainly is a cause for concern. I sincerely hope I'm wrong, as I have the utmost confidence in DCI Judges. They have an incredibly difficult job as has already been said, and they get very little in return except a paycheck and abuse. I applaud all the judges who have enough passion for this activity that they are willing to deal with the traveling, long nights, and inevitable abuse from those who don't think they did their jobs "right."

The "voice of reason" typically doesn't take on such a know it all tone... If you don't like the responses...think twice about how you deliver your messages...

Being a windbag has nothing to do with Poor English... Next time you take it upon yourself to "educate" a group of fans about how much excitement they can have for their corps, keep it to yourself. The Academy is a fantastic corps, and they are one of my favorites. Your tone was disrespectful, and insulting to the intelligence of myself, and every other Academy fan/parent/staffer/member out there.

Well, in my case it would be life before Juniors. But I'm afraid I may live too far away too be able to participate. :(

Loved the show on Saturday! I was wondering, are there any HCB members who hail from the Southern Colorado area who might be willing to help a potential new member with transportation?

Gregory Kuzma? Off Topic, but, love the book! Should be required reading for anyone who wants to march corps, in my opinion.

I don't know...sitting in the 13th row in Denver last night seemed to have a similar effect (especially after The Cadets took the field). My ears were ringing for about an hour after that show. The BK encore probably didn't help either...

I don't think there is a smile that fits "Let's bash the Cavaliers even more!" Seriously, the "feminine" jokes get old quickly... Someone start the stopwatch on this threads lifespan...

What else is new? At least most of you will get to see the new ending...I have to wait for the DVD...

It kind of did...altough it is more of a one-sided "You have no Idea what you're talking about" shouting match. Hm...I just realized something...I actually took this post seriously. (Maybe it's the fact that he capitalizes his words, you know, with that 'Shift' key thing?) I have a question for cire: What is your experience with the Cavaliers' marching technique? Oh, and "The Line" kudos for using capitalization! ^OO^ ^OO^

Drum Corps: The ONLY place Rite of Spring should be played as a marching show. On the subject of Prokofiev, how about Alexander Nevsky? "The Battle on Ice" is a fantastic piece...not sure how it'd sound on the field though.

It's easy to teach the scattered mechanics of typing. For example, it's easy to say that the Shift key makes capital letters, and makes you look a little more intelligent. But actually teaching someone how to use the keyboard (i.e.-Letters...), other than to say "just hit the keys." That may seem like enough, but unfortunately that's nowhere near enough for some people to get the basic concept of using passable English. Besides, I don't want to teach people how to type. It's a basic law of nature that if you don't WANT to do something, you probably won't be as good at it as someone who has a passionate drive to do whatever that thing is. Do you see what I'm saying? Perhaps a good way to put it would be to revamp a popular phrase: Those who can, teach; those who can't, don't.

Yeah, that's what it is starting to look like. I REALLY like this show...it's great to be sitting in the stands during the Angry Young Man prelude, especually as the corps moves all the way down to the front sideline, which I think gives it a very "old-school, in your face" vibe. I also love the range of emotion that you experience through out the show as it progresses. All in all, it's a great show, and the fine young men who are giving it their all on the field right now to make it better, are already champions in my opinion. (Which fits into my Drum Corps philosophy that it doesn't matter where you march, or how you place, if you are living your dream, you've already won.) EDIT: I'd just like to say it's nice to see a topic about the Cavaliers that has civilized conversation going on. It's frustrating when people inject themselves into an otherwise good thread, and intentionally start a flame war just because they can. *knock on wood*

Hm...that's an awkward example, could you send me a PM and explain the concept of what you are saying? Because it seems like you are trying to say that teaching and applying are exactly the same thing, which is not the case. An example would be typing, I know how to type, and I know how to apply that knowledge to make gramatically correct posts (Which you get ^OO^ for). But there's no way I could teach someone how to type, short of saying, "I just do it." I'm not trying to say you are inferior to me simply because I don't agree, I just want to understand what you are saying. So if you could send me a PM that would be fantastic. That way I could get a more direct understanding of what you are saying. :) Oh, and just a general point to everyone, people seem to be overlooking the fact that there are many different ways to teach, just because someone can't teach through lecture, and has to use visual examples (like me for instance). Doesn't necessarily mean they have no clue what they are talking about.

That's pretty much exactly how the style was explained to me by the Cavaliers' Visual Staff. It's a great technique...assuming you take the time to learn it. The technique is hard to learn in my opinion, because it basically makes you use completely different sets of muscles. In response to the person who started this thread, the best way to learn the technique is to be shown by example (at least for me), because of the multiple motions that are going on (snapping out the first step, rolling the heels, bending the knees, etc etc...). Also, if you're a drummer, the one thing that hasn't been mentioned yet, is the Crab step, it's a little different as well. When you step across, the WHOLE foot lands flat on the ground, not just the toes as with the straight leg technique. That was hard to learn, simply because you have to maintain even steps, keep the tempo going, and not bounce up and down with every other step. I don't think anyone has mentioned this yet, but one of the common misconceptions of the technique is what a friend of mine calls the "duck walk" where the toes supposedly stay angled out the entire time. The feet are only angled when standing, while in motion, the toe points straight ahead. As for the rest, I can't really explain it, I could show you if you were standing right here, but like I said the technique is best taught visually. The overall operative word of the technique is NATURAL, it should feel very natural when you are marching. Don't mistake natural for easy though, it's pretty hard at first. I would also venture a guess that that is the reason the Cavaliers do breakdowns of the technique from November until Finals morning.