barigirl78

I believe it does make learning the show more difficult. But, I think, it will also condition them. If you can learn your show in 100 degree weather, the 80 degree weather they will encounter up North should feel comfortable.

(Adding this announcement) San Antonio and Austin performances kickoff the 2009 Crossmen Tour San Antonio This Friday, June 19th, the Crossmen will debut their 2009 Tour Production, "ForbiddeN" at the Crossmen Preview. The performance will be in San Antonio at the Blossom Athletic Center near the San Antonio airport. The event will also include a special performance with all of the participants of the third annual eXperience Camp (click the link below for details on the eXperience Camp). The event gets underway at 8 pm and is open to the public. Ticket prices are $10 for adults and $5 for kids 12 and under. Don't miss this exciting event that promises to be a special evening for all who attend! Crossmen Preview Details June 19th, 2009 Blossom Athletic Center 12002 Jones Maltsberger San Antonio, TX 78247 **Comalander Stadium** Adults: $10 Children under 12: $5 Campers admission is included in their $30.00 camp fee. Austin On Saturday, the corps heads to Austin and the Texas State Capital to perform in the Texas Drum Corps Preview. This performance showcases all of the corps located in the Lone Star State and is a must for any Drum Corps Fan as the each group will debut their 2009 program. The Crossmen will perform a standstill of the 2009 Tour Production ForbiddeN. In addition, all corps will combine at the end for a mass performance of "America/O Canada". All performances are on the south steps of the capital. The event is open to the public and is free of charge. Start time is 7:30 pm. A list of all participating corps as well as estimated performance times is listed below. Come enjoy the sights and sounds of downtown Austin and enjoy Drum Corps Texas Style! Show Lineup: Corps Performance WGM 7:30pm GCS 7:55pm Vigilantes 8:20pm Memphis Sound 8:50pm Revolution 9:10pm Crossmen 9:30pm "Mass Brass" 9:50pm

I don't know who your reporter is, but I saw them last weekend and their drill is much more difficult than last year's.

I spoke to the brass caption head on Friday night and he said there were two spots open--a euphonium spot and (I think) a tuba spot. The latter I'm not totally certain of. He also said something about wanting backups. Whether he's filled those spots by the end of the weekend, I don't know. I know they are very busy, working from morning to late at night in 100 degree weather.

Yeah, didn't you hear?

It's supposed to be 103 degrees in San Antonio tomorrow and in the low 100's all weekend. I'll be flying in for History Night. If anything, this is a corps that will be able to "take the heat", literally and figuratively. Are any other corps doing camp in such extreme conditions?

Based on the poll as of today, 41.26% WON'T be surprised and 58.74% will be. I'm coming to camp next weekend for History Night. I'm looking forward to seeing for myself.

FunNy. Love it. Signed, DiaNe

This is very exciting. When you consider what last year's corps was able to do with a lot of rookies, I like the prospects of what it can do with this many vets. Watch out.

If DCI was really cooperative, the member corps would get together and agree to spending caps. I'm sure there are ways to cut corners--fewer flag changes, some pullbacks in equipment, or maybe even follow the government's lead when they delayed the digital switchover and put off the switch to electronics until another year. (Though corps may have already invested in this new equipment) But, I doubt there's enough cooperation to do that. The corps that are richer than others would refuse to cooperate and see it as a way to move ahead even further. But, if DCI corps really wanted to, I bet they could reduce costs like every other organization is doing right now. They're just afraid that it would hurt them competitively. I think more members are going to have trouble paying tuition this year. I've already noticed it.

I didn't quote your entire post, but you were nearly dead right about everything. I'd include 1978 in that year range, though. When they were broadly distributed, the live PBS broadcasts provided a great deal of coverage of the activity. Today's ways of showing drum corps through either subscription webcasts or "ticket required" movie theaters is not substitute for the broadness of that exposure. Anytime an activity retreats to a "subscription only" model, it is bound to decline in awareness. Boxing used to be one of the biggest sports in America. Then, it retreated into "pay per view" and, other than a cult of hardcore fans, no one even thinks of it when asked for a list of "major sports". When I was growing up, the "average Joe" saw drum corps all the time in parades and in local competitions. Today, I doubt the average person has seen drum corps anywhere. (edited to add:) In 2007, the DCI telecast on ESPN2 had a household rating of 0.3 (that means 0.3% of all the households in the U.S. watched). That was 318,000 households and 518,000 people. The median age of people watching was 43.7. Only 90,000 of the viewers were aged 18 to 34. I don't know what the viewership of the PBS telecasts were "back in the day", but I'm pretty sure it was a lot more than that. That was pre-cable. Ratings tended to be bigger because there were fewer channels competing for people's attention.

The NY Times had an article about the band today. I noticed they were drum corps style immediately from the photo: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/13/us/polit...tml?_r=1&hp

Everything I hear about the Crossmen this year has me very, very positive. They were a corps with many rookies last year and they almost made it. This year, they have many vets returning and it's looking very, very good. I also know what the show concept is and it should be very cool.

Well, it seems more appropriate in these times than issuing a credit card.

The ones who do understand and succeed at being part of the building up of a corps will find that it is an extremely memorable and satisfying experience.

The Crossmen had a low number of age-outs and a high number of the '08 corps are returning, I've heard. With the very positive additions to the staff this year, I'm really looking forward to Crossmen 2009. They'll be debuting in competition a little later than other corps. Their first judged show will be in Toledo on June 25th.

####. I missed it. I think we had that record once, but it got lost or stolen years ago. Nice radio station, though.

If more people are attending th 6-16 camps vs. the top 5, that would be a positive development for drum corps, IMO. It could be a more interesting season with more parity.

I believe the expense of running corps is the number one thing that DCI has to face if this activity is to have a future. It seems to me that every rule change or change in style over the last two decades have resulted in corps being more expensive to run. A few big corps with lots of resources are leading the way to the activity being more and more expensive, while other corps struggle to keep up or fold altogether. I work in a business environment and we talk about ROI. Every expenditure must result in revenues to justify them. For instance, Does having 150 kids on the field to uniform and supply with equipment really attract more people to the stands? Does it justify and get higher ticket prices? Are revenues going up to balance off the increased expense? Is it starving the lower corps of members while the the top corps get fatter? I wonder if DCI asks itself these ROI-related questions when they make these changes? What is DCI doing to foster rules that make it easier for corps to stay in existence or, even, more corps to form? I know they are doing things that make it harder.

Is it June yet? I'm really interested in seeing and hearing what the 2009 Crossmen have to offer. Between the continuity of having a horn staff I greatly admire and the addition of some new percussion people, my level of anticipation is very high. I sense momentum.

Sounds really good to me.

I never saw a drum corps show before I competed in one. That was as a member of the "507 Hornets" in 1972. The show was in Binghamton, NY. I joined the corps without ever seeing a drum corps competition. I had only seen them in parades.

The Dream show that used to be in Jersey, City. It was a falling down baseball field. Part of the field was dry dirt which kicked up as you marched on it.

That attitude really saddens me. All the great sports stories are about how the scrappy team(or horse even) from nowhere rises above its beginnings to battle the big guys. Joining a corps that is already good doesn't prove how good you are half as much as taking a corps up with you. I had that experience in the early years of the Crossmen. We started in 24th and ended up in the top 6 for most of the '78 season. It is something I've been proud of my whole life. The members in '78 were many of the same people as in '75. One of the most boring things about drum corps these days is how entrenched the top corp are and how little movement occurs in the rankings.

Question: Would volume matter more to the Music GE score or the Brass score? Or to neither? In Semi's, the Crossmen did come in 14th in Music GE, but 13th in the brass score. I don't know how much the Music GE was impacted by the volume of the corps. There was also a big difference between how the 2 Music GE judged rated the Xmen. One gave them a 17 and the other a 17.7. I've alway thought the Brass score was geared more to technique and musicianship than volume. Am I wrong in that assumption? Do those judges count volume in their score?