Scadesfan

http://football.ballparks.com/NCAA/Pac10/Oregon/index.htm There is a link to a picture of it.

Not a good idea to ask an OSU Beaver what he thinks of Autzen Stadium. It's a sunken bowl...holds about 54,000. You are right about the color of the turf...alternating green colors.

We are Pacific Time...It's a nice hot night up here. Eugene is currently 89...but low humidity. Hope they have a decent crowd in that big stadium. First show for Cascades and Crusaders tonight. Looking forward to tomorrow's show here in Portland area.

Oregon Crusaders have one guard spot left according to their website

A lot of the credit has to go to Joe Roche...the Cadets trainer, drill sargent, and motivator extraordinaire. Someone can correct me if I'm wrong but he is/was an Army drill sargent who taught the other drill sargents. I don't know if other Corps do wind sprints, use tacking dummies, and more...but by the end of the season the Cadets are in tip top shape. For those who have Cadets all access one of the segments was "A Day with Joe Roche"...pretty amazing. Too bad it isn't one of the free ones. He is one of the reasons the Cadets can do that crazy drill at the end of a show. It's not by accident...very hard work.

Just ask the any of The Cadets about BD's behavior at last year's finals retreat. Pretty classless. This I Belive...KARMA. Congratulations Phantom!

Mike- Thanks so very much for your help and hospitality. It is truely appreciated and maybe someday the Crusaders can reciprocate. This is the true spirit of Drum Corps when folks pull together because of the love for this activity. If you run into Mary say hi. Our sons went to high school together and she is a very nice lady and puts in alot of her time and energy for the Corps. Also enjoy the Crusaders show! Thanks again!

Oregon Crusaders started re-started their tour heading east today around 1:00pm. About 4-5 hours out of Portland the trailer that serves as their food truck blew a tire and lost it's axle. When my son phoned they were getting ready to move the food into a rented box truck. At this point I'm not sure what this means for the tour. He was brief, not wanting to use up his cell battery, since the objective was to drive straight thru to Laramie, WY. It will be interesting to see what happens from here. Repairs to the trailer will take time.. This is not what the Corps needed. The cost to tow/repair the trailer, rent a box truck, and work around feeding the Corps is a major setback. The kids were so excited to get back into competition. Just have to wait to see what the plans are going forward. Think good thoughts for the kids, staff, and volunteers.

That's him...works with has worked with Westview and Centennial.

My son, Bryan Thomas, has been working with the brass with Travis. Giving them a wee bit of Cadets influence. He is enjoying teaching both brass and visual. I'm looking forward to seeing them on the 8th in Portand.

SCV - "Music of the Night" 05 Cadets- "Dancer"...the percussion impact is just killer for me Two more that go a bit unnoticed... 02 Cascades version of "Make Our Garden Grow" and then 07 Spirit..."Hide and Seek"

I believe the other drum major is female (can't remeber her name...she was my son's former seat partner). I wonder if she will have a skirt or pants?

Absolutely correct regarding the financial situation occurring over time. When the bingo hall was running and profitable they were breakeven at best. Once the bingo hall closed Cascades administration was trying all sorts of options for funding...so it was not mismanagement of funds. When Sal Leone was director my impression when I was interacting with him was that he was very fiscally conservative in spending outlays. I was asked to do numerous woodworking projects over the three years that my son marched and then the following year when he was marching elsewhere. I probably asked for supply reimbursement for about 50% of what I spent on the projects to try and help cut expenses and on the projects where Sal was purchasing the supplies we went as inexpensively as possible. Since 02 they have had numerous expensive vehicle repairs...can't count the times the food truck compressor went out, the equipment truck had a cracked frame and couldn't pass Dept of Transportation inspection until repaired, along with numerous other bus and van breakdowns. Basically they pushed the equipment they had to the limits in trying to be frugal with the budget. We all know this is not unique to the Cascades...all Corps have these issues...but they blow budgets apart. I think last year was a should we or shouldn't we tour based on finances but they went for it and got overly stretched when more unexpected costs arose. I would probably put the Cascades budget at 25% to 35% of what the top 5 Corps spend. The key is obviously finding a stable funding source which is difficult for non-profits. Someone go slap one of our NW billionaires..Bill Gates, Paul Allen, or Phil Knight...into helping out (wishful thinking). Cascades had minimal electronics as of 05...but I too believe that any additional items used in the limited tour would be borrowed from the staff's school's. As to why they would go the electronics road I'm not sure. Good question for the admin/staff. On souvies which someone mentioned...the Cascades have had limited sucess selling outside the west coast. In 03 they took their souvie trailer the full tour and found that it wasn't cost effective. A corps like the Cascades cannot sell merchandise like Phatom, SCV, Cavaliers, or Cadets. I think corps members and families are the biggest purchasers. I think we are all painfully aware that the Cascades are not alone in this situation...we've see Capital Regiment and Magic go inactive. This is a very fragile activitiy because of limited revenue and high costs. All Corps are exposed to these issues...just some are not working at the bare bones level like Cascades have been. We probably all have in the back of our minds...who's next. Who knows which other Corps at this time might be pushing themselves to the limits to make another year's tour. Unfortunately we don't find out until it's at this point. Let's all hope the Cascades can get through this. They brought Drum Corps back to prominence in the NW and it would be a shame to have it end.

Somehow not all my post got included. Here is the whole thing. Well, what has happened to the Cascades pains me greatly. My son marched 02, 03, and 04 and my wife and I contributed lots of volunteer hours to the Corps. I think my knees are bad from rebuilding the equipment truck every year. There are lots of folks who "bleed green" who hate to see this happen. But it is not entirely unexpected...in fact a lot of people expected sooner than this. In the airport after the Madison 05 finals a board member from another NW Corps thought that financial difficulties were going to lead to them going inactive for the 06 season. There is no one reason that has gotten the Cacades to this point...but a multitude of factors. Retrospectively, and this is entirely my observation having been around the Corps, is that the 2003 season began the downward slide. 2002 was a euphoric season making it to finals...all the stars aligned correctly...good program, great staff, dedicated and hard working members, and financial stability. Also very, very limited competition for members...as there was no Spokane Thunder and if my memory serves me right...OR Crusaders had about 35-45 members and weren't as good as most of the high school bands. Having all that momentum from 02...03 should have been a terrific season. We had kids fly to the NW from CA, AZ, FL, and other areas of the country to be a Cascade. Staff conficts, a musically program that was not as good as the previous year, a drill that the Corps couldn't master, and Corps director Sal Leone not being on the full tour to keep things in order, plus additional administrative issues at the end of tour set the Corps back. Much of the administration and staff was let go after tour. Momentum lost! I can remember being at the first audition camp for 04 and was depressed at the low numbers of returning vets in most sections...part due to the issues in 03 and part due to staff turnover. They didn't get as many fly-ins as the prior year...but still some. 04 tour went better than 03...I guess I would consider it a "neutral" year for the Corps it terms of momentum. At the same time...Lewis Norfleet who had been the strength behind the brass section in 02 and 03 was now at Oregon Crusaders...building their program up and attracting members and bringing them to the upper level of D3 and then D2. Now more competition for members in the NW. Then the big financial hit to Cascades...closing the bingo hall as a result of Indian casinos and the smoking ban in bingo halls ...and at the same time rising gas prices. I can't really comment on the 05 tour as my son was not going to tour that year but at the last minute was asked to be an alternate at Cadets by the 04 Cascades brass caption head who was on staff there now (now brass caption head at OR Crusaders). Then came 06 and the big staff defection from OC back to Cascades. I believe a merger of the two organizations was discussed but did not pan out. Norfleet went back to Cascades...along with Sal Leone's son Mike to be director...making lots of bad feelings between the two Corps...because some OC members followed Norfleet over to Cascades...which led to OC's decision to drop from D2 to D3. Adding to the issue was Cascades moving there camps to the Portland area from Seattle to the school Mike Leone is band director...about 45 mjnutes away. Cascades 06 tour was a mess according to one of my sons best friends in the Corps. The kids were not taken care of very well...and I believe another post alluded to that. Now we have two Corps sharing the same backyard. Most of the staffs from both corps are from the Portland area and have worked and competed together for year...so they get along well based on my son's interaction with most of them..however there was an issue with the band kids...primarily in OR. This year....there were rumors going around in late fall that Cascades may not do a full tour. My son was contacted by both Corps about being on staff. Because of other things going on in his life...school and other work...he decided that OC was the better fit because of the lesser tour time. Also before Cascades audition there were rumors that many of the Cascades staff were leaving...reasons unknown. That sort of brings things to where they are now...as unfortunate as they are. I hope the Cascades decision works out for the best. I wish I could be optimistic..but what I'm sensing is that OC will benefit from the Cascades misfortune and get stronger. The seem to have a better adminstration and have adopted Texas hold-em tournaments as fundrasing...though I not sure they could fund a World Class tour. They have the momentum now and might end up being the NW's World Corps in the future. Again, all the above is my opinion and observations.

See below

I too enjoyed Sara's parental perspective and very much agree with her. During my son's rookie year with Cascades I would volunteer at camps initially helping in the food truck. In short order I found myself rebuilding/reconfiguring the equipment truck (multiple times), building cabinets and other items the Corps would need. My wife also helped in the food truck and helped sew flags. We got to know many of the Corps members who became our extended family many of whom we still communicate with. As a parent I believe part of your responsibility is to nurture and support those activites that you child has an interest and aptitude for...whether that is sports, music, or whatever. Let their passion become your passion. As for cost...I think most any type of youth activity comes with a high price these days...whether it's drum corps, dance or gymnastics lessions, sports camps. You have to think of it as an investment. If your child has music education as a potential career I think drum corps is an excellent investment. One of the greatest things to come from participating in drum corps for my son was the networking it created for him in the music education area. Many of the area high schools have band directors who have participated in drum corps or at the minimum realize how valuable corp vets are for their marching band and winter drumline/guard staffs. He has been able to work with high school programs for the past three years while working on his degree. Once he graduates the list of references he will be able to obtain will be quite extensive. Band staffs from most of the local schools interact with each other so everyone knows each other. Given the work experience and the references he should be way ahead of the curve from those graduates who have just done course work and minimal experience working with students. He was recently asked to be on staff with the Oregon Crusaders in both brass and visual captions...which will further his networking into the music ed field. You can't put a price on this...but it's huge. Seven years ago you could have asked me if I knew what Drum Corps was and I wouldn't have had a clue. Now our lives have revolved around it and it has become a passion for my wife and I just like it has for our son. We have had tremendous experiences the six years he marched meeting members, staff, volunteers, other parents and fans....in places that we might never have traveled. We look forward to many more years supporting Drum Corps and encourage kids who like to march and perform to participate in this wonderful activity.

2004 is one of my favorite shows as well...just below 2002. I love the intensity of the drum line in Allegro Impetuoso and All Things Bright and Beautiful. Listen to the fan reaction on the CD and they got a very good response. I thought they should have placed higher.

As a comparison...my son who marched 3 years each with Cascades and Cadets. The Cadets start spring trainging mid May so they have 4-5 weeks longer of show preparation than Cascades. However, Cadets do not do any real drill work until spring training whereas Cascades would actually be putting drill on the field during winter and spring camps. Cascades will always have the late start to each season. The Cascades have had a lack of stability in their staff from 2003-2006 along with other organizational issues. Hopefully the 2007 staff will return some stability to the organization. My 2 cents....Cascades, as well as some of the other 13-22 placing corps...should look at Crown for a model of how to rebuild itself. Crown, since 2003 has utilized programming that is very audience accessible. Granted, Cascades will never have the population concentration to draw members from like Crown will.

I think they are using a Fisher-Price My First Video Cam!

Your review is very much my opinion as well. High kudos to BK...they brought the crowd to life with their show. I am growing fond of their dark, rich programs. I actually perferred them to Vanguard...even though SCV has more visual demand to their show. I also enjoyed Cascades more than Crossmen....I think the home crowd got them inspired. Great to see them doing well now. Hope they can sustain this momentum. Cadets....well... I thought you were spot on. They are at their typical season end execution level. I said it in another post...but you could sense almost immediately that they were at a higher perfomance level than Vanguard...narration or not Won't say more since I am biased...although first time seeing the show live this season...what a treat to have them here. BD and Cavies will need to bring major goods to Pasadena...which I expect. It will be an exciting 3 days to see how this plays out.

The Cadets have gotten tremendous response in all the shows in the NW. Last night here in Portland was absolutely the best night of drum corps probably ever here. The Cadets are reaching their typical end-of-season level of execution...and the crowd last night felt it immediatley. The difference between the execution by the Cadets and SCV was very discernable...I would have put 5 pts between them. You could almost feel the crowd sense a difference in what they were watching. If you haven't seen the show since San Antonio it is different now. Less narrative in the middle and closer...drill for closer is different too. Guard is catching up with the hornline and drumline. Is the narrative still too much....probably...even as a parent I am a minimalist with narration but I need to support the home team. The kids are tough and will roll with whatever the crowd reaction is. The will probably get a feel for it tomorrow night at Stanford. I don't know who will win next week...but we are all going to be in for a great week of competition as this shakes out.

My son phoned on the way to the show and he said the Cadets were going on about 10:30ish MT...so 12:30 ET.

wait until tomorrow if you're thinking late!...they will be in the Pacific time zone and the show doesn't start until 8:00pm.

Same panel as Ogden according to my son. Just judging different capions tonight.

Cadets guard was third....right now their weak link.