Soundpope

"Roland Chavez is the Percussion Director at Ronald Reagan High School in San Antonio, Texas. He oversees the marching and concert percussion ensembles and coordinates the middle school percussion programs at both Barbara Bush and Tejeda Middle Schools. He is a 1999 graduate of The University of Texas, earning a degree in Economics and a 2004 graduate of Southwest Texas State University, earning a Bachelor of Music degree. Mr.Chavez was a member of the Colts Drum and Bugle Corps and the 1996 World Champion Concord Blue Devils. Roland is a member of the Percussive Arts Society, Texas Music Educators Association, Texas Bandmasters Association and is an educational endorser for Innovative Percussion Inc. He is also an active clinician, adjudicator and arranges percussion compositions for various schools throughout Texas." found it on google....best of luck in 2007...Boots.

Right there with you Johnny Boy! Street Dancin' was one of the best solos of the season! I used to have the cassette, but is has since died...prior to burning ability. Hopefully it will end up on the tube. As far as the '86 drumline is concerned; that group became the core of what was the rebuild back to 1990. A great group of people (staff and members) with a true sense of history and dedication to keep the corps operating. And you're right....they did win drums at quarters. Boots!

Geddy, How the heck are you? I guess it's been about 16 years since we marched. Hope things are well! I can't wait to see the corps either!

Congrats to the 2005 Buccaneers and I look forward to 2006!

I may be remembering this incorrectly, but weren't the Crossmen disqualified in 1976 for a overage member?

Dave - just curious, but, did that change affect your scores? Rick - I don't remember any significant fluctuations, as we were making the switch to Kevlar in late June and our line was continually improving while on tour. I do seem to remember that with one of the first few shows we played on the Kevlar, we ended up winning Perc Field Execution over SCV. Could be a coincidence, as we were always pretty close to the pack with field execution.

I was with the Crossmen when we switched from mylar to Kevlar in mid-season 1989. The way we had been playing for the first 7 months needed to be completely adjusted, not only due to the hardness of the playing surface, but because the snare parts would stick out in the wrong places and be lost in others. We ended up putting a 3 inch strip of moleskin on the edge of the head so that we could hit the surface hard enough to get a snare sound, but not so loud as to over play the ensemble. It was a very difficult transition in mid-stream, and made for two very distinct snare sounds from the beginning of the season (mylar), as compared to the end (Kevlar).

I would have to say that the Buccanner lines from 84 through 87 and 99 to present are pretty far up the "all-time greats" list. I can also say I thought '86 Bush was one of the best as well.