X DM Posted August 24, 2007 Share Posted August 24, 2007 (edited) Glassmen hit the proverbial ceiling that dozens of Corps have encountered before them over the years. So many Corps were flashes in the pan, ie they did well for a few years, but then simply fell off the map. I credit The Glassmen for remaining a quality top 12 Corps on a consistent basis after getting so close to the top tier. Same with The Boston Crusaders and the Blue Knights. We will see if Crown, Bluecoats have reached their zenith and are about to fall back a bit here. This does seem to be the trend over the last 30 years. Edited August 24, 2007 by X DM Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
atlvalet Posted August 24, 2007 Share Posted August 24, 2007 Well, I know that Glassmen had a very talented percussion staff when they "suddenly" appeared on the top 6 scene. Lee Beddis was the caption head and I think JJ Pipitone was teching the tenors. I have no idea who teaches there now, but sometimes guys that have been doing this a while can "bring" their guys along. I know Hannum brought some people when he did Star '93. For example, there was some really good bass drummer (IIRC) from Cadets who marched Star that year, plus I think Nick A went to Star because of the Hannum UMass connection. I know one thing is #### sure...when Bluecoats had their crazy tenor line that came out of nowhere it was because Opie was teching the line. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Liam Posted August 24, 2007 Share Posted August 24, 2007 (edited) Thank god you don't coach sports. I have 2 state championships from hockey playing and one from assistant coaching and we preached or was preached to trying is not good enough there is trying and doing. Your either a winner or a looser. Which side are you on boys? thats what are coaches would say to us. Pretty much thats What some of my best drum corps instructors said too. The kids that could not hack it left and good riddens. Trying hard and coming up short over and over again is like hitting your head against the wall with no results. Eventually you should win and if you don't then your not a winner your a looser. Well if your talking about professional sports -- that's one thing. Yes, their JOB is to win. Within the rules and all that, but still to WIN. But if you're talking about scholastic sports or little league or something then I guess I have to respectfully disagree. Sure you can push them to win, to strive to win, but that can't the end-all-and-be-all goal or else the majority of the participants are abject failures and gain nothing from the experience. The purpose of little league, for example, is to teach fundamentals of baseball, along with teamwork, good sportsmanship, AND how to deal with a competitive environment. Is winning good? Heck, yeah, but it's not the ONLY goal. In fact for little league, I'd say it's not even the main goal. Otherwise, if you had totally gifted kids who could win your little league with one hand tied behind their back -- then you wouldn't need to teach them anything to make them better because they could win as is. Striving to improve yourself and those around you as a team is the main goal. Winning the trophy is a carrot to that end. Now drum corps and high school sports and band and even colleg sprots are all somewhere in between little league and MLB (for example). They all value winning a little more the higher up that scale you go, but none of them up to pure professionals should have winning as the end all be all purpose. btw, I have coached sports -- winning teams and not winning teams. But I like to think I got the best out of my players either way. Sometimes you exceed even your wildest expectation of yourself and your teammates, and you still don't win -- 'cause the other guys are just better that day. No shame in that, imo. :) Edited August 24, 2007 by Liam Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Liam Posted August 24, 2007 Share Posted August 24, 2007 (edited) Let me say this, too. Sometimes for the very best -- striving for the title, the ring, whatever is the only motivation left to coaches to preach. That is what they use to motivate that last ounce of greatness out of thier team. Nothing wrong with that. But for all the teams that don't have a realistic chance to win (in any sport/activity) using a "winner or loser" approach to coaching/teaching will just shut them down and actually de-motivate them. A different approach must be made to push them to improve themselves beyond what they think their limitations are. I have been the best player on rotten teams, the worst player on great teams, and an average player on average teams -- all require a different motivation and sense of teamwork to achieve your best possible result and what works for one situation may not work in another. Thankfully, most (many?) coaches/teachers realize this and can succeed accordingly. Edited August 24, 2007 by Liam Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Danielle Posted August 24, 2007 Share Posted August 24, 2007 We are keeping a close eye on this thread... Please let's keep the discussion civil and keep the insults out. Thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Liam Posted August 24, 2007 Share Posted August 24, 2007 (edited) Sorry -- accidentally double posted while trying to edit post above Edited August 24, 2007 by Liam Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
euponitone Posted August 24, 2007 Share Posted August 24, 2007 We are keeping a close eye on this thread... Please let's keep the discussion civil and keep the insults out. Thanks I just read the whole thing...i dont even know what to say. I kinda hope it gets closed. The original topic was ok, but not much good can come after the OP.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rebu Posted August 24, 2007 Share Posted August 24, 2007 Hey Mr. Cadet 00-01, Here's an example of a real winner: LaDanian Tomlinson. He was drafted into the NFL by the San Diego Chargers. The Chargers were the absolute worst team in the NFL for the first few years of his career. But being the great player and even greater PERSON that he is, he stayed with the Chargers, stating that he wanted to be there when things got better, to lead them to the top. Now look, 7 years from his rookie season, the Chargers are arguably the #1 team in the NFL, a powerhouse, and LaDanian Tomlinson is the reigning MVP. That, my friend, is an example of a true winner. Something you are not. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wickerbill Posted August 24, 2007 Share Posted August 24, 2007 Your either a winner or a looser. Which side are you on boys? thats what are coaches would say to us. Pretty much thats What some of my best drum corps instructors said too. The kids that could not hack it left and good riddens. Trying hard and coming up short over and over again is like hitting your head against the wall with no results. Eventually you should win and if you don't then your not a winner your a looser. I won't even touch the grammar and spelling errors, but using your logic above, then you're a loser because you never won a DCI Championship. Does that mean your whole drum corps career was a failure? I really liked glassmen's show this year. More than when you marched so I guess their season wasn't a total failure. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thecadet20012001 Posted August 24, 2007 Author Share Posted August 24, 2007 Hey Mr. Cadet 00-01,Here's an example of a real winner: LaDanian Tomlinson. He was drafted into the NFL by the San Diego Chargers. The Chargers were the absolute worst team in the NFL for the first few years of his career. But being the great player and even greater PERSON that he is, he stayed with the Chargers, stating that he wanted to be there when things got better, to lead them to the top. Now look, 7 years from his rookie season, the Chargers are arguably the #1 team in the NFL, a powerhouse, and LaDanian Tomlinson is the reigning MVP. That, my friend, is an example of a true winner. Something you are not. Well obviously he saw things going in the right direction. I did'nt thats why I left and I was right. I came 9 tenths from a championship. I'll take that. Not to mention you can have the best player all of drum corps in a your corps and still finish 17th because its more to do with the staff design team and whole group winning. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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