SUNCOAST RETURN!

[ssorrell]

Hey, I think if there is enough money over the long haul and the right people involved this would be a winner from day one! Tell me that guys like Frank W, Robert S, Carl L, Howard W, Adam S, and many, many others wouldn't want to give it a go under these circumstances/support.

The staff is but a small part of the issue, IMHO. If you got them back, it would be icing on the cake. But there are many many more hurdles that need to be addressed besides simply the competitive aspects and the rush of seeing Suncoast enter the field.

If this company is in Tampa that may explain why they aren't willng to support out of towners. Maybe they are also looking into how established running corps are managed and don't want to get involved. Who know, I still think that seeing Suncoast coming out of a tunnel at some stadium would be in the words of "TOMMY BOY"

AWWWWWWWESOME........

Peace

He did say that this was a regional corporation, with their home office in Tampa I believe. So I don't see how a corps within the same region could be considered "out of towners". And if travel is to be provided, can't they bring them in for any public performace if they are only a couple of hours or so away?

Yeah...it would be nice to see Suncoast on the field again. But, let's think about it this way...if the corps attempted a come back and never rose to their expectations...or if it failed again...how would that make the Suncoast alumni feel? How would that honor the memory of Suncoast of yesterday?

[magicdirect]

My parents are proud of me, since It's looking solid that I'll be going on to 10th grade next year.

Other than the ad hominem attack on me, do you have anything of substance to add?

+++

The author of the thread asked a question, (paraphrasing) Should Suncoast Sound come back as described, YES, or NO? Two choices, not one. I vote no, bad idea. This is why:

The author explained right off the bat that he was searching for permission of the alumni. That's not how you build a successful drum corps. Go on bluedevils.org and see how they started. What a fantastic family oriented story with the O'Dellos. There's your blueprint for a successful drum corps.

A drum corps has to have a mission, a purpose, a raison d'etre. They have to have passion, a fire in their belly, and a plan on how to accomplish their goal, and they've got to have leadership and vision. I heard nothing of the kind in the original post. I heard a totally insecure "can we do this if the alumni like us?"

You either get out there and get the job done because it is the right thing to do, or you get the heck out. You don't beg for approval from others, that will fail.

+++

So Mr. Magic Direct, will you pledge to sponsor me and my 4H cow come county fair time? I think we've got a real shot at winning this year.

mooooooooo............... Eat More Chicken!

[magicdirect]

The staff is but a small part of the issue, IMHO. If you got them back, it would be icing on the cake. But there are many many more hurdles that need to be addressed besides simply the competitive aspects and the rush of seeing Suncoast enter the field.

He did say that this was a regional corporation, with their home office in Tampa I believe. So I don't see how a corps within the same region could be considered "out of towners". And if travel is to be provided, can't they bring them in for any public performace if they are only a couple of hours or so away?

Yeah...it would be nice to see Suncoast on the field again. But, let's think about it this way...if the corps attempted a come back and never rose to their expectations...or if it failed again...how would that make the Suncoast alumni feel? How would that honor the memory of Suncoast of yesterday?

This is very true Steve

[spirit7698]

Having read through all of this, I feel that I must chime in!

1. This is a corps that only had a 10 year existence, then folded, then came back for a couple more years. As such, you have a smaller alumni base to draw support from. Further, there may be a disconnect between those who marched the D1 corps and those who tried valiantly to bring it back in the early 90s. Others have already mentioned possible image issues attendant to the corps name.

2. It has been 13 years since the corps has been around in any flavor, and almost 20 years since they were a finalist corps. Most alumni that are still involved with corps are with other corps, and many have been for quite some time. I think that in order to capture the true essence of the corps, you almost HAVE to have at least some of the creative team work with the new organization, and I don't know that folks like Robert Smith, Frank Williams, Karl Lowe, etc. would be willing / able to do so, especially early on. Now I am not saying that there are not a LOT of other qualified folks out there, but the big unknown would be whether or not they could build that Suncoast "Sound" again. Which leads (kinda) to...

3. Because of the long absence of the corps, how would alumni and current members be able to form a connection? How would I, as an alumni, have a connection to a corps that I have not been a part of for two decades? I know that I would WANT to feel a part of the new organization, but it would be tough. I know that I still have 2 VERY good friends that I communicate with often that I marched with, and have less formal contacts with others... but who has the "database" where you could reach out to other alums?

4. I know that there are those who marched the "finalist" version of Suncoast that feel that the effort to bring the corps back in the 90s did more to hurt the corps' reputation than help. I am not trying to be mean or to demean the efforts of all involved with that, just stating facts. Heck, I know for a fact that there are folks from the 83-86 years that were no big fans of what we did from 87-89. I think that there would be some trepidation from these members regarding any efforts to get the corps back on the field.

1. The thing with the " disconnect" is most of you 79-89 Suncoast alumni don't know how much respect and admiration we ( 91-95 members) had and still have for the traditions you guys created and honor you left for us.

2./3. Frank was still teaching at Suncoast and arranging for suncoast up through 94. There were plenty of alumni from the first year of Suncoast that actually went to Largo high, some from the mid 80's and a few from your years.

We were taught about traditions of the corps and marching by Jon Zollo and Greg Kovmaro ( spelled right?) Also in those years on staff : Paul Gansmer, Mike Neidhart, Jack Starling, Sean McCaig, Michael James, Bill Durst, Dennis Lorenzo, Andy Poor, Big Pete, Randy Blackburn and others. Many of the members went to the schools where these alumni taught. I am sure "THE" Sound and the look can be achieved even if it's not "The" 86/89 staff.

To find contacts? I know many of of us became Spirit members ( your generation and mine ) I guess there would have to be some serious facebook / myspace / every drum corps, winter drum line, and guard forum threads/emails started.....

Oh yea the Suncoast home page.

4. People just have to get over their generational differences. Us 90's members spent too much time at the airport field and some time at local boy scout camps ( and one beach rehearsal and performance) and at largo and countryside and loosing 5 pounds of water weight wearing the double breasted wool uni and rehearsing on the drums from 88/99 and most of all!!!

THE GREATEST LOVE!!! We alumni know the words and that in it self will connect us all.

So teach them well and let Them lead the way

[OrlandoContraAlum]

1. The thing with the " disconnect" is most of you 79-89 Suncoast alumni don't know how much respect and admiration we ( 91-95 members) had and still have for the traditions you guys created and honor you left for us.

2./3. Frank was still teaching at Suncoast and arranging for suncoast up through 94. There were plenty of alumni from the first year of Suncoast that actually went to Largo high, some from the mid 80's and a few from your years.

We were taught about traditions of the corps and marching by Jon Zollo and Greg Kovmaro ( spelled right?) Also in those years on staff : Paul Gansmer, Mike Neidhart, Jack Starling, Sean McCaig, Michael James, Bill Durst, Dennis Lorenzo, Andy Poor, Big Pete, Randy Blackburn and others. Many of the members went to the schools where these alumni taught. I am sure "THE" Sound and the look can be achieved even if it's not "The" 86/89 staff.

To find contacts? I know many of of us became Spirit members ( your generation and mine ) I guess there would have to be some serious facebook / myspace / every drum corps, winter drum line, and guard forum threads/emails started.....

Oh yea the Suncoast home page.

4. People just have to get over their generational differences. Us 90's members spent too much time at the airport field and some time at local boy scout camps ( and one beach rehearsal and performance) and at largo and countryside and loosing 5 pounds of water weight wearing the double breasted wool uni and rehearsing on the drums from 88/99 and most of all!!!

THE GREATEST LOVE!!! We alumni know the words and that in it self will connect us all.

So teach them well and let Them lead the way

Hey, just wanted to make sure that there was no ill will intended by my post. I have nothing at all against you guys who tried to bring the corps back. Especially the members. I know that it was a lot of the guys that I marched with that were leading the effort on staff and such, although I have to admit that I had no idea just how many were involved.

[wvu80]

And if anyone believes you are a 10th grader...

9th. I'll be in 10th next year.

+++

Man, I'm glad at least one person here has a sense of humor.

+++

BTW, starting a drum corps asking the alums on a posting board has nothing to do with respect, those two concept are not related. It's just a dumb idea when starting a drum corps.

Look at it this way; if somebody claiming to be an alum posts here and whines, are you going to pull the plug because somebody doesn't doesn't like your idea? Out of "respect?" Give me a break.

See, I do know what respect is.

Edited: I just read this from Mr. Magicdirect: "mooooooooo............... Eat More Chicken!"

It's nice to see he has a sense of humor too. :)

Edited February 24, 2008 by wvu80

[kdt1972]

For those of you using this thread to exchange personal attacks - do it with private messages. Those who marched/loved/supported Suncoast, during both incarnations, are probably more excited about this thread than you can possibly imagine and don't want to see it hijacked!

As a member of Suncoast Sound during it's Div III years, I want to echo the earlier poster - we had nothing but respect and admiration for the corps and those associated with it - both originally and the strong attempts at bringing it back. I just hope that I have the chance to help out if this gets off the ground so the next generation can feel connected as we did.

Greatest Love -

[ssorrell]

BTW, starting a drum corps asking the alums on a posting board has nothing to do with respect, those two concept are not related. It's just a dumb idea when starting a drum corps.

Look at it this way; if somebody claiming to be an alum posts here and whines, are you going to pull the plug because somebody doesn't doesn't like your idea? Out of "respect?" Give me a break.

I disagree. And I repeat, we are not talking about STARTING a new drum corps, we are discussing reviving an old one. Asking the alumni how they feel is the most respectful thing to do, after all...who was Suncoast Sound?

The MEMBERS.

If the alumni came out and a majority thought it is a bad idea and didn't support it, I would like to believe that the OP would then re-think the idea. After all, he is the one that wanted to know their opinion, so he must value it to some degree. And as has been repeated on here from many people that know what they are talking about, the support of the alumni would be crucial for the corps to return.

If you want to start a new corps...go ahead without any regard for anyone else. No problem.

But if you are going to revive a past corps, you'd better ask the founders and former members of the corps what they think. If you don't have their support, how could you call it "Suncoast Sound"? Sure, it is technically possible to do so, but that doesn't make it morally right.

Edited February 23, 2008 by ssorrell

[rgn22]

I'm an alumnus of Suncoast and I would help, if and when it ever happens. But, I have my doubts. I still live in the Tampa Bay area, and first of all, no corporation in this area is going to spend money on drum corps, especially with the economy as bad as it is now. Second, aside from one or two schools, high school bands are generally terrible around here. No offense to any of the bands, or individuals, but budget cuts and and emphasis on athletics has many of the bands around here suffering. Back in the glory days of Suncoast, there were several large and successful high school bands that fed Suncoast Sound, but that talent pool has long since dried up.

I would love to see it, but I don't see it happening.

[spirit7698]

Hey, just wanted to make sure that there was no ill will intended by my post. I have nothing at all against you guys who tried to bring the corps back. Especially the members. I know that it was a lot of the guys that I marched with that were leading the effort on staff and such, although I have to admit that I had no idea just how many were involved.

Hey Marwan, There was no ill taken. I totally understand where you were coming from with that post.

Hey kdt1972 this is Michael Washington. Who are you?