Going after judges

[Old School Contra Guy]

I marched with a former member of Argonne who claimed they had a yearly contest to see who could "wipe out" the most judges during a season. The winner would recieve a case of "adult beverage" He claimed he took out one judge several times in one show. I recall one show, turning the corner after a backfield arc, and seeing a judge ahead of me with his back to me. I increased my volume a bit, and he got out of the way.

Also recall seeing a certain routund drum judge getting trapped inside a ring of snares and scrambling for his life to get out of the middle.

So....truth or urban legand ? "discuss"

[IllianaLancerContra]

I marched with a former member of Argonne who claimed they had a yearly contest to see who could "wipe out" the most judges during a season. The winner would recieve a case of "adult beverage" He claimed he took out one judge several times in one show. I recall one show, turning the corner after a backfield arc, and seeing a judge ahead of me with his back to me. I increased my volume a bit, and he got out of the way.

Also recall seeing a certain routund drum judge getting trapped inside a ring of snares and scrambling for his life to get out of the middle.

So....truth or urban legand ? "discuss"

I know there was one place in our 83 show where a drum judge was caught more than once when the drums (moving backward) lured the judge into a 'trap' of 2 converging horn files. Kind of hard to explain.

But the 'mother lode' was if a judge went after the American flag - first time was supposed to be a verbal warning by the guard; the second a rifle butt to the jaw. Not sure if it ever happened, but would be interesting if it did.

[KeithHall]

Alas, I got only one but it was a good one. Hit him in the back and he dropped his clipboard and pen. I chuckled as I marched away. He never knew who it was. The show was in Kitchener, Ont.

[DAvery]

I marched with a former member of Argonne who claimed they had a yearly contest to see who could "wipe out" the most judges during a season. The winner would recieve a case of "adult beverage" He claimed he took out one judge several times in one show. I recall one show, turning the corner after a backfield arc, and seeing a judge ahead of me with his back to me. I increased my volume a bit, and he got out of the way.

Also recall seeing a certain routund drum judge getting trapped inside a ring of snares and scrambling for his life to get out of the middle.

So....truth or urban legand ? "discuss"

I remember we had show on July 4th in Chicago when I almost ran over a judge. We were getting ready to start the show when a judge bent down to look at something on the front of my drum. We started the show by moving forward 32 steps or something. He was still there when Jeff started clapping his hands to start the show. Right at the last second the judge moved. I still hadn't made up my mind if I was going to run him over or not.

[sday88]

I thought that back when I marched you had to try and warn the judge if he was in harms way?

[JohnZ]

So....truth or urban legand ? "discuss"

Truth.

I recall many corps coming off the field comparing notes as to how many judges got nailed or run over. it was a sport inside of a sport, so to speak.

And I do recall some drill writers admit to writing in traps, ostensibly to keep judges away from sections and difficult passages in the tic era. Scissors moves involving the battery were particularly favored. saw many a judge have to bail out at the last minute.

Personally, i loved it when my drill writers got a creative block and resorted to a scatter drill to get from one idea to another. that's when I went judge hunting - followed one for 48 counts one show. wherever he went, I was one step behind...

[apoch003]

In 83, during our Superman opener, There a soft part of the corps facing backfield, then a snap turn for a push. I clouted a judge with my french horn at one of the shows. Knocked him flat. As I marched away, I asked if he was okay.

[byline]

I thought that back when I marched you had to try and warn the judge if he was in harms way?

That's what I remember. We were told that if we could see a judge moving into position for a collision and/or to be hit by equipment, we were required to yell something like, "Get out of the way!" However, if the judge failed to yield, he or she was fair game.

[tommytimp]

Our people said "Move!" if they had the time. I never hit anyone, though. Hard to hit a moving judge when you're a pithead.

[DCIHasBeen]

Yeah, there were some corps that were ######## about this kind of thing back in the day. They thought it was cool to try and take a judge down.

In my corps, we were advised to try not to hit the judge if possible ... Giving him a nudge out of the way if they didn't see us coming.