magonigal Posted August 23, 2008 Share Posted August 23, 2008 (edited) If it was such a problem though perhaps when you were there you could have helped fix it? Ha ha ha, where have you been the past 3 months? You can't help something that is unwilling to be helped. Edited August 23, 2008 by magonigal Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IllianaLancerContra Posted August 23, 2008 Share Posted August 23, 2008 (edited) I don't really see the benefit of them merging.First off, they both serve different needs within the drum corps community. If they were to combine, (probably as world class), that would leave one group under-served. Also, as talent rich as SA and Texas are in general, I don't see any reason why they can't co-exist. When I lived in Belleville IL, I did a bit of research at the library. Back in the 60's there were 14 corps (2 all-girl) from Belleville or the immediate area (total population around 50,000). Each was unique, and the rivalries were intense. Yes, most were small, Black Knights being the exception, but there was a local show every weekend, so tour costs were minimal. The kids had fun, and learned a few life-lessons along the way. So, I think San Antonio, with a population around 1 million, can probably support 2 corps. Edited August 23, 2008 by IllianaLancerContra Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Baritone Posted August 23, 2008 Share Posted August 23, 2008 Why is that people always assume all kids want to march world class? Like someone said above, the two corps serve different needs. Revolution need not be a "feeder" corps for the X-men. It can be its own organization, with kids wanting to march with them and them alone and they were doing alright before the Crossmen came and I'm sure they'll do alright now. Revolution has been a class act on and off the field. So have the Crossmen. Different organizations, different experiences. I wish the best successto both corps in the near future! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Musical_Spinner Posted August 23, 2008 Share Posted August 23, 2008 Ha ha ha, where have you been the past 3 months? You can't help something that is unwilling to be helped. I apologize for that sort of slanted remark, I've heard nothing but good things about you from members. I have no clue what specifically happened this year but I am guessing it is the same stuff, different year. When I was within the organization lots of crazy business things were happening. I'm not going to air them here, I just wish things would be fixed already but the people who are aware of the situations know how hard it is to fix. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TerriTroop Posted August 23, 2008 Share Posted August 23, 2008 (edited) Why is that people always assume all kids want to march world class? Like someone said above, the two corps serve different needs. Revolution need not be a "feeder" corps for the X-men. It can be its own organization, with kids wanting to march with them and them alone and they were doing alright before the Crossmen came and I'm sure they'll do alright now. Revolution has been a class act on and off the field. So have the Crossmen. Different organizations, different experiences. I wish the best successto both corps in the near future! See my first post on page 2 for a potential answer to that question. It's "a Texas thang." It's a problem we need to address throughout the state. Edited August 23, 2008 by TerriTroop Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IllianaLancerContra Posted August 24, 2008 Share Posted August 24, 2008 (edited) See my first post on page 2 for a potential answer to that question. It's "a Texas thang." It's a problem we need to address throughout the state. I went back and read it - you are correct, but it is not just Texas - it is like that in here in Virginia too. They are band kids first, drum corps kids later. But I guess that is what DCI's marketing plan is. Edited August 24, 2008 by IllianaLancerContra Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Martybucs Posted August 24, 2008 Share Posted August 24, 2008 If Crossmen were part of another merger, would that make them the Double Crossmen or the ReCrossmen? In anycase, about stealing members...here's where maybe the lack of drum corps history comes in. The northeast had thousands of drum corps - really. Not all of them were top 12. Most were in the 15th to maybe 25th category, even though many skipped the National Competitions and later early DCIs. Close to all almost all of the east coast corps, were top 12 corps. Blessed Sac, St. Lucy's, Muchachos, Blue Rock, 27th Lancers, Boston Crusaders... All of the lessor known corps, at some point, lost some or lots of members to the better corps, because those kids wanted to march with a sure thing. If your corps is the one losing members, maybe you see it as "stealing members". Reality says that the kids march where they want to march and for their own reasons. The junior corps I marched in lost many members to Crossmen when they started up. Did Crossmen "steal" the members? Heck no. By this time, almost all the corps in the Delaware Valley had folded or were in miserable shape. Crossmen were the only game in town if you wanted to be in a decent corps. What kid or parent could be blamed for wanting a decent shot at being in a winning corps? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xbones7480 Posted August 24, 2008 Share Posted August 24, 2008 The Crossmen weren't just made up of Keystone and 507 members. We had a lot of Bracken, Brookhaven Crusaders, Black Watch, Bon-bons, PAL, Media Fawns, and Blue Rock members that came to be Crossmen. The Crossmen were the 'Great Hope of the Delaware Valley." That's what made this corps so special. Now I believe the corps is the "Great Hope of Texas." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
festive Posted August 24, 2008 Share Posted August 24, 2008 Not just the great hope of Texas but the great hope of a lot of drum corps fans who just love Bones. The Crossmen have a unique identity that adds so much to drum corps, and I'm very hopeful that when more people in their new home find out about just how cool the corps is and how amazing the legacy is, they'll want to be part of it. It was a leap (of faith? of whatever...) to move to Texas, but it's not that much of a leap, in my mind, that people in San Antonio and elsewhere will still want to embrace the Crossmen as a contender, and for potential members to embrace it as their corps "home." They just missed the goal of finals this year, but I think their presence was felt. Surely we'll see that again in '09. I've enjoyed Revolution's work the past several years, too. I think the issue is really more of a different set of circumstances. Revolution was trying to "get people into corps locally" on its own and that's a tall order; the Belleville example was given and that's a good point--everyone knew about drum corps and wanted in, even in a relatively smallish town, people wanted a spot to march and so more corps were necessary for a variety of talent levels. With Crossmen in town, Revo may actually find more interest in their program. Truth is, there are any number of potential members beyond the carrying capacity of both drum corps, even if you are drawing only from the local area. And Crossmen, correct me if I'm wrong, does not draw from San Antonio principally, anyway. As a world class corps, they are national and perhaps even international. World class corps do not typically draw from their towns for the bulk of membership (or for even a small percentage of membership in some cases, as I understand it). If the Crossmen get interest in drum corps up in the local market, perhaps more students will want a way in to the activity...and they could get that with Revolution? Just a thought. I wish both corps the best. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GMKuzma Posted August 24, 2008 Share Posted August 24, 2008 I think from 2005-06, Revo should've taken advantage of its membership in regards to its size. Fielding a D3 corps of 77-79 members for those two years, didn't make much sense, since both years fielding a corps of 95-110 would've been easy for Revo. Now, since the Xmen are in town, those numbers are hard to achieve. I really wanted Revo to be the first real TX World Class corps, not another corps from another state who decided to move into TX, so it could take advantage of the great talent. Revo had the opportunity..............they let it slip away!! I will say that fielding the corps at 75 members in 2006 was based on logistics (off the field stuff). We had several hundred at auditions that year and as a staff we had discussed that option of taking on another 40 or so members. But, we were not in the position financially to move up. I decided to stay with 2 buses instead of 3. As far as the OP making this out to be a "Corps vs. Corps" argument, I will say that there is nothing wrong with Crossmen operating in San Antonio. Revolution was not anywhere near being ready to move up to World Class when I was there in 2005 and 2006. When I took the job as director in 2005, the corps was coming out of a rough 2004 season--a year the corps went inactive right before tour. We weren't ready on or off the field for World Class, yet. We had a lot of negative press to overcome...We had to make careful decisions to enable us to provide a summer tour experience for our members. We made progress, slowly but surely. Both drum corps can co-exist peacefully and independently as long as their management stays focused on making good business decisions (off the field). I wish both corps the best. -GM Revolution Director '05 and '06 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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