byline Posted November 9, 2008 Share Posted November 9, 2008 Bridgmen had a great musical show but their visual show was ridiculously easy even for 1978. And '78 was actually one of their better drill designs. They maxed out in music and GE in '79 and '80, but their drill design was sub-par, their marching not a whole lot better. I always felt that if they'd managed to get their M&M up with everything else, they would have been unbeatable. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DCIHasBeen Posted November 9, 2008 Share Posted November 9, 2008 (edited) And '78 was actually one of their better drill designs. They maxed out in music and GE in '79 and '80, but their drill design was sub-par, their marching not a whole lot better. I always felt that if they'd managed to get their M&M up with everything else, they would have been unbeatable. I don't know ... Musically '79 was a down year for the corps, they had to fight for every square inch of traction they got that year. Musically '78 was a great year, and, imo, the corps should have been untouchable at finals in '80. I think they didn't get the recognition (although came really close) in '80 because of lackluster performance at most of the regionals. Visual Analysis was, all things being equal, what put the corps in 3rd in '80. In general, though, while Hoffman wasn't a great drill designer, we marched well enough most of those years to be competitive with the top corps ... Edited November 9, 2008 by DCIHasBeen Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tommytimp Posted November 9, 2008 Share Posted November 9, 2008 Shirlee. S-H-I-R-L-E-E. Whitcomb. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rocketman Posted November 9, 2008 Share Posted November 9, 2008 Shirlee.S-H-I-R-L-E-E. Whitcomb. NICE! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
byline Posted November 9, 2008 Share Posted November 9, 2008 (edited) Visual Analysis was, all things being equal, what put the corps in 3rd in '80. In general, though, while Hoffman wasn't a great drill designer, we marched well enough most of those years to be competitive with the top corps ... See, I don't get that. The marching was OK, but the drill design was really, really basic . . . and having seen the high-cam video of prelims in '80, the marching just wasn't great (many forms had noticeable problems, etc.). I probably wouldn't have remembered that without the high-cam video, given the fact that the telecast focused mostly on closeups. Compare what Bridgemen did with what the other top six corps did, and IMO there just is no comparison. The others had a lot more demand, and executed way better. I definitely agree with you that musically, '78 and '80 were both superb years, though I thought ''79 was pretty remarkable, too; loved "Spanish Dreams" that year! Edited November 9, 2008 by byline Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DCIHasBeen Posted November 9, 2008 Share Posted November 9, 2008 (edited) See, I don't get that. The marching was OK, but the drill design was really, really basic . . . and having seen the high-cam video of prelims in '80, the marching just wasn't great (many forms had noticeable problems, etc.). I probably wouldn't have remembered that without the high-cam video, given the fact that the telecast focused mostly on closeups. Compare what Bridgemen did with what the other top six corps did, and IMO there just is no comparison. The others had a lot more demand, and executed way better.I definitely agree with you that musically, '78 and '80 were both superb years, though I thought ''79 was pretty remarkable, too; loved "Spanish Dreams" that year! In '79 you just had to see what the corps had to do to get to 6th in Finals. I have amazing respect for that corps, and their work ethic. At the beginning of the season they were hurting something fierce, and were it not for an influx of long-distance imports, including the first Canadian crew, it would have ended badly. I definitely agree with you on '80 prelims. The corps choked, big-time. And when I say "choked" the euphemism the staff usually used was "a controlled performance", decent technically, but totally lacking the trademark Bayonne fire. That was the biggest problem with the corps all season ... They had an AMAZINGLY talented corps, but there had been a huge turnover in the preceding two years ... mainly in the horn line. The '80 corps was very inconsistent, and the newer members didn't quite have the stainless steel cajones that the seasoned members did. The corps got into major shows and, it seemed to me, like stage fright always got the better of them. Most of the best performances got left in the parking lot that year. '80 finals was a different story ... They went out, had fun, and feared nothing. It was by far the best performance the Bridgemen ever threw down on a field (with the possible exception of the first performance at Fort Collins in '77, which got stopped in the middle due to a flash-monsoon ... We were totally a house on fire that night.) There was really no comparison with the corps at prelims, but of course there were comparisons, just because expectations get set and there's not much you can do about that. I'll still maintain (my black and yellow blood aside), that if Bayonne ever threw down a show worthy of a Championship, it was that Saturday night in Birmingham. Edited November 9, 2008 by DCIHasBeen Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dckid80 Posted November 9, 2008 Share Posted November 9, 2008 (edited) I won't argue with you on that. I have always thought that BD, 27 and Bayonne were 3 sides of the same coin that night. Any of the 3 three corps could have won and I would have been thrilled. We really were trying to compare apples to oranges to pears. On a side note, wasn't it '79 that Bayonne had the sop trio that did Bugle Boy as a part of the concert number? One of my all time fav drum corps moments. Edited November 9, 2008 by dckid80 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scerpella Posted November 9, 2008 Share Posted November 9, 2008 It was by far the best performance the Bridgemen ever threw down on a field (with the possible exception of the first performance at Fort Collins in '77, which got stopped in the middle due to a flash-monsoon ... We were totally a house on fire that night.) I was there having finished up our performance 1 or 2 corps earlier. B-Men are about 2-3 minutes into their show, the sky has been threatening all night but by this time its very ominous. All of sudden theres a crack of thunder and the sky literally opens up. In a couple seconds the quick thinking T&P guy cracks like four shots on his pistol and the B-Men kids comprehend this means get the heck off the field which they do in a fantastic Chinese fire Drill style. What a night! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HOOKEDBYLEGEND78 Posted November 9, 2008 Share Posted November 9, 2008 We really were trying to compare apples to oranges to pears bananas. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
byline Posted November 11, 2008 Share Posted November 11, 2008 I won't argue with you on that.I have always thought that BD, 27 and Bayonne were 3 sides of the same coin that night. Any of the 3 three corps could have won and I would have been thrilled. We really were trying to compare apples to oranges to pears. And let's not forget Spirit for the fourth side of that coin. One of the most amazing fourth-place performances I've ever seen! I definitely agree with DCIHasBeen that Bridgemen's '80 finals performance was one for the ages. In almost every way, that corps was phenomenal. I still believe that if the marching had been up there with everything else, Bridgemen would've had that trophy. Sorry to derail the thread! I believe we were talking about Santa Clara '78? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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