Jump to content

Being Cut because you're fat?


Recommended Posts

  • Replies 197
  • Created
  • Last Reply

Top Posters In This Topic

Just another tid-bit I'll add: When i got my comment sheets back they all said "Great Weapon technique, very strong" "Great Performance quality, head always up" "Knows the choreography well" then I had one that said "Nice dance but just a little bit flowier(sp?)"

SO when I got those comment sheets I was like sweeeeeeeeeeet I did do as well as I thought....then I got called into the bottom group and I was like....wtf

Me and 2 other guys there....who were both large as well....were cut that weekend

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Just another tid-bit I'll add: When i got my comment sheets back they all said "Great Weapon technique, very strong" "Great Performance quality, head always up" "Knows the choreography well" then I had one that said "Nice dance but just a little bit flowier(sp?)"

SO when I got those comment sheets I was like sweeeeeeeeeeet I did do as well as I thought....then I got called into the bottom group and I was like....wtf

Me and 2 other guys there....who were both large as well....were cut that weekend

We can only take your word for it, so I'll assume all this is true. It's their right to do it, even if it's completely wrong-headed (which it is). If you're truly committed to that corps, then spend the next year losing weight in a sane, sensible way. But it seems like one of several corps where the instructors care a lot more about competitive success than they care about their members, so is that really the place you want to be? There are plenty of top corps with hefty guys in the guard, and they almost always seem like the most energetic performers on the field. You'll get berated non-stop, most likely, but that's just part of corps, and a lot different from what you (allegedly) went through.

Or you can do what I do, and join the navy, which was more than happy to let my fat behind in. Training was like a fat camp where they paid me (little less intense than Marine training I admit -- I actually enjoyed it, to tell the truth) and I managed to keep the wait off afterwards, plus I got my student debts repaid, decent pay for someone fresh out of college, health insurance for life, loads of experience . . . 'course, Uncle Sam is a lot less choosy nowadays than a lot of world class corps, and it's hard to march in world class corps while you're in the military. Unless you're one of those whiners that wants junior corps to let vets march.

Edited by Rifuarian
Link to comment
Share on other sites

BTW, I'm of Sue's vintage. The story I related happened nearly 25 years ago...so this is definitely not a new phenomenon.

Yup, and the situation I referred to happened 30 years ago. As you say, this is not new, but is perhaps becoming even more of a focus because of the body-hugging uniforms, dance and the entire aesthetic that surrounds that. On one level, I can understand that, but I can also see how it can easily go sideways depending on the individual and a specific situation. Sadly, some individuals lack the sensitivity to see how their remarks, however casual they may intend them to be, can impact others, especially during those hypersensitive, terribly self-conscious teen years. There was a particular band director I worked for for only one year. Then, the year after I left, one of the girls told me he put up a sign in the band room saying that some of the girls were getting too fat to fit into their uniforms. I never went to the band room to see if it was true or not, but knowing this person, it would not have surprised me. He may have thought it was a joke, but the thing is, young people internalize this stuff, and it can have a devastating effect on self-image. I always tried to be very careful with comments to my guard members about body type, and I also paid attention to what others said, and tried to steer those comments in a positive direction whenever possible.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Way to resort to personal insults to cope with people you dont agree with. For the record, 300 pound linemen may be incredible athletes, and experts at their craft, but arent going to be at the front of a drum corps jogging block anytime soon. Most of them need oxygen after returning a fumble more than 50 yards. As I mentioned earlier - excess weight is just another liability to corps. It can be overcome, certainly, just like anything else. Oh, and 'how you start' has a lot to do with how you finish. If it werent so, noone would give a #### about the winter season....

i normally would never do that, but considering that the post i was responding to was written in a snide and condescending tone, and the person both claimed professional expertise on the topic they were discussing and said something any athlete knows is provably false i took a liberty.

oh, and drum corps should never be about winning a title, or placement. i mean seriously, no one should ever feel a need to turn to a small group of biased and subjective respondents to validate any period of their life. drum corps is about challenging the members, giving them opportunity for achievement and growth, and giving them usable life skills they can take with them after drum corps. everybody who won a gold medal with phantom last year will turn 22 or die trying sooner or later, and you'll probably be able to count on one hand the number who receive any personal or professional advantage from winning. but all of them are better for trying, and doing the things they had to do to get through a drum corps season. there's real value in that, not in showing up perfect and finished but in the things you do to bring you up to a world class level. many, many hundreds of kids have shown up to their first camp fat and out of shape, some have quit, some have stayed and dragged their corps down, but most have grown and developed and succeeded. drum coprs is at its heart a developmental activity, a starting point, not an finished ending. hopefully you'll be able to develop a little more perspective over time and see that.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

i normally would never do that, but considering that the post i was responding to was written in a snide and condescending tone, and the person both claimed professional expertise on the topic they were discussing and said something any athlete knows is provably false i took a liberty.

oh, and drum corps should never be about winning a title, or placement. i mean seriously, no one should ever feel a need to turn to a small group of biased and subjective respondents to validate any period of their life. drum corps is about challenging the members, giving them opportunity for achievement and growth, and giving them usable life skills they can take with them after drum corps. everybody who won a gold medal with phantom last year will turn 22 or die trying sooner or later, and you'll probably be able to count on one hand the number who receive any personal or professional advantage from winning. but all of them are better for trying, and doing the things they had to do to get through a drum corps season. there's real value in that, not in showing up perfect and finished but in the things you do to bring you up to a world class level. many, many hundreds of kids have shown up to their first camp fat and out of shape, some have quit, some have stayed and dragged their corps down, but most have grown and developed and succeeded. drum coprs is at its heart a developmental activity, a starting point, not an finished ending. hopefully you'll be able to develop a little more perspective over time and see that.

Well, you didnt really argue with anything I said so

... and ____

thats all i got :thumbs-up:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Marine Corps boot camp and DCI practices might be two different things, but I had a guy come into the bandroom today on leave from MCBC and he said it was like band camp on steroids.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Marine Corps boot camp and DCI practices might be two different things, but I had a guy come into the bandroom today on leave from MCBC and he said it was like band camp on steroids.

randomly off topic: lake charles, louisiana, egh? my cousin's building a golf course down there.

/topic on

Link to comment
Share on other sites

/offtopic

You should get your cousin to give me free range balls every now and then. Course is looking nice, even if the cart path is 5 yards from one of the most dangerous roads (i believe) in the city

Link to comment
Share on other sites

topic on!

while you being upset is understandable... being cut for any reason, just or unjust, doesn't feel good... but i've gotta side with the staff on this one...

now maybe an outright initial "cut" wasn't in order... i have seen a few times a staff give those in question the opportunity to show improvement over time. but at the same time there are potentially hundreds of kids auditioning for this spot who've all not only worked on their playing/ spinning, but also their physical condition. they came into the audition knowing it was to be an athletic one as well.

regardless of how talented one may be, they almost become a liability once they pass a certain size. 2002 blue devils soloist became a 2003 cut... why?

weight.

I have no clue how large you are or are not... but i could see/ have seen one's weight being a distraction from the show, especially in the guard. #1 the drill and physical demands could become an issue #2 it's a visual activity where there is an attempt made for all to look as one... if one looks like one and a half it doesn't quite work...

hopefully that wasn't too unsensative...

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Guest
This topic is now closed to further replies.
  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.



×
×
  • Create New...