84BDsop Posted April 6, 2009 Share Posted April 6, 2009 So. . . just so we're clear. . . you're saying that corps should intentionally have bad buses to build character? NOT what he was saying at all. Even a highly skilled group of kids could get demoralized at riding old, beaten up bussed or wearing uniforms older than they were, held together with safety pins and prayers. The fact that Garfield achieved what it did in the 80s IN SPITE of those factors is what he was getting at. We didn't have much of those problems with our fleet in 84...I had to push start a bus one time, something happened to the tractor for Big Blue and our gear almost didn't arrive in tgime for the Riverside show, and we lost the clitch on my bus coming onto Grand Junction, CO, but aside from that, no major transportation probs. Other corps....not so much. VK burned out several big rig tractors on tour (4, wasn't it, Cop?). Back in the day, not many corps chartered busses....today #### near everyone does. Times change and corps adapt to it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
relmquist Posted April 7, 2009 Share Posted April 7, 2009 Lay off the crack. I am serious. I am from Texas and I think it is great a DCI corp moved here, but this is not the Crossmen! Have you actually listened to the REAL Crossmen from the 90's? They were filled with excitment and played powerful music. Listen to how the crowds reacted. They moved the crowd!! I am just disappointed that a great corp has been reduced to another "band" corps. It is not the kids fault that the Crossmen are no more. I just wish we had not lost another great corps. When will drum corps people begin to understand that their audience is their life. I stand by my statement. Just because the corps name is "Crossmen" doesn't mean they are "The Crossmen". Bones must be turning over in his grave. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
salad315 Posted April 7, 2009 Share Posted April 7, 2009 I am serious. I am from Texas and I think it is great a DCI corp moved here, but this is not the Crossmen! Have you actually listened to the REAL Crossmen from the 90's? They were filled with excitment and played powerful music. Listen to how the crowds reacted. They moved the crowd!! I am just disappointed that a great corp has been reduced to another "band" corps. It is not the kids fault that the Crossmen are no more. I just wish we had not lost another great corps. When will drum corps people begin to understand that their audience is their life. I stand by my statement. Just because the corps name is "Crossmen" doesn't mean they are "The Crossmen". Bones must be turning over in his grave. Lol...and the blue devils must be dead, because they dont play jazz, and the scouts because well, they arent good enough to be the scouts, and cavies because they dont play the planets anymore, and the cadets, because they change music genres every year, and..... (BTW, i dont really care for the 'new' crossmen sound at all compared to the 90's either, but I am not so egotistical to think that I can say my tastes determine the corps' lack of existence. Apparently you are. Pretty sure noone cares....) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CrossmenAlumni Posted April 7, 2009 Author Share Posted April 7, 2009 I am serious. I am from Texas and I think it is great a DCI corp moved here, but this is not the Crossmen! Have you actually listened to the REAL Crossmen from the 90's? They were filled with excitment and played powerful music. Listen to how the crowds reacted. They moved the crowd!! I am just disappointed that a great corp has been reduced to another "band" corps. It is not the kids fault that the Crossmen are no more. I just wish we had not lost another great corps. When will drum corps people begin to understand that their audience is their life. I stand by my statement. Just because the corps name is "Crossmen" doesn't mean they are "The Crossmen". Bones must be turning over in his grave. And just because you state that the current Crossmen isn't the "real" Crossmen, that doesn't make it true. If you don't like what they play now or how they play it, that's fine. But this kind of ridiculous hyperbole does nobody any good. Besides being untrue and insulting, all it offers is negativity towards a very proud organization that is working very hard at rebuilding itself in a totally new age of drum corps. I dig the 1992 Crossmen as much as the next guy. I marched in that show and am very proud of it. But it ain't 1992 anymore. So many corps have re-invented themselves since then, in many cases gone on to bigger and better things, including some championship caliber corps. But for some reason you want this corps to stay trapped in time? That's not exactly fair. Give it time. They are growing. They are maturing. They are figuring things out. They deserve that opportunity, and they certainly deserve far more respect than you're giving them. Go to a rehearsal. Talk to the members. Talk to the staff. See for yourself. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KeithHall Posted April 7, 2009 Share Posted April 7, 2009 In the 1970's I rode on school buses. It was transportation that we could afford at the time. Did it build character? NO! Most corps were riding in school buses then. I am happy ANY corps gets to ride in nice coaches... wait wait wait... I don't get this... how are we soft because we get handed a great opportunity?If someone was complaining that these buses were horrible. I'd get it. If I had to sit on a bus with no A/C, bumpy roads (West Virginia style), on top of the engine, with a rookie driver who swerves ALL over the road and get to march drum corps, I'D DO IT! We're not soft. Your generation just keeps giving us great stuff! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kac Posted April 7, 2009 Share Posted April 7, 2009 I am serious. I am from Texas and I think it is great a DCI corp moved here, but this is not the Crossmen! Have you actually listened to the REAL Crossmen from the 90's? They were filled with excitment and played powerful music. Listen to how the crowds reacted. They moved the crowd!! I am just disappointed that a great corp has been reduced to another "band" corps. It is not the kids fault that the Crossmen are no more. I just wish we had not lost another great corps. When will drum corps people begin to understand that their audience is their life. I stand by my statement. Just because the corps name is "Crossmen" doesn't mean they are "The Crossmen". Bones must be turning over in his grave. Dude, seriously? Have you been around the corps at all? Have you spent weekends at their rehearsals? Have you been on the road with them? Or been up before the sun to fix breakfast? And if the answer is yes, then did you also do the same in this century when they were based anywhere along I-95 prior to the move? Do you truly have the working knowledge about the membership and about how the corps was run before & after the move to make such a grand statement that the corps is no more? Or are you just whining because you don't like the musical direction they are going currently? Because you are making some pretty bold statements there, and as a person who HAS done all of those things listed above, I'm not going to let this pass by without a comment. If you don't like the music they are playing currently, you are more than entitled to your viewpoint. I'll give you that. There are times that I don't like the music either, just like any other corps. But you have no right to accuse the current members of being any less of a Crossmen than I am, or anyone else that has been a member before or after my time and has worn that Cross with pride. I've met the members in Tx. I am friends with a number of the current members. They are Crossmen through & through. I'd like to see you walk up to them at practice and make your grand claim that they aren't Crossmen to their faces. Then let's see how well your argument goes over in person. It's great that you were a fan of the corps in the 90's. But what about the "real" Crossmen prior to that? What were they? Chopped liver? They didn't always play groove music before the 90's and those people are just as much Crossmen as the current members are. If you knew anything about this corps, you would know that it doesn't matter what the music is. It is the spirit of the Crossmen and the collective experience together as THE Crossmen that matters. Go ask any of the current members, they know what it is all about. Bones cannot be rolling over in his grave because he's alive and well in the spirit of everyone that has ever been (or currently is) a Crossmen. And if you marched in the corps, I'm really sorry that you didn't figure this out in your time there. Now, back on topic: Having good buses helps to keep everyone focused on the task at hand that much easier. One less thing to be concerned about this summer. Nice going! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BillH Posted April 7, 2009 Share Posted April 7, 2009 Thank you Kathy, for saying that! I was on the staff that had the PRIVLEDGE of working from 21st place back into finals with Bones. Your statement cannot be more true. They are Crossmen, as much as those that played Superman, or Ruslan, or Birdland or Metheny, or... I am not always happy with the selections and design choices of the two corps with which I have had the honor of being involved as a member or instructor. But, I will always support the members for continuing the traditions of those orgnizations and believe that we should ALL do the same for ALL members of ALL corps, across ALL generations, programming choices notwithstanding. The benefits of this activity are not about the programming, they are about the work and brotherhood and sacrifice and love of the game of those young men and women who could certainly choose to spend their time and money on far less rewarding pasttimes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt_S Posted April 7, 2009 Share Posted April 7, 2009 Closed at author's request. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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