Jaminbenb Posted May 21, 2012 Share Posted May 21, 2012 (edited) I remember bits and pieces of that year...not sure why my memory isn't as sharp as it used to be .... I remember that parking garage and the beer balls...it was different than the usual bottled stuff we were drinking at the time, but I guess after drinking way too much "consumer beer" anything of a new variety was off the mark (at least it was cold) ....today, I'd probably be the first one to go "gimme another, and BIGGER! chalk it up to youth, and ignorance of a better brew than Miller's...which was usually was I was drinking in those daze. I too remember some of Eric's "mind games" as we sometimes referred to them...yeah we thought we did "good" and at least "good enough" to win the show, but yeah...we had mental breakdowns, and sometimes didn't perform up to the standards that we hoped. Eric was there to remind us, and with guys like him in your corner, you were reminded to continue, maintain, excel and and do things with "purpose"...his mantra of "Perfect practice makes perfect" modified from the old adage "practice makes perfect" was "werds to live by"...and we got there, eventually. W...to your mental breakdown....I suffered the same thing in 1985 during the opener with Bucs at DCA finals...we had a few "pushes" at the end of the opener (Wind Machine) and would stop...BLAST, march backward during the drum break, stop and BLAST AGAIN, march backward, BLAST a third time then start back forward...my brain fixated on the fact that I was marching in what was supposed to be my LAST SHOW since I was "retiring" at the end of that year and on the last push, I kept going backwards instead of forward...only see it for a second in the video, but I remember it "threw" me for the beginning of the next number. After XX amount of high school band performances, and XXX number of corps performances, I think that was the only severe mental breakdown I ever experienced and flubbed up! (well to THAT point) Still bugs me to this day...now I did end up going back for the shitzengiggles of it in 1988, and had a similar flub at the end of the closer (right at the end) I entered on my cymbal smash a "red curly one" early and I can hear it every time I listen to the performance... Edited May 21, 2012 by Jaminbenb Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeff Ream Posted May 21, 2012 Author Share Posted May 21, 2012 I had a mental oops at finals in 89...missed a direction change by a step. #### double time Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jaminbenb Posted May 21, 2012 Share Posted May 21, 2012 I had a mental oops at finals in 89...missed a direction change by a step. #### double time It's always finals for me..... I remember the show that Cruiser dropped his stick, and he was like "oh crap, I dropped my stick, what'll I do" (and we were RIGHT up in the front of the field) I said.... "I'll get it" so I pinched off my nose, and took a deep breath and 'went down' for it! I thought the snare line was gonna ####!!! Dan was like "holy crap! I don't believe you just did that!" Regular shows were nothing.... it was fun to play around....finals it all came to a head...and you had to be serious....figures that's when the stupid stuff happens Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeff Ream Posted May 22, 2012 Author Share Posted May 22, 2012 It's always finals for me..... I remember the show that Cruiser dropped his stick, and he was like "oh crap, I dropped my stick, what'll I do" (and we were RIGHT up in the front of the field) I said.... "I'll get it" so I pinched off my nose, and took a deep breath and 'went down' for it! I thought the snare line was gonna ####!!! Dan was like "holy crap! I don't believe you just did that!" Regular shows were nothing.... it was fun to play around....finals it all came to a head...and you had to be serious....figures that's when the stupid stuff happens the Ben snorkle...he told that story every year, usually in Fairfax. I know there's a show in 90 I don't remember a thing from....heat got to me that day, I've been told that after got off he field, we circled up, I took my drum off, and down I went. I think the firstthing I remember was Dan asking if the drum was ok, as he didn't know I took it off. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jaminbenb Posted May 22, 2012 Share Posted May 22, 2012 That happened to me one time when I was playing timpani...as I was told, I came off the field, set down the drum, and I was OUT like a light! I only remember feeling a little wobbly on the field during the exit but remembered nothing from that point until they woke me up.... Except for a little of the same thing in a parade (timpani again) I never passed out the rest of my daze in corps. Hah...part of the "lore" I guess Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeff Ream Posted May 22, 2012 Author Share Posted May 22, 2012 That happened to me one time when I was playing timpani...as I was told, I came off the field, set down the drum, and I was OUT like a light! I only remember feeling a little wobbly on the field during the exit but remembered nothing from that point until they woke me up.... Except for a little of the same thing in a parade (timpani again) I never passed out the rest of my daze in corps. Hah...part of the "lore" I guess yeah, that was the only time I remember that happening to me. I think between the heat, sleeping poorly on the bus after we did a show the night before, and being in Jerz did me in. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fran Haring Posted May 22, 2012 Share Posted May 22, 2012 I had a mental oops at finals in 89...missed a direction change by a step. #### double time Didn't draw a blank, but at one of the Gloversville shows (1978 or '79), it was so humid that night that my glasses fogged up part of the way through the show, and did not unfog until we were off the field. I did the rest of my drill that evening by the "feel method." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigW Posted May 23, 2012 Share Posted May 23, 2012 I did the rest of my drill that evening by the "feel method." Everyone always says you're a touchy-feely kind of guy, now we know why! More seriously, in that era with the 2 step interval, which could be measured by the elbow- to elbow contact with the horn players next to you at times- a lot of the stuff was done by the touch/contact to get intervals right. I know Garfield in the pre Zingali Era was marking peoples elbows and arms for the contact points early on in season practices so they could establish consistency, etc. Crazy stuff. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigW Posted May 23, 2012 Share Posted May 23, 2012 I still remember that parade when Ben parked himself. It Was HOT. NASTY HOT. And the then-new black gabardine unis were of no help. We were all pretty concerned. He looked bad, it was HOT, we knew carrying those tymps in any weather wasn't beer and skittles, and he was not the type of guy to drop over... and we know a couple of people who when it went over 80-85 degrees or for Afternoon sunny shows swooned big time/all the time and got carted off to the EMTs- don't we? Not mentionin' any names.... I only came close to going down once- Fairfax. And that was after 5 people passed out, Drew was running around in panic from person to person, Eric was getting more and more frustrated, and I just remember starting to sway from side to side and feeling a bit blurry while Eric was getting ranty-peturbed and thanking God he told us to get off the field immediately when I think he realized it wasn't a case of mental failure or a lack of will to do well, that physically we were all gonna go down from the inferno on that field. Back then, I remember only one corps that had half a handle on that kind of thing. The Cabs. I remember watching them rehearse at Carlisle with Rook- and maybe you too, Ben-- and they had that big bucket of ice water on the sideline, a dipper, and a bunch of wet towels around it- guys would go up and wash their faces with the wet cool towel or dip some water over themselves when they felt washed out and go back on the field. I do remember we thought this was way too sensible an idea and wished WE had them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeff Ream Posted May 23, 2012 Author Share Posted May 23, 2012 in 97 Chris Garrett went down every week, usually after the show Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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