TennTux Posted March 1, 2012 Share Posted March 1, 2012 Heh.... in Sun, some of our staff members could, and did, ride us pretty good when needed (sometimes when not needed..LOL)... but they stopped short of making us run laps. They knew we would 1) turn on them and 2) try to kill them if they did. 3) I'm not sure it they knew which ones of us (Sun) were armed at any given time... (there were several LEOs that marched in Sun) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TennTux Posted March 1, 2012 Share Posted March 1, 2012 Fran, do you know what year that Sun wore gold Sun necklaces on the field for finals? I only remember it was in Allentown and I had walked over to get a better look at some of the cute guys in the corps...there were LOTS...and I ended up trading my cymbal necklace for a sun necklace with one of the sop players... Ruth, good question... I'm not sure which year that was. Tony, we need some help here!!!! Am I allowed to talk about (or post photos) about Sun in this thread? Well Ruth, I'm not sure what year that was. You remember it was Allentown? Can you narrow it down to the 70's or 80's? Fran's last season marching with Sun was 1982 and I remember the Drum Line getting home made "medals" from the Bucs' Drum Line in 1983. (but that was only Sun's Drum line that were given those and they were on ribbons.) 1983 Sun-Retreat001 (Photo by Gail Deangelis-Balls) 1983 Sun-Retreat002 (Photo by Gail Deangelis-Balls) I don't remember (THAT happens a lot. LOL) if the entire Corps got medallions or not at any DCA Championships BITD so I don't think it was one of our Championship wins? I'm thinking it wasn't because those medallions were on ribbons not gold necklaces. (And I think they were given only to the DMs back then. Mine are hanging on the wall in my office) Apologies if this is not appropriate here... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigW Posted March 1, 2012 Share Posted March 1, 2012 Hmm... only someone like me can tie together Tony's discussion about on-field persona and one of Eric's rants. It's absolutely true when you put on the uniform that you just have to turn yourself into superman or woman. You take on another persona when you perform. And part of that is looking the part in terms of projecting confidence. Some of us weren't going very well in projecting confidence when we performed. I know early on, Eric even told us to practice the look in the mirror, to have that thousand mile stare that burns right through everyone, a look of confidence. One practice, he stands there waving everything off on the hillside like a guy trying to wave a jumbo jet off a runway (not a very unusual thing for him to do...) and yells something like this- and of course you need to have that Eric accent- which I was told he has because his parents are French- which makes sense when you know that- "I AM TIRED OF WATCHING SOME OF YOU GET THAT 'Oh S|-|!+!' LOOK ON YOUR FACES WHEN YOU MAKE A MISTAKE ON THE FIELD! YOU DON'T GIVE AWAY YOUR MISTAKES TO THE JUDGES!!!!! YOU MAKE THEM WORK TO FIND THEM!!!!!!!!!! IF I SEE ANY OF YOU DO THAT AGAIN DURING THIS RUN-THROUGH, AND I COME UP TO YOU AND TAP YOU, IT MEANS I CAUGHT YOU DOING IT AND YOU OWE ME 20 SIT-UPS OR PUSH-UPs, YOUR CHOICE!!!!!!!!!" Needless to say, I think most of us ran that run-through like we were marching on a minefield, but I figured, as long as I just LOOKED mean and tough, I'd get through okay. I did. Eric never had me do any situps, which I'm proud to say. He'd come tearing into the corps at Warp 9 during run-throughs and rap people and run back out, or run down and tap 2-3 at a clip. And Hopkins doesn't think Eric can run his Senior Corps.... Really!?!?!? I wish I had one for Eric to run so Eric and I could kick Hop's patookis. I'd just stand there with a smug grin like a cat who has the catnip bucket on my face and nod at Eric when it happened. I know a lot of us STILL have our game faces in Alumni corps when we perform because of Eric. The first time I went out on the Forum stage with the Alumni something like 20 years after I last performed- Dad was blown away and told me it was crazy seeing all of us up there still with the thousand mile stare game faces. It's so much a part of us that they never left us. I'll get to more stuff, but somehow, I managed to connect some crazy dots and figured I'd share since everyone was into the Eric moments. At first I wasn't sure what to think but as I started to realize that after 3 seasons as a performer with Westshore- I was FINALLY understanding HOW to march and my visual skills were **insanely** better because of Eric. I know I had to be one of many who felt that way. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigW Posted March 1, 2012 Share Posted March 1, 2012 I like the pics, Tony. The stories are intertwined. Kinda like Audi and Peugeot in the documentary "Truth in 24"- perhaps the greatest racing movie ever, at worst one of the top 3-4. Is that 'Brownie' on the right in the lower pic of the Bucs? Good guy, always respected him as a competitor, and as a judge later on. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TennTux Posted March 1, 2012 Share Posted March 1, 2012 (edited) I like the pics, Tony. The stories are intertwined. Kinda like Audi and Peugeot in the documentary "Truth in 24"- perhaps the greatest racing movie ever, at worst one of the top 3-4. You reminded me of one of our (Donna and I) "Drum Corps Cars". We had a 504 Peugeot that got me through the 1974 season with the Hurcs. We were living in Lynn MA and that little car saved me a LOT in the cost of gas. It was off white color with a wide blue stripe over the hood, roof and down the trunk. Yep, it was a little "Clown Car" and we really packed it with folks that year... LOL Is that 'Brownie' on the right in the lower pic of the Bucs? Good guy, always respected him as a competitor, and as a judge later on. Not sure, I'm sorry to say I don't remember his name... Edited March 1, 2012 by TennTux Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JimF-LowBari Posted March 1, 2012 Share Posted March 1, 2012 (edited) 2009 Plymouth? Ritchie walked past me? (apologies for asking, not sure I got that right) Think I needed more coffee before typing.... I meant Ritchee walked by me. Background is this was our first standstill since I joined in 2004 and we're a bit nervous being at such a high profile show. Lancers do their part of the show and go out the back door into the back parking lot. LOL, literally stage and outside is only a few steps distance. We group around our BusMang and hear from him and a few others. Sometime during this I hear "Excuse me" fom someone behind me and can tell they want to get closer. I move over, motion for him to go ahead.... and Ritchee walks by me. No idea he was in the audience, let alone hauling butt out of the place to be with us right after we were finished. He talks to Bob Zarfoss and then asks where Chuck (Wilson) was. Chuck was only a few feet away but hard to tell in the dark in the mob. People my age are going "Ritchee liked the show" like Martin Scorsese just told some local film maker "Nice job". Younger people are wondering why our jaws are hitting the pavement. Actually we surprised ourselves with the show we did and the audience reaction. Ritchee being there with his kind words was the icing on the cake. Edited March 1, 2012 by JimF-LowBari Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jaminbenb Posted March 1, 2012 Share Posted March 1, 2012 Am I allowed to talk about (or post photos) about Sun in this thread? Well Ruth, I'm not sure what year that was. You remember it was Allentown? Can you narrow it down to the 70's or 80's? Fran's last season marching with Sun was 1982 and I remember the Drum Line getting home made "medals" from the Bucs' Drum Line in 1983. (but that was only Sun's Drum line that were given those and they were on ribbons.) 1983 Sun-Retreat001 (Photo by Gail Deangelis-Balls) 1983 Sun-Retreat002 (Photo by Gail Deangelis-Balls) I don't remember (THAT happens a lot. LOL) if the entire Corps got medallions or not at any DCA Championships BITD so I don't think it was one of our Championship wins? I'm thinking it wasn't because those medallions were on ribbons not gold necklaces. (And I think they were given only to the DMs back then. Mine are hanging on the wall in my office) Apologies if this is not appropriate here... ah, no biggie as far as I'm concerned.... I think Skee was the one that fabricated the medals, I know he had access to that sort of machinery and made medals for others, as well as the "B's" that were on the side of our hats...doesn't surprise me that he did that for Sun, I know that we all got along fairly well back then, I think I've told you the story of your drumline bringing us a couple cases of beer at retreat in 1984 to congratulate us. That's STILL IMHO one of the classiest things that ever happened to me in my corps years (and I still have the bottle on my trophy shelf as a reminder) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jaminbenb Posted March 1, 2012 Share Posted March 1, 2012 Hmm... only someone like me can tie together Tony's discussion about on-field persona and one of Eric's rants. It's absolutely true when you put on the uniform that you just have to turn yourself into superman or woman. You take on another persona when you perform. And part of that is looking the part in terms of projecting confidence. Some of us weren't going very well in projecting confidence when we performed. I know early on, Eric even told us to practice the look in the mirror, to have that thousand mile stare that burns right through everyone, a look of confidence. One practice, he stands there waving everything off on the hillside like a guy trying to wave a jumbo jet off a runway (not a very unusual thing for him to do...) and yells something like this- and of course you need to have that Eric accent- which I was told he has because his parents are French- which makes sense when you know that- "I AM TIRED OF WATCHING SOME OF YOU GET THAT 'Oh S|-|!+!' LOOK ON YOUR FACES WHEN YOU MAKE A MISTAKE ON THE FIELD! YOU DON'T GIVE AWAY YOUR MISTAKES TO THE JUDGES!!!!! YOU MAKE THEM WORK TO FIND THEM!!!!!!!!!! IF I SEE ANY OF YOU DO THAT AGAIN DURING THIS RUN-THROUGH, AND I COME UP TO YOU AND TAP YOU, IT MEANS I CAUGHT YOU DOING IT AND YOU OWE ME 20 SIT-UPS OR PUSH-UPs, YOUR CHOICE!!!!!!!!!" Needless to say, I think most of us ran that run-through like we were marching on a minefield, but I figured, as long as I just LOOKED mean and tough, I'd get through okay. I did. Eric never had me do any situps, which I'm proud to say. He'd come tearing into the corps at Warp 9 during run-throughs and rap people and run back out, or run down and tap 2-3 at a clip. And Hopkins doesn't think Eric can run his Senior Corps.... Really!?!?!? I wish I had one for Eric to run so Eric and I could kick Hop's patookis. I'd just stand there with a smug grin like a cat who has the catnip bucket on my face and nod at Eric when it happened. I know a lot of us STILL have our game faces in Alumni corps when we perform because of Eric. The first time I went out on the Forum stage with the Alumni something like 20 years after I last performed- Dad was blown away and told me it was crazy seeing all of us up there still with the thousand mile stare game faces. It's so much a part of us that they never left us. I'll get to more stuff, but somehow, I managed to connect some crazy dots and figured I'd share since everyone was into the Eric moments. At first I wasn't sure what to think but as I started to realize that after 3 seasons as a performer with Westshore- I was FINALLY understanding HOW to march and my visual skills were **insanely** better because of Eric. I know I had to be one of many who felt that way. God...some of the "Eric rants" are classics!!! "IS THAT RIFLE GETTING HEAVY LITTLE GIRL?" "DON'T CARE IF A MOSQUITO THE SIZE OF A B-52 LANDS ON YOUR NOSE, YOU DON'T SCRATCH, YOU DON'T BLINK, YOU DEAL WITH IT!!" and the ever famous "YOU HAVE TO HAVE PURPOSE! EVERYTHING YOU DO ON THE FIELD HAS TO HAVE PURPOSE" He was fun to "party" with, pretty introspective, and intense to chat with when relaxing. I always laugh at anything related to Hopkins...heard some wild stories about his Crossmen days from some of the guys I knew that were in "Cross" when he marched. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jaminbenb Posted March 1, 2012 Share Posted March 1, 2012 I like the pics, Tony. The stories are intertwined. Kinda like Audi and Peugeot in the documentary "Truth in 24"- perhaps the greatest racing movie ever, at worst one of the top 3-4. Is that 'Brownie' on the right in the lower pic of the Bucs? Good guy, always respected him as a competitor, and as a judge later on. Bernie Brown maybe? Not sure if it's Thomas, although it MAY be? (whom I went to lunch with when I was in Phoenix last summer, he's also a part time stand up comic, "Downtown Tommy Brown" Funny stuff!!) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeff Ream Posted March 1, 2012 Author Share Posted March 1, 2012 Hmm... only someone like me can tie together Tony's discussion about on-field persona and one of Eric's rants. It's absolutely true when you put on the uniform that you just have to turn yourself into superman or woman. You take on another persona when you perform. And part of that is looking the part in terms of projecting confidence. Some of us weren't going very well in projecting confidence when we performed. I know early on, Eric even told us to practice the look in the mirror, to have that thousand mile stare that burns right through everyone, a look of confidence. One practice, he stands there waving everything off on the hillside like a guy trying to wave a jumbo jet off a runway (not a very unusual thing for him to do...) and yells something like this- and of course you need to have that Eric accent- which I was told he has because his parents are French- which makes sense when you know that- "I AM TIRED OF WATCHING SOME OF YOU GET THAT 'Oh S|-|!+!' LOOK ON YOUR FACES WHEN YOU MAKE A MISTAKE ON THE FIELD! YOU DON'T GIVE AWAY YOUR MISTAKES TO THE JUDGES!!!!! YOU MAKE THEM WORK TO FIND THEM!!!!!!!!!! IF I SEE ANY OF YOU DO THAT AGAIN DURING THIS RUN-THROUGH, AND I COME UP TO YOU AND TAP YOU, IT MEANS I CAUGHT YOU DOING IT AND YOU OWE ME 20 SIT-UPS OR PUSH-UPs, YOUR CHOICE!!!!!!!!!" Needless to say, I think most of us ran that run-through like we were marching on a minefield, but I figured, as long as I just LOOKED mean and tough, I'd get through okay. I did. Eric never had me do any situps, which I'm proud to say. He'd come tearing into the corps at Warp 9 during run-throughs and rap people and run back out, or run down and tap 2-3 at a clip. And Hopkins doesn't think Eric can run his Senior Corps.... Really!?!?!? I wish I had one for Eric to run so Eric and I could kick Hop's patookis. I'd just stand there with a smug grin like a cat who has the catnip bucket on my face and nod at Eric when it happened. I know a lot of us STILL have our game faces in Alumni corps when we perform because of Eric. The first time I went out on the Forum stage with the Alumni something like 20 years after I last performed- Dad was blown away and told me it was crazy seeing all of us up there still with the thousand mile stare game faces. It's so much a part of us that they never left us. I'll get to more stuff, but somehow, I managed to connect some crazy dots and figured I'd share since everyone was into the Eric moments. At first I wasn't sure what to think but as I started to realize that after 3 seasons as a performer with Westshore- I was FINALLY understanding HOW to march and my visual skills were **insanely** better because of Eric. I know I had to be one of many who felt that way. Idont profess to know the YEA situation with Eric, but please, remember there is more to running a corps than just the on field product. I'm not bashing Eric, I love him to death, but the business side of things can get to many people, and with a boss like Hop, you're expected to put in a lot of hours for not a lot of money. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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