Keeping the City (or State)

[bluecoats88]

hey, the Bluecoats are from Canton, Ohio and always have been, but in 1984 when Ted took over the corps he basically moved the corps mailing address to North Canton, Ohio.

[brians]

Actually, most professional athletes buy a home and move to the city where they play. they may also keep a home in their original city for the off season, but during the season they live in the city they play in.

of course the major difference with professional sports and drum corps is that in pro sports you have at least half of your competitions in the same place. where as in drum corps you are on the road all summer in a different city almost every night of the entire season. I also hope you are being sarcastic in suggesting the kids who join drum coprs should have to buy a house and move to the city the corps is from.

Edited September 10, 2010 by brians

[ouooga]

Actually, most professional athletes buy a home and move to the city where they play. they may also keep a home in their original city for the off season, but during the season they live in the city they play in.

To add to that, most professional athletes have cars and some free time during the week. Not a ton, but more than you'd have in drum corps. When I "lived" in Denver for all days, I never had the opportunity of exploring the city and identifying with it. As far as I'm know, there's a mall downtown, a baseball field, a few high schools, one park and a whole lot of Wendy's. That's hardly enough for me to feel any connection to this city, but I was still very dedicated to my corps.

[TeamOhio]

Being from Ohio, it was always cool to me to be announced as being from Madison since it was something different than I was used to, and it gave me a certain sense of connection and pride for a place that I would never have any reason to be connected to. It was also one of those things where all of the members were from different parts of the country, but for the summer we were in essence all "from Madison," and had that in common.

[crfrey71]

I think in 1991, Spirit of Atlanta was introduced by Brandt Crocker, from Atlanta, Georgia and Wichita Falls, Texas.

I think many folks today still say Concord Blue Devils and the Canton Bluecoats.

[Dave Scott]

I started marching with the Black Knights, who anyone would tell you were from Belleville, IL. When I marched, though, we were officially from Swansea, IL, which is a suburb of Belleville. They had also at one time been from Fairview Heights, and probably from some other local places as well.

The reason I was given, was that at different times different townships provided sweeter deals than others. So some corps (or at least ours) treated locations like sponsors and shopped around for the best deal.

And back in the day, the location of the sponsoring VFW and/or American Legion post was also a factor.

[bluecoats88]

of course the major difference with professional sports and drum corps is that in pro sports you have at least half of your competitions in the same place. where as in drum corps you are on the road all summer in a different city almost every night of the entire season. I also hope you are being sarcastic in suggesting the kids who join drum coprs should have to buy a house and move to the city the corps is from.

No I was commenting on the comment about the players for the Packers not being from Green Bay, when in Fact probably every one of them owns and lives in a home in the Green Bay area (at least during the season).

I was not making any comparison to Drum corps or suggesting anything related to a corps members living situation.

[silvertrombone]

The Cascades dropped the "Seattle" a couple years back, citing that the reference to the city may be conceived as an organization limiting within the city of Seattle.

I wonder why are corps less willing to attach themselves with a particular city/state. Look back to the 50s to 70s, the plethora of local corps really brought a lot of characters when it came to the title of the corps.

Current DCI corps with name/place attachment:

Jersey Surf

Madison Scouts

Oregon Crusaders

Carolina Crown

Santa Clara Vanguard

Boston Crusaders

Racine Scouts

Spokane Thunder

Spirit of Newark/NJ

The Dallas Cowboys no longer play in Dallas County. At least Texas Stadium was in Dallas County. Cowboys Stadium in Arlington is in Tarrant County. The FC Dallas soccer team also plays in Frisco, TX in Collin County in Pizza Hut Park. Never thought of dropping the name 'Dallas,' I don't think. There is one part of Dallas that is in Denton and Collin Counties to the North. And many folks up there rent office space in the City of Dallas proper for the prestige of the address. "Plano" just doesn't have the same visual images as "Dallas" on the letterhead.

Ironic, then, that Cascades and Cadets disassociated themselves with Seattle, Garfield and Bergen County, respectively. IMHO, that is part of the problem in our activity--it is good to associate one's self (or organization) with such places. Disassociating from said places sends a message to the business community--we don't NEED you any more!

If the Scouts ever leave Madison, the first places I would look to would be Madisonville, TEXAS or any other burg with a similar name. Spirit of NY/NJ? Move to St Louis or stay put. It cannot possibly hurt for a corps to remain associated with a town or state even if they have NO members from that locale. Take Rockford. When was the last member in Phantom Regiment actually FROM Rockford/Loves Park, IL? How many since 2000? I'd betcha a Dublin (that's in Texas, ya'll) Dr Pepper that Texas sent more members in 2010 than Rockford has since 2000 cumulatively. Heck, I tried to convince the corps to move to Texas, but...

Personally, I think DCI needs to start marketing the corps to corporate sponsors a la NASCAR...logos on uniforms...the whole nine yards. I mean, put 'Waste Management's' logo on the bottom of corps' SHOES, for crying out loud! Get some money coming in, ya know?

Heck, if General Electric comes in and says, "We'll fund the corps annually, but we want the Cadets to move to KALAMAZOO," I say DO IT!! And if they cut a check for $2 million / year, move camps to Kalamazoo, rent a PO Box there, and forward it to Allentown, you know?

On the other hand, if Exxon-Mobil stands up and says, "We'll fund ANY corps that will move to Dallas and rename the corps EXXON-MOBIL CORPS"...I hope there would be 12 corps sending local alum to Exxon HQ's and flying their corps directors in overnight jockeying for the PRIVILEGE of bearing the name "Exxon-Mobil."

Exxon-Mobil Phantom Regiment D&BC...not bad! In Dallas, Texas. Whatever.

Think green? Waste Management Cavaliers D&BC--I LOVE IT!! Every PR alum just peed a little!

How about the Blue Devils Brand Toilet Scrubber D&BC--quite a contrast to their storied history, eh? Best in the business, right? Of course, that would also require creating the brand as well. But such a 'world class' product it would be.

I joke at the expense of rivals of "my" corps, but seriously...we need corporate money. And if corporations are willing to give money, DCI and the corps' need to be willing to give 'em the farm.

Naming rights.

Logos on uniforms.

Heck...logos woven into DRILL formations? Heck yeah!

City's name in the name of the corps--SHOW ME THE MONEY!!

Fields corps, supports young people experiencing drum corps...gets a company or city some national attention...wins all the way around.

[mophilda]

The Dallas Cowboys no longer play in Dallas County. At least Texas Stadium was in Dallas County. Cowboys Stadium in Arlington is in Tarrant County. The FC Dallas soccer team also plays in Frisco, TX in Collin County in Pizza Hut Park. Never thought of dropping the name 'Dallas,' I don't think. There is one part of Dallas that is in Denton and Collin Counties to the North. And many folks up there rent office space in the City of Dallas proper for the prestige of the address. "Plano" just doesn't have the same visual images as "Dallas" on the letterhead.

Ironic, then, that Cascades and Cadets disassociated themselves with Seattle, Garfield and Bergen County, respectively. IMHO, that is part of the problem in our activity--it is good to associate one's self (or organization) with such places. Disassociating from said places sends a message to the business community--we don't NEED you any more!

If the Scouts ever leave Madison, the first places I would look to would be Madisonville, TEXAS or any other burg with a similar name. Spirit of NY/NJ? Move to St Louis or stay put. It cannot possibly hurt for a corps to remain associated with a town or state even if they have NO members from that locale. Take Rockford. When was the last member in Phantom Regiment actually FROM Rockford/Loves Park, IL? How many since 2000? I'd betcha a Dublin (that's in Texas, ya'll) Dr Pepper that Texas sent more members in 2010 than Rockford has since 2000 cumulatively. Heck, I tried to convince the corps to move to Texas, but...

Personally, I think DCI needs to start marketing the corps to corporate sponsors a la NASCAR...logos on uniforms...the whole nine yards. I mean, put 'Waste Management's' logo on the bottom of corps' SHOES, for crying out loud! Get some money coming in, ya know?

Heck, if General Electric comes in and says, "We'll fund the corps annually, but we want the Cadets to move to KALAMAZOO," I say DO IT!! And if they cut a check for $2 million / year, move camps to Kalamazoo, rent a PO Box there, and forward it to Allentown, you know?

On the other hand, if Exxon-Mobil stands up and says, "We'll fund ANY corps that will move to Dallas and rename the corps EXXON-MOBIL CORPS"...I hope there would be 12 corps sending local alum to Exxon HQ's and flying their corps directors in overnight jockeying for the PRIVILEGE of bearing the name "Exxon-Mobil."

Exxon-Mobil Phantom Regiment D&BC...not bad! In Dallas, Texas. Whatever.

Think green? Waste Management Cavaliers D&BC--I LOVE IT!! Every PR alum just peed a little!

How about the Blue Devils Brand Toilet Scrubber D&BC--quite a contrast to their storied history, eh? Best in the business, right? Of course, that would also require creating the brand as well. But such a 'world class' product it would be.

I joke at the expense of rivals of "my" corps, but seriously...we need corporate money. And if corporations are willing to give money, DCI and the corps' need to be willing to give 'em the farm.

Naming rights.

Logos on uniforms.

Heck...logos woven into DRILL formations? Heck yeah!

City's name in the name of the corps--SHOW ME THE MONEY!!

Fields corps, supports young people experiencing drum corps...gets a company or city some national attention...wins all the way around.

Love it!

[AlexL]

Partly, I'd guess it's because many members are not from that city. I know someone who marched two years at Blue Stars who has never been to LaCrosse in their life. You can't expect someone to have a commitment to a place their not from, let alone a place they've never been. And you can still be committed to your corps without being committed to the corps' home town.

08-09 possibly? Even then i couldve sworn they had stuff in the la crosse area those years (at very least sparta and onalaska) but my memory is foggy. I know for sure they were there in 05-07 and 2010 (they seemed to spend a lot of time in the la crosse area doing some exhibitions and such this year). The UWL Stadium was being redone in 08-09 so no homeshow those years, im assuming thats when your friend marched..