bluehull Posted August 13, 2011 Share Posted August 13, 2011 Oregon Crusaders. First of, congratulations ! Now that you are emerging as a new kid on the block, you have to get used to the sharpshooting and anklebiting. It is all part of the deal moving up,, Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skajerk Posted August 13, 2011 Share Posted August 13, 2011 (edited) Lol. I've never heard less than 3 pts separation called a TOWER. Here's the thing. Now that these happy open corps have tasted world class blood, I invite them to move in in may and tour all summer, non stop, coast to coast. On world sheets by the way... Hang out in the 60s for much of the summer until near the end you break into the lower 70s, and then be happy to stay there for the rest of the season. Forget about the 80s or the 90s lol. Forget about that rush you get when you win a show, won't happen. Forget about the winners vibe you carry with you from the show to rehearsal to the bus. Nobody will care to see you roll in. Spirit or Madison or Academy won't shake with fear when they see you in the lot. It will be a slog through the hottest parts of your mind until finals when a few open corps who have spent much of the season in their own beds, travelled fewer miles, had fewer breakdowns, are at the happy top of their class, show up and beat you. Do that and we'll talk about towers. Hmmm... you think some of these other corps "shake with fear" as Blue Stars and Crown roll in now? Wait... Academy was OC at one point as well. Remember that? What if those three corps went into WC thinking the same attitude you have and didn't take that chance? I know that some of my favorite shows wouldn't have been fielded! Which, by the way... WINNING DOESN'T ALWAYS PRODUCE THE FAVORITE SHOW! For example, some of my favorite shows: 1984-86 Suncoast Sound (7th, 6th and 5th place) 2007-09, Crown (6th, 4th, 2nd) 2007-08 Bluecoats (7th, 6th) 2009 SCV (5th) 1984 BD (2nd) 2008-09 Cadets (5th, 3rd) 2008-09 Blues Stars (8th, 8th) 1985, 2011 Phantom (8th, TBD) Edited August 13, 2011 by skajerk 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rayfallon Posted August 13, 2011 Share Posted August 13, 2011 Lol. I've never heard less than 3 pts separation called a TOWER. Here's the thing. Now that these happy open corps have tasted world class blood, I invite them to move in in may and tour all summer, non stop, coast to coast. On world sheets by the way... Hang out in the 60s for much of the summer until near the end you break into the lower 70s, and then be happy to stay there for the rest of the season. Forget about the 80s or the 90s lol. Forget about that rush you get when you win a show, won't happen. Forget about the winners vibe you carry with you from the show to rehearsal to the bus. Nobody will care to see you roll in. Spirit or Madison or Academy won't shake with fear when they see you in the lot. It will be a slog through the hottest parts of your mind until finals when a few open corps who have spent much of the season in their own beds, travelled fewer miles, had fewer breakdowns, are at the happy top of their class, show up and beat you. Do that and we'll talk about towers. I agree with you about the 3 pts as a tower idea - although 3 pts is a tough margin to overcome at the end of the season. That is the single only thing in your post I agree with. I for one am looking forward to where OC heads next, and even if it's just to the top of OC then so be it, but I'm sort of a dreamer - have been for decades. I hope that the day comes when all the corps you mentioned get to look over their shoulders in warm ups when the Oregon bus pulls in for a later performance. Wouldn't be the first time. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
acecannon Posted August 14, 2011 Share Posted August 14, 2011 I agree with you about the 3 pts as a tower idea - although 3 pts is a tough margin to overcome at the end of the season. That is the single only thing in your post I agree with. I for one am looking forward to where OC heads next, and even if it's just to the top of OC then so be it, but I'm sort of a dreamer - have been for decades. I hope that the day comes when all the corps you mentioned get to look over their shoulders in warm ups when the Oregon bus pulls in for a later performance. Wouldn't be the first time. Here's the truth... I'm uniform agnostic. It's kids working their tails off rain, sleet, or shine to achieve a common goal. That's drum corps, at any level. I hope Oregon continues to have success. And it would be an awesome sight to see the old guard shaking in their boots at a powerful newcomer. My issue lies with how this whole thing goes down at the last minute. I vote for putting everyone on the same sheet from the very beginning. And if OC is over Cascades or Spirit, so be it. My point is that it feels great to achieve high box scores and comparative competitive success, and all 4 of the open class corps that wrecked house this week in worlds had a real sense of success in open class competition before they arrived at Indy. You can't discount the power that wins and an increasing score (into the rarified 90s) has on the mental state of the average corps member. Now turn that around and think of the mental state of the average bottom tier world class member, barely getting out of the 60s because world is hard and that's the way the sheet goes, then finally getting to low box 4 (70s) and then staying there for a few weeks. All the while, being near the bottom of the list at shows. Now imagine that at the last minute corps that you really haven't seen at shows comes in from left field, disrupting your world view. Imagine the mindset of the member of Surf, Cascades, heck, BDB beat Crossmen in drums. So the amount that you've raised the happiness of the few open class members experiencing some world class success, you've lowered (at the last minute)the mindset of those world corps members. If everyone had been on the same sheets from the get go, none of my issues would be issues. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sobe Posted August 14, 2011 Share Posted August 14, 2011 (edited) Lol. I've never heard less than 3 pts separation called a TOWER. Here's the thing. Now that these happy open corps have tasted world class blood, I invite them to move in in may and tour all summer, non stop, coast to coast. On world sheets by the way... Hang out in the 60s for much of the summer until near the end you break into the lower 70s, and then be happy to stay there for the rest of the season. Forget about the 80s or the 90s lol. Forget about that rush you get when you win a show, won't happen. Forget about the winners vibe you carry with you from the show to rehearsal to the bus. Nobody will care to see you roll in. Spirit or Madison or Academy won't shake with fear when they see you in the lot. It will be a slog through the hottest parts of your mind until finals when a few open corps who have spent much of the season in their own beds, travelled fewer miles, had fewer breakdowns, are at the happy top of their class, show up and beat you. Do that and we'll talk about towers. No dad. Not bitter. Probably more experienced. And granted, a bigger @55****. And, by the way, unaffiliated with any of the corps in question. What I do know is that OC came out July 1st, did 3 small shows, hung out in the beautiful northwest until almost August, did a handful of shows in the middle, during which they must have been happy besting big bad Bdb. Just pointing out that'these corps benefited from the sunshine blowing from the open class sheets inasmuch as accolade improves morale just as slogging through the bottom degrades it. And my response was to the classy first post in topic. Long story short, walk a mile or two in shoes before you puff yourself up to tower status. Here's the truth... I'm uniform agnostic. It's kids working their tails off rain, sleet, or shine to achieve a common goal. That's drum corps, at any level. I hope Oregon continues to have success. And it would be an awesome sight to see the old guard shaking in their boots at a powerful newcomer. My issue lies with how this whole thing goes down at the last minute. I vote for putting everyone on the same sheet from the very beginning. And if OC is over Cascades or Spirit, so be it. My point is that it feels great to achieve high box scores and comparative competitive success, and all 4 of the open class corps that wrecked house this week in worlds had a real sense of success in open class competition before they arrived at Indy. You can't discount the power that wins and an increasing score (into the rarified 90s) has on the mental state of the average corps member. Now turn that around and think of the mental state of the average bottom tier world class member, barely getting out of the 60s because world is hard and that's the way the sheet goes, then finally getting to low box 4 (70s) and then staying there for a few weeks. All the while, being near the bottom of the list at shows. Now imagine that at the last minute corps that you really haven't seen at shows comes in from left field, disrupting your world view. Imagine the mindset of the member of Surf, Cascades, heck, BDB beat Crossmen in drums. So the amount that you've raised the happiness of the few open class members experiencing some world class success, you've lowered (at the last minute)the mindset of those world corps members. If everyone had been on the same sheets from the get go, none of my issues would be issues. Edited August 14, 2011 by sobe 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OC Euph Posted August 14, 2011 Author Share Posted August 14, 2011 Unfortunately, in a competition, *score-wise*... there are winners, and there are losers. EVERY member of a corps is a winner, being able to do what they do, but I feel every corps has the right to show each other up, if their skill level is right. If Cascades or Jersey Surf, or ANY World Class corps gets butthurt because an open class beat them, then they need to grow up and realize that the other corps just worked harder to get to where they were. Nothing personal, but Drum Corps serves as not only an education tool, but a tool to mature the individuals. ACCEPT defeat, knowing you did what you felt was the best you had. Also, the mindset of feeling worse because an *Open Class* beat them, is hogwash . That kind of thought process is what creates this mindset of "we are world so we are automatically better LOLOLOLOL" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skajerk Posted August 14, 2011 Share Posted August 14, 2011 At the last minute? The WC corps (and the general public) knew the situation leading up to finals week this entire season. How is this last minute? You realize this was Vanguard's second trip to a World Class/Div.I semis competition, yeah? Funny, I don't remember hearing anyone complaining about them placing 17th in 2000. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skajerk Posted August 14, 2011 Share Posted August 14, 2011 (edited) And let me add... I hope the OC decides to stay in "OC" for the next year or so (simply for their future well-being), but, if they make the move and they decide do a modified tour like Academy, PC and Mandarins (did Cascades do that too?), they'll have 100% of my support!! Edited August 14, 2011 by skajerk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
acecannon Posted August 14, 2011 Share Posted August 14, 2011 lol. domo arigato, domo san. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike78Mello Posted August 14, 2011 Share Posted August 14, 2011 I commend the Oregon Crusaders on a very successful year, and wish OC continued success in the future. The more corps and better those corps are from the Northwest, the more assured will be the survival of NW drum corps. Speaking for the Cascades, I believe all our NW corps will work positively together, as we have worked together this year to jointly sponsor the four-show, NW DCI tour. I am also pleased that the Cascades, in a small way, could assist OC by loaning them three tubas for this season. I look forward to healthy competition in 2012 of all three NW corps; the Oregon Crusaders, Spokane Thunder, and the Cascades. Mike Bujnowski, CEO Cascades 6 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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