ajlisko Posted July 9, 2012 Share Posted July 9, 2012 (edited) I have actually used it on DCP...I did zero-out a Garden State Circuit corps once on drumming execution...I felt bad then, and obviously it stayed with me. For me personally, I considered it to be a bad job on my part to zero-out any corps. Don't be so hard on yourself Mike ... two corps I zeroed out at one GSC show offered me a job at the end of the show ... they said I was the only one who could ever explain "what" they were doing wrong ... it was just the rules we were under at the time ... I agree, that National Linear period was a disaster ... hey ... I grew up and learned under the toughest "tick master" of all - Earl Sturtze ... :-) Edited July 9, 2012 by ajlisko Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JimF-LowBari Posted July 9, 2012 Share Posted July 9, 2012 Legend has it our drum line was zeroed out on drum execution one show for two main reasons: 1) First show in almost two years for the corps (inactive season before) 2) It was the week before DCA (and a DCA show) so judges were very unforgiving for any sloppiness. Also our big bass drum was missing a head and the guy playing swore he got ticced every time he hit it (well it didn't exactly sound like a bass drum hit anyway). Following season drum line took out an ad in our home show program calling themselves "DCAs best 0.0 drumline". Hey we were getting better but it took time so need to laugh once in a while. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IllianaLancerContra Posted July 10, 2012 Share Posted July 10, 2012 I have actually used it on DCP...I did zero-out a Garden State Circuit corps once on drumming execution...I felt bad then, and obviously it stayed with me. For me personally, I considered it to be a bad job on my part to zero-out any corps. There is another side to that however- One afternoon show we marched had a very young corps in their first performance ever. Judges did not 'zero' them (they could have) - the corps scored in the high 20s. But the other side was that we scored an 83 (in early July); IIRC Dutch Boy won with a 92. That evening we were back in the mid 40s, Dutch Boy in low 50s, and all was right with the world (This was back when all corps were on the same sheets. I rather liked that as we knew how we scored w/r/t Phantom, Madison, etc). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rudidrummer73 Posted July 10, 2012 Share Posted July 10, 2012 I remember a corps coming to Syracuse from the Bronx to march in the state legion prelims. They had 6 drums, 14 horns and a guard of 8. God bless them! As bad as their numbers were, their execution was worse. Their drum score was a 2.6 and that was all on their difficulty score. They were written off the sheets. It happens. How is it a bad job if the corps on the field doesn't cut it. You're a judge, not their therapist. And, again...with all due respect -- a mistake is a mistake. A one tenth deduction. If a line plays a bad fill, they played a bad fill and if you have to think about it you are thinking too much. We loved judges like that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ray Priester Posted July 10, 2012 Share Posted July 10, 2012 Don't be so hard on yourself Mike ... two corps I zeroed out at one GSC show offered me a job at the end of the show ... they said I was the only one who could ever explain "what" they were doing wrong ... it was just the rules we were under at the time ... I agree, that National Linear period was a disaster ... hey ... I grew up and learned under the toughest "tick master" of all - Earl Sturtze ... :-) And then there was that wonderful Friday night show in '75 or '76 in Salem (Quincy?), MA where some execution judge( or should that be executioner???) zeroed out 5 of the top drum lines in DCA in one fell swoop. I don't even remember the clown's name. Andy, do you remember who it was??? The next night in Amherst and the day after that in Providence all was back in some resemblance of order. You had to see the drum staffs at the Friday critique! Kinda like the villagers torchlight procession to get the Frankenstein monster. Ahh, fun times for sure! I'm sure the judge felt he was over-qualified for the task at hand. Ray Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
reallyoldfrt Posted July 10, 2012 Share Posted July 10, 2012 I well remember my first contest as a field judge. I was nervous as h-ll. I wanted so to do a good job very badly. The show was in Manchester NH, and the first corps on the field was totally unprepared to perform. This was in the tick era, and the execution errors were so obvious, and so numerous that I missed three or four errors in the time it took to put one down on the sheet. After about five minutes of this I happened to look around and saw all the other judges standing, clipboards by their sides, looking at me with one of those "what the h-ll are you DOING??" expressions on their faces. I looked at my sheet and started to count ticks. I felt like a complete idiot. After the show I sought out their corps director and apologized profusely. I went over to the corps in the parking lot and apologized to the kids. I've felt very badly about that for over fifty years. On comment on the style of drill in the old days. You've got to remember that the only markings on the field were the two end lines, two sidelines, and the fifty yard line. There were no visual clues for the marchers to use in determine their positions on the field. You had to rely on the other squads, segments, of the formations to gauge where you were supposed to be. Complex curved patterns and asymmetrical drills were almost impossible to manage. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JimF-LowBari Posted July 10, 2012 Share Posted July 10, 2012 You had to see the drum staffs at the Friday critique! Kinda like the villagers torchlight procession to get the Frankenstein monster. Ahh, fun times for sure! Ray <Knowing which corps you were with and being in corps during that time> Biggest laugh I've had for a while, thanks Ray.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ray Priester Posted July 10, 2012 Share Posted July 10, 2012 <Knowing which corps you were with and being in corps during that time> Biggest laugh I've had for a while, thanks Ray.... My pleasure, Jim. I sure hope that Andy can remember that guy's name. Fairly certain he didn't judge again that year. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ajlisko Posted July 10, 2012 Share Posted July 10, 2012 My pleasure, Jim. I sure hope that Andy can remember that guy's name. Fairly certain he didn't judge again that year. Alas, I haven't got the foggiest ... you think I would remember a "triple header" weekend ... YEOW!!!! ... been to (and participated in) my share of judges meetings ... on both sides of the table ... best one was when Walter Kelley (RIP) fired his starter's pistol to get us out of the room ... classic ... :-) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flammaster Posted July 11, 2012 Share Posted July 11, 2012 Oh and also to the OP.. The judges wrote down on clip boards back then. They didn't use recorders to talk into. Tom Float told a story to the 87 drumline about some judges were great at psyching you out. He said one guy would be shaking his head no but could be writing "these guys are at one with the cosmos" or shaking his head yes and writing "yep these guys blew that passage!" another thing was if you dropped a stick or something just leave it there and eventually a judge will hand it back to you during a rest or something. I think that back then the rifles and flags were much more accurate than they are now days but the stuff they did wasn't as hard of course. Marching was also much more of a big deal as it is now days. but I digress...it was a different time. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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