chris ncsu Posted August 13, 2015 Share Posted August 13, 2015 OK, Official Thread Drift: You remind me of a story about retreats... In 1982, the Santa Clara Vanguard had just come off a tremendous championship from 1981. Many thought they would repeat. But in Huntington, West Virginia, the then-new show Drums Across the Tri-state featured SCV, Bridgemen and a middle of the pack corps that had never gone anywhere, but they had a first-year corps director; George Hopkins. The Garfield Cadets won that show in 1982 and beat the defending DCI Champion Vanguard for the first time, ever. It shook the world, and nobody predicted it. But Garfield had a monster show and anybody who was there knew this was the winner. (here's the relevant part) Back then the corps played themselves off the field in reverse order of finish. The tradition was to honor the winner by passing in front of the winner while playing your corps tune, or a piece of music from your show. Spirit of Atlanta would serenade the winner with Georgia, that sort of thing, and the DM would salute the winner. And so it went up until (wait for it)...The Bridgemen! The Bridgemen, living up to their usual thumb-their-noses-at-the-judges for naming Garfield in first place, turned and played in-place to the Garfield Cadets one of their show tunes; the Theme from Shaft. The Bridgemen played SHAFT as out of tune as they possibly could, as loud as they could, right in Cadet's ears. The top ranked drum line just hacked away on the drums. They turned the opposite way from Garfield, and passed the Vanguard in review to leave the field. Garfield went on to their highest placement ever in 3rd, while the Vanguard made the largest drop ever for a defending champion, finishing 7th that year. Many of you may know what was coming next for the Cadets in 1983. Winner! Is it any wonder that we now have drum major only retreats? Great story! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tad_MMA Posted August 13, 2015 Share Posted August 13, 2015 OK, Official Thread Drift: You remind me of a story about retreats... In 1982, the Santa Clara Vanguard had just come off a tremendous championship from 1981. Many thought they would repeat. But in Huntington, West Virginia, the then-new show Drums Across the Tri-state featured SCV, Bridgemen and a middle of the pack corps that had never gone anywhere, but they had a first-year corps director; George Hopkins. Garfield went on to their highest placement ever in 3rd, while the Vanguard made the largest drop ever for a defending champion, finishing 7th that year. Many of you may know what was coming next for the Cadets in 1983. Winner! Is it any wonder that we now have drum major only retreats? Close, but no cigar. G. Hopkins, in his own words, was "handed the keys" in September of 1982 by corps director Richard Santos. Hopkins was the assistant director in 1982. SCV did not finish 7th in 1982---that was 1980. They finished 2nd to BD and beat Garfield by 1.3 in Montreal. The Bridgeman stuff was a cool read, though. 1982 was the year that the adage, "You see the same (East coast) people coming down as you did climbing" was personified. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cf144 Posted August 13, 2015 Share Posted August 13, 2015 OK, Official Thread Drift: You remind me of a story about retreats... Garfield went on to their highest placement ever in 3rd, while the Vanguard made the largest drop ever for a defending champion, finishing 7th that year. Many of you may know what was coming next for the Cadets in 1983. Winner! SCV finished 2nd in 1982 - the year of the train wreck Bottle Dance tag in Montreal. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xandandl Posted August 13, 2015 Share Posted August 13, 2015 Those who were not in Indy last week missed this extraordinary manifestation as the fans embraced DrumlineBattle and SoundSport. Check the levels of the parking garage. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xandandl Posted August 13, 2015 Share Posted August 13, 2015 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ajlemm Posted August 13, 2015 Share Posted August 13, 2015 I agree. It was awesome to see both! The stands were filled for Soundsport by the 2nd or 3rd group. And Rondinaro even made a comment to the crowd to look at all the people watching from their hotel windows. Love how DCI takes over the area on Finals Saturday! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeD Posted August 13, 2015 Share Posted August 13, 2015 Nice to see the corps mingling as always! I know this was beaten to death last season but I really wish Cadets would let up on tradition after scores are announced and let their members celebrate with the other corps as well as celebrate amongst themselves. Life's too short to stand rigid in a block while everyone else is having fun. I mean if they're going to have their corps do silly things on the field like spinning in circles like a toy ballerina while wearing a west point style uniform... why not... I like that there are a range of corps-level cultures and personalities. What works for BD and Crown is great for them, as well as what works for The Cadets is fine for them. Back in my era (old timer alert) just about all corps functioned as The Cadets still do today. Whatever placement we received in my Cadet days, we were called to attention and then given parade rest, where we stayed stock-still, no matter what the result was. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xandandl Posted August 13, 2015 Share Posted August 13, 2015 As I understand the tradition from the Cadets view and spoken recently by Hopkins (no where known as a stuck in the mud rigid traditionalist,) the Cadets stand as an ensemble unit as they do in tribute to the 80 years of Cadets who have stood there before them, in tribute to all who have assisted and formed this present corps as individuals and as a unit, and in tribute specifically to those Cadets who have passed away in the past year. The tradition is more than just rigidity but heritage, legacy, and appreciation. There are plenty of moments in the lot, at the airport terminals, and off season to "celebrate" with others. The manic WGI and BOA standard that has crept into DCI finals is from units who do not exist as long as the 81 years that Cadets, and younger units like Madison and Boston have existed. Cadets are not the only ones to stand firm as a group on the field. Even your beloved Regiment holds form. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xandandl Posted August 13, 2015 Share Posted August 13, 2015 Perhaps starting the school year in the middle of the summer, forcing DCI out of the schools, and ending the season so quickly the first week of August has gotten to them. Heaven knows that summer doesn't end until Sept. 23rd and the Atlantic waters and beaches are the best in late August and September here in the Northeast. (p.s. How many marching band jobs will be opening in Indy due to this???) http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/answer-sheet/wp/2015/08/13/indianas-got-a-problem-too-many-teachers-dont-want-to-work-there-anymore/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
N.E. Brigand Posted August 13, 2015 Share Posted August 13, 2015 (edited) I agree. It was awesome to see both! The stands were filled for Soundsport by the 2nd or 3rd group. And Rondinaro even made a comment to the crowd to look at all the people watching from their hotel windows. Love how DCI takes over the area on Finals Saturday! According to Star United's Facebook page, they won the gold in Sound Sport. Was that announced at Finals? I didn't have time to watch all the Finals preshow announcements while the stream was up, but skipping around, I thought I'd heard the Soundsport results, e.g., the Jim Ott memorial ensemble winning the "All Age Over 50" category and Xili Primary winning "Cadet Under 50" class, but missed any mention of Star. Their Shostakovich program consisting of "Fire of Eternal Glory" and "Festive Overture" is pretty good and quite difficult--Ghost Riders will have their work cut out for them to challenge!--although with plenty of polishing to do by Rochester next month--assuming they do plan to compete in the Mini Corps contest there. (I'd be really impressed if a mini corps found a way to change pants in the middle of a show!) Presumably there is an opener yet to come, since their show as presented in Indy runs about three minutes shorter than their program last year. Edited August 13, 2015 by N.E. Brigand Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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