Dan Detweiler Posted August 8, 2016 Share Posted August 8, 2016 In some ways attitude is a "social disease". Years ago we maybe felt many of these things but we didn't have the immediate venting vehicle called social media. Today, every little gripe and concern is immediately shared with the world. These feelings then spread like wildfire. Yes, it's a maturity thing. Learning to handle adversity, taking responsibility for one's environment, doing something positive to offset the negative. This is a problem in society in general. We live in a "what's in it for me now" world. Gotta find some way out of the spiral we seem to be in. Dan 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TroopAlum12 Posted August 8, 2016 Share Posted August 8, 2016 (edited) I'm just going to put this out there: my closest friends in drum corps came from what many people consider to be the low point of my corp's history in the past decade (read: since the resurgence in '07). Adversity has just as much power to unite as it does to tear apart. It all comes down to how people decide to interpret it. Story time. Before I marched with Troop, I auditioned for one of the top 4 drum corps of the time which shall remain nameless. After getting cut from said corps two audition camps in and showing up at my first Troop camp the following month, I noticed a world of difference in the attitude of the marching members between the two corps. Corps A was gunning for a ring, and that attitude was reflected in the way the members treated each other - and not in a good way (you can be successful and push each other without being jerks). The vets shunned the auditionees pretty hard unless they had connections in the corps already, and no one seemed willing to help this little floundering rookie who was in way over his head. I found the opposite in Wyoming. Here was a corps that was also fired up to capitalize on their triumphant return to finals in 09 and start climbing the ranks. The vets wanted to do well. The pressure was on. But the members handled it differently. I made friends that first weekend, several of whom were longtime vets who wanted to see the incoming class succeed and took us under their wing. That is why I decided to make Casper my permanent drum corps home and not try to jump up the ladder in later seasons. My last season in 2012 was a rough one. There was a ridiculous amount of frustration from the members with the scores and the show design and so on. There were moments when tempers flared and words were said (or laps were run). But to this day my fondest DCI memories are from that particular hornline. There came a point in the season where the vets all got together and talked about what we could do to improve our situation, and then we went to the entire hornline with it. No matter what, we would work together and make the absolute best out of whatever the outcome was. And we did. We had (probably too much) fun that season and formed bonds that are still strong today. The point of this is that while tempers can flare, its up to the members to decide how to handle it. ESPECIALLY the vets. They set the tone. The rookies will usually feed off of how they interpret the situation. You can either stay mad at each other and let the season spiral out of control, or you can band together and ride that flaming mess out in a blaze of glory. The latter is much more fun Edited August 8, 2016 by TroopAlum12 8 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JimF-LowBari Posted August 8, 2016 Share Posted August 8, 2016 (edited) Can dig that as my favorite years were with a rebuilding corps. What helped keep everything going was management was VERY honest in what we should expect and in setting believable goals. When you are at the point when you know you will come in last for a while it's time to concentrate on improving score and try to get closer in the short term. And still bust yer ..... in the meantime.... Edited August 8, 2016 by JimF-LowBari Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JKT90 Posted August 8, 2016 Share Posted August 8, 2016 To me, this sounds like a corps who isn't placing where they think they should be and the members are disgruntled perhaps with the show they've been given...likely to be Boston or Madison?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zeke Posted August 8, 2016 Share Posted August 8, 2016 To me, this sounds like a corps who isn't placing where they think they should be and the members are disgruntled perhaps with the show they've been given...likely to be Boston or Madison?? It could be one of several different corps right now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
critter Posted August 8, 2016 Share Posted August 8, 2016 Sounds about right to me. I actually find it interesting when the words family and brotherhood/sisterhood are thrown out to describe a group activity as a way to get people to stop fighting. Family doesn't exist without conflict and sibling rivalry. Similarly, it's also crazy to me when people, especially trained musicians, talk about living in harmony with others. Most of time studying harmony was spent learning about dissonance and not consonance, and I am pretty sure that is not what people really mean. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tim K Posted August 8, 2016 Share Posted August 8, 2016 To me, this sounds like a corps who isn't placing where they think they should be and the members are disgruntled perhaps with the show they've been given...likely to be Boston or Madison?? Members of Boston Crusaders are not disgruntled with the show they've been given and if they are, they hide it well. The same probably holds true for Madison. One of the common factors between drum corps today and drum corps back in the day is the use of words like family, brotherhood/sisterhood, tradition, etc. often times people buy into the ideal, but not the reality. We imagine family being Grandma Walton baking a pecan pie and everyone saying "Good night, John Boy." It can be but families fight, divorce can happen, dysfunction is real. We forget family life is reality and reality is not perfect. Promos for drum corps will always show tears of joy, smiling faces at dinner, camaraderie on buses, cheering fans, and awesome performances. You won't see photos of the kid who thinks showering every other day and not using deodorant is acceptable, the weakest link who thinks he/she is the greatest asset, the instructor who thinks God consults him for advice, or the annoying person who wants to be your best friend but can't wait to back stab you. You're also dealing with incredibly talented people that can mean incredibly large egos. I only know of drum corps experiences second hand, but I have found over the years from first hand experience, the same thing happens in non public high schools and exam schools, as well as at college. It can be difficult when expectations turn out to be different from reality. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tenoris4Jazz Posted August 8, 2016 Share Posted August 8, 2016 I think there's one commonality to the experience of any MM in any corps: what is the #1 objective of the organization? Is it to educate, have fun, add maturity, learn life skills, or is it to compete and win, crush the competition, pad your resume so you can get the better job? If the goal of a corps is to finish with a number beside its name on the score sheet... stay away. I watch a lot of sports and I used to chat with fans of various teams. The one thing that kept coming up was how did we measure a team's success. Some folks just counted championships, others were overjoyed at the first winning season in years. Certain Alabama fans were the toughest to talk with, because they considered any season that didn't end in a national title a failure. If your only definition of success is winning the championship, then only one team in every sport is successful every season. That's a horrible way to determine the success of any venture. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tenoris4Jazz Posted August 8, 2016 Share Posted August 8, 2016 I think there's one commonality to the experience of any MM in any corps: what is the #1 objective of the organization? Is it to educate, have fun, add maturity, learn life skills, or is it to compete and win, crush the competition, pad your resume so you can get the better job? If the goal of a corps is to finish with a number beside its name on the score sheet... stay away. I watch a lot of sports and I used to chat with fans of various teams. The one thing that kept coming up was how did we measure a team's success. Some folks just counted championships, others were overjoyed at the first winning season in years. Certain Alabama fans were the toughest to talk with, because they considered any season that didn't end in a national title a failure. If your only definition of success is winning the championship, then only one team in every sport is successful every season. That's a horrible way to determine the success of any venture. I think we can all agree that this season for Academy is a success. It will be crushingly disappointing if they miss finals (although I don't see how at this point), but the achievements this group have made are beyond question. When every single drum corps fan is passionately cheering you on and willing you to the finish line, you cannot have any thought that the season was not a complete success. Taking the field Saturday night at LOS is their championship, and I dare say it might be the biggest standing ovation of the night. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FlamMan Posted August 8, 2016 Share Posted August 8, 2016 To me, this sounds like a corps who isn't placing where they think they should be and the members are disgruntled perhaps with the show they've been given...likely to be Boston or Madison?? Garfield? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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