Geoff Posted July 26, 2005 Share Posted July 26, 2005 There was a story going around in 94 about a Cavaliers member (contra?) who had put out his eye by blindly marching into that pole the guard member climbed up during the show. Not sure how true that was... I've heard the Spirit glass one before... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
perc2100 Posted July 26, 2005 Share Posted July 26, 2005 Hmmm.... Anything could be considered 'legends,' and I would think that most alumni worth their weight in gold wouldn't betray their specific corps' legends, myths, etc. That being said, a few of my favorites... * Blue Devil's drumline (instruments) getting burned in a fire or being stolent some year in the 80's. * more than a few instances of corps marching holes in finals due to over-age members * that year a few years back when a BD bass drummer got busted the night of Semi's for smoking weed, was isolated by corps staff the day of finals, but somehow 'stole' his uniform and drum and ran out onto the field after the onfield warm-up and marched the show * my favorite old school Garfield Cadets Story (from '83): In marching rehearsal George Z got really ticked at someone's marching tick, and yelled something like "Hey; give me 1,000 push-up" (I'd bet money that's paraphrasing ;). At first the member thought George was 'joking' but George made it clear he was serious. The member ended up doing push-up all day, evening, before and after the show before George let him off the hook. * One year in Oakland, the year they won drums but didn't make finals, a judge kind of casually watched the drumline play their onfield warm-up. Of course, this wasn't allowed, and the judges can't add or subtract points during this time. Anyway, thd drumwriter (I believe it was Float), crammed as many notes as possible, and I'm told the warm-up was 10 times harder than anything they had in their book. Well, story goes that the drum judge was so impressed that after the warm-up he dropped his clipboard, commented that he wouldn't be needing it, and didn't say more than 5 or 10 words on the tape. The drumline won that night. * How 'bout that year in the mid-90's (either 94 or 95) at Cadets when two of the four tenors got hernias during tour? *one last one, that's too interesting not to tell. In 1994, the last time Finals was in Boston, a divsion 2 finalst corps was housed in a not-so-good section of town. One of their snare drummers was practcing for I&E during lunch, when some of the local residents (supposed gang members) started yelling at him to stop. Being a snar drummer, the member continued to practice even louder. The gang dudes started throwing stuff at him, I assume words were exchanged, and a chase ensued. The gang of four-six (or more, depending on who's telling the story) kids caught up to the snare drummer as he made it to the school cafeteria where everyone was eating. One of the gang kids grabbed the snare drummer and 'threw' up down on a table in the caf. in front of the corps/staff/support staff. What happens next, as I'm told, is something out of a movie. The entire room got silent as the rest of the gang ran in, and the corps, staff, and male support staff memebers went to town on the gang. I guess it couldn't have really been called a 'rumble,' as that would imply a two sided fight. What happened was the corps beating the living snot out of the gang. A lot of the support staff and staff were good old, blue collar working guys who had no problems throwing punches at the young punks. Cops and ambulances were called as the gang members who didn't need immediate medical attention ran off. Not one corps member, staff member, or support staff was injured, and the rest of the week the corps got Boston police escorts everywhere they went, and a 'guard' on the facility while they slept and practiced. The corps ended up making Division 2 finals. Of course, the story is funnier in person, as you can see the motions of the fight. This story was told to me first by some staff members of the corps who where there, and then by members from that year. I love those old time drum corps stories... :) -- doug Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
84BDsop Posted July 26, 2005 Share Posted July 26, 2005 * Blue Devil's drumline (instruments) getting burned in a fire or being stolent some year in the 80's. <{POST_SNAPBACK}> Actually, this one's true....the year was 1985. For some reason (dont remember why) equipment was stored for a night on the nice, brand new (that year) food semi (think Miss Amana from SCV....it was a thing of beauty!). During the night the truck caught fire and all of the drum burned except for one sat of tenors...BD ended up using VKs drums for the next show...maybe two...before Ludwig got replacements in. How about VK burning out 4 semi tractors on the road in 84? Yep....true as well...we'd pass them on the side of the road and pretty much the bus would just say "What...AGAIN?" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DCImonkey Posted July 26, 2005 Share Posted July 26, 2005 (edited) A certain Div 3 corps that I may or may not have marched :P had a hornline member that started having psychological problems. So when the corps staff took him to visit the shrink, he decided to wear a dress. Edited July 26, 2005 by DCImonkey Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ptr250 Posted July 26, 2005 Share Posted July 26, 2005 I believe this happened in 71. The corps was staying at an “Oddfellows Hall” in a small Nebraska town. The hall was located upstairs above some store front businesses on Main Street. There were two or three of us standing on the front sidewalk, at the base of the stairs, watching the locals cruise the street. The rest of the corps had stayed up in the hall. Anyway as the cars cruised by, one of our more intelligent members made a smart ### comment about their cars. Apparently the locals must of heard the comment because they came screeching up to the curb on their next pass by. About eight farm boys got out of the cars. They looked like they were itching for a fight when one said, “You azzholes looking for trouble!?” Tim K. our resident smartazz and the person who had made the comment walked over to the stairwell and hollered, “Some guys down here want to know if us azzholes are looking for trouble!” Suddenly there was this loud rumble as about sixty corps members ran down the stairs! The look on the locals face was priceless as they watched the mass of humanity emerge from the stairwell. Needless to say they got back into their cars and made a hasty retreat. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bd5times Posted July 26, 2005 Share Posted July 26, 2005 Legend? Early 80's Blue Devils sopranos were routinely checked for the ability to play "illegal" notes. Bridgemen were all from gangs. Star of Indiana paid their members to march in 85 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mcjordansc Posted July 26, 2005 Share Posted July 26, 2005 This thread is more fun if the stories told are actually true. I can add a few. In 1979 the Blue Stars had a staff member who may have been the last hippie wannabe. He enjoyed running naked through woods at night (that way he could be close to nature). One night, on tour, while doing his thing, he decides taking a dump in the great outdoors is a natural act. He then used poison ivy leaves to wipe. A few days later he found out that poison ivy on your ### is not an enjoyable circumstance. In 1978I saw a Madison Scout tymp player smash a drunk between his tymp and the member marching in front of him as the Scouts were preparing to march onto the field before a show. The drunk was trying to break ranks. He made it through, but the pain associated with a tymp leg in the ear probably stayed with him for quite some time. Which corps does not have story about smuggling beer out of Canada back in the 70s and 80s? Maybe this is still happening. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
octavia9299 Posted July 26, 2005 Share Posted July 26, 2005 I'm amazed at how many of these stories I've already heard! Um, they're not true? :P Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jim Clark Posted July 26, 2005 Share Posted July 26, 2005 Which corps does not have story about smuggling beer out of Canada back in the 70s and 80s? Maybe this is still happening. <{POST_SNAPBACK}> I didn't think they were looking for true stories... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sarnia sam Posted July 26, 2005 Share Posted July 26, 2005 * One year in Oakland, the year they won drums but didn't make finals, a judge kind of casually watched the drumline play their onfield warm-up. Of course, this wasn't allowed, and the judges can't add or subtract points during this time. Anyway, thd drumwriter (I believe it was Float), crammed as many notes as possible, and I'm told the warm-up was 10 times harder than anything they had in their book. <{POST_SNAPBACK}> Not true, it was only twice as hard. Well, story goes that the drum judge was so impressed that after the warm-up he dropped his clipboard, commented that he wouldn't be needing it, and didn't say more than 5 or 10 words on the tape. The drumline won that night. <{POST_SNAPBACK}> That happend all the time. Regards, John Swartz Oaklands 77-80 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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