1972

[cabalumsw]

1972 was some DCA season. It started very rough for the Cabs. It all began with the 1970 season when a group of guys from St. Lucy's, including DM Jim Russo went to Hawthorne to join the Cabs after St. Lucy's broke up in 1969. The Cabs started out rough that year as well and won the 1970 DCA Championships.

In 1971, a second wave of guys from St. Lucy's, including myself, went to the Cabs. I was a snare and a tenor drummer up to then but the drum line was basically set and I played rudimental bass that season. The Cabs had a good corps that season but so did the Skyliners and Yankee Rebels. Hawthorne seemed to take the early shows and then Skyliners began exchanging wins. Yankee Rebels won the 1971 AL Championships in Houston and Skyliners nipped the Cabs at DCA Championships. Sky finished very strong at the end of 1971.

After the 71 season, there was a big turnover in the drum line and the horn line of the Caballeros. Guys from Blessed Sacrament, Garfield and Muchachos came over. The horn line had 72 horns and the corps was huge but the corps was also rough around the edges. I remember performing at the Garden State Arts Center on a rainy Friday night in mid May of 1972. We still had not learned our concert and was to learn it that weekend, which was at Fort Dix. I remember it was pouring rain on Friday and Saturday. I was still in college and had final exams on that Saturday morning and headed home to study while my fellow Caballeros headed to Fort Dix after the show. I took my exam and headed straight to Fort Dix. When I arrived, George Tuthill had the drum line out in the rain learning the concert, Siboney. The horn line was across the way working on Siboney as well. By the end of Fort Dix #### weekend, we had the show completed in time for the season opening exhibition at Mount Carmel the following weekend.

We all felt better that we had completed the show but we knew things could be rough at the beginning of the 1972 season. We were okay at Mount Carmel but it seemed every show at the start of 1972 had rain. Our first show was at Hamden, CT. and we found out very quick how rough we were. Skyliners were miles ahead of us and we finished fourth that night. Skyliners started 1972 like a steamroller and crushed everyone in sight and appeared to be headed to an undefeated season.

I remember despite the third and fourth place finishes, the corps worked hard and Jim Costello would not let us give up.

By the end of July, we were improving but were still finishing third and fourth. We had a show in Balitmore on a Saturday night and a show at Rutgers Stadium the next day in New Brunswick. By then, Siboney was ditched and Russian Sabre Dance, which was played in 1970, was reinserted as the concert piece but was a different arrangement. Larry Kerchner rearranged the song to include excerpts of Alice Cooper's Schools Out interpersed. Again we lost in Baltimore and the following day the temperature soared into the low 100's. The show was a junior/senior show but was weird. It was two shows that you had to pay twice, once for the juniors and then leave the Stadium and then come back for the Senior show and pay again.

Despite the heat, Jim Costello worked us while the Skyliners, thinking by now we were demoralized, sat under the trees drinking beer and laughing at us. They were telling us to give up, it was over but we kept working. I remember Chris Sortino, who knew a lot of the guys from Sky, telling them keep laughing because we will get you with that attitude. We again lost the New Brunswick show to Skyliners and headed into August knowing time was short. Our scores improved but we still could not move up in placement. Skyliners beat us at the 72 Dream contest but we started feeling a sense of confidence that we were improving. We went to Chicago for the 1972 AL Nationals and spent most of the week working on music and drill. We worked very hard in the Chicago heat and felt we could take the Nationals. DCI Championships were held in Whitewater, Wisconsin that week and we were invited to do an exhibition at Racine. Man, we rocked the place and for the first time we felt we had something. The audience went wild and our performance only reinforced our confidence. At Nationals, we were crushed when we were defeated by a strong Rochester Crusaders corps. I remember feeling deflated and could feel the entire corps just let down. After the show, we went back to the hotel and everyone sat by the pool but were down and out.

The following weekend we headed to Schenectady(SP?) NY to meet the Skyliners again. It was raining and everyone sat in the buses but were very relaxed. We ran through the drill twice and Cos told us to sit in the bus and relax. Some of us slept while others just talked but at the same time it appeared the corps was anxious to go out on the field and perform. The rains stopped and the show went on. It was weird as we dressed in our uniforms. There was no joking, no talking but you knew the corps was on a mission to prove all our hard was not for naught. We went out that night and kicked butt. We not only won that night, but ended the Skyliner's undefeated season.

The win at Schenectady propelled us and we went on to win the DCA prelims and Finals in Jersey City. As Fran Haring said, there were no slouch corps that night. I still can remember the feeling of winning the 1972 DCA Championships. We had beaten a very good Skyliners corps as well as others. As I stood on retreat that night, I remembered what Chris Sortino said to the Skyliners at New Brunswick. The tortoise did catch the hare that year.

The 1972 corps formed the foundation of the Caballeros that went undefeated in 1973, nearly undefeated in 1974 and the subsequent monster corps through the rest of the 70s.

Jim Costello at his best!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I was fortunate to win three consecutive DCA titles with the Caballeros. The staff and the guys I marched with were the best. Yes, the guys because the Cabs were all male at that time.

Edited September 23, 2006 by cabalumsw

[NYSkyliner]

So I was on Sr.Corps.com, specifically, http://diceman.home.att.net/70s.htm , and I found it curious that the Cabs, who won DCA that year, according to the shows for which there were scores, hadn't won a show until August 26. In fact they were finishing as low as 4th, and in some cases many points out of first.

So, did they do a major revamp or cleaning that suddenly catapulted them to the win?

RM - Just curious

ampssuck

The Cabs that year were finishing down in the standings for most of the year. The closest they came to winning a show before Schenectady was the AL Nats I believe where they were slimly beaten by Rochester Crusaders. It was during their Chicago tour that the Cabs watered down their drum show. During the entire year their drum book was a VERY difficult one and they didn't have the horses the execute such a demanding book. As well, all year long they were receiving top GE drum marks which such a demanding drum book could very well call for and if it were executed properly they would have been receiving top overall drum marks all year and finishing higher in the standings all year long. When they got to Schenectady and performed with their watered down drum book their execution drum mark was raised substantially but with the watered down drum book their GE drum mark should have gone down as their "new" drum book didn't deserve the same GE marks that it had been getting earlier that year. All that the GE drum judge knew is that they had been getting high GE drum marks all year long and gave them the same GE marks for the Schenectady show. Thus is how the (once again) drum judging was crucial in the defeat of a GREAT Skyliner Drum Corps. The watering down of a show is a tactic that has been used for decades. If you write a book that is above the heads of the talent you have and you want to win, you've got to do something that will be in your best interest to win, and that is what occurred.

As for what occurred at DCA Finals that year is another story entirely. To me it is without a doubt one of the most disgraceful exhibitions of judging that I personally have ever witnessed first hand in all of Drum Corps. Because of the outcome of that show one judge was banned from ever judging in DCA again. Whether he was ever reinstated I'm really not sure. But because he chose to sue DCA (meaning ALL of the member Corps of DCA) because he was removed from judging he also lost his job as drill instructor of (what was to become) one of the very best Junior Corps ever to perform in the history of Drum Corps. Why? Because other instructors in this Junior Corps were also instructors of some of the member DCA Corps that were being sued. These other instructors informed the "powers that be" in this Junior Corps that they would have to quit if this judge was not fired. This particular judge "technically" did nothing illegal per se, it just caught the eye of someone from one of the other competing Corps and was reported to "whoever". The next thing you know, anywhere from 10 to 20 seconds of "time in motion" came up missing from the Skyliners performance (which they had been getting all year long) thanks to the judge on "timing and penalties", one Mr. Kammerer of "Garfield Cadet" fame. There are any number of ways that the "timing and penalties" judge could have (and did) affect the outcome of that show. When the gun sounds the judge can hold back actually starting the stopwatch for as long as he likes, OR stop the stopwatch well BEFORE he fires the gun signalling when the Corps crosses the finish line (remember THOSE days?).

Bottom line, if the first judge hadn't "acted within the boundaries of his capacity as a field execution M&M judge" which obviously upset someone from another competing Corps then in all likelihood the Skyliners would have won that show. AND if the GE drum judges up in Schenectady giving the Cabs an adjusted score, based on the drum book they used the Skyliners would have gone undefeated in 1972.

[cabalumsw]

I happened to be with the Cabs drum line the entire year and the drum book was never watered down. I know who you claim was your source but that source is questionable.

It is now 34 years now so get over it. The Cabs won the 1972 DCA Championship and it will never change. I had the utmost respect for the Skyliners and still do.

Edited September 24, 2006 by cabalumsw

[Storkysr]

Yeah, sour grapes aint cool. There were some major discrepacncies between the two judges in at least two captions at DCA, anyone have the recaps? CRU hadn't finished lower than 2nd all year until Schenectady so a TIE for 4th was a bitter pill to swallow at finals. Belated congrats to Bucs and Hurcs, who "Bushwacked" us that year.

[NYSkyliner]

Yeah, sour grapes aint cool. There were some major discrepacncies between the two judges in at least two captions at DCA, anyone have the recaps? CRU hadn't finished lower than 2nd all year until Schenectady so a TIE for 4th was a bitter pill to swallow at finals. Belated congrats to Bucs and Hurcs, who "Bushwacked" us that year.

Difference of opinon does not constitute sour grapes. And it wasn't a discrepency between 2 judges, it was the "quick thumb" of the Timing and Penalty judge that caused the 7 tenths of a second undertime for the "time in motion" penalty and a 3 tenths of a point defeat.

[Storkysr]

Difference of opinon does not constitute sour grapes. And it wasn't a discrepency between 2 judges, it was the "quick thumb" of the Timing and Penalty judge that caused the 7 tenths of a second undertime for the "time in motion" penalty and a 3 tenths of a point defeat.

OK but I'm sure I remember some major differences between rankings for the two judges in M&M exec and one other caption. ANYBODY HAVE RECAPS?

[PennsylvaniaDCHOF]

OK but I'm sure I remember some major differences between rankings for the two judges in M&M exec and one other caption. ANYBODY HAVE RECAPS?

I don't think the recap sheets would help, but I could be wrong. There have been a number of times when there was a MAJOR difference between 2 judges within the same caption. I can think of 2 instances right off the bat. Both in Drumming and both occurring during during AL Nationals and both times the beneficiary of those discrepenceies were the Cabs and both times the victimized Corps was the Skyliners. Another occurred this past Championship weekend during the I&E show. There are probably more that I'm not privy to. Perhaps if you could identify more clearly what you are referring to? Please don't get me wrong. As I explained with regards to the Schenectady show judges from one caption can (and have) affected another caption. But in all those cases, they weren't discovered til AFTER the contest was over. In the case of the '72 Championship, the retribution took place WHILE THE CONTEST WAS STILL IN PROGRESS. THIS is what was of GREAT concern and what to me was so reprehensible as far as judging goes. As I said earlier, "To me it is without a doubt one of the most disgraceful exhibitions of judging that I personally have ever witnessed first hand in all of Drum Corps".

Mr. Williams, while I no longer have any hard feelings towards what occurred 34 years ago, I DO however take exception to the claim that Cabs won that show knowing all that took place. While it is listed that the Cabs had the best score that evening for those of us who REALLY know what took place it is a hollow claim. I deeply enjoyed my competitive years against you guys, and have voiced on many an occasion that there have been a number of times when I've felt your boot placed firmly up my arse, on at least as many occasions I have had the pleasure of placing my boot firmly up your's.

[johnnytata]

Well I marched for CRUSADERS in 72 and if you look at the recaps one judge, who happened to an ex SKYLINER dumped us in M&M and if we would have scored in 4rth or beeter in that caption we would of won DCA. By the way I would put that CRUSADER 72 hornline against any horneline ever in DCA, and if you want to bet me on that you get any tape or CD and we'll play them side by side. Also our National Championship drumline that Bill McGrath Jr. had was not second to anyone. Quite frankly we got scewed in New Jersey.

[johnnytata]

By the way the best show of 1972 was NOT a DCA show,and it was not judged, but it was what the CABS and CRUSADERS did at the RACINE exibition before the AL, they have to rated as two of the most exciting shows ever preformed by any DCA corps ever.

[Fastone]

The 1972 DCA is one that will be hotly debated as long as there are participants left. The bottom line though is that it was a fantastic year for senior Drum corps.