San Antonio Crossmen

[Alabaster Box]

Remember, it was Mr. Hopkins who said Drum Corps = Band.

That is what he said, but that's totally taken out of context. Ask Michael Boo about this one.

On another note, I'm kind of curious as to why people this this move will be so detrimental to Revo. Maybe someone has already pointed this out, but would Crossmen being in the area really be that much worse than BD/Cavs/Blue (and more to come in the future I'm sure) hosting auditions there? Yeah they're in the same city but...I don't know, if anything I see the relationship being a good thing more than a negative.

[kac]

Just a little tidbit about Smoothieville...

Aftermath Indoor Percussion Ensemble (Now United Percussion) did practice and still practices at Smoothieville. In one of the rooms inside the complex, there is still an old Crossmen drum and bugle corps sticker on the door of one of the rooms. It is almost in perfect condition, even after years and years of use at the facility. I always thought it was an awesome sight to see.

The Bones always do remain...

Glad to hear that the sticker is still there! Can you post a photo?

[ACustom19]

Glad to hear that the sticker is still there! Can you post a photo?

I can try and get a photo soon and post it ASAP...I should be in that area pretty much every weekend.

[MikeD]

Oh, and how about being in Pittsburg, or Harrisburg, PA - Dover or Willmington, Del. - Baltimore, MD - Richmond, VA . Were any of those locationas even considered?

Do you have inside info on what YEA! did or did not consider? From the looks of things they are turning the Crossmen over to what is already a world class organization with the RR band director and parent organization involved.

This may have been the BEST alternative for the survival of the Crossmen as a drum corps at all. That has to be the top-most priority, or else nothing else really matters.

[BASTimpanist]

so wow...

and wow...

great move for the crossmen. i think long term especially is to benefit from the move. and i think the turnout is going to be awesome. a lot of kids from texas march D1 and travel...oh wait ALL of the kids from texas who march D1 travel...maybe the lure of less expense to march will be enough to pull from the top line groups. not that i would be worried if i were phantom or bluecoats or scv, but i wouldn't be surprised if some kids showed up from the top 6 or 8...i think the south has just opened up one big f'n early christmas present.

and sure, it sucks to have to travel to be a part of "your" corps. but if you were true to the crossmen you wouldn't complain...you would be finding a way to get there. and don't give me the soppy "i raised my own money" thing. i did too. plane tickets from texas to ohio every month cost more than my tuition into the corps. try that for three years. besides, it's not like there isn't ANYWHERE else to march. i understand loyalty but it's not going to kill anybody to march somewhere else. and it's not like a whole lot of corps aren't within driving distance. or take a greyhound bus for pete's sake...moping about it is going to get the pa kids exactly nowhere.

[Jazzycat1]

It's been known that Revo has had issues finding rehearsal space in San Antonio....main reason why camps were always a good 30 mins plus outside San Antonio.

It can't hurt Xmen to have one of the top programs in Texas as a home base.....Regan HS is beautiful and the facilities they will have access to are a dream to most drum corps. You can't beat it!

That is a very correct statement. Ronald Reagan High School looks more like a modern College than a HS campus. The facilities there are first rate. They have probably the best music program in the entire state and the area surrounding the school is very affluent. The Crossmen will be enjoying some of the best home digs in drum corps...

[jake_the_hydra]

I'm very happy for the Crossmen and the possibilities that this move brings, but I also sympathize with long-time alumni and members for whom this move will make it very difficult (financially and logistically) to continue their ties with the corps.

These things happen. That's life.

Secondly, this whole "Millions of kids from Texas should be lining up to do drum corps thing"- I'm not sure how accurate that actually is. There are corps who hold Texas camps in the Dallas and San Antonio area (Bluecoats have been holding Dallas camps for awhile and The Cavaliers are having a Houston and a Dallas camp), but that has not and probably will not translated into as many kids from the great Texas bands as people who support Crossmen would probably want.

At least, it doesn't seem to have happened in Indiana.

Some examples- How many kids from Carmel march The Cavaliers? Very, very few. In fact, some of the ones I know who auditioned were cut and ended up marching elsewhere or nowhere at all.

How many kids from Avon go march Carolina Crown? Probably more than those that go from Carmel to The Cavaliers, but not as many as you'd think.

Also, kids from great high school marching programs don't always translate directly into really good drum corps members. Probably most of the best members in some of the top few corps that I know of did not participate in BOA Grand Nats, and maybe did okay at what State Finals their band had. That's why a lot of these kids move on to upper-echelon drum corps- they're great musicians, like the activity a lot, and were not completely satisfied with their marching experience in high school. So they move on.

I just haven't really seen the BOA-champion caliber band to drum corps connection that people will talk about, and despite people's hopes, I'm pretty skeptical about seeing a "huge" turnout from Reagan kids to the Crossmen. Some, for sure. But enough to really change much? I'm doubtful.

But if it does happen, then great. I wish them the best.

Edited September 22, 2006 by jake_the_hydra

[kevingamin]

Heck yeah.

I too am a member...well sort of. I had to take last year off due to school. And this year as well :( However, I age-out in 2008, and the ONLY corps I would want to age-out with is Bones. I'm real pumped to see how this whole thing works.

The membership right now has extremely mixed feelings, as a whole. Most of us are bummed out. Some of us are pretty happy. However, for the most part, it's all mixed.

If there's any current Crossmen out there now reading this (which you shouldn't be. You should be practicing :-D ), I beg you to come back. Now, I'm saying this, even though I can't come back...I have good reasons. Study abroad in Germany...sounds like fun...but I digress. Anyway, I know you're saying "I can't afford it." I took out a freaking $2000 loan in 2005 to march. I'm not saying you should do that (my credit rating is great though!), but what I'm saying is to figure it out. You've heard that soooo many times from the staff. Figure it out. There are tons of people who are willing to sponsor you. If you be proactive on it, then you should be fine.

And, if there's any Crossmen supporters out there reading this (which I'm assuming is the rest of the people), I hope that you can support Crossmen even though there are changes. Things change. It's all a part of life. I personally ask everyone, as a former member/soon to be current member again to give us your 100% support. We need it.

In the meantime, I wish Crossmen the best for this season. I'll be cheering them from 3000 miles away.

So, you gonna march in DCG next year? :P

[kevingamin]

Midland Texas is surrounded by a whole lotta nothing :)

And they still managed to get a book, movie, and TV show about their high school football team. :P

[BackBeat]

I don't see this as being good for Crossmen in the immediate term. Yet another director and huge staff turnover (presumably), relatively few vets likely to return, etc.

Certainly, over the longer view, this should work well if they can keep finances in order. There's a greater pool of talent who may not have marched because of expense of flying to camps, etc. Hopefully, because of the RRHS ties, there won't be rehearsal space issues either. But corps don't fold because their shows suck or they lack talented performers, they fold because money dries up. So, OK, we're told the director is a good one but what about the management team?

This IS the bottomline. It's all about the MANAGEMENT TEAM and FINANCES. Too bad because the 2006 Crossmen members really liked the new Director and Tour Director both returning from previous years in the Crossmen.