San Antonio Crossmen

[kbmartin]

I agree. I don't think the fact that the hopeful YEA/Crossmen separatioin info wasn't in the first couple of paragraphs was an intentional way of trying to bury the fact.

The quoted reply is nothing if not generous. But I took Aaron's question as just that: a thoughtful question. By any journalistic standard, the "guts" of a news story -- and this was certainly that -- should be up front, and this was not the case with the YEA! announcement, in addition to the fact that, perhaps surprisingly, it was not even on George Hopkins's very public radar screen.

The YEA! announcement seemed to me designed not to inform, but to "spin" the virtually buried fact of the planned divestiture -- like, we're going to tell you how you should feel about and respond to an event that we're not going to describe precisely until many of you have stopped reading, and we're going to make you like us, really like us, while we do that.

I will always have the highest respect and affection for the Crossmen, and for those who wish them well.

-- Kathy

[kinghunter]

The Crossmen will be in terrific hands in Mr. Chambers and the Morrisons. They have been collectively at the helm for the Reagan band for the past 3 years and have obviously had tremendous success and arguably created the best band in the nation (Reagan was built in 1999). Although Dci is different from a hs band, the way rehearsals were run at Reagan are near the same level of intensity of a drum corps if not exceeding some. I believe with Chambers and the design team used for Reagan along with some experienced drum corps caption heads could be extremely sucessful surpasing many people's expectations! The only thing is how long the period of adjustment takes...

[dbc03]

The quoted reply is nothing if not generous. But I took Aaron's question as just that: a thoughtful question. By any journalistic standard, the "guts" of a news story -- and this was certainly that -- should be up front, and this was not the case with the YEA! announcement, in addition to the fact that, perhaps surprisingly, it was not even on George Hopkins's very public radar screen.

The YEA! announcement seemed to me designed not to inform, but to "spin" the virtually buried fact of the planned divestiture -- like, we're going to tell you how you should feel about and respond to an event that we're not going to describe precisely until many of you have stopped reading, and we're going to make you like us, really like us, while we do that.

I will always have the highest respect and affection for the Crossmen, and for those who wish them well.

-- Kathy

Most people will consider the move to San Antonio much more relevant at the current time than the future break from YEA.

I would imagine the reason it hadn't been on George's blog is because it hadn't been publicly announced until yesterday. He has a little bit about it in his blog now and it says he will discuss it more as things move along.

[crossmen82]

my gosh this a dream come true!!!! being that i live in san antonio and reagan is my all time favorite marching band, and i was planning to try out for crossmen you can bet this is where i plan on marching for my last 2 years. i still cant believe it!!!!!

I am happy for you, but very very sad for the kids that marched last year that Cannot return to this corp. Please keep the tradition alive!!!!!!!! I hope to see the corp in Pa, MD and NJ as well as California next year. Please don't hesitate to contact the Alumni in your area to help out.

[MiamiSun76]

SO... While everyone bickers about the intracacies of this, which btw don't really matter, I will be making a flyer to post at my band hall and univ.... Why don't you do the same if you're from Texas... woot.

Just curious. If this had happened prior to 2004, would you have still marched SCV or would you have stayed in TX?

[MiamiSun76]

For all of you harping on Hop and YEA..think back to 1994. A langusihing Crossmen come to Hop needing help to survive.

Imagine if he had said "sucks for you"

But then..we wouldn't be having this conversation now, would we?

It's a mixed bag. Yes, it worked for Crossmen. Not so well for BAC, Crown. A total disaster for Sunrisers.

[MikeD]

It's a mixed bag. Yes, it worked for Crossmen. Not so well for BAC, Crown. A total disaster for Sunrisers.

The arrangements with those corps was far different than YEA! completely absorbing the Xmen to become part of YEA!.

[jwillis35]

Even if this drum corps= band statement was taken out of context...I am seeing the "bigger" picture of what is going on here in this case.

And what is the bigger picture? I think people are just looking for another reason to slam YEA! and Hopkins, so they spin things however they see fit, WITHOUT ANY PROOF, just to make the situation look bad or to cry foul.

Come on folks, most of you do not know all the details. I didn't exactly see a line of people offering to house the Crossmen prior to this deal, and I am sure YEA! has been looking longer than just the last 5 minutes.

And this thing about millionaires buying drum corps...really, REALLY bothers me with this being a non profit organization. And I don't want to hear the "it's just business" line bull...if that's the case then lower the kids dues or better yet, pay them to march with all those sponsors you get....if you're a millionaire why aren't you starting your own corps like Bill Cook did?

Simply put, most corps will not be owned by millionaires. It takes hard work, sacrifice, and excellent business leadership to run a corps, and it takes lots of hard, cold cash. Today's corps must find a place where they will be supported and where they have a chance to grow, become financially healthy, and competitively strong. All of you complaining about the move have not proposed any better solutions, you are simply telling us what is wrong.

Move the Crossmen to Texas, home of several BOA champions to draw from.

DCI turns into BOA Summer.

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

Sounds logical to me. Why not move a corps to a location where there is great talent and enthusiasm for the activity? I know, perhaps we should move them to some town that hates the activity and the bands are really bad (hand slaps forehead). Just because we recruit from great bands, whether they be BOA or otherwise, does not make us BOA. We are what we are, and, yes, the activity has changed. So has the band activity, and largely because of drum corps. You know, it is possible for the two to work together. But I digress, personally I think we should go back to the good ol' days when we hated bands and they hated us, and we never recruited from them, and they only copied us, and we only taught music by rote and played real bugles, and they just did their swing band routine to "Hang On Sloopy." Boy, those were the good ol' days.

Oh, and by the way, research the comment "Mr. Hopkins said drum corps = band" before you use it incorrectly.

However, I have a suspicious feeling that there are alterior motives behind this move by a certain individual.

Ah, another one who believes that there are alterior motives. I wonder what those would be. Read the following in your best sarcastic George Carlin voice:

"Well, we just had to get rid of the Crossmen because they were too darn good." "No, actuallly we shipped them across the country so we could take all their kids." "No, that's not it either, what we really wanted to do, because we were feeling really rotten and scoundral-like today, we decided that we would alienate them from YEA! so we could steal their money, destroy their equipment trucks before they leave, and most importantly we could screw the kids over by giving them nothing to do next summer." "Yeah, that's it."

You got it, it's written all over YEA's face. I mean, how dare these people actually do such a good thing like absorb literally $200,000 in debt, and then after all that was paid for, actually buy the Crossmen two new trucks while funding them for 11 years so they could mutilate all that is right with the Crossmen in roughly 1 day.

Honestly, I fail to see any alterior motive! You guys must be smarter than I am. :)

Cheers!

[crossmen82]

Yes, because it's not like Jersey Surf, Raiders, Hawthorne Caballeros, Bushwackers, and the Reading Buccaneers are right within a stone's throw of Crossmen's old stomping grounds.

You're right. There's nowhere for them to go at all.

I should have said a Division I corp! Maybe they will go to the Cadets????!!!! LOL & LMAO. I am sure that most of the local kids were intending to return to the Crossmen and now That will probably NOT be happening for some of them, due to the fact that the Crossmen will be based in San Antonio. :( <**> IMHO, I would not want to march in a Senior corp if I were 15 - 22 years old. You only get to be in DCI until 21 or 22, Why waste those years in a Senior Corp??? You only live once, so go for a DCI Corp when you are young and save the DCA corps for the later years in your life, if you must.

[ACustom19]

I didn't waste my years in a senior corps. I was 19-22 years of age when I marched. I could have done junior and almost did so, but it was not to be, and I have not regretted it.

I don't feel that any of the Bucs alumni who marched Crossmen, and vice versa, would say it was wasted time. Either would the staff of both corps. Many of them were/are/have been the same people...