KIR Posted January 16, 2003 Share Posted January 16, 2003 I say Keep them also. I hate the fact that people are suiing just to sue and Shift the responsibilty off to others. I am kinda shocked that the viewers were taken back. But I guess when they were in High School they never paid attention to the band. Anyway Like it was posted earlier. If A kid gets hold of a "real" gun Or Sabre and tries to spin it. The question is not where did they learn to do that who do I sue. Shouldn't it be more. Where and how did they get the gun/sabre. Why hasn't anyone taught them the dangers of a REAL gun and Sabre. I know when I was growing up I was taught about the dangers and after watching DC I knew not to pick up a real one and try to spin it Because I was taught the differences. Even after watching a Wild West Movie my father would say You see that is Fake a real Gun it is not a toy. You don't. spin it around your finger and that was at a very young age. Also my father had it locked up where I could not get them. Question after you explained that they were Fake. Did they still feel the same way? If Rosie had Blast on she could have said Ok We have such and such .. Kids.. Rifles and Sabres are fake don't ever try to spin or play with a real one. This is someting that has been a tradition in the activity yadda yadda yadda.. instead of saying nope its a gun It promotes violence etc. Hate the shifting of responsiblitiy off on to others. In this case. Yes some TV shows and things Go beyond but in this case I don't think it does.. Trevor Hi Stef :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LisaLisaMoMeesa Posted January 16, 2003 Share Posted January 16, 2003 OH, I was saying phase them out because some idiot kid (with even more idiotic parents) would get ahold of a REAL rifle and try and spin it around and shoot his head off. Just like in the "Jacka**) cases, if some one is stupid enough to try something like that and they shoot their head off....GOOD.... we need to clean up the gene pool. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScribeToo Posted January 16, 2003 Share Posted January 16, 2003 Anyway Like it was posted earlier. If A kid gets hold of a "real" gun Or Sabre and tries to spin it. The question is not where did they learn to do that who do I sue. Shouldn't it be more. Where and how did they get the gun/sabre. Why hasn't anyone taught them the dangers of a REAL gun and Sabre. I know when I was growing up I was taught about the dangers and after watching DC I knew not to pick up a real one and try to spin it Because I was taught the differences Great Googly Moogly.. did we just agree? Stefanie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ssorrell Posted January 16, 2003 Share Posted January 16, 2003 Rifles over the last decade have almost grown obsolete anyway...not that many use them for much of the show. Sabre, on the other hand, have become much more common, which dumbfounds me. They are not very visual, IMHO, and in an era where "visual" is the hottest thing, I've wondered why we continue to use the least visual piece of equipment available. Hmmmm... Nothing elicits as much excitement in the color guard as an awesome rifle line, ala Madison in the 70s and 80s. I would hate to see them go, but much to my displeasure, they aren't used much anyway. I can see the points about weaponry, whether real or imitation, on the field becoming controversial. I am tired of all the political correctness stuff too, but at the same time I hear about frivilous lawsuits where families sue someone over the least and most ludicrous things. I too wonder when our time is coming. Those of us that have been involved in this activity for a while surely think that the claim that our weapons are unnecessary is ludicrous. We grew up with them. But, to a newer generation of fans and members, they might not understand it. Case in point...Rosie. You might love her or you might hate her, but we all can recognize her power in the media. Her shun of Blast! might not have necessarily kept the show from making a mark on Broadway in some form, but if the show had had her blessing, the results could have been unbelievable. Critics on Broadway attribute her show and her attititude for the increased box office sales over the last few years. Of course, Rosie is but one extreme, but there are others that will share her viewpoint. They might not know or care about our history nor roots in the military... all they see are kids throwing mock weapons. Do I want to see them gone? No. Can I accept if they are banned? Absolutely. I'm trying to keep an open mind and not close myself into thinking like a lifelong drum corps fan. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
XmenBlondie Posted January 16, 2003 Share Posted January 16, 2003 If you get rid of weapons in color guard, I guarantee that the already slim interest that is being generated (in comparison to other sports/activities) will be even less. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ssorrell Posted January 16, 2003 Share Posted January 16, 2003 If Rosie had Blast on she could have said Ok We have such and such .. Kids.. Rifles and Sabres are fake don't ever try to spin or play with a real one. This is someting that has been a tradition in the activity yadda yadda yadda.. instead of saying nope its a gun It promotes violence etc. Yes, Rosie could have had them on the show and made any disclaimer that the guns are fake. However, we don't have any disclaimers that are announced prior to a performance, so we are open for potential problems, IMHO. If you agree that Rosie could have done this and proved to the world that all is okay with our fake weapons, then it would stand to reason that you agree that a disclaimer might be necessary at shows. Or at least that is my take... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CorpsPhan Posted January 16, 2003 Share Posted January 16, 2003 It'll be a moot point after amplification passes and guards start spinning electric guitars ala ZZ Top :P Seriously, to me this is PC running amuck. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeD Posted January 16, 2003 Share Posted January 16, 2003 You make it seem as though there are millions of impressionable youngsters sitting in the stands thinking.. "Hey.. Dad's got a 12ga. shotgun.. I bet I could do that if I practiced..." and I have to say I think you're WAY off base. How is he so "off base"? From the perspective of new audience members, it DOES look a bit incongruous to see spinning rifles and sabres on the field. Saying we should eliminate weapons (that's what they're called) from the guard (that's why they're called the GUARD) because we could be sending some sort of message is, IMO, misguided. Guards don't "guard" anything anymore in most cases. I'm a little confounded, on this one though, Dan.. On the one hand, you can say you want to EXPAND the horizons of drum corps.. you may support opening up the hornlines to more than just bell front brass.. you might support the use of electronics.. to reach more kids.. to include everyone.. yet here you are saying you would like to LIMIT the equipment used by the color guards.. Or....eliminating the use of rifles and sabres will force designers to come up with an even WIDER array of equipment, thereby opening up the guard portion of the activity to an expanded range of possibilities. I'm sort of ambivalent on this one. I've had comments from parents asking about the guard equipment, but I'm not sold on banning them. I'd certainly like to see guard designers on their own use things such as the commas and the neat stuff Crown did in 2001 with the wood, tires and metal poles. Mike Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Real-ity Posted January 16, 2003 Share Posted January 16, 2003 I should had expected that from Mike :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
festive Posted January 16, 2003 Share Posted January 16, 2003 Yeah, Cadets got rid of rifles in 2001...and they were back with a vengeance given the patriotism motif (and general change of cultural climate) of their 2002 show. So I suppose it's a matter of convenience rather than an effort to ban them permanently. If you want to use them, Great! If you don't want to use them, and use something else, great! My response when newbies say "they are throwing guns!" is "The activity has militaristic roots." Then they go "Oh, OK" and enjoy the show. Simple? Does "banning something" have to be the first response? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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