84BDsop Posted April 20, 2007 Share Posted April 20, 2007 Uh-huh. But then, people wouldn't think we are legendary. That kind of makes up for it. Regads, John Swartz But those in the know realize that Float REALLY had his first title line with that corps...then #### near again with 80 Spirit....83-86 BD almost makes up for it, tho! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
byline Posted April 20, 2007 Share Posted April 20, 2007 Every time I listen to our 78 show I keep thinking we were cleaner in 78. Very interesting! Wanna elaborate (especially since that was my first year to march)? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DCIHasBeen Posted April 20, 2007 Share Posted April 20, 2007 http://www.fromthepressbox.com/19770817div1prelims.htmAll I can say is WOW! Looking at the recap and seeing the 15th place corps who was 21st in marching win high drums OVERALL, makes a huge statement about the tick system. I had heard about Bridgemen winning drums from 13th but not the Crusaders. Where can I find a copy of this? Please enlighten me with your personal experience in viewing this line. This was before my time and I never had the pleasure of witnessing it. I know it was a Tom Float line and one of his first as an instructor. Hit me with it! Yeah, they were just that good. The thing that helped them out was also the judging system was such back then that "caption bleed" wasn't a big problem. If one section stood out in an otherwise not-very-good corps, the stregth of their performance would get them the number without being dragged down by the rest of the corps' performance. Would never happen today. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LancerLegend Posted April 21, 2007 Share Posted April 21, 2007 The truth be told - here it comes. We had a strong drumline in both 76 and 77. Our PA marks were good, and it depended on tics to see how far we could go. I remember that no could get close to Oakland in 77. No matter how well we drummed, or anyone esle drummed, Oakland was always 3 or 4 tenths better. I remember when Oakland did not make finals in 77, my first thought was that we had a decent shot at the drum title. BD, Kilties and 27th all did well in prelims - but we were all still 3 or 4 tenths behind Oakland. Rumor was that their drumline destroyed their drums after returning to their host school out of frustration. I know how upset we'd get when our hornline was struggling, I cannot imagine the anxiety, or tension, that the drum line felt. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Russellrks Posted April 21, 2007 Share Posted April 21, 2007 The truth be told - here it comes.We had a strong drumline in both 76 and 77. Our PA marks were good, and it depended on tics to see how far we could go. I remember that no could get close to Oakland in 77. No matter how well we drummed, or anyone esle drummed, Oakland was always 3 or 4 tenths better. I remember when Oakland did not make finals in 77, my first thought was that we had a decent shot at the drum title. BD, Kilties and 27th all did well in prelims - but we were all still 3 or 4 tenths behind Oakland. Rumor was that their drumline destroyed their drums after returning to their host school out of frustration. I know how upset we'd get when our hornline was struggling, I cannot imagine the anxiety, or tension, that the drum line felt. You gotta also include the Freelancers drumline in that sentence. This was as close as they ever got to a caption title in their history. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sarnia sam Posted April 21, 2007 Share Posted April 21, 2007 Rumor was that their drumline destroyed their drums after returning to their host school out of frustration. Never happened. Well, one snare drum did lose a bottom head to a foot. Regards, John Swartz Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GGarrett Posted April 21, 2007 Share Posted April 21, 2007 Rumor was that their drumline destroyed their drums after returning to their host school out of frustration. I know how upset we'd get when our hornline was struggling, I cannot imagine the anxiety, or tension, that the drum line felt. Never happened. Well, one snare drum did lose a bottom head to a foot. We heard the same rumor here but most of us doubted it was true. Funny how one guy kicking in his bottom head morphed into the whole line destroying all their drums. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LancerLegend Posted April 21, 2007 Share Posted April 21, 2007 You gotta also include the Freelancers drumline in that sentence. This was as close as they ever got to a caption title in their history. Yes - I should - but we weren't looking or thinking of the Freelancers as having shot. BD, us, SCV, Kilties were consistent players and were friendly corps with each other. Those friendnships fueled great rivalries. Capitol was scary - intimidating in fact - but not because of their drum corps abilities - those kids were street tough. :sshh: No disrespect meant. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KeithHall Posted April 23, 2007 Share Posted April 23, 2007 Was Daryl Langworthy with Oakies that year? He was with us at The Royal Coachmen and then went to Seneca and then Oakland and then after that he spent three years with SCV. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GregW Posted April 23, 2007 Share Posted April 23, 2007 Ok.. Here's what I know about them. A friend at the time, John Flores (Rodriquez) came down along with Earl Brown from the Commodores to march '75 Kingsmen. When we folded that year, he and many of the imports, along with Float and Patti Williams went up to Freelancers. From there, Float, Patti and Rod all went up to Etobicoke for the 76 and 77 seasons. Rod and I talked fairly often and he liked it up there. The guys were a bunch of inner city kids who had all grown up together and pretty much did drum corps 24/7 as a way to get away from their mostly bad situations. It was really Float's first line. He taught Kingsmen 75 but we never went on tour, and at Freelancers he was just more or less a helping hand to Paul Silva. Up there he had a chance to really do everything he ever wanted to do with a bunch of kids that had talent and desire, but no one to focus it until Tom got there. I watched the prelims show at Boulder that afternoon and talked to John after they came off the field. They had beaten everyone all year long and it wasn't a surprise to anyone that they won drums, the thing they were all hoping for was that the hornline would do a good enough job to get them into finals, but in their hearts they already knew it wasn't going to happen. When they came off the field no one was happy, no one was smiling, they already knew they probably wouldn't make finals despite having the best drumline in the country. A lot of the guys aged out that year or just decided they wanted to go someplace else. Earl had stayed with Freelancers and talked Rod into marching the 78 season with him back home, and they ended up being a very good line in both the 77 and 78 years too Earl is actually part of the Kingsmen alumni snareline with me, and he actually still lives about 8 miles away from Rod in Stockton. They talk all the time and he has tried to get him to march the Kingsmen Alumni corps but the time and distance commitments are hard to arrange. I hope to see him this summer, and I'm sure I will at nationals if nothing else. They are still one of the cleanest lines I've ever seen, and a great example of what hard work and commitment can do, and why Float is who he is. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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