TX Suh-nare

OK, guys. Seriously, we need guard people. BAD! Go to troopersdrumcorps.org for more details.

Oops. Thanks for catching that. And I'm suprised noone caught my Crown typo yet. Due to that, I have to redo my Top 6 1) Cavies 2) (TIE) BD & Cadets 4) BLOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! 5) SCV 6) Crown

Question for the gods of txbands.com If we bow toward our monitors twice a day until tour starts, will you set up a booth at any TX corps shows?

1) Cavaliers 2) (TIE) BD and Cadets 4) BLOOOOOOOO! 5) Crown 6) SCV 7) Crown 8) Blue Knights 9) BAC 10) Blue Stars 11) Academy 12) Troopers (HA! I wish! But really) Glassmen Here's my evidence Since Vanguard's '89 performance, only three corps have ever won a ring w/o sharing it, BD, Cavies, and Cadets. Since I am a very firm believer in politics, I don't see why the Board would let anything else happen. To me, Crown had a spectacular show, but a lot of corps have problems rebounding after really popular years. SCV '89-'90, PR '96-'97, Phantom '03-'04, Cadets '03-'04. All the latter shows were pretty good, but they couldn't match up to their status of a year ago, so the points suffered. I think the same might go for Colts. Plus, with the growth Blue Stars had over the last couple of years after coming back to (at the time) Div. 1, they have taken the right steps to be serious contenders for a spot on Saturday. Same with Academy. Both have incredible vet return rates, which is pivotal to improving a corps. Glassmen sounds great, but until their drill becomes more difficult, they aren't going anywhere. Plus, I don't think their drumline has been the same since Colin McNutt left back in '02. That line carried them into top 6 back in '01 and '02 (scoring 2nd at least once in there), but if they can't get the drums back to McNutt's caliber, it'll hold them back.

that's why it's good to be a drummer...

The pics of the field make it look nice enough. I was hoping for Lucas Oil really bad, but yeah. Besides, it can't be worse than the Rose Bowl last year...right? They might actually have good turf for us to march on. And the stadium might not be built to be a sound trap. Anyone who marched in the Bowl last August knows what kind of nightmare that field looked like. And any one who marched the first half of it remembers almost tripping on that chunk of turf that wasn't flattened down enough in the middle of the field. Long story short....at least it's not Pasadena. Or Orlando.

I am usually not one to advertise, but the Troopers Drum & Bugle Corps would like to ask for all color guard and pit people (male or female) to attend the April Guard Tryout camps in Cheyenne, WY and Houston, TX. COLOR GUARD: The Troopers is having the audition camp in Cheyenne, Wyoming on the weekend of April 25-27. In order to get to the camp, you must RSVP for it online (at this site). Color guard will only meet this weekend and only in Cheyenne. In order to make the camp, you must purchase a plane ticket to Denver Int'l Airport before (I believe) 1:00 PM. A bus will pick you up and take you to the housing site in Cheyenne (look up info on camp fees.) IF YOU KNOW PEOPLE IN COLOR GUARD THAT MIGHT BE INTERESTED, PLEASE LET THEM KNOW!!!!! PIT: The Troopers are holding their last Spring training camp down here in the Motherland (at SFA the weekend of April 4-6. There will be no camp fee, and (us) locals will house you. Bring money to buy meals at one of several restaurants (from McDonald's to Whataburger to Chipotle). The site earlier referenced will have information regarding flights (if you are flying in), and the Mapquest of the area is on the previous link. You will also need to RSVP for the camp. Thanks for reading, and I hope to be marching with y'all this summer HLD

Second year as a Troopers snare. OK, great story from last summer. One of my mello buddies, Vinnie (also known as T-Bag, B-Tag, Hamburgler, Grimace, etc.) was chillin' with a couple of his brass friends after a show (it was a ghetto one, maybe Belding, MI). I was changing a drum head when it all went down. He and his friends busted out these lightsabers (where they got 'em, I don't know), those fake ones that the blade slides out, you know? Anyway, they start goofin' off right by the ET (Equipment Truck), when one of our Japanese trumpets (all of our asians were either from Osaka or Tokyo, so we called them Team Japan) named Yuki walks by them. Allow me to set the scene for ya. Vinnie is 5'7", pretty husky (it was still early on), has curly red hair, and has this fake lightsaber in his hands. Yuki is 4'10" (no joke), no more than 95 lbs soaking wet, and looks like she's only 13. Vinnie challenges her to a fight, but she declines. He tries again, nothing. He finally takes a swing at her. She swats the saber out of his hands, gets a hold of his arm with one hand and gets her other one on his gut, lifts him OVER HER HEAD, and drops him onto the ground. This is the aftermath. http://viewmorepics.myspace.com/index.cfm?...imageID=9994456

Wow....the end of an era for Rosemont. One of the most recognizable names in the business, the man that led them to every championship...wow. I know the Cavaliers will be fine, but it's probably impossible to truly replace a guy like that.

haha, guess you got me there. It just seems awkward to me to have too many people bail on a corps like that. That's the top goal for so many guys, why would they leave?

Impressing a judge seems to do very little these days, because, you can see from the pool of bands in Finals, every band is impressive. Impressing a crowd is so much more rewarding. That gives you more satisfaction as a viewer knowing the average band fan will talk about you for the rest of their lives. Plus, in drum corps perspective, you ain't trying to convince the judges to try out in November.

Yeah, for those of you worried that the Cavaliers are done...stop. That's like saying that the New England Patriots were finished last year since they didn't go to the Super Bowl. Three reasons why you shouldn't worry 1. No major staff changes. 2. Rumor has it that some of the drumline is going to SCV now that Murray's back, but the hornline is still strong, and noone has really left the orgnization. 3. It's the CAVALIERS! They've been the strongest corps of the decade, not placing out of the top five in YEARS! Just because they didn't win 1st or 2nd doesn't mean they're done!

Schuykill Haven, Pennsylvania? Right after Allentown? Hick town with a stadium about 20 feet below the rest of the school? haha, Troopers LOVE that town. They feed us and everything if we give 'em a free show.

haha, thanks for that, dude. BTW, I saw Blue Stars in Atlanta. Y'all BLEW ME AWAY!!! That parade in Chicago on the 4th was pretty cool, too.

During tour, I had a three week long game I played. It's called the "What Muscle is Sore Today" game? Every day, a different muscle in either leg hurt like none other. One point, I even had to sit out of an ensemble block for 10 minutes (unheard of in DCI) due to what looked like tendonitis forming in my right Achilles' Tendon. That show that night was MURDER. One I still march with is another tour muscle pull. In my bus seat, if I moved the wrong way in the seat, I would get a paralyzing Charlie Horse in my right hamstring, and I can feel it act up during rehearsal sometomes. Oh well, no pain, no gain, right?

OK, I may not be the biggest fan in the universe of talking on the hallowed 100-yard stage, but I can't tolerate any more bashing of George Hopkins as a person. Actually meet the guy. Talk to him. There's a wealth of knowledge in that head of his, and if you talk to almost any person that has marched under him at the Cadets, they don't all agree with his ideas, but they love him like a father, because he treats them like his kids. After two years of seeing people declare his stupidity as a director and his evil ways of steering DCI wrong, it's about time to stop. After all, look at what he's done for the Cadets. They have never won a championship without him leading them. If you don't like his ideas, fine. Just leave him alone. Sorry, but I had to get that off my chest.

After doing a summer of DCI, it's my favorite hands down. All the tradition, the class, and the athleticism t takes to even survive all-days confounded me. I will say though, I personally feel like BOA kids need more credit than most people give them. Some of those shows are as fast-paced and focused as some drum corps shows, and considering the stresses of high school work and drama (which have been kicking my BUTT ever since I've been home), and even the fact marching bands (especially here in TX) have a fraction of the time to rehearse as a standard drum corps, it impresses me to see some bands put out the caliber of shows they perform. And I also feel judges in BOA are more fair than they are in drum corps, but that's a whole other story.

Balding. Then you could at least pull off a Navy SEAL shave. Chronic B.O. haunts you (and everyone around you) for LIFE! If a woodchuck could chuck wood, how would you measure the chucked wood?

TTR: A break from band rehearsal every once in a while.

No, but if you hum a few bars I'll fake it! Who's dumber, alien's for coming to earth, or us for believing in them?

I'm just interested in seeing y'all's ideas. A lot of people say Academy was, others Boston Crusaders, even Bluecoats. NOTE: This is an UNDERRATED post only. No OVERrated please!

Top 3 in a couple of years seems doubtful (let's face it, miracles like the 1979 Troopers don't happen very often) It's all about vet and staff retention. Looking at other corps that made simular moves from Div II (like Seattle, who made finals their first year in 2002 and have struggled to return ever since) and Mandarins (have not made it past semis yet), you notice their staff frequently leaving and a very low number of vets returning. Seeing corps like Blue Stars and Carolina Crown who made the jump and do very well retaining the majority of the vets do better statictically, which is something I think Acadamy does fairly well. As long as Academy can hold on to its young talent and staff like Blue Stars have (and there seems to be no reason they can't), The Academy are one of the corps to bet out of Finals this upcoming summer.

OK, I think I gotta clear up some confusion. The Announcer at Pearland said our show was called "Mass: A Piece for Players and Dancers" when it's supposed to be "Mass: A Poece for Dancers and Players." All the music is from Bernstein's "Mass: A Theatre Piece for Singers, Dancers, and Players," but we don't have a drama department or singers, so there. Shows how clever we are. Take the original title and crop wat we don't need.

If corps can teach you anything, it's about how little placements matter. If you think they do, jut realize, in the very end, you can't control them. All you can control is how you perform your gig. If a judge gives you a good score, cool. If not, oh well. Judging is all about opinion. Don't get caught up in someone else's if yours staes you did really well. That's something every corps guy can agree with.

Isn't Holsinger amazing? Havendance, Prarie(sp?) Dances, '93 Caders of BC, just unbelievable!