Thanks to Joe Russel on RAMD for this comment! The official reason for the Troopers code of conduct penalty had nothing to do with their trooping the stands on anything at POC. It was learned this evening that their drum line jumped a guy from Pioneer and another from SVC for breaking ranks. Breaking ranks is not a good thing but beating people up is way worse. There is talk that they may be disqualified from even going to Buffalo. It would be a harsh penalty but such breaches in discipline and "code of conduct" should not be tolerated. Any comments?
Thanks to Jay R Wise on RAMD for this comment! IMO, it would be grossly unfair to disqualify Troopers from finals based on this. I have NOT seen anything published by DCI, nor handed down by them to say that this procedure would dictate the harshness of the penalty. Does it exist in the rulebooks? Probably. Is it ever discussed? Yeah, right... But a history lesson. Drum corps is based upon military tradition. Part of the heritage of "old drum corps" is that notion of hard-ass and "not breaking ranks." With many corps, it has gone the wayside, but TRADITION dies hard with many corps. Tradition states that you do not break the ranks nor allow them to be broken. At one time, it was well known -- and you would think SCV would know this -- that you DO NOT BREAK RANKS! Troopers = tradition? You bet. Someone said "this wouldn't happen in the Jim Jones era..." wanna bet? Back When I Marched Drum Corps (TM), we were told NOT to clock anybody who was a fan, since they didn't know what "breaking ranks" meant. But other corps were a different story, as the implication was THEY KNEW the score. I even heard "war" stories of people who TRIED to break ranks. I watched a poor kid from Wave nearly get his ass kicked by a show sponsor because he merely ASKED this guy to go around and not break ranks. IF TROOPERS ARE DISQUALIFIED... then we ought to disqualify corps for retreat misconducts. Corps have been known in the past to PHYSICALLY play games with people in the retreat block. Several corps like to "claim" both yard lines in the block. To that end they will physically "handle" people in their way. I heard a story of two corps... just this year... that had this happen in retreat. A horn line member from corps A gave a hard elbow to a member of corps B since they were too close to the horn block. Leaving the field, a horn player from corps B retaliated against that corps A person. WHILE WE'RE AT IT... I've been in parking lots warming up a corps when you see corps busses pull up from other corps and you see people screaming "F+++ You!" out the window, or see a million middle fingers from another corps. I've watched a respected championship corps MOCK and even TAUNT their rival corps in the parking lot as retreat set up. These are all JUST AS BAD FOR IMAGE as wallopping a rank-breaker. But none of these corps faced ANY disciplinary action. To jump on Troopers for this would absolutely KILL this organization. This "idea" of jumping retreat breakers is something at the management level... just as it was when SCV marched overage members in '89 and got caught. They didn't banish the corps, they banished the kids. So why now "banish" the Troopers? Best penalty: Take away some prize money, forfeit ALL money gained at POC and perhaps suspend those involved in the incident at the NEXT regional championship. When Michael Jordan wore the wrong shoes and jersey, they didn't kick the Bulls out of the playoffs! Yes, we don't want people mauled in the parking lot, but DCI has not seriously EVER done anything regarding image or "code of conduct" in the past. If they want to start, they better put the word out that they will SERIOUSLY crack down on it. When certain top 6 corps run OVERTIME at shows and not get penalized, when most of the top 12 corps warm-up too close to stadiums -- and never get penalized -- why should anyone take DCI "show conduct" rules seriously? I'd be willing to bet -- even not being at POC -- that at least three drum lines and 1 horn line could be heard warming up during prelims -- and nobody got penalized for it. Code of conduct, right... Just a little festered at this... J.
Thanks to Chuck Gilbert on RAMD for this comment! Fellow drumcorps fanatics, I realize that the incident involving members of the Troopers and the others from Pioneer and SCV was an unfortunate incident, but please do not judge the whole corps for the actions of stupid individuals. I, as an alumni, remember several incidents of people trying to break ranks. None of these people were other corps' staff or members. I found myself in the same situation (people breaking ranks), but I just went from parade rest to attention and told the people to please not pass through. Something to remedy another situation like this: Put the corps staging area away from spectator traffic (unlike Allentown '90 where we were right next to the concession stand and restrooms). Something like that screams possible problem. Again, I am not defending what they did. IMO, the ones involved should be sent home. PERIOD! The corps should not have to suffer for something stupid like this. Troopers have been building back up for the last several years. If the entire organization is penalized, we might see ourselves losing another great drum and bugle corps (i.e. 27th Lancers, Bridgemen). Chuck Gilbert Troopers '89, '90
Thanks to Christina Mavroudis on RAMD for this comment! Good morning, This breaking ranks incident which caused Troopers a 3.5 penalty is long overdue from what I understand. I should state here that I have always enjoyed Troopers and have no qualms against trying to uphold tradition. Violence is out of place however and should not be condoned here and especially within a corps. Here's what basically what happened and if you want the full scoop, including interviews with the officers who detained the members (don't know if there were any charges or arrests made) then get the next issue of Drum Corps World. I understand that Steve Powers put his life on the line to get some of these interviews. Troopers were circling behind the stadium at POC. The Pioneer 'booster', also a judge (!), was *waiting* for the corps to pass, but two percussionists (who were part of an earlier season incident of this same nature) pounced on him, thinking he was *going* to break ranks. (Anyone whose been involved with corps for even a year knows you don't break rank unless it's an emergency - I hardly think a seasoned judge would take such reckless action.) The SCV incident was NOT a breaking rank incident, but something that happened during retreat - a Trooper snare shoved an SCV member with his sticks. So you SCV alums don't get concerned about members losing 'tradition'. Finally, I hope the offending Trooper performers get a stern reprimand, but I think you have to look at who's teaching them as well. Independent actions? I think most of this could certainly be traced back to the instructors. What are these kids being taught?
Thanks to Steve Powers of Drum Corps World for this comment! This is a response to all that have posted messages concerning the "Troopers Incident." First, RAMD is plagued with misinformation concerning the entire incident. The following is fact: * It was members of the drum line that were involved * Dr. Cecil Austin was assaulted * Action was taken by DCI * It happened at Stillwater, MN -- not POC * Police were involved * Troopers are considering action and are investigating incident * Code of Conduct was violated (ironically, it was written, in part, by Jim Jones) For all who want complete details, they will be available at the newstands Friday at all the DCI shows. This information is 100% accurate. I have done extensive research into this and believe I have the most detailed, accurate account available. I have conducted interviews with * MN police * Troopers' Director * Sam Mitchell * Dr. David Kampschroer * Members of several corps * and I have insight to Pioneer's views on the incident from a reliable source. All this information will be included in a story in the next issue of DCW. DCW is committed to bringing its readers the most comprehensive up-to-the-minute news in the activity. Changes are being made and will continually be made to ensure that as the only publication dedicated to serving the activity worldwide, we bring the facts to the drum corps public. The pages of DCW are an open forum for opinion as well. If you feel the need to make your voice heard, I welcome your comments -- positive or negative. Feel free to contact me by letter, e-mail, fax or phone. I will be checking my mailbox for the last time on Thursday, just after noon (Central time). Steve Powers Editor, Drum Corps World Spow1@aol.com PO Box 8052 Madison WI 53704-8052 608-241-2292 Phone 608-241-4974 Fax
Editor's Note:
We at sCORPSboard urge all of our readers to subscribe to and support Drum Corps World, the only weekly newspaper dedicated to Drum Corps! Thanks Steve and all the others on the DCW staff! - Ed.
Seattle Web Factory
CyberCorps Web Page Designers.
CyberWebMistress Cathy Doser
Web and Page design ©1995 Seattle Web Factory