Today starts an excellent week if you are a marching music fan in Tucson.Tonight,Monday,June 18th,the Drum Corps Season starts with a show recorded two days ago in Akron,presented at Park Place Mall Cinemas,at 6:30pm,featuring six of last year`s top twelve corps.Fathom.com will provide you with a complete listing of theaters,
On Wednesday,at Mesa,Dobson High School at 7:00pm,Southwest Corps Connection will present Arizona`s only big time corps show..Featuring:The Academy,Santa Clara Vanguard,Phantom Regiment and The Blue Knights.At this time there may still be some decent seats left.Ticket information can be found at:Drum Corps International website.
Monday, June 18, 2012
Sunday, February 19, 2012
Post Football Season Reflections
Football and marching music are the perfect marriage for our modern times,much to the chagrin of Corps purists as well as football purists.Despite what The National Football League wants you to believe,College Football is this nation`s most popular spectator sport,and not by a little.At most,the NFL showcases 16 games in a week,played in much smaller stadiums than college heavyweights.Of course the NFL is gold when it comes to television ratings,but that is because the best seat in the house,is actually in your house.Now on the other hand,there is no way that College Football on television can compare to actually attending.
Last summer I was lucky enough to go to a Drum Corps Event featuring six of the top twelve Corps,and relegated to watching the quarterfinals at a movie theater,knowing that it was not going to be nearly as good as the live event.Then out of the blue,an opportunity to drive for The Academy fell into my lap and I actually attended finals!There was no way the cinema could duplicate the feeling of 70 Madison Scouts horn players bringing home Empire State of Mind,or convey the emotion of Juliet slitting her neck,on final`s night,on top of the Drum Major`s podium.
Emotion is the key ingredient.The fervor of College Football combined with the fuel of huge marching bands is an amazing combination.200 million fans may watch The Superbowl on television,and slightly more watching Madonna at halftime,but those fans are not having anywhere near as much fun as the 95,000 at The Rose Bowl,who got to see The Badger Band at halftime.I know this to be true,because no one in 500 theaters across America watching quarterfinals,had as much fun as I did.
The NFL produces television shows,and they are masterful at it.That is why they made the decision to go to huge pop stars for halftime instead of marching music.The Irony of having professional football`s feature event in the same venue that Drum Corps International had theirs is comical because I managed to have the best seat in the house for both!So if you want to experience a great event go to a College Football Game or check out a Corps Show because it is a lot more fun than watching television.
Last summer I was lucky enough to go to a Drum Corps Event featuring six of the top twelve Corps,and relegated to watching the quarterfinals at a movie theater,knowing that it was not going to be nearly as good as the live event.Then out of the blue,an opportunity to drive for The Academy fell into my lap and I actually attended finals!There was no way the cinema could duplicate the feeling of 70 Madison Scouts horn players bringing home Empire State of Mind,or convey the emotion of Juliet slitting her neck,on final`s night,on top of the Drum Major`s podium.
Emotion is the key ingredient.The fervor of College Football combined with the fuel of huge marching bands is an amazing combination.200 million fans may watch The Superbowl on television,and slightly more watching Madonna at halftime,but those fans are not having anywhere near as much fun as the 95,000 at The Rose Bowl,who got to see The Badger Band at halftime.I know this to be true,because no one in 500 theaters across America watching quarterfinals,had as much fun as I did.
The NFL produces television shows,and they are masterful at it.That is why they made the decision to go to huge pop stars for halftime instead of marching music.The Irony of having professional football`s feature event in the same venue that Drum Corps International had theirs is comical because I managed to have the best seat in the house for both!So if you want to experience a great event go to a College Football Game or check out a Corps Show because it is a lot more fun than watching television.
Thursday, January 12, 2012
Wednesday, January 11, 2012
Tuesday, January 10, 2012
Monday, December 5, 2011
Bring Back The Bands
It is that time of year again:College Football Bowl Season.This should be a glorious time for College Football Fans.In this day and age,where big-time College Football is covered 24/7 by The Entertainment and Sports Programming Network among others,this should be a chance to truly celebrate the greatness of College Football,but something happened on the way to the party.
Last year a terrible thing happened.ESPN took over the entire bowl landscape.With them controlling all of the TV purse strings they now control College Football.Have you ever wondered why so few experts on ESPN call for there to be a playoff? How is it, that the most awesomely competitive sport, is the only one in ALL of college athletics that does not have a playoff? The very nature of sports,is to have a champion decided by teams actually playing each other.So who could possibly benefit from College Football not having a playoff? I constantly come up with only one answer:The NFL.That`s right!The Multi-Billion Dollar, Revenue Generating Behemoth,The NFL.
Now follow this through with me.The Bowls could be incorporated into a playoff system where the revenue would far exceed what they get now, especially the games that have an elimination factor toward determining an eventual champion.Now this would only consist of the upper tier Bowls.So the lesser Bowls would be free to match attractive teams,that do not make the tournament,much like it is now.So it isn`t the current Bowls blocking the playoff.Besides,they don`t have that kind of clout.
Now a College Football Playoff would be the biggest thing EVER!For the life of me,the only group of people that I can imagine,that could possibly be opposed to a College Football Playoff,are the NFL owners.And that is the only group with the leverage to keep ESPN from promoting a playoff.
Even though College Football has always had this ridiculous "mythical" champion,based on(popularity) polls,you could always count on the color,pageantry,tradition and enormity of The Rose Bowl pitting two worthy opponents from The Big !0 and The PAC.Then last year the final outrage.The Rose Bowl for the first time in my lifetime,was not on a major network!My family bought our first color television in December,1965,so that my parents could watch my brother march in The Spartan Marching Band,on January 1,1966,"In Living Color",on NBC.
Now at the time,NBC rarely showed College Football,so they made quite an event out of their coverage of The Rose Bowl and The Tournament of Roses,epitomized by showing both bands almost in their entirety at halftime!This is what helped make The Rose Bowl the best!The bands at halftime are such an integral part of the great tradition of The Rose Bowl,that ABC continued to show the vast majority of halftime when they took over.Now with the relegation of The Rose Bowl off network television,the bands have been relegated to a mere ninety seconds of coverage!This is an outrage!One of the significant differences between Pro Football and College Football is the marching bands.Gee,what possible motivation would ESPN have to make sure that College Football never outshines The NFL? Tweet,e-mail,comment on blogs and post on message boards:BRING BACK THE MARCHING BANDS1
Last year a terrible thing happened.ESPN took over the entire bowl landscape.With them controlling all of the TV purse strings they now control College Football.Have you ever wondered why so few experts on ESPN call for there to be a playoff? How is it, that the most awesomely competitive sport, is the only one in ALL of college athletics that does not have a playoff? The very nature of sports,is to have a champion decided by teams actually playing each other.So who could possibly benefit from College Football not having a playoff? I constantly come up with only one answer:The NFL.That`s right!The Multi-Billion Dollar, Revenue Generating Behemoth,The NFL.
Now follow this through with me.The Bowls could be incorporated into a playoff system where the revenue would far exceed what they get now, especially the games that have an elimination factor toward determining an eventual champion.Now this would only consist of the upper tier Bowls.So the lesser Bowls would be free to match attractive teams,that do not make the tournament,much like it is now.So it isn`t the current Bowls blocking the playoff.Besides,they don`t have that kind of clout.
Now a College Football Playoff would be the biggest thing EVER!For the life of me,the only group of people that I can imagine,that could possibly be opposed to a College Football Playoff,are the NFL owners.And that is the only group with the leverage to keep ESPN from promoting a playoff.
Even though College Football has always had this ridiculous "mythical" champion,based on(popularity) polls,you could always count on the color,pageantry,tradition and enormity of The Rose Bowl pitting two worthy opponents from The Big !0 and The PAC.Then last year the final outrage.The Rose Bowl for the first time in my lifetime,was not on a major network!My family bought our first color television in December,1965,so that my parents could watch my brother march in The Spartan Marching Band,on January 1,1966,"In Living Color",on NBC.
Now at the time,NBC rarely showed College Football,so they made quite an event out of their coverage of The Rose Bowl and The Tournament of Roses,epitomized by showing both bands almost in their entirety at halftime!This is what helped make The Rose Bowl the best!The bands at halftime are such an integral part of the great tradition of The Rose Bowl,that ABC continued to show the vast majority of halftime when they took over.Now with the relegation of The Rose Bowl off network television,the bands have been relegated to a mere ninety seconds of coverage!This is an outrage!One of the significant differences between Pro Football and College Football is the marching bands.Gee,what possible motivation would ESPN have to make sure that College Football never outshines The NFL? Tweet,e-mail,comment on blogs and post on message boards:BRING BACK THE MARCHING BANDS1
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