Complication through Elaboration...

Let me elaborate a little more on yesterdays post since I have had a reply or two and some more time to think about it. I would like to draw in more from my experience both with this corps and with other corps in the past.

I am sure that I struck a nerve with a few of you out there that know me and have read some of my random writing out in “blogland.” Some of the things I have written are in no way intended to sugar coat just how things went for me. Some of these things are a pretty harsh reality of my jaded view of how some things went during the course of my experience. I can honestly say that the 2004 finals was the only year that I felt comfortable that the corps left nothing on the field when the show was over. That is why it stands out to me.

Also more on 2004…the last 3 weeks of the season was absolutely the greatest run of rehearsals that a senior corps could ever put together. And even though their intensity, focus and quality were absolutely amazing it did not define the 2004 season as a whole for me. 2004 was a very interesting year. We created success out of thin air. As usual we had been set up for success with the quality of our program. We didn’t really take the bull by the hors and a whole until those last 3 weeks in August. I am not comfortable with my season just because of a few tremendous weeks. In fact it makes me think more on the “what if’s.” What if we could have done things like that all season? You could risk burning out, but as light as our schedule is there is no way that we would do that.

Elaborating more on the championship years (I can’t and did not comment on 99 or 2000 or even 97 for that matter because I was not there) in 2001 we can out so stinking good and never really went anywhere beyond that. We had a great time and played a lot of good shows, but nothing more phenomenal then the first show of the season. The DCI thing was a close second. We weren’t mediocre by any means, in fact we still could outperform almost anyone in the activity. Then towards the end of the year someone got close in score, and all of the sudden 2 weeks of absolutely phenomenal practice followed by a championship. Those 2 weeks should not define the season. The formula was…great winter…great spring…great opening…lull…strong finish.

2002…absolutely tremendous winter…incredible spring…1st 3 shows off the chart…lull…someone gets close…strong finish. I can’t define that season by a few weeks either.

2003…another strong winter…another solid spring… a run of very strong shows early…then the lull…early August, barely beat the competition…strong finish including one of the most phenomenal performances in Brigs history at prelims…it just wasn’t enough to bring a championship home…I still was not comfortable with things this year either particularly in July and August.

2004…a very difficult winter, but none the less a very productive one…a decent spring only getting stronger as spots filled up…pulled it together for an amazing first performance…lull mainly due to things out of our control like the weather and show cancellations…competition very close in early August…Gino comes in and changes the level of performance particularly in the hornline...3 phenomenal weeks after Gino’s wake up call and the best finals performance I have been a part of while with the Brigs.

The level never really goes down during those lull periods, but it never goes up either. For me a season isn’t complete unless it is a complete season. If I draw on my past experiences complete seasons would be in 98 & 99 with BD, 97 with the Grenadiers, and 95 with the Westshoremen. Only in 1 of those 4 years did I win a championship, hell one year we didn’t even make finals. I happen to have won 3 others, but the seasons to me just didn’t seem complete. There was something missing in each of those years, and for the first time in my Brigadiers experience I can feel that we have our hands on it.

What does that mean come July? Right now absolutely nothing. What could that mean come July? The possibilities are beyond even our highest expectations and limitations. We have shown great professionalism in our victories and defeats, but that is only if you judge yourself against what is out there.

What are your limits and expectations? More importantly how are you going to exceed both of those? I have a hunch if we stay the course together we are all going to find out!