Jul 16, 2004 12:00am
Clinton Puckett
Fan
Well I have not had the chance to update my diary in quite some time because I have been busy trying to do the day to day craziness of drum corps. So now that I have the chance to update my journal, I will do take it back to last week.
It seems like it has been forever since last week because in drum corps we do so many shows, wake up in so many different places every week that it definately takes a toll on you. This year really seems to be full of traveling a lot and then waking up, practicing, then having a show that same day. So last week Scott Chandler left for home to take care of other business he ahs to do. Naturallly, this is something the colorguard does not like so much because he is our leader, our motivator. He is the papa bear if you want to think about it like that. So last week was definately hard for the guard without him. But the rest of the staff always pulls through by cleaning and teching all of the phrases in the show so we start to feel a sense of clarity in our shows. Everything is always so rushed when we first start the season that cleaning time doesn't start until July. So pretty much the early part of last week was just practice and shows.
Friday, however, we had a free day. Don't let the name of that fool you, it really turned out to be a free night. Let me tell you why. See our "free day" was in Chicago but our housing site was about an hour and a half away. But in addition to the Chicago trip, we also had a laundry day. Whenever we have laundry days it always takes the majority of the corps like 5 hours to this. It is pretty rediculous. So the case is that we leave when the corps is ready to leave and we set our own destiny. Well, I believe our destiny is meant to leave really late. But in addition to us leaving really late because of laundry, it was raining and a Friday which meant there would be traffic. So to make a long story short, it took 4 hours to get into Chciago and we got off the bus at 7:30pm. So that is why we had a free night.
The night was incredible fun though. I had never been to Chicago and I have always wanted to see the city. I didn't get to see a whole lot but it is still something I can say was an experience. A large group of us went to the closest place we could find to eat because none of us had eaten since breakfast. We found propably the most commen restraunt in the US which was TGI Friday's. We still made a fun time out of it. Then in the latter part of the night we went down to the end of pier where this cover band was playing some hip hop song and songs from the 60's and just a bunch of random songs. It was a good time.
So I believe we had three shows leading up to the regional in Kalamazoo Saturday night. I really hype up on regionals because there are so many people that show up to watch. I'm not trying to say that the smaller shows don't get me hyped because there are shows like Woodburn, Oregon that only have a few hundred people come and they are great, but there is just a natural hype that people get when there are thousands of people screaming for your corps in support. So the day of the regional was busy once again. We slept at our housing site and then went to practice at the show site. It was a great stadium to perform to. I always love to perform at the big shows. So enough about last week.
This week with Scott back, everything seemed to be where it should be. For me, Scott is the reason I am here. I have been privelaged to be taught by him since my freshman year in high school. It really does seem weird when he is not around.
So this week we were in Alabama to start and I just have to say that Alabama is a hard place to be for drum corps. I don't think I have ever sweat so much just walking from one place to another more in my life. I really think I must have lost 10 pounds there. Hahaha. So we did the usual practicing thing there but with a twist. The rain that occurs in the mid afternoon is a lot of fun. But see, it doesn't just rain, it sprinkles for about a minute then starts to pour! There is definately no warning time. So that made it very interesting.
Well now I am sitting on the bus from the citrus bowl. It is friday night and we just finished our show and we got a cool score of 89.90. That was pretty fun to hear. For those who don't know what the citrus bowl is, it is in Orlando, Florida and where we had championships last year. It was a great feling to come back to this site. I have many great memories from here dating back to 2001. Tonight I had a really fun run and put out another good performance on that field for the last time.
I don't like to think of this being my last year to march but it pops up in my head ever now and then. So I think I need to just have fun and for anyone that is thinking of doing drum corps, it is defiantely an experience unlike any other. Like all things there are ups and downs during the season but in the end there is nothing like it amd worth evey second. The people you meet and the performances alone make it worth it. So that is my little piece for drum corps. I hope I get to you all before another week and a half go by. Take care.