i’m not sure what it is about the cadets, but every year something bizarre begins to happen with about two weeks to go. you wake up one morning, and everything is just somehow different. rehearsals are more intense, things get changed, louder, softer, faster, new endings get attempted- basically it’s a huge push to the finish line. all the members, staff, and even volunteers want nothing more than to see the cadets give their finest possible performance on the last evening of the dci season.
This is the story of something bizarre that happened to me during the push in 1998.
Check it out if you want to know absolute terror.
The end of our victory performance after DCI Finals.
we pushed and pushed- shows at giants stadium; allentown; jacksonville, alabama; and we finally settled into a stadium in warner robins, georgia that had been secured for us to use for rehearsal for the monday and tuesday of finals week. on the second day in georgia, a five hour marching block was scheduled for the morning. we stretched, and ran our usual laps. marc sylvester told us to set it up at the top of part two. the heat was smothering at nine am. we would hold our horns up, and sweat would stream off our elbows. there has never been a more disgusting feeling, but over the next five hours, we cleaned the same 10 sets. it took a little longer than expected, but we knew at the beginning that marc would clean until he was satisfied. lunch time came and went. marc said “lunch isn’t ready yet” as our food truck volunteers sat in the stands eating lunch. sigh. this was the only time since i joined the cadets that rehearsal ran over time. In retrospect, i’m glad it did, because those sets are perfect on the video, but at the time we were a little bitter.after that hellish day we packed it up, and headed for orlando. we would practice a little in the morning, then head to epcot for a parade, and some free time in the park.
my mom came to epcot to hang out with me in the park- we arranged a meeting time and place. i was there, and saw my mom, but i figured i’d wait for her to come over to me. she walked toward me, and eventually looked right at me and kept right on walking. i had lost a ton of weight, and my own mom didn’t recognize me- what a strange feeling.
anyway, we entered quarterfinals with an air of optimism. we had just scored higher than the blue devils at the last show of the season, and we had two great rehearsal days in the time since. the blue devils were the defending champions, so they were allowed to go on last for quarterfinals. we entered the field, but we found ourselves standing in the opening set for a very long time. one of the tenors had broken his j-bar, and could not perform without a new one. i remember half of our staff on the field frantically trying to fix the poor guy’s drums as quickly as possible so that we would not get a penalty. they finally got it fixed, but it mattered not- we just didn’t have ‘it’ that night. it was a flat performance, and we knew that we had left the door open for other corps. bummer. we ended up in third place after quarters. i was still relatively new, so i totally thought that my season had been ruined, because we weren’t going to win. [i know better now, of course…] we rode the 90 minutes back to our housing in silence.w e woke up the next morning, and everything seemed alright. the optimism and fire was back. rehearsal was fine, but in a strange twist of events, we didn’t do a run-through on semis day. george was convinced that it was going to rain. sean and i, being from florida, knew that these big, gray clouds rolled through everyday without any rain. nothing came of it. we had some extra time to get ready for the show, then we packed everything, and hit the road.
kyle poulsen at 1998 finals
the performance that night was monumental. All the doubts and worries of the night before were gone. the cadets showed why they were six time world champions. marc and george’s stonehenge had been performed as it was meant to be- with a hybrid of unbelievable control and reckless abandon. the cadets had the high score that night, but that mattered very little. we had replenished our faith in ourselves after the merely average performance the night before.
all I remember about finals day is the speech george gave us before the show. he told us that we were the best, and that there was absolutely nothing that could go wrong. he told us that we were the most prepared corps in cadets history, and we should go take what was ours. with that, we sang Holy Name for the last time, and took the field. i don’t remember the show, except for all the screaming at the end from the crowd, and some of the members. we had just given the ultimate performance of the show that was given to us. it was beautiful, chaotic, and unforgettable. once we had exited the field, and were in private under the stands, the drum major told us to relax. we cheered for a moment, and then the tears began. everyone was crying. all the angst, turmoil, and stress of the summer had just been let out on the field at the citrus bowl in orlando. we gave all that we had left to give. there has never been a finer feeling.
we slipped back into cadet mode for retreat- the shakos were pulled down, the smeared eye makeup cleaned up, collars closed. we stood on the field during retreat, and waited for the scores. 12th 11th 10th 5th ‘in third place…the blue devils’
in second place…the sa….that’s all we needed to hear. the cadets were dci world champions. i realize now that the opinions of seven guys in green shirts don’t matter, but at that point it sure was cool to be a world champion.
all the corps left in reverse order after playing something. when it was the blue devils’ turn, they faced us and played the f sequence, and their closer. it was overwhelming. that was the loudest thing i had ever heard [until june, 2000].
we were alone on the field. we stretched for a minute, sang Holy Name for the last time [the actual last time] and set up the opening set. time for an encore. i will never forget the next eleven minutes. people on the sideline just going crazy, staff jumping up and down, Hopkins just laughing. I didn’t want to go home.
sean and i after 1998 finals. weren't we cute when we were 16?
the cadets 1998 contra section.
Bottom row [l to r]: Ray King, Brad Barnes, Ray Linkous [all staff]
Second row: JC, Chris Nanartowicz, Ian Flint
Back Row: myself, Tony Tisocco, Stephen Marshall, Brandon Johnson, Mark Meadows, Jesse Banda, Chad Pence, Tim Evans, Kyle Poulsen.
This section was the worst thing in the corps at the beginning of the season. We worked like no one else, and the end result was staggering. I am proud to be in this photo.