From: pae@blackcat.stortek.com (Phil Earnhardt-x8236)
Newsgroups: alt.drumcorps
Subject: Re: competitive spirit (was Re: Bridgemen)
Date: 26 Jul 92 01:44:10 GMT
Organization: Storage Technology Corp.

In article <1992Jul25.140215.1@vax1.umkc.edu> cputnam@vax1.umkc.edu writes:
>
>Phil wrote in his posting about competitiveness that any corps that is
>obssesed with winning will destroy themselves.  I would have to disagree with
>that and turn to my good friends, the Blue Devils. for an example.  Let's
>face it, there is no corps out there (not even the infamous Phantom Regiment)
>that strives for victory as much as the Devils.
>
>In a back issue of Drum Corps World (June 14, 1985), on pg. 7, Peter Byrne
>writes of the Devils while touring with Suncoast in '84: [...]

>[...]	"'I believe that, you sound great.  But how do you know Garfield won't
>be even better than you?'
>	"He looked at me uncomprehendingly.  'It doesn't matter what Garfield
>does.' [...]
>
>Later on:
>	"But I met that same kid a month or two after Atlanta.  I congratulated
>him on what I though was a remarkable performance [2nd behind Garfiels by .1]
>	"'We shoulda won,' he moaned
>	"'I don't know, Garfield was awfully good that night.'
>	"'Yeah, maybe they were, but they weren't as good as us.  We shoulda
>won.'
>	"The Blue Devils were a great corps in 1984.  But to him and probably
>most of the people associated with the Blue Devils, 1984 was a disappointment,
>a failure."

The article you're quoting was one of the most interesting that I've ever seen
in DCW! The article was contrasting how BD and Sun Coast were *being* during
the off-field warm up. Byrne described BD's warming up with their
characteristic intensity, while Sun Coast seemed more interested in having a
good time and less interested in their overall placement.

What the '84 BD horn player says above is consistent with a huge committment
to excellence on the field. That they know that their destiny is in their own
hands -- that it doesn't matter what anyone else does in the world; their
success or failure is of their own doing. And that you create your own
reality, which may or may not be in agreement with what was "really" real on
Championship night -- that Garfield won.

What's important about your committment is you you use it (or, perhaps, how
you let it use you). Where you go with your committment. The Blue Devils
members may have viewed 1984 as a failure, but I'm more interested in what
they *did* with that interpretation than the fact that they feel that way.  In
other words, how will that night will affect them for the rest of their lives?

It would be outstanding if Peter Byrne would re-visit that horn player one
more time...

>[...] They have that drive but are not destroying themselves.

To phrase this in a language of effectiveness, BD has a committment to
winning, but do not have an attachment to winning. What a fabulous concept to
be working with -- to live -- so intensely for a season! What a fabulous tool
to have available for the rest of your life!

As an aside, I'm aligned with the BD horn player. In my book, Concord won the
1984 show. The intensity shown on the field that night was absolutely
incredible. If anyone gets to see the video of this, check out the close-up of
the bearded soloist at the end of La Fiesta. Wow!



>
>Any Devils members out there that could tell us more, please????
>
>IRC nick-BlueDevil