AND THE SURREAL PLAYS ON- Two more SF Championships
SFHomeless
-parma,ohio
Below is an exact copy of a free-lance article that I submitted to virtually
every BAY AREA media at 12:23 am Last Sunday. Only 23 minutes after scores were
announced on PBS and kept off the net until broadcast.
I have delayed ng posting until every newspaper had a chance to publish. If
49er fans would like to show appreciation for other Bay Area sports champions.
Please request your newspaper publish this article. All Proceeds from local
syndication will be spent,in some fashion to help the homeless both in The City
and The Comeback City (Cleveland). If you don't want to engage in
commercialization. Then, feel free to post, e-mail or photocopy and distribute
in your neighborhood.
AND THE SURREAL PLAYS ON
In The Summer Of 1973:
The Oakland Athletics won their 2nd of its 3-peat World Series. Lyndon
Baines Johnson died. Watergate lived. B.A.R.T. commenced.
King beat Riggs. Roe beat Wade. Oakland's John H. Redding beat Black
Panther leader Bobby Seale for Mayor. "The Young & Restless" had just debuted.
Chris Evert began Ladies Competition. Monica Seles, Neve Campbell and Tori
Spelling were born.
Billboard's #1 Song was "The Morning After". Drum Corps #1 Song would be
"Fiddler On The Roof."
On nearly simultaneous 1973 anniversaries a person called Harvey arrived
on Castro Street. In Ithaca, New York 13 young ladies from Santa Clara
performed a "Bottle Dance."
While Milk and Randy Shilts have made San Francisco the Gay and AIDS
Awareness mecca. The surrealism of Concord's Blue Devils and Santa Clara
Vanguard have mad SF, THE (#1) CITY in any sports genre.
On August 14th in Madison, Wisconsin THE BLUE DEVILS and Vanguard's
Surrealism Played on to a tie(98.4) bringing each's 10th and 6th World
Championship.
The Shilts/Milk like Drum Corps relation both won. How much karma could
the surrealism trancend?
The only legitimate challenger in 1999 and historically are The Cadets of
Bergen County, New Jersey. They finished fourth. The Cavaliers (Rosemont,
Illinois) "took bronze."
Through THE MAYOR, Montana, Matirx I and DaMayor. From the first
directors of THE DEVILS' Jerry Seawright to Dave Gibbs; and SCV's Gail Royer to
Jerry Koester. Not Candlestick, 3-Com, Kezar Stadium, Oakland Alameda, KTVU,
KRON, KGO or KPIX have ever been host to any trancending of Bay Area Drum Corps
surreality.
Since the mutually agreed "universal" Drum Corps International
Championship in 1972. SCV and Devils has each but one ranking below 6th.
Enduring over two vastly different scoring systems. The 1989 SCV and
1982 Devils own both all-time high scores. Last Saturday The Devils and SCV
set the fourth highest marks ever.
Each corps has had many undefeated seasons. Like 1999 many seasons each
corps only defeats were against each other. While THE CITY's supremacy of THE
49ers, Brian Boitano, Kristi Yamaguchi(even AIDS concern) is frequently
overthrown by THE Packers, Kurt Browning, Tara Lapinski and Kate Shindle etc.
All turnovers of 128 Devils/SCV have crushed possible coups.
About 5,300 youths over 26 years have created a drum corps simile of a
dozen or so 49ers/Raiders Super Bowls. Practicing about 1,300 hours a season,
paying and or raising a thousand or so dollars. Yet, never receiving any
financial rewards.
THE 49ers and Oakland Raiders have never been in same year post seasons.
When The Giants and A's battled in the bay. The earth did actually move.
My first blessing of seeing the surrealism of THE VANGUARD was in
Marion,Ohio in 1974. After and including drum corps days. The inspiration of
SCv and Devils have inspired my 12 years being a 6 time sub 3:27 marathoner.
Sports heroes like Steve Young, Steffi Graf, Jerry Rice or Nancy Kerrigan
are enjoyable. But after their heroics there are big checks waiting.
August 12th tennis news coincidentally notices that Bay Area Drum Corps
Surrealism continued Saturday, already twice as long as Ms. Graf's Era.
Besides THE DEVILS and SCV's surrealism (that's "my" word) are other Bay
Area Drum Corps successes. Sacremento's Freelancers and August 9th Champion
Mandarins. Stockton Commodores, San Francisco's Conquistadors etc.
San Francisco is The City. The DEVILS and SCV is The Dynasty.
More obsene than Bath houses not being eternally closed after Shilt's
first article. Is either 3-Com or Pac-Bell not permanently hosting THE DCI
CHAMPIONSHIP, live on KTV nationally syndicated on FOX.
Aesthetically,for 5 days residents and tourists would enjoy everywhere
"The Hills Being Alive With The Sights Of Music." Members could practice in
the nation's only August heat stroke proof city. Every corps would have some
breath taking view.
The 40,000 spectators and 10,00 members and family would spend about $22
million. Members' families would, en masse, plan annual post season/ pre back
to school vacations.
The marquee value of THE CITY could lead to national coverage for funding,
recruiting and the other benefits of other SF initiated national causes.
Going off on a tangent of Ken Garcia's May 21 editorial. Harvey Milk
associating THE CITY with Gay Rights was spurred by 3 defeats and then November
27,1978(11:05 am). Via Milk the nation musically associated The City
with"YMCA", "Macho Man", "It's Raining Men" et al.
The Devils have associated their surrealism with "Channel One Suite", "La
Suerte De Los Tontos." SCV with "Fiddler On The Roof" and "Phantom Of The
Opera."
My San Francisco Song when I see The Golden Gate Bridge? "When A Man
Loves A Woman". Not by Michael Bolton, Bette Middler or Percy Sledge. But by
THe 1992 Blue Devils.
Despite surreal success. The Devils and SCV have recieved less media
coverage within The Bay Area. Then did AIDS, outside of The Bay ARea, before
Rock Hudson.
In my 8 months residence over 5 years of homeless crusading in "The City",
assisted by 14 librarians from "The Whale", 4 branches and the new main
library. I have found only one clipping.
I have yet to see anyone in THE CITY wearing any Devils or SCV attire. In
Parma,Ohio I see, in an average day, about 2 people each wearing a 49ers "8",
"80" or "16" jersey. When I use a subtext question "How about the Blue
Devils?" They always reply like "Great basketball team."
This editorial could be the very first anywhere even in THE BAY AREA.
Concord's 10 and Santa Clara's 6 Championships have trancended in
Birmingham's Legion Field, Denver's Mile High Stadium, Philadelphia's Franklin
Field, Montreal's Olympic Stadium, Dallas' Cotton Bowl, Madison's Camp Randall
Stadium. Having next year's in Washington D.C. would be like having a Randy
Shilts AIDS Awareness Center next to a Reagan Hall Of Fame.
Yet, not one title has ever been a B.A.R.T., Cal Trans or Muni Ride home
from 3-Com, Oakland-Alameda, Stanford, Kezar et al.
And The Band (Doesn't) Play On anywhere else in San Francisco. The Devils
and SCV have been more of a Drum and Bugle Corps mecca than any entity
associated with anything.
In Madison, Wisconsin the hometown corps got a standing ovation moving up
one spot. In The City an appropriate ovation for The Devils and SCV would cause
another earthquake. Like the one the last year SCV won in 1989. Hopefully
historical parellels won't occur.
If readers lobby (www.dci.org) the results of the last ever Championship
anywhere else but Pac-Bell or 3-Com were (semifinals scores)
1. Blue Devils 98.4 (98.5)
. Santa Clara VAnguard 98.4 (97.6)
3.Cavaliers 97.0 (96.8)
4. Cadets 96.4 (95.5)
5. Glassmen(Toledo) 93.7 (93.8)
6. Madison Scouts 93.4 (92.2)
7. Blue Knights( Denver) 92.5 (93.0)
8. Phantom Regiment 91.2 (91.7)
9. Boston Crusaders 88.6 ( 86.5)
10. Crossmen (Delaware Cty,PA) 87.0 (86.7)
11. Carolina Crown 86.3 (85.3)
12. Colts (Dubuque,Iowa) 86.0 (85.2)
WE'LL FIND TOMORROW.....
STEVE BAYT