Question for late 70's early 80's BQ's

3,103 Views | 18 Replies | Last: 4 days ago by The Kraken
aggiejim70
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AG
I seem to recall this being discussed on here a few years ago, but let's try it again.
When did the "Cross Through" change from the two way that we did in the late 60's to the four way that's been done for the last several years. There's a big discussion on this on our BQ '70 chat board. Thanks in advance for the info.
The person that is not willing to fight and die, if need be, for his country has no right to life.

James Earl Rudder '32
January 31, 1945
BQ_90
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i thought there was some discussion about this in the last The Guidon magazine?
aggieband 83
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The 2-way was last done my fish year. This was November 1979 versus tu. We never could get through the drill during practice the week of the game. Train wreck every single time. The morning of the game, we had practice on Kyle Field. We still could not get through it without collisions.

The entire problem was the gate turn used to get the 2 halves into position for the cross through. The ranks would always drift outward. This screwed up the spacing. At the end of drill, head drum major was obviously pissed. He gave an impassioned talk that we all had to keep our spacing or we would embarraass ourselves in front of 72,000 Texas Aggies that were expecting perfection.

The one and only time we got it right was the night of the game. Colonel Haney immediately started making plans for a different way to get the band into position for the next year's cross through. My pisshead year was the first time the 4-way cross through was performed. With the band separated into 4 smaller blocks, we could use a series of counter marches and flanks to position ourselves into the correct angle for lining up into the cross through.

The gate turn was abandoned forever.
ABATTBQ87
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The Battalion, November 21, 1980

Happy 45th Anniversary of the 4-way cross-through drill!

12th Man
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"A gross through with a twist"...? Sounds durty.
CanyonAg77
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Thanks for the info. Obviously it was still two way in my day

So, here's a question to begin arguments….which is harder, 2-way or 4-way?

aggiejim70
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'87 Thank you for the detailed information. I'll pass it along to my BQ classmates,

'90 Thank you for reminding me I needed to pay my CCA dues.

Canyon....That's a great question. After we come to an agreement, let's see if we can agree on who had the toughest fish year.

Happy Thanksgiving BTHO t.u.

JEW III '70
The person that is not willing to fight and die, if need be, for his country has no right to life.

James Earl Rudder '32
January 31, 1945
CanyonAg77
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AG
Quote:

let's see if we can agree on who had the toughest fish year.


Once I got off the Quad, at least I had several thousand pretty coeds to look at.

So you win this one.
ABATTBQ87
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CanyonAg77 said:

Quote:

let's see if we can agree on who had the toughest fish year.


Once I got off the Quad, at least I had several thousand pretty coeds to look at.

So you win this one.


Yall didnt have quad queens available?
mortal
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aggiejim70 said:

I seem to recall this being discussed on here a few years ago, but let's try it again.
When did the "Cross Through" change from the two way that we did in the late 60's to the four way that's been done for the last several years. There's a big discussion on this on our BQ '70 chat board. Thanks in advance for the info.

Jim, are you sure you didn't do the 4-way cross?

I have checked with my '73 classmates, and most agree we did a 2-way cross for the next to last drill (Rice), and the 4-way cross for tu - all four years under E.V. Adams. We have pictures of the cross in the last two years.
ABATTBQ87
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The Texas Aggie., November 01, 1966



Martin Cash
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mortal said:

aggiejim70 said:

I seem to recall this being discussed on here a few years ago, but let's try it again.
When did the "Cross Through" change from the two way that we did in the late 60's to the four way that's been done for the last several years. There's a big discussion on this on our BQ '70 chat board. Thanks in advance for the info.

Jim, are you sure you didn't do the 4-way cross?

I have checked with my '73 classmates, and most agree we did a 2-way cross for the next to last drill (Rice), and the 4-way cross for tu - all four years under E.V. Adams. We have pictures of the cross in the last two years.

'75 here. Cross through was 2 way all 4 years.
The heart of the wise inclines to the right, but the heart of the fool to the left. Ecclesiastes 10:2
musicman55
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CanyonAg77 said:

Thanks for the info. Obviously it was still two way in my day

So, here's a question to begin arguments….which is harder, 2-way or 4-way?



I'll caveat my comment that my experience in the FTAB did not include the years when the movement transitioned to the current 4-way execution. But I have thought about the question of which is more difficult. While both of the movements have their own degrees of difficulty, the biggest difference between the two is that, in the 2-way crossthrough, the mesh point is moving down the field while the block is at a 2-step interval, making it imperative to keep proper alignment while actually moving down the field with the overall formation. In the four way, you do have 4 different columns coming together at the same time but the mesh point is stationary. The "moving mesh point" is a factor that I think adds a level of difficulty to the 2-way that is not present in the 4-way.

Both movements are highly complex and are difficult in their own rights. The spread-out nature of the 4-way might actually make it visually more impressive. That, and you have to go back a while in time to find Ags who remember seeing the old 2-way crossthrough.

IIRC we actually did TWO separate 2-way crossthroughs at the '75 sip game.... Canyon, can you confirm?

HollywoodBQ
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mortal said:

aggiejim70 said:

I seem to recall this being discussed on here a few years ago, but let's try it again.
When did the "Cross Through" change from the two way that we did in the late 60's to the four way that's been done for the last several years. There's a big discussion on this on our BQ '70 chat board. Thanks in advance for the info.

Jim, are you sure you didn't do the 4-way cross?

I have checked with my '73 classmates, and most agree we did a 2-way cross for the next to last drill (Rice), and the 4-way cross for tu - all four years under E.V. Adams. We have pictures of the cross in the last two years.

My father was Class of '59 and he always bragged about the Aggie Band and the 4-way Cross for as long as I can remember.

It's possible that could have been from something he read or heard in the 1980s but I feel like it's unlikely that it was second hand information and dad passed away last year so I can't ask him.

My father was at the Rice game in Houston in the Fall of '55 when A&M scored 3 touchdowns in 3 minutes (it's also referenced in the movie "Back to the Future"). I only share that to establish my late father's credentials as an A-Infantry CT and very much in the camp of - you don't leave the game until is completely finished.

Since my dad worked international construction projects, the only time I remember us even being in Texas to attend a game when I was growing up was during our transition from Alaska to Saudi Arabia in 1977.

We saw A&M @ Baylor with Tony Franklin as the kicker on Oct. 15th, 1977 (the barefoot kicker stuck out in my memory). That was my first football game and only A&M game until A&M @ Baylor on Oct. 17th, 1987 when I decided that if I went to A&M, I was definitely going to join the Fightin' Texas Aggie Band. The Aggie Band was so loud and precise. It was awesome.

Maybe the 4-way Cross only started in 1980 but, I was certainly under the impression that it had been going for a lot longer than that.

I also thought that we had performed a 2-way cross in the late 1980s but maybe not. I do know for sure that we killed (meaning destroyed) the Card Shuffle drill. And I saw the "Blue Grey Medley" referenced in one of the pix that A-Batt 87 posted.

I was definitely in the last band to play Dixie (Fall '88).
ABATTBQ87
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HollywoodBQ said:

mortal said:

aggiejim70 said:

I seem to recall this being discussed on here a few years ago, but let's try it again.
When did the "Cross Through" change from the two way that we did in the late 60's to the four way that's been done for the last several years. There's a big discussion on this on our BQ '70 chat board. Thanks in advance for the info.

Jim, are you sure you didn't do the 4-way cross?

I have checked with my '73 classmates, and most agree we did a 2-way cross for the next to last drill (Rice), and the 4-way cross for tu - all four years under E.V. Adams. We have pictures of the cross in the last two years.

My father was Class of '59 and he always bragged about the Aggie Band and the 4-way Cross for as long as I can remember.

It's possible that could have been from something he read or heard in the 1980s but I feel like it's unlikely that it was second hand information and dad passed away last year so I can't ask him.

My father was at the Rice game in Houston in the Fall of '55 when A&M scored 3 touchdowns in 3 minutes (it's also referenced in the movie "Back to the Future"). I only share that to establish my late father's credentials as an A-Infantry CT and very much in the camp of - you don't leave the game until is completely finished.

HollywoodBQ
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AG
Those 1950s era football poses are awesome! Thanks for posting that.
aggiejim70
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I was at that 1955 Rice game. For the next 50 years, my class of 1950 dad never left another game early. All the action happened from the time we left the stadium until we got to the car and got the game on the radio.
The person that is not willing to fight and die, if need be, for his country has no right to life.

James Earl Rudder '32
January 31, 1945
HollywoodBQ
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AG
Ouch...

I will confess that in 100+ A&M games that I've attended, because of that 1950s mindset being impressed on me, I've only left the game early maybe once - I think the major lighting delay 2-3 years ago at Kyle Field was one.
The Kraken
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A gate turn? Like in parades? I had no idea that used to be done in drills
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