The Sweet Meatmen are returning to competition for the 2004 season!

The corps went inactive last year due to some very difficult financal issues, and it seemed as though the corps would be one more organization that would become another footnote in drumcorps history books. That outlook has changed, however, due to a very generous grant from Sparkle! Drum and Bugle Corps from Champaign, Illinois. The large influx of funding from Sparkle! has enabled Sweet Meatmen to resume operations in a much more stable fiscal position then the corps has had since the heyday of drum corps back in the 1960's.

"Because of an overabundance of donations to Sparkle! this year which left us with more money than we knew what to do with, we felt it only fitting that all of that extra cash should be used to bring one of our closest competitors back to competition," said Mr. Gordon Reardon, director of Sparkle!

Many factors lead to this decision. "Many of the members of Sparkle!'s 2003 corps were from the San Francisco area, including many former Sweet Meatmen members, and even though they loved marching with Sparkle!, they could not afford all of the transportation expenses to get from California to Illinois for camps. Some of the members who joined us would only be able to march one or two of their five or six years of eligibility. We also had a very large turnout of great talent come and audition for Sparkle! but we had to turn most of them away because we didn’t have the spots availible for all of them.

“Bringing SM back enabled us to be able to keep the fiscally challenged members involved in the activity, but much closer to home, and we were also able to bring back some of the very talented auditionees who we had to turn away from Sparkle! who would not have been able to march elsewhere."

As with all financial agreements, some concessions needed to be made by the SM organization in order to secure the funds from Sparkle!. "The original SM management committee had not gotten a grasp of the corps' financials, and had doomed the corps to folding," Said Reardon. "We [Sparkle!] gave the SM organization enough money to be able to pay off all of the old debts and to be able to field a corps again this season without having to worry about whether or not they'd be able to feed the kids all season."

In exchange, the Sweet Meatmen needed to clean house and reorganize it's management committee. All of the old officers had to be removed from the board and replaced with competant people. "It's not that the Sparkle! board of directors didn't like any of the SM board members," says the new SM corps director Dennis Rodman, "quite the contrary, they are all very dedicated to the corps and would give you the shirt off of their backs if you asked, however, in the past 6 years they have failed to put the brakes on the downward spiral that was the corps treasury. Most of the exiting board will still participate in some capacity with the corps, just not in positions in which they will have influence on the corps finances."

The Sparkle! organization has taken many other steps to help bring the Sweet Meatmen back into the fold. They have participated in hiring the new SM staff and have also provided guidance and support to the new SM management committee.

Mr. Reardon said “If they need our help administratively or organizationally, we will certainly help them out. We don’t want to see them fail.”

The Sweet Meatmen have gotten off to a very good start this year after their short period of inactivity. Initially, the corps was going to remain true to its history and remain all-male, however, there were not enough auditionees to fill all of the spots. The administrative team made the decision to make the corps co-ed. Word-of-mouth spread and a large pool of talent came knocking on the door at the next rehearsal. SW guard instructor Carmen Electra said “It was a great move on our part, because it looked as though we wouldn’t be able to field a corps again, despite the generosity of the Sparkle! organization.”

The Sweet Meatmen have been taking the slow and steady path to improving their performances. Taking a holistic approach, they have been working on improving their competencies across all of the captions, not just focusing on one or two alone. This has resulted in a slow, but steady climb in scores, and a very consistent ranking in the top ten of Division II corps. “Wut normally goes down when a group reforms is that they do crappy the first year back out and then they work their way back up to play wit’ the big dawgs. That’s if they can even git their [expletive deleted] right to begin wit” says corps director Dennis Rodman. “We be doin sump’n different. We’re start’n wit a decent program and work’n it up from there.”

“While we have been making some changes to the show, we have not tried to bite off more than we could chew, but have taken measured steps to improve the show without having to take a hit in our scores,” said SW drill designer Magic Johnson. “We’ll see if our latest changes pay off this week.” SW is currently ranked tenth in Division II competition.

When asked about the quality and dedication of the membership, Rodman said “Dem dawgz and [expletive deleted] are taking it to the mat, ya dig? They do what we axe of ‘em and dey is put’n out. We’ll be square, no matter wut goes down.”

"We be whack'n em down to da curb!" exclaims Sweet Meatmen corps director Dennis Rodman. "We take 'em to the mat, chews 'em up, and spit 'em out!"

The Sweet Meatmen have been on a tear these past few weeks and have made their way up through the ranks of Division II DLOFDC competition. At the Div II/III regional in Oklahoma City last night, the corps tied for second place with the Crazy 88, three tenths behind current Div II leader The Velcro Knights, who scored a 91.05 to take home the title.

The corps' holistic approach to improvement has really paid off. "We've been adhearing to our plan of improving all of our competencies at the same time, without sacrificing one for another" says brass caption head Lance Bass. "It's been a struggle but it's finally paying off. I hope we can maintain this rate of improvement to catch up to The Cro [The Velcro Knights]."

"The first half of the season we were hovering in the middle of the pack, but we've been able to turn up the heat during the second half of tour, and things are shaping up nicely," says SM guard instructor Carmen Electra. "It's very gratifying to see the kids do this well when just a few months ago the corps didn't even exist."

Rodman admits "We be crank'n 'till finals, when we'll really lay the smack down. Watch out, yo!"