Mike Backhus is a second-year member of Blue Knights. He was expecting to play contra this week, and he was doing so all season until Monday of the Drum Corps International World Championships Week when he fractured his left tibia. Mike recounts, "Two weeks before the latest injury, I twisted my left knee and developed shin splints. I still continued to march half of the show and then went backfield to conduct. I came back for the ballad because I could march its slow pace and its forward direction." Due to the injury, he couldn't walk backwards. "This past Monday, I tripped during the opener and fractured my left tibia. The trouble with that type of an injury is that it hurts more to take weight off the leg than to apply it." According to Mike, it is a hairline stress fracture that is held in place by the inflammation of the muscles. Mike had the injury x-rayed and had the leg immobilized. "I'll be on crutches until it heals. Its hard to determine how long it'll take." "The corps is trying to find parts in the show where I can conduct at the side of the field to accommodate members that have trouble finding tempo references. We don't know yet if it will happen, but I hope so," he said. "I hope the staff finds this to be feasible, otherwise I'll be watching the corps perform in competition."