DCPI Crowns Champions
It has been a fantastic week of competition at the Drum Corps Planet-International (DCPI) Fantasy Drum Corps championships. This week saw a total of 56 corps competing across three divisions for the DCPI Champions’ Trophy. This was the seventh season of competition for the fantasy corps, a run that stretches back to the spring of 2004. Similar to fantasy football, fantasy drum corps is a fantasy league that lets DCP members run their own “virtual” drum corps from the comfort of their own homes.
The corps went through a grueling week of eliminations that saw the top 12 division 1 and top 6 division 2 and division 3 corps advance to finals in Charlotte NC. In division 3 competition, Gary Currier’s “Cape Cod Regiment” from Massachussetts performed a unique and emotional rendition of “The Color Purple” to win with a score of 86.02. A pair of west-coast corps, Bill Price’s “VK³” from California and Matt Briddell’s “Providence” from Oregon took second and third, respectively.
The Division 2 competition was the closest it has ever been in the history of DCPI, with the top 6 corps separated by a scant seven tenths of a point! Performing an original composition entitled “The Goddess of Fire”, Hawaii’s “Star of Hawaii”, managed by Mikeke Ho won their second consecutive title with a score of 90.21 over Matthew Smith’s “Bleu Knights” from Idaho. Third place went to Gary Currier’s “Les Blanc Chevaliers” from Montreal Quebec.
The Division 1 competition was extremely intense all season long, as a number of corps looked to be in contention to take home the top prize. The week started with a surprising leader, as “Nastalgia” from Kentucky, managed by Cedrick Leavell, came out of nowhere to finish first on prelims night. However, they were not able to maintain their newfound strength and nearly found themselves eliminated in the next round before finally bowing out in semifinals. Finals night saw the top two corps, inaugural DCPI champion “Kosmos” from Bloomington IN, managed by Matt Briddell, and 2-time former champion “Mystre” from Las Vegas NV, managed by Shannon Jeffreys, deadlocked in a tie from semifinals, with last season’s champion, “Star of Jupiter” from Florida, managed by Michael Ringgold, right on their heels. When the dust settled, Kosmos emerged victorious to claim their second DCPI crown, defeating Mystre by a mere two one-hundredths of a point (0.02) – the closest championship finish in DCP-I history! Star of Jupiter finished third in a valiant effort that saw them take home caption awards in color guard, percussion and a share of the general effect caption (which was split between 5 corps), but it was Kosmos who took home the DCPI Champions’ Trophy with their innovative program based on Frank Miller’s movie “Sin City”.
Interested in becoming a DCPI director yourself? You can find all the details you need to get started at DCPI’s official website,
http://www.drumcorpsfantasy.com. We will be starting our next season in mid-June, which will coincide with DCI’s season. Participation is free and open to all registered members of Drum Corps Planet and its affiliate sites. The off-season rules congress will take place in April, and the Season 8 tour schedule will be announced in May when registration will open. Stay tuned to Drumcorpsfantasy.com for updates on the upcoming season.
