Akin to a Mexican flash flood interrupting a siesta and washing the "f" y "aijee" out of a fiesta, this summer has gushed with entertainment. Laps have been erased with all the applauding fan$. I want to thank Brian Hickman of the Glassmen in particular. For two years the G'men have put on superbly entertaining shows as have Carolina Crown, Bluecoats, Boston Crusaders...Certainly, many others also have GEed us, but I'm especially proud to see Toledo turn to gold 'n glitter. Narrate this: Bet on the horses or buy a new suit in Charlotte! Establish law and order in Canton. Count conquests amid cheers! But count on DCInternational to be more thrilling nowadays.

Roman and Susan Blenski along with folks like Murray Davis, Donny Allen on brass and Harry Heidelmark on semi and camera, make the Pioneer experience special. I still recall the January 2007 DCInternational Atlanta meeting when Roman and his DM remained behind to explore sites for his corps to visit during their July Georgia Dome show...Then, that July, I was with Roman when he left to take Pio to Stone Mountain and other educational sites.

The Cavaliers and Blue Devils appear to be glued to their gilded perches with another year of stunning shows. Let me have it full force, BD Giovanni Laidler, with high G or more! Whether it's "Samurai" or Wayne Downey at his best, catch 'em, folks. Greg Orwoll has done it again with both the Colts and Colts Cadets. I'm curious to experience what Jeff Fiedler has tweaked with the Santa Clara Vanguard. Pacific Crest, what are you up to this tour? Impulse? How velvety is VK, Mayra Iraheta, Troy Emmons and Thom Willet? Just how difficult is the Academy show?

DCI CEO Dan Acheson, Sue Kuehnhold, Joe Courtney, Mike Boo and all the DCI staff deserve kudos for oiling the way for the Championships despite slooow construction mishaps and Mother Nature collapsing Indiana's touchdown drought field. (Disclaimer: Ohio State bias snuck into opinion. I never claimed to be PC. Put that in your smelly, wiggy cigarette holder.)

Kingsmen -- I'll miss y'all this summer. DCI Semifinals will be superb, just not the same. Neither will Finals without the USMC D&BC, or the recently-returned-from-Iraq Marines. All 283 Kingsmen were smoking at the Rose Bowl. Let's rendezvous yet again, SoCal Dream Mike Plachta and Bill Howard! I expect to see Joe "Jag" Anthony, video smiley face, handing out more roses to debutantes.

Photographers -- Give it up for the all of them. Stalwarts like Dan Scafidi, Ron Walloch, Richard Wersinger, Francesca DeMello, Hans Kloppert, Moe Knox, Jeff Sallee, Karen Sunmark, Harry Heidelmark, Charlie Groh, David Rice, Klaus Kuehne et al. work expertly on the sidelines across 'Merica, Canada and Europe to get those superb mug shots, those panned action photo freezes. Order your photos!

Fred Windish, the Reading Buccaneers Alumni "Communications" guru, sent, "The competing corps continued on its winning ways over the Fourth of July Weekend by earning another victory at the “Sounds of the South” DCA(ssociates) competition in Manassas, Virginia. After a grueling day before, when the corps marched five parades throughout Maryland, our Blue Crew returned Saturday with enough wind in their sails to blow through the competition and continue their pursuit of a fourth straight DCA Championship crown. The Bucs scored an 80.538 to top the much-improved Connecticut Hurricanes who checked-in at 77.088. Finishing out the Manassas show were Music City Legend (Nashville, TN) at 68.788, Fusion Corps (Northern New Jersey) with a 68.238 and Carolina Gold (Rocky Mount, NC) at 64.900. The Sun Devils (Orlando,FL) (62.288 and Shenandoah Sound, the host, 55.613, -1.6, rounded out the roster)."

Windish breezed away, "Back up North, in Rochester, NY, the Empire Statesmen made their 2008 competitive debut by placing 2nd in their own show. Celebrating their 25th Anniversary, the Statesman tallied a 76.063, just under winning Hawthorne Caballeros who posted a 76.425. Placing third were the Brigadiers at 70.363. Rochester Crusaders took fourth with a 69.438. Finishing fifth were the White Sabers (60.575). It’s tough to assess scores from different shows on the same date, but, so far, the Buccaneers have received high numbers and they’ve done it with strength across all captions. Special credit goes to the color guard. Although both Hurricanes and Caballeros score well in this category, the 2008 Bucs guard entered this season better prepared than 2007 and should be a threat to win the caption at championships.

"Within the West, San Francisco Renegades (75.000) and Midwest, Minnesota Brass (76.000) appear to be certain finalists at championships. Kilties (67.125), now led by former Madison Scouts Director, Scott Stewart have come out bigger and stronger. Expect a return to the top ten for Mad Plaid."

Golly Gotham, just think about the traffic jam battling for 10th at Paetec Park in Rochester Labor Day weekend. Corps like gliding dancing maidens Crusaders, Renaissance Kilties, contra wailing Joe Murphy's Law Music City Legend, etc., make this the most exciting "bottom tier" fistfight in DCA history that goes back to 1965 when the Bucs barely beat out the Hurricanes and the Skyliners in the first year. I'm going to need two trips to the BBQ pits of Dinosaurs to handle the intrigue. I won't name names but some of youse guys (Think of David Martin, Hitmen, annunciating) better be looking back over your epaulets as you ride the pampas and prairies of competition.

DCA Class A has been expanded to allow the top four in Finals. Just in time as Class A will be another battle of the 35 - 65 corps proper units. SoCal Dream, Fusion Core, Govies, Chops, Frontier, Gold, Sun Devils, Alliance and more are all contenders.

Speaking of '65 Mustangs?, here's the number crunching from DCA's initial championships: Milford, CT September 11, 1965 DCA FINALS: 1. Buccaneers 84.500 2. Hurricanes 84.360 3. Skyliners 83.160 4. Yankee Rebels 80.250 5. Interstatesmen 79.950 6. Rockets 76.950

Read DCA history ("Drum Corps History," vol. 1, 2, for sale at DCW or DCP) for the political hot potato of '65 "no-shows," Jedei. (Thanks to Windish for making the stats so easy to snare. Check out DCP's new Caption Ranking system. Also Google sites like www.corpsreps.com .)

I have it on good, quite recent authority from a source that keeps us informed that it's still looking solid for the Derby City Knights and Cincinnati Tradition to "ooh 'n ahh" and compete at the Rachacha Individuals & Ensembles/Minicorps, sling sarsparillas at the Clarion or Crowne Plaza, gnaw on Dinosaurs...Oh, and rollstep on the lush well-draining turf at Paetec. 28 corps, aficionados!

Get those entries in to Dick Pronti and Barb Haring for DCA I&E/Minicorps, the most bodacious free show in all of corpsdom, www.dcacorps.org ! It's gonna be a ballroom barnstorming record year! Buy your DCA tickets, www.dcacorps.org.

Lining up my summer -- Woodshed like a beaver in a poplar grove. Get it on! Eat tacos for ride to Rochester. Hope to have my BBQ "date" with my Ontario honeys; Ace Holleran can tag along. Hug Annie Sullivan; ignore Bob. Would be nice to respite 'n repeat my final morning breakfast with my secret lust in Rachacha...Ah, the camaraderie of corpsdom!

HST should have port armed the weapon and run for sheriff yet again, 'n Tom Wolfe and Gay Talese should have taken a more novelistic and personal approach to explore the dilemma of why Moe Knox is not in both halls of fame.

Publisher's Note: Cozy's Corpsdom features updates from the world of drum corps as only Cozy Baker can deliver ..... in his own unique style and presentation. A featured Drum Corps World reporter and contributing columnist for many years, Cozy travels the country as a competitive marching member, instructor, observer, and commentator on the state-of-the-activity. The opinions expressed in this column are strictly those of the author. (Cozy mug photo by Christina Mavroudis-Dempsey.) You may write to Cozy directly at mailto: \n This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it This email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it .