BigW

Glad to hear the turnout was strong. Hopefully the corps and HS groups both gathered up some solid funds. Good to hear people are turning out. Looked at the map, not a bad drive for me, maybe a bit long, we'll see about next year when the time comes.

Now there was a corps that would have benefited from Class A to a T. Solid smaller group, great solo work.

As late as 1983, we pulled Love for Sale, replaced with Winnetka for the first show of the season, than reinserted it after Frank insisted we could do the chart once we worked on it with him and began to understand it. He was correct. that being said, most of the corps knew Winnetka, and there were maybe 3 drill sets. As for designer ego, I see it a lot. Judging ego, I saw it BITD. No names, but in 1979, one of our DCA competitors evidently rewrote a lot of their program based on the suggestions of one individual. They overreacted when they saw that show at Bucknell with all of their suggested changes- and they were major changes- and called the contest. Not a good thing when every other panel member has your corps up and one judge alone puts another ahead by themselves by a serious swing in numbers. Needless to say, that individual was gone for that season. The job is not to rewrite the show for the group, Don. The thing you need to do when judging, and you're paid to do this as one of your responsibilities- is to try and point out things that may not be working as well as they should be and why you think it's not working. The question then becomes for the staff, do they agree or not? Can they take what they have and make it better? Do they need to tweak part of it? And if the answer is yes, how and how much? That's the staff's decision. I've been on staffs where those conversations came up. We put some serious discussions down on it, sometimes we changed stuff sometimes, we kept it. On the flip side, if they continue to do what they wanted and it starts to work, You have to man up and realize they had things right and credit where credit is due. John's spot on though about ability to make major alterations. Sometimes you may just be better off knowing it's not good at a certain spot because the season's so short and you just have to clean the bejeezus out of it and take the effect lumps. You get more clean than you do if it's 'better' material but not performed very well, that's a fact you deal with. Sometimes changing a shape of a form by 2 steps or less in certain spots can work miracles. Changing how a couple of people get from a to b with the path they take can make things better with the shows the way they are now. My guess is the Cabs have been doing both of those things all season- small changes that make a bigger difference than anyone realizes.

Brother Dave, Sorry, the shows were kinda in other intergalactic sectors from where I live, and I had some other commitments. Taking care of a good friend's Border Collie is an intense thing for me. They're too daggone smart. Gimme a cat a any day. I'll be back for at least Scranton and Prelims. Still need to get a Big Sounds ticket, debating on that. Watch. Amy will be chasing me down now. I have a feeling I'll be boarded by Pirates and taken there at cutlass point.

Hmm, Ray makes me think... Well, I avoid the DCI end. What's scary to me is they're supposed to be the smarter more sophisticated crew, and all I read there is "DON'T BOO ANYONE U STINK AND ARE A HORRIBLE BAD PERSON IF U DO, APPLAUD WILDY FOR EVERYONE BUT BLUE DEVILS EVEN IF YOU'RE BORED TO TEARS BY THE PROGRAM U JUST SAW, CROWN IS THE GREAT WHITE HOPE, EVERYONE LUFF CROWN COS OF THAT LOUD LOUD DID I SAY REALLY LOUD? HORN LINE!!!! AND OF BD WINS TEAR DOWN THE STADIUM AND RIOT!!!!" As for DCA-- I haven't seen anyone yet that makes me wish I was scoping out what was at the concession stand and thinking about eating a Taco in a Bag or some Vinegar Fries instead of sitting there watching the show. Ream will tell you food is a very strong motivator for me. It doesn't take much to get me running for that Taco in a Bag. I'm more worried about it being engaging over who will win, who might win if the right scenario occurs, or what score x gets right now. I just wanna see people going for the gusto and performing with some inspiration with something fun, inventive, and thoughtful to watch and listen to. If that happens, I'm not worried about DCA. Things will be okay in the long run if that keeps happening.

You tap really well. I tap dance more like Bill Cosby myself.

Donny, no need to apologize for stating truth that anyone could go to the DCA site and look up on their own from carefully reading the recaps and counting on their fingers if necessary. Something would be wrong if you WEREN'T a bit disturbed by it. Hopefully you had a good dialogue about it post contest and the issues are resolved for the good of the corps and really, everyone else. That's what counts. Stuff like that happens, as long as everyone ends up on the same page and things are worked out, it'll be all good.

Wish I still had mine. Thinking of getting the local hippie airbrush guy to make me a special pigeon shirt.

Baby Power, Baby Powder? You mean they had a baby pedaling a tricycle hooked up to a generator to power their synthesizers? Or you mean baby power like the Wacky Races cartoon? Man, explain this. It has to be better than the Pigeons.

Lord.... that was something, especially from my viewpoint on the field when I was trying to catch them. It started crazy, and went from that to worse. I did catch one.

Hey! You been reading this with the aid of that gi-normous white telescope?

Yes. I could be struck by lightning or win the Powerball. It could happen. But it's not likely. I'm more of a guy who believes in seeing the performance rather than dreaming. Someone could implode. Believe me, I know that, too. I've been a part of that as well. I'd rather wait to see what actually goes down than predict it. I think what bothers me, Jeff, is that some of the scenarios cooked up pretty much imply a major implosion/meltdown of one or all of the top 3. I kind of find that insulting to those corps. The staff and personnel of those organizations deserve better. I know enough of them to know they have their acts together and are pretty professional. They're not very likely to let things slip out of control like that. As I said in the review on C2, potential is a filthy word to me, it's the way I was trained. You can talk up all of that potential and dream of what it could be, but it's what you do with it in reality that counts. When a guy like Truman Crawford tells you that as a kid, it sticks with you. I'm also certain one of the people who also drilled that into me as a kid is drilling that into the heads of the Cabs as well at every rehearsal.

Agreed. I don't know what show other people are seeing with the Cabs that's "tapped out". Again, I have seen them live- I don't think they have. BIG difference in perceptions, but we have been down that road before. If they were tapped out they wouldn't have won at Kingston, period. I don't know where some of these individuals get their information. I do know the staff there was ready to make serious tweaks and enhancements to that program as early as Bucknell and I would guess have been the entire summer. The program has strong potential, and is being undersold with the statement it's "Tapped out". That's in the realm of "Crazy talk". Based on the Kingston numbers and the way they skew, the Cabs still have a lot of room for growth based on top number to bottom spreads in most captions. If the bottom numbers were over top, I would agree with the "tapped out" claim, but that's obviously not the case where they are concerned. Too much wishful thinking and not enough looking at the scores and seeing performances.

Problem is--- Again, as Jeff said, fans complained. There are good smaller organizations, very good ones, but the fact is that many people who see marching organizations equate good with big and loud. The dreaded college band effect. Seen it. Been a part of it. Played like crap at a major band circuit championship when I was in college, parents from one of the top bands told us we were great because we were "LOUD". Got high fived off the field for one of the most "grotesque performances EVER!" by one of our fan-boys, Director told us in the Tuba section we sounded like "Elephants in heat", we did... but the fans dug it. In certain big city regions, the "good" bands are the big, loud ones backing great football teams. Just ask anyone who lives out there. They'll tell you. Most of them are pretty lame, but... they're BIG and LOUD. That's what Joe hot dog digs. Doesn't matter they play the same old crap Jenson arrangement of "On Broadway" over and over until you want to run away and escape the torture, it's LOUD, therefore it is GOOD. The other problem is this: So... you see a good small corps under 35 peeps. What do you drop it to? What's the magic number? Otherwise, you leave the door open for some of the fly by night operations that plagued DCA BITD. You also leave fans and contest sponsors grumbling.

C2, win championships? Really? You see them at Downingtown as compared to what MBI and the Bucs offer? Sorry. Any theoretical C2 "best run" will fall short to those programs. They also are rehearsing and improving. And really, the Cabs program is also a very solid package as well from the effect triad standpoint. I still put it ahead of the C2 package. In terms of coordination/overall package, the top 3 right now have that element covered in spades over C2. It would take a lot more than they have now. Miracle? Possible. I can keep open to something like it happening. But I don't put it at a very high level of probability.

Hold on- May be possible with a 5 corps contest. Memory can make that also a problem in a large contest. Also, if the boxes are used correctly, the competitors will be ranked and rated pretty much where they should be. Ever been in the hot seat and tried to remember what you saw an hour or three before and then fairly try and relate it at the end of the contest and THEN stick the numbers down? Not as easy a solution as is offered. I would think a DCI level adjudicator can competently manage their numbers in such a way that if someone good is on early, they can deal with it in as fair and professional a manner as possible. If not, well, there are a lot of others out there they can call in for the future.

Cabs are also moving the target and making changes and improvements. I think both corps will put on really fine shows at Scranton. We'll have to see where the scores lie then. I just see a pattern of a few folks discounting C2 here and there. They're pretty decent this year.

Hmm. 14 total finalists, proportionate to the amount in each class, round up favoring the Open Class?? An idea, but it might have its drawbacks just thinking to myself now. I believe the reason they limit to 4 A's is to try and encourage people to grow their organizations and make the move to Open. that makes good business sense and corps who can develop are moving up, which I think has been good for those corps and for DCA as a whole. Then again, a LOT harder to get into A finals than Open to be honest. A lot more A corps aren't performing Sunday, IIRC, only 2 opens pack up after Saturday this year.

Agreed, Jeff. I can think of a few names of corps who kinda showed up at one or two DCA competitions and then went under who were not very good. Everyone likes to talk about the halcyon good ole, most awesome, best "EVAR" days where a bunch of corps would appear at DCA prelims, and I won't mention names, but some of them weren't very good at all, sad to say. Sub-40 numbers, even sub-30 ones. My guess is those would translate to sub-60 scores with today's sheets. And that's at Prelims, not at an early season show. And before people think I'm a kid saying that, I competed against some of them. And we're talking a 40 point spread between Westshore and those corps. Totally insane to even imagine that. The way the system is set up now, a 5 point spread is a notable difference. Anything exceeding 10 is serious. I know some of the stuff I have heard in the stands when a small corps struggles, and it makes me cringe. I prefer heckling corps that get a bit too presumptuous in DCI myself, at least there's quality even when the show itself is a pompous, over blown train wreck. Seriously, there is a solution to Sayre's issue. You need to bring on to the staff a mad scientist/insane genius who basically works on integrating those individuals and making them look good and makes them useful. so the rest of the staff can do their main jobs and tasks. Someone like..... Hmm...

Agreed. They went from a good corps last year that charged hard late to claw out the last A spot into one of three corps that I think could win A. That's a big difference in ability. What they just need to do is get as high a seed as possible for Prelims to make sure they get a read next to the Govies, preferably after them IMHO. I'm certain they already know this, and they also know it's very attainable if they just keep doing what they're doing.

Agreed. The big issue the way the numbers read is that the Cabs in certain areas appear to have a lot more room for growth for the rerst of the season. Especially the two bottom over tops in percussion and GE Music for Empire.

I found the cat somewhere. I liked him, and he fits. He's basically a thinner version of Dad's cat, Spot. My sister used to get Spot pretty cranked up BITD.

The activity can be life changing. It's one of the reasons I taught at Milton Hershey School for nine seasons with their Drum and wind Corps when it was actively competing. Fusion is a good place, with people who understand and who can definitely teach you up if you keep at it. they need more team players like you- and will work with you and get you up to speed. For you, it's mainly brass technique. Hopefully musicality is already in you, and that's usually the most difficult thing to teach. Heck, even now about the only time I feel good about anything is when I'm with Westshore Alumni. One of two places where I even feel I really fit in.

COOL! A Gnome rotary, or something more exotic?

It's a problem. On one hand, people bemoan the fact there are less corps, and less big corps. One of the old grognards spoke to me at the show and pretty much laid all that out. So, people want to encourage corps to take the field. I don't know if the standards are all that low. There have been instances where corps trying to get into DCA haven't passed the muster and have to go back to the drawing board and try again. Even if you stack the pit, at least, for Lord's sake, make the best use of the assets. There's so much they could do. Anyone with any scholastic experience at the smaller end- me for instance- knows this and works with it. I just see a real lack of that kind of imagination and resourcefulness when it's so badly needed. Thanks for speaking up!