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  1. WORLD CLASS The 2024 DCI Tour kicks off on Wednesday, June 26, 2024, in Rockford, Michigan and concludes on Saturday, August 10, 2024, in Indianapolis, Indiana. In between, there will be 38 days with World Class corps in competition, an increase of one day from 2023, but a decrease of 7 days from the last pre-COVID tour in 2019 and 6 days from the scheduled 2020 tour. Key Match-Ups Blue Devils, Bluecoats, and Carolina Crown were the top 3 finishers in 2023. Boston Crusaders and The Cadets rounded out the Top 5. In 2022, Santa Clara Vanguard was in this Top 5 group instead of The Cadets. Mandarins joined the Top 6 in 2023, a spot rounded out by The Cadets in 2022. Let’s see when these corps first come together this season. Note: The Cadets will not be participating in the 2024 season. June 28th - Carolina Crown meets Boston Crusaders head-to-head at its first show in Muncie, Indiana. Blue Devils and Mandarins open their seasons in San Diego. June 29th - A Blue Devils - Santa Clara Vanguard match-up comes to us for the first time on June 29th in Los Angeles and should give us a quick hint at whether Vanguard is returning from a year off the competition circuit as a medalist contender or not. Keep in mind that other than not competing in 2023, SCV has not placed outside the Top 5 since 2011 (6th). Mandarins are also at this show. July 2nd - Bluecoats debut in Mason, Ohio with Boston Crusaders and Carolina Crown at the same show. July 16th - Blue Devils, Bluecoats, Boston Crusaders, Carolina Crown, and Mandarins are all at Broken Arrow, Oklahoma. July 20th - All World Class corps meet head-to-head in San Antonio. The 7-12 spots have been filled with Blue Knights, Blue Stars,The Cavaliers, Colts, Phantom Regiment, and Troopers the last two competitive seasons. All of these top 12 corps will meet for the first (and only) time prior to Indy in San Antonio on July 20. The corps on the cusp here are likely Crossmen (#13 in 2022 and 2023), Madison Scouts (#16 in 2023 and #15 in 2022), Pacific Crest (#14 in 2023 and #19 in 2022), and Spirit of Atlanta (#15 in 2023). Year-Over-Year Comparison Jersey Surf is engaging in a more traditional two-phase tour in 2022. As a result, the corps will not make its way to San Antonio. Combined with the alteration to what was the DCI Southeastern Championship in Atlanta this year, all 22 World Class corps do not compete on the same night until they arrive in Indianapolis. 2019 2020 2022 2023 2024 Days with World Class corps in competition 45 44 41 37 38 # of times when all World Class corps compete on the same day 4 (7/13 - DeKalb, Denver, Memphis; 7/20 - San Antonio, 7/27 - Atlanta; 8/8 - Indianapolis) 4 (7/12 - Denver & St. Louis; 7/18 - San Antonio; 7/25 - Atlanta; 8/6 - Indianapolis) 1 (8/11 - Indianapolis) 2 (7/22 - San Antonio & Sewell; 8/10 - Indianapolis) 4 (7/13 - Clifton, Ft. Collins, Little Rock, Northern IL; 7/20 - San Antonio; 8/5 - Canton, Edinboro, Pittsburgh; 8/8 - Indianapolis) Colts lead the way with 23 scheduled appearances followed by Carolina Crown, The Cavaliers, Madison Scouts, and Mandarins with 22 scheduled appearances. Jersey Surf has the fewest scheduled shows at 14 followed by Genesis at 15 and Bluecoats, Music City, and Spirit of Atlanta at 17. Carolina Crown added the most shows over 2023 with three while three corps decreased by three shows (The Academy, Blue Stars, and Genesis). There are no corps scheduled to appear at more shows than they were scheduled to have in 2020 prior to the season cancellation. Bluecoats have decreased the most (-11 shows) while Pacific Crest decreased the least (-2 shows). Please note that the numbers below include only Thursday of Indy and represent the schedules as they were initially released each year. They do not necessarily reflect the final schedules. Scheduled Competitions (including Day 1 in Indy) 2018 2019 2020 2022 2023 2024 2024 vs. 2023 The Academy 26 25 25 21 21 18 -3 Blue Devils 24 25 23 18 19 19 0 Blue Knights 27 23 24 22 18 20 +2 Blue Stars 28 29 29 24 24 21 -3 Bluecoats 30 29 28 20 17 17 0 Boston Crusaders 30 25 26 20 20 20 0 Carolina Crown 27 25 26 19 19 22 +3 The Cavaliers 29 28 29 26 22 22 0 Colts 29 28 28 23 21 23 +2 Crossmen 28 24 27 21 19 18 -1 Genesis 24 21 23 21 18 15 -3 Jersey Surf 20 20 21 14 12 14 +2 Madison Scouts 26 26 27 21 22 22 0 Mandarins 25 25 26 24 21 22 +1 Music City 21 24 25 21 17 17 0 Pacific Crest 23 21 22 19 21 20 -1 Phantom Regiment 30 28 28 23 22 21 -1 Santa Clara Vanguard 25 25 24 20 0 19 +19 Seattle Cascades 20 18 21 21 18 18 0 Spirit of Atlanta 27 24 26 0 17 17 0 Troopers 27 26 24 20 20 19 -1 Genesis will wait an entire week longer to join the DCI tour in 2024 compared to 2023 while Jersey Surf is going in the opposite direction thanks to the new combined shows with All Age corps. Seattle Cascades (5 days earlier) and Troopers (9 days later) also have significantly different start dates this coming summer. Days after season opening show when first competition occurs 2019 2020 2022 2023 2024 The Academy 1 1 0 3 5 Blue Devils 1 1 1 3 2 Blue Knights 8 8 8 9 9 Blue Stars 0 0 4 0 0 Bluecoats 0 0 4 7 6 Boston Crusaders 0 0 4 3 0 The Cadets 0 8 8 3 n/a Carolina Crown 0 0 7 2 2 The Cavaliers 1 0 4 2 0 Colts 3 3 7 0 0 Crossmen 3 0 4 9 9 Genesis 8 8 9 9 16 Jersey Surf 12 12 8 23 17 Madison Scouts 3 2 8 3 3 Mandarins 1 1 0 3 2 Music City 4 4 8 7 9 Pacific Crest 8 8 0 3 3 Phantom Regiment 0 3 4 0 0 Santa Clara Vanguard 1 2 0 n/a 3 Seattle Cascades 15 14 14 14 9 Spirit of Atlanta 4 5 n/a 10 9 Troopers 1 3 14 0 9 Longest stretch of “no show” days 2019 2020 2022 2023 2024 The Academy 5 4 5 4 3 Blue Devils 5 5 5 3 4 Blue Knights 2 3 2 2 2 Blue Stars 3 3 2 3 3 Bluecoats 3 3 5 5 5 Boston Crusaders 4 3 3 4 4 The Cadets 2 8 4 2 n/a Carolina Crown 5 4 6 5 4 The Cavaliers 4 4 2 4 4 Colts 2 2 2 4 3 Crossmen 3 2 4 4 2 Genesis 4 3 3 3 2 Jersey Surf 2 2 14 2 4 Madison Scouts 2 2 2 3 3 Mandarins 4 4 8 3 4 Music City 2 2 2 3 3 Pacific Crest 4 8 7 4 4 Phantom Regiment 3 3 3 3 3 Santa Clara Vanguard 4 4 5 n/a 3 Seattle Cascades 6 2 3 2 4 Spirit of Atlanta 4 2 4 3 3 Troopers 4 5 2 5 3
  2. I'll be back with data analysis in a day or two, but here's a spreadsheet version of everything on today's schedule release with some historical data.
  3. August 12 Rundown Despite extremely close spreads in several parts of the Top 12, there were no changes from Semifinals to Finals. Blue Devils win its third championship in a row representing the corps' first three-peat. Bluecoats repeat as silver medalists and Carolina Crown returns to the medalist line-up for the first time since 2017 with bronze. A Few Final Notes As has been the case every year I have been tracking scores this way, no corps in the top 15 moved more than two places from the San Antonio regional to finals night. Mandarins completes its best season ever with a 6th place finish, four spots higher than the corps' previous high placement in World Class (10th in 2022, 2019, and 2018). Eleven years ago (2012), the corps placed 23rd. Colts ties its best season ever with a 9th place finish, two spots higher than the corps' previous high placement in Lucas Oil Stadium (11th in 2022). Troopers has its highest placement since 1985 (9th) and best performance at Lucas Oil Stadium with this year's 10th place finish. The corps' previous high in Indy was 12th in 2022. Lucas Oil History (Current Competitve Model Only Since 2011) Best Season Relative to Historical Average Mandarins - 6th - Average 15.4 - High 6, Low 23 Music City - 17th - Average 24.6 - High 17, Low 32 Southwind - 22nd - Average 28.2 - High 22, Low 33 Gold - 20th - Average 25.8 - High 20, Low 34 Colts - 9th - Average 14.2 - High 9, Low 17 Worst Season Relative to Historical Average Madison Scouts - 16th - Average 12.4 - High 8, Low 17 Blue Knights - 12th - Average 9.1 - High 6, Low 14 The Academy - 18th - Average 15.4 - High 11, Low 19 The Cavaliers - 8th - Average 6.4 - High 3, Low 9 Blue Stars - 11th - Average 9.9 - High 7, Low 13
  4. Correct - However, this section was all about Lucas Oil Stadium performance placement. This has been edited to be clear in that sentence in addition to the heading.
  5. August 11 Rundown Blue Devils had the second biggest score increase over Prelims (0.587 points vs. Gold's 0.663 points) which does not bode well for the the corps hoping to make a move. Blue Devils leads by 1.287 points. Bluecoats passed Carolina Crown for the second place spot by just 0.038 points with Boston Crusaders 0.212 points back from there. Phantom Regiment gained some ground on Mandarins and The Cadets. Just 0.450 points separates 5th and 7th. Troopers moved ahead of Blue Stars into the #10 spot by 0.175 points. After a close battle all season long, Blue Knights somewhat easily took the #12 spot with a 0.950 point margin over Crossmen in 13th. The only other change from Prelims was Music City taking sole ownership of the #17 spot over The Academy. Some Quick Lucas Oil Stadium All-Time History for #13 and Beyond Columbians debuts at 24th. Southwind made it to Semifinals for the first time since returning to championship competition as an Open Class corps in 2017. Guardians fell out of Semifinals after making it last year for the first time. Southwind beats its best ever performance at Lucas Oil Stadium with this 22nd place finish. Previous best was 27th in 2019. Same for The Batallion (26th vs previous best of 27th in 2022), Colt Cadets (30th vs. previous best of 32nd in 2013 and 2014) Music City ties its best ever placement at 17th (2022). So does Pacific Crest at 14th (2019), Gold at 20th (2022), Spartans at 19th (2019), River City Rhythm at 28th (2019), Raiders at 31st (2013 and 2014), and Les Stentors (2022). Crossmen miss finals for the second year in a row for the first time since 2010 and 2011. Blue Knights return to finals after missing it in 2022 for the first time in Lucas Oil Stadium history. August 12 Preview It's finals night! The races are extremely tight in the #1-4 range, #5-7 range, and #10-11 range. Who knows?!
  6. August 10 Rundown Blue Devils maintain its undefeated run at the title with a 0.713 victory over Carolina Crown. Top 15 Compared to Previous Regionals Carolina Crown moved up from 4th in San Antonio and 3rd in Atlanta and Allentown to the silver medalist spot by just under 0.300 points. Boston Crusaders fell to almost 0.400 points behind Bluecoats for the bronze. The Cadets has now taken 5th in three consecutive regional rankings, followed by Mandarins and then Phantom Regiment for the last two. The Cadets lead Mandarins by 0.325 points. Mandarins lead Phantom Regiment by 0.688. The Cavaliers has finished in 8th each regional weekend. Colts moved up to 9th, a spot held by Blue Stars and Troopers previously and by a strong 0.812 point margin over Blue Stars. Troopers trail by 0.200 points for 10th. Blue Knights returned to the coveted 12th space spot after Crossmen took the spot in Allentown. Pacific Crest moved one spot closer to 14th, but at 1.338 points behind Crossmen, this has become a two corps fight for the last spot in Saturday night's show. The Rest of the Field The biggest surprise of the night has to be Music City moving up to a tie for 17th with The Academy. When the two corps last met on August 2, The Academy led by 1.750 points. Music City put up the largest score increase over the previous show (2.338 points). Open Class Champion Spartans finished in 19th place, one spot lower than the 2022 Open Class Champion (Vanguard Cadets) placed last year. Gold, Southwind, and Columbians join Spartans in moving on to World Class Semifinals from the Open Class ranks. This is Columbians first appearance in Semifinals, in the corps first appearance at DCI Championships. All World Class corps moved on with the first corps out of Semis being The Batallion. That corps also finished in 26th place last year. August 11 Preview The most pressing story from a do-or-die perspective is which corps makes finals - Blue Knights or Crossmen. It is a fitting match-up as both corps were knocked out of finals last year but the rise of Colts and Troopers. In head-to-head competition, the corps are evenly divided at two wins apiece. Importantly, the two Blue Knights' victories came in San Antonio and Indianapolis while the two Crossmen wins were in smaller shows in Mesquite and Trussville.
  7. August 8 Rundown Spartans is the Open Class champion! There were no placement changes between Prelims and Finals. Spartans win gold followed by Gold with the silver and Southwind with the Bronze. In its first appearance at Open Class Championships, Columbians finishes in fourth place and The Batallion, in just its second appearance, finishes fifth. An interesting note - Blue Devils B would have finished fifth in the show with its score from July 16th. August 10 Preview It is hard to find something new to focus on here, but the Thursday night question is - which corps make the Top 25 and move on to Friday? It appears that all World Class corps except Jersey Surf and Seattle Cascades are safely in as are the top three Open Class corps. That gets us to 22. Surf and Cascades never competed head-to-head so that's a bit of a toss-up. Columbians have been solidly ahead of The Battalion so even if both World Class corps make it, Columbians seem pretty safe. So the main fight may be between The Battalion and Jersey Surf/Seattle Cascades. Jersey Surf was the last corps in and The Battalion was the the first corps out last year. The Open Class scores typically drop from Open Class Finals to World Class Prelims as well so don't let the current rankings sway you too far. In 2022, scores decreased for every Open class corps by a range of -1.775 (Legends) to -4.513 (Southwind).
  8. August 7 Rundown Marion, IL No real surprises in Open Class Prelims. Spartans continued its undefeated run with a 1.950 point victory over Gold. Southwind is solidly in the bronze medal spot, 2.050 points below Gold and 2.425 points ahead of Columbians. Columbians is poised to finish in the top 5 in its first appearance DCI World Championships. Cincinatti, OH There were no head-to-head placement changes however Madison Scouts moved ahead of The Academy after the order being switched across the two nights in Allentown. August 8 Preview Marion, IL Spartans will be going for its 7th title (1997, 1998, 2004, 2005, 2007, 2019). Gold looks pised for its second straight silver medal. Southwind is in line for its first medal since winning Division II/III in 1992.
  9. I'm unsure the point. Gold has not come close to Spartans in any of those meetings.
  10. August 6 Rundown Pittsburgh, PA No head-to-head placement changes. The show confirmed that Blue Devils is ahead of Carolina Crown by a small margin (0.400 points) and that Blue Knights is ahead of Spirit of Atlanta by nearly a point. This is what was suggested across Allentown nights held true when in the same show. August 7 Preview Marion, IN Open Class Prelims. Gold and Spartans head into Prelims tied in the overall rankings, however Spartans is undefeated and has not been really challenged head-to-head all season long. Columbians makes its DCI World Championships debut. Canton, OH Boston Crusaders-Bluecoats is the marquee match-up in Canton. Like Blue Devils-Carolina Crown last night, this provides an across-night comparison of two of the top corps coming out of Allentown. Cincinnati, OH This is the time for The Cavaliers to make a move if the corps is truly in the 5-7 conversation. Head-to-head with just the Mandarins. Edinboro, PA The closest race represented in this show is Spirit of Atlanta and Pacific Crest. If Pacific Crest is going to reemerge in the Top 12 conversations, a head-to-head win over Spirit would certainly help.
  11. August 5 Rundown Allentown, PA Let's start at the top. Boston Crusaders edged Carolina Crown by 0.037 after Crown being up by 0.350 points the last time the two met on July 29th. Despite Bluecoats being closer to Blue Devils than any other corps so far this season on Friday night, somehow Boston Crusaders and Carolina Crown fit in between and there is now a 0.525 point gap from 1st to 4th! The 5-7 battle did not disappoint either. The Cadets, despite going down in score, came out on top with a 0.137 point margin over Mandarins who in turn had a 0.013 point margin over Phantom Regiment. The Cavaliers are less than a point back from this group. Crossmen made a solid statement for the #12 spot with a 1.450 point victory over Spirit of Atlanta. This puts the corps 0.800 points ahead of Blue Knights for that coveted spot in finals. Avon Lake, OH Very large score increases in this show up and down the line-up although interestingly Spartans (this show) and Gold (Charleston show) ended up with the exact same score tonight. Charleston, IL The Batallion saw another large jump in score (2.000 points) while those at the top saw more modest gains. August 6 Preview Pittsburgh, PA There is just one show tonight, but it has two good match-ups. First Blue Devils and Carolina Crown meet head-to-head coming out of being in separate shows in Allentown. Will Blue Devils open up the spread again? Another match-up that did not happen in Allentown but is important to Indy is Blue Knights-Spirit of Atlanta. Will one corps emerge as the likeliest challenger to Crossmen for the #12 spot? Saturday Showdown Competitive Landscape - World Class The race at the top is closer than it has been at any point this season with four corps all within one point. While close, Boston Crusaders return to the #2 spot after dropping to #4 in Atlanta. Bluecoats turned up the heat Friday night but end up in its lowest placement after a regional weekend of the season at #4. The 5-7 grouping has truly become 5-8 with four corps all breaking 90 this week and tightly grouped together. Troopers went from 11th in San Antonio to tied for 10th in Atlanta to 9th in Allentown and have emerged as the front-runner in the 9-11 range. Colts have also moved ahead of Blue Stars in this group. Crossmen moved from 14th in San Antonio to 13th in Atlanta and then to a solid 12th in Allentown as the leader in the last finalist spot race. Blue Knights is less than a point back with Spirit of Atlanta and Pacific Crest less than two points back. The battle for #12 took a turn this week as well with Crossmen re-emerging with some head-to-head victories that put it in contention with Blue Knights and Pacific Crest for that final spot. Whether Spartans should also be on the list of corps with potential for a Saturday night World Class competitive slot remains to be seen. Competitive Landscape - Open Class All head-to-head competition points to Spartans as the clear favorite for an undefeated Open Class season. Spartans held a 1.800 point advantage over Gold the last time the corps met up on July 31st. Gold comes next followed by Southwind as the very likely medalists. Columbians and The Batallion are next in the rankings and have yet to see each other in head-to-head competition. There has been a lot of score movement this week as corps that took off the middle of the season rejoined tour so there's some volatility in scores and potential rankings heading towards Marion on Monday. On the Rise (2+ spots higher than 2022) Southwind (22nd up from 27th) and Columbians (25th up from 30th) are now leading the pack among corps still in competition. Both corps are five spots higher than they finished last year. After leading this discussion for most of the season, Spartans are now four spots higher than last year (19th up from 23rd) and joined by Mandarins (6th up from 10th), Pacific Crest (15th up from 19th), and 7th Regiment (30th up from 34th) with a four place improvement. Troopers (9th up from 12th), Raiders (32nd up from 35th), and Colt Cadets (33rd up from 36th) are three spots higher. River City Rhythm is two spots higher (29th up from 31st). Holding Steady (+1 to -1 spots away from 2022) Carolina Crown, The Cadets, Phantom Regiment, The Cavaliers, Colts, Crossmen, Blue Knights, Gold, and Jersey Surf are all one spot higher than last year. Blue Devils, Boston Crusaders, The Academy, and Genesis are even. Music City and The Batallion are down one spot. Falling Back (2+ spots lower than 2022) Although less than a point from first place, Bluecoats are currently two spots lower than last year (4th down from 2nd) as is Madison Scouts (17th down from 15th). Blue Stars (11th down from 7th), Guardians (28th down from 24th), and Les Stentors (36th down from 32nd) are all four spots lower.
  12. August 4 Rundown Allentown, PA Blue Devils continued its undefeated season, but Bluecoats made it clear that recent score increases are real finishing just 0.525 points back, the closest margin to the Blue Devils for the Bluecoats so far this season. Definitely no knock-out blow. The Cavaliers continue to push the conversation that was 5-7 to one that is now 5-8. After being down 0.250 points on August 1st, Troopers moved ahead of Blue Stars and by a nearly one point margin. For the second straight match-up, Blue Knights beat Pacific Crest by nearly a point in the important fight for the last spot in Saturday night's show. Blue Knights also had the highest score increase (1.738 points) of the night. Cedar Rapids, IA Colt Cadets put up a big 2.800 point gain which not only moved the corps ahead of Les Stentors, it did so by a 2.200 point margin. Orrville, OH The corps that hadn't been on the field in awhile put up the expected large score increases (7th Regiment - 5.100 points; Guardians - 5.525 points). The corps with recent scores saw their scores decrease (Columbians - -1.250 points; Raiders - -0.800 points). Now that everyone is on the same Marion-bound schedule, things should settle in. August 5 Preview Allentown, PA The storylines are pretty clear to anyone following along at this point. Boston Crusaders-Carolina Crown. Boston has been falling back a bit, finishing behind Crown the last time the two corps met on July 29th. With Bluecoats already having made its push against Blue Devils, will one of these corps do the same? The Cadets, Mandarins, and Phantom Regiment have not all been together since San Antonio two full weeks ago. In that show, Mandarins and Phantom Regiment tied with The Cadets behind them by 0.300 points. Since then: On 7/25, The Cadets beat Mandarins by 0.450 points. On 7/26, Mandarins beat the Cadets by 0.050 points. On 7/28, Phantom Regiment beat The Cadets by 0.400 points and by 0.350 points on 7/29. The Cadets beat Mandarins by 0.450 points on 8/1. Mandarins beat Phantom Regiment by 0.250 points on 8/3. In sum, it's extremely tight among these three corps and 9:28-10:19pm is going to be a lot of fun tonight. Crossmen was over two points ahead of Spirit of Atlanta the last time the corps matched up on July 29th, but that was before Spirit went on its run. Tonight's match-up between the two corps and Madison Scouts is crucial for the finalist battle with Blue Knights emerging from Allentown Night #1 as the front-runner in the Blue Knights-Pacific Crest showdown. On a personal note, it's pretty exciting to have three corps I was associated with all performing tonight as an alumnus of the Hawthorne Caballeros and Crossmen and a short-time staff member of Jersey Surf. A great night of drum corps in Allentown awaits! Avon Lake, OH & Mattoon, IL With Spartans joining the show tonight, all Open Class corps competing in Marion are on the field tonight so we will have a true Saturday Showdown report Open Class style tomorrow.
  13. First, a personal word. This is obviously a labor of love that I have been doing for several years now. I truly appreciate all the positive (and even the supportive but constructive) feedback. It is nice to contribute to a thread like this. For most of July, I was actually traveling extensively - first in Canada and then throughout Europe. Your support of the word is what kept me doing all of this early in the morning or late at night around all of those travels. I'll be in Allentown tonight and tomorrow and Indy next Wednesday through Sunday. The best place to catch me on Saturday is the Crossmen picnic in the park, but I'd be happy to meet anyone who will be crossing paths! August 3 Rundown Lawrence, MA The score reset happened with Boston Crusaders moving back into second place and ahead of Bluecoats head-to-head with a slightly larger margin (0.350 vs. 0.075) than when the corps last met on July 29th. Mandarins came out on top of Phantom Regiment by 0.250 points. The corps last met in San Antonio where they tied. August 4 Preview Allentown, PA Ten World Class corps compete on night one in Allentown including all those "in" blue. Bad draw of the night goes to Pacific Crest as the corps will perform before intermission with Blue Knights after intermission. With the importance of the fight for 12th place, it would have been great to see these two truly back-to-back. Blue Stars led Troopers by just 0.250 points in their last head-to-head match-up on August 1st. Seeing Troopers live is probably what I am most excited for in tonight's line-up. Scores across shows stabilized a bit thanks to last night's results in Lawrence. Still, it will be intriguing to see whether Blue Devils deliver a knock-out blow 8 days out from finals as they appeared to do last weekend. Cedar Rapids, IA Gold has been off the competition field since July 31st. Will a few rehearsal days help them make a push to challenge Spartans for the title? Orrville, OH 7th Regiment (July 23rd) and Guardians (July 22nd) rejoin tour on the way to Open Class championships in Marion.
  14. August 2 Rundown Everything about today's scores and placements should have an asterisk because this is the wackiest shake-up of the season, even when taking into consideration the normal show to show comparison caution. Things will steady this weekend with the Allentown panel. The reason I include the previous year is for this sort of situation. Boston Crusaders was in the #1 spot last year with nearly an idential score to what Bluecoats put up last night. It all evened out the next night when the two corps faced off head to head. Apple Valley, MN The Batallion led the way in score improvement among the corps coming off tour breaks with an increase of 8.450 points. River City Rhythm was next best at 4.650 points over the same time period off tour. Colt Cadets also had a large increase of 3.750 points in its first competition since July 17th. Centerville, OH Crossmen made a big statement over Pacific Crest with a 1.650 point spread after being just 0.150 points ahead one night earlier. Spartans took a big score decrease with its mix into this group of World Class corps and direct competition with nearby scoring corps, dropping by 2.050 points in score. Glassboro, NJ My first instinct was to explain away the score increases for Bluecoats and The Cadets, however the fact that the rest of the show saw reasonable increases and even a small decrease makes this more complicated. It just is what it is until we see what happens over the next few days. August 3 Preview Lawrence, MA One small show but it is important for the reset that is likely to follow last night's scores and for some competitive storylines.=. Bluecoats and Boston Crusaders see each other head to head for the first time since July 29th when Boston was ahead by 0.075 points. Mandarins and Phantom Regiment are head-to-head for the first time since July 24th when the corps tied.
  15. August 1 Rundown Annapolis, MD Things essentially stayed exactly the same with The Cadets edging Mandarins by 0.450 points. Salem, VA Here comes the pressure! Troopers score 0.250 points below Blue Stars. Blue Stars was ahead by over a point when the corps last met in San Antonio. Sevierville, TN Crossmen maintained a lead over Pacific Crest, but Pacific Crest narrowed it down to just 0.150. August 2 Preview Apple Valley, MN Colt Cadets return to competition for the first time since July 17th while The Batallion and River City Rhythm are back in action for the first time since July 15th. Centerville ,OH Pacific Crest gets another chance to get ahead of Crossmen. Glassboro, NJ Watch the Madison Scouts-Spirit of Atlanta match-up in this one.
  16. July 31 Rundown Huntington WV The Open Class reset was real for Gold and Spartans with both corps seeing their scores decrease by 1.600 points in their first meeting with a full slate of World Class corps. Columbians decreased by 0.600 points. Spirit of Atlanta made a strong statement by catapulting to the 12th spot with a 2.800 point increase. The next time Spirit lines up with more than one of the other corps fighting for this spot will be Saturday night in Allentown. Phantom Regiment joined the 90+ point club, becoming the fifth corps to do so this year. August 1 Preview Annapolis MD Will The Cadets build on its win over Mandarins two nights ago, or even join the 90+ point club? Salem, VA Might Troopers (and by association Colts) make a run at Blue Stars for the #9 spot? Sevierville, TN The battle for 12th continues with Crossmen and Pacific Crest matching up.
  17. July 30 Rundown Winston-Salem, NC WIthout a penalty, Bluecoats moved into second place, 0.100 points ahead of Carolina Crown and 1.325 points behind Blue Devils. This continues to put Bluecoats, Boston Crusaders, and Carolina Crown in a virtual tie for being the final corps announced prior to the first three-peat in Blue Devils history. The Cadets came out on top of Mandarins by 0.375 points. This moved Mandarins down to 7th based on the relative scores with Phantom Regiment for The Cadets the night before. Take note of the 2.725 point score decrease for Jersey Surf upon joining the rest of World Class on tour. This may mean that the top 12 threatening scores from Spartans will not hold up down the stretch either. July 31 Preview Huntington, WV The main thing I am looking at tonight is how Spartans score compared to Madison Scouts and Spirit of Atlanta. If Spartans are ahead (and non head-to-head competition results suggest they are), then things down the stretch will be extremely interesting. "Saturday" Showdown Competitive Landscape The Blue Devils is back up to over a point lead over its next closest competitor, much more than last year's 0.500 points at this time. Placements have changed over the past week with Boston Crusaders dropping from #2 to #4, although it feels as though that 2-4 range could change on any given night right now. There are still only these four corps over the 90 point threshold. Last year, there was one more (Santa Clara Vanguard). The 5-7 grouping traded spots throughout the week. Despite the rankings after Sunday, the current order based on most recent head-to-head competition is Phantom Regiment, The Cadets, an then Mandarins. The Cavaliers is making a push to be part of this grouping. Colts and Troopers continue to battle each other and have made some gains on Blue Stars for a possible 9-11 group. The battle for #12 took a turn this week as well with Crossmen re-emerging with some head-to-head victories that put it in contention with Blue Knights and Pacific Crest for that final spot. Whether Spartans should also be on the list of corps with potential for a Saturday night World Class competitive slot remains to be seen. On the Rise (2+ spots higher than 2022) Spartans is now the corps leading the pack. Currently ranked #14, the corps is nine sots higher than last year (23rd) and five spots higher than its highest ever placement at Lucas Oil Stadium (19th in 2019). Columbians and Southwind are both six spots ahead of where they finished last year (21st vs. 27th for Southwind and 24th vs. 30th for Columbians). This will be Columbians first time participating in DCI championships. Although no longer in line for finals at the moment, Pacific Crest continues to outpace is last finish by four spots (19th). Raiders is also in line for a four place improvement (31st vs. 35th). After flirting with fifth place, Mandarins have fallen to seventh this week, still three spots higher than each of the last three years which were also the corps' highest World Class placements to date. Blue Knights, Gold, Phantom Regiment, and Troopers are all on pace for finishes two spots higher than last year at the moment. This year from San Antonio to Atlanta, 12 of 15 spots in the top 15 changed. Last year, that number was just six and just one back in 2019. Holding Steady (+1 to -1 spots away from 2022) Carolina Crown, The Cadets, The Cavaliers, and Colts are all currently one spot ahead of their 2022 finish. Blue Devils, Bluecoats, Crossmen, and Jersey Surf are event. 7th Regiment, Genesis, Les Stentors, and River City Rhythm are one spot lower. Falling Back (2+ spots lower than 2022) After talk of challenging Blue Devils for gold for the last two weeks, Boston Crusaders slipped to two spots lower than last year's finish for this week's analysis. Blue Stars, Colt Cadets, and Madison Scouts are also two spots lower at this point. The Academy and Music City are now three spots lower. The Guardians (four places) and The Batallion (eight places) are even further back, but neither corps has competed recently so that should change some. Back in Action Spirit of Atlanta (16th) and Seattle Cascades (26th) returned to competition this year. Spirit is three spots behind its last two finishes (13th in 2019 and 2018) while Seattle Cascades is just one spot behind its last placement (25th in 2019). Coming back from a year away is difficult and the fact that both corps have done so with little competitive change is notable. Open Class Spartans are the clear favorite to win Open Class with a solid lead 1.800 point lead over Gold. Gold has its own clear lead over Southwind (1.400 points) for silver and Southwind leads Columbians by 1.650 points for the bronze.
  18. July 29 Rundown Atlanta, GA Well, things are certainly interesting. Let's start at the top. After winning by just 0.850 points one night earlier over Boston Crusaders, Blue Devils put up a convincing 1.925 point win, this time over Carolina Crown. After a win earlier in the week was quickly erased, Carolina Crown is back in the silver medalist spot with Boston Crusaders close behind. However, as has been carefully reviewed elsewhere, Boston Crusaders would actually have been all the way down to fourth without the Bluecoats penalty. It is very tight among spots two through four. In San Antonio, The Cadets led The Cavaliers by 1.862. Tonight? Just 0.825. The Cavaliers made up a big part of that time off gap I wrote about yesterday in one night. This may actually be enough to talk about a 5-8 block instead of the 5-7 block that it appeared to be to this point. Further down, Blue Knights put up a decisive victory over Pacific Crest of just under a full point. After being down 1.350 points earlier in the week, Spirit of Atlanta moved ahead of Madison Scouts by 0.050 points. Music City is close on the heels of both corps with a big 2.900 point increase night over night. Note that Heat Wave finished its competitive season with a nice 2.550 point increase and a final competitive score 1.250 points ahead of last year. Bellbrook, OH Columbians made its 2023 season debut with a 74.700, good enough for 24th in the rankings and a good shot at making semifinals the first time in Indianapolis. July 30 Preview Winston-Salem, NC Boston Crusaders are off tonight so the main look is at Carolina Crown-Bluecoats and whether they can claw back some of the lead Blue Devils put up last night. Mandarins are back in competition for the first time in several days. The key match-up will be with The Cadets. Last time the corps met on July 26th, Mandarins led by 0.050 points. Jersey Surf will compete with other World Class corps for the first time this season. Saturday Showdown Will be a Sunday Showdown posted on Monday this week...
  19. July 28 Rundown Murfreesboro, TN A bit of a score reset at the top with one of our first multi-corps score decreases of the season and, more notably, Boston Crusaders not only moved back into second place over Carolina Crown but did so with its narrowest margin to first place of the season (0.850 points). Phantom Regiment ever so slightly increased its lead over The Cadets from the corps' last meeting in San Antonio (0.400 points compared to 0.300 points). Trussville, AL The Cavaliers returned to competition with an improvement of 1.687 over the corps' San Antonio score. This compares to 0.925 for the corps ahead in San Antonio (The Cadets) and 1.775 for the corps below in San Antonio (Blue Stars). Those two corps were in different shows though. Here are the score improvements in order of most improvement to least from San Antonio to Trussville for the World Class corps in both. The Cavaliers only competed in the two shows while the other corps have had intervening performances. As you can see below, the time off the competition field may have slowed the corps' growth some but did not do so at a level that completely changed the corps' trajectory. Crossmen - 3.775 Spirit of Atlanta - 3.350 Troopers - 2.412 Colts - 2.400 Seattle Cascades - 2.225 The Cavaliers - 1.687 Blue Knights - 1.562 Pacific Crest - 1.275 Troopers moved into a tie with Colts in the corps' first meeting since last week's regional. In the very tight three-way race for 12th place, Crossmen maintained its hold on 12th by a just 0.150 over Pacific Crest which moved ahead of Blue Knights by 0.050. Further down in the rankings, Spirit of Atlanta saw the largest score increase (2.350 points). July 29 Preview Atlanta, GA The battle at the top is tight and getting tighter. Can Boston Crusaders continue gaining on Blue Devils? Will Carolina Crown get ahead of Boston again? Unfortunately, another main storyline of this show is the storylines that we will not see. Whether or not Bluecoats perform is in question. Mandarins are not in the show. Colts will not be there for the ongoing fight with Troopers. Pacific Crest and Blue Knights need to push for 12th without the current 12th place corps in the stadium. Heat Wave makes its final appearance of the 2023 season. Bellbrook, OH Columbians get another chance to open up its season.
  20. July 26 Rundown Hattiesburg, MS Boston Crusaders emerged from its loss to Carolina Crown back at exactly one point below Blue Devils. Monroe, LA Mandarins moved back into 5th place over The Cadets by just 0.050 points. Syracuse, NY Nothing significant report. Gold scored 0.350 points closer to Spartans than the night before. July 28 Preview Birmingham, AL A few things to watch here. Hopefully, The Cavaliers return to competition for the first time since San Antonio. Then there is the fight between Colts and Troopers which has been going on all season. Finally, Crossmen lept over Blue Knights and Pacific Crest earlier this week and will want to show that its claim on the 12th spot in finals is real. Murfreesboro, TN There are two storylines to watch here. The obvious one is Blue Devils-Boston Crusaders-Carolina Crown. With a Crown victory over Boston earlier this week and Boston only a point behind BD last night, is this a tighter group than it looked less than a week ago in San Antonio? The second is The Cadets-Phantom Regiment. The Cadets has been trading places with Mandarins since San Antonio, but neither corps saw Phantom in that time frame. This is a fun battle for Top 5 among two corps trying to return to the heights of the activity and one looking to join it for the first time. Sheffield, PA Columbians join the DCI tour as the last corps in for the season. Last year, the corps was ranked 22nd on the day of its last show (July 24th). If it opens up in that same ballpark, Columbians could be in the medal hunt in its first trip to Indiana.
  21. July 25 Rundown Manchester, NH With all the regular caveats...Spartans is tied for 12th place in the rankings. McKinney, TX The Cadets defeated Mandarins by 0.450 points to jump from 7th to 5th. Crossmen maintained its large score increase from last night. July 26 Preview Hattiesburg, MS The main thing to watch here is how Boston Crusdaders responds to its loss to Carolina Crown. Does the corps fall further behind Blue Devils after getting to one point back in San Antonio? Monroe, LA It is all about the match-up between The Cadets and Mandarins. Syracuse, NY My attention is on Spartans as the corps continues to perform at a very high level and could make some noise in Indianapolis if these scores hold.
  22. July 24 Rundown Okay, I didn't see this update coming. Carolina Crown came out of San Antonio strong, beating Boston Crusaders head-to-head for the first time since July 5th (Mason, OH). This catapults Carolina Crown to the #2 spot in the rankings. The two corps line up next on July 28th in Murfreesboro (along with Bluecoats). More surprises in the battle for the last spot in finals as Crossmen jumped over two corps and into 12th place with Blue Knights staying still at 13th and Pacific Crest falling all the way down to 14th. Crossmen made this jump on a nearly unprecedented score increase of 2.925 points coming out of the regional. That's the sort of score improvement typically seen only after multiple days out of competition. The three corps line up next on July 28th in Trussville. July 25 Preview Manchester, NH Gold and Spartans line up together for the second time. Can Gold reduce the nearly two point lead Spartans opened up with? McKinney, TX The most intriguing match-up here is Mandarins and The Cadets. The two corps were separated by just 0.300 points in San Antonio, and that gap means the difference between fifth and seventh right now.
  23. Haha. I think I meant to say cut half a point. Good catch!
  24. July 23 Rundown Oddly, Gold and Spartans both increased their scores by the same amount (4.050 points) with the Gold increase coming after a week of travel and Spartans one day after its last performance. The score increases for the corps competing two days in a row were much higher than usual ranging from 1.150 points (Raiders) to the aforementioned 4.050 points (Spartans). 7th Regiment defeated Raiders after being just behind one night earlier. If the Open Class scores are accurate (and historically this sort of inflation happens at Open Class heavy shows sometimes so that is unlikely), then Spartans would be in the mix for the Top 12 World Class discussion. July 24 Preview One show tonight in Mesquite. The 12-14 place corps from San Antonio are head-to-head again.
  25. July 22 Rundown San Antonio, TX Blue Devils emerge from the first regional undefeated but with its lead over Boston Crusaders at 1.000 points, down from 1.550 points when the two corps met last on July 18th. Bluecoats retook its lead over Carolina Crown by less than 0.400 points and both corps are closer to Boston than they were just two nights before. Mandarins and Phantom Regiment competed head-to-head for the first time and tied for fifth place. The corps actually came into the night tied in their most recent scores although those were not from the same show. The Cadets narrowed its gap with Phantom Regiment (0.300 versus 0.625 on July 15th) for a very tight 5-7 grouping. The Cavaliers widened its lead over Blue Stars as it has been doing since Blue Stars were last in the lead on July 7th. Colts and Troopers have traded the lead several times this season with Colts victorious by the slimmest of margins at 0.120. Their lead over the current #12 corps seems pretty solidly pointing to a second straight appearance in finals for both corps. Pacific Crest edged Blue Knights by less than 0.400 points to take the #12 spot. This is the second straight head-to-head win for Pacific Crest after Blue Knights took a narrow win on July 17th. Both corps have a solid two-point lead over the next grouping of finalist challengers. Crossmen come in the historically important 14th place (see yesterday's post for an explanation). As you can see below, Pacific Crest has not even been in the Top 15 in San Antonio as long as I have been doing this data tracking. A season to remember for sure! Spirit of Atlanta had the most disappointing night from a score standpoint, dropping 0.950 points from its score two nights earlier. Sewell, NJ 7th Regiment returned to competition for the first time since July 2nd with a 6.450 point increase, good for four spots in the rankings. One day after its 2023 debut, Raiders made an impressive 2.950 point increase. July 23 Preview Fairfield, CT Gold rejoins the DCI tour after traveling clear across the country. The match-up with Spartans is a likely preview of the battle for Open Class gold. Saturday Showdown Competitive Landscape The Blue Devils breathing room was cut in half over the past week from 1.500 points last Saturday to 1.000 points last night. Year over year, this means this year's #2 (Boston Crusaders) is closer (1.000 points) to this year's #1 (Blue Devils) than last year's #2 (Boston Crusaders) was (1.475 points) to last year's #1 (Blue Devils) coming out of San Antonio. Bluecoats and Carolina Crown traded spots year over year with all four corps breaking the 90 point mark (compared to the top 3 only last year). What appeared to be emerging as a 5-7 grouping last week was solidified this week with Mandarins, Phantom Regiment, and The Cadets neck and neck. And it seems that Blue Knights and Pacific Crest are the likeliest competitors for the #12 spot with the 14-17 group falling a bit behind. On the Rise (2+ spots higher than 2022) Pacific Crest continues to lead the way. Currently situated in the coveted 12th place spot, Pacific Crest is seven spots higher than last year (19th), two spots higher than its highest ever placement (14th in 2019), and six spots higher than its average over all of the years at Lucas Oil Stadium (18th). The next most impressive rise goes to another California corps although this one feels less surprising. Mandarins currently sit tied for 5th place. This is five spots higher than each of the last three years which were all the highest and only World Class finalist placements for the corps (10th place in 2022, 2019, and 2018). It seems conclusive that Mandarins will have its best finish ever. Phantom Regiment's tie for fifth place is three spots higher than last year's eighth and would mark the first time in the top 6 in a decade (6th in 2013). Holding Steady (+1 to -1 spots away from 2022) The Academy, Blue Knights, The Cavaliers, Colts, Jersey Surf, and Troopers are all currently one spot ahead of their 2022 finish. Blue Devils, Boston Crusaders, and Carolina Crown are even. Bluecoats, The Cadets, Crossmen, Genesis, and Madison Scouts are one spot lower. Blue Knights, The Academy, and The Cavaliers are all currently one spot ahead of their 2022 finish. Blue Devils, Boston Crusaders, Carolina Crown, and Colts are even. Bluecoats, Crossmen, Genesis, and The Cadets are one spot lower. Falling Back (2+ spots lower than 2022) For the second week in a row, Blue Stars and Music City currently sit two spots lower than last year. Back in Action Spirit of Atlanta (17th) and Seattle Cascades (26th) returned to competition this year. Spirit is four spots behind its last two finishes (13th in 2019 and 2018) while Seattle Cascades is just one spot behind its last placement (25th in 2019). Coming back from a year away is difficult and the fact that both corps have done so with little competitive change is notable. Open Class With Gold out of competition for the past week, Open Class analysis does not serve much purpose today. Sparts and Gold are the clear front runners for the championship. By this time next week, we will have head-to-head data and the season debut of Columbians to give us a fuller picture of the competitive landscape.
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