txpride Posted August 21, 2010 Author Share Posted August 21, 2010 Not only did Boston have 80 brass this summer, but they had 7-8 altternates throughout move-in in June. I know, because I was there. Furthermore, a couple of those alternates, upon seeing how many horns there WERE, asked for and were granted permission to leave the corps and fill holes in other corps during July. One went to the Troopers and one went to an Open class corps. Yes, injuries can and do happen and Boston was no exception, BUT did you know.....BAC's alternates actually had to take turns as back field/endzone conductors each show because they had ***155*** members through most of the season and did not want to risk a penalty? Boston had a full hornline all summer. If they had 78 or 79 horns at a particular show it was do to an injury or illness that might well have happened that day or the prior day. Do you expect an alternate to learn an entire show during a two hour ensemble rehearsal the day of a show? When you are dealing with 150 human beings, there is a reasonable mathematical chance that someone might be ill on any given day, especially in 100 degree heat. Your fundamental argument is defeated by the facts. Next time, check them. I HAVE checked the facts (and have provided them). I'm no longer arguing Boston. I've already included them in the list of the 5 or so corps that are making it all the way to 150. My point is that cases like BAC is the exception. NOT the norm. I'll tell you what, we might be edging closer to more corps making it (or coming closer) to 150. Though I still don't think there are enough corps out there with that many to make it fair to the rest. But I'll tell you what. I HAVE done my homework on the 2009 numbers. I promise you, there were only TWO corps at 80 horns in 09. Crown and Blue Stars. Everyone else was in the 70s except Troopers. Troopers had 66. I know this for a fact. I counted all the finalist hornlines TWICE from the high cam last night. I may have a few stats to retract on my 2010 numbers. When my DVDs come in, I'll know for sure. But I KNOW I am right on my 2009 stats. I know FOR a fact! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mgarside83 Posted August 21, 2010 Share Posted August 21, 2010 (edited) I think the 150 rule is lame. 135 seemed the best way to go for me. That gave the corps a little room to play with if they wanted a large guard, or add some beef to the low brass. With drumlines, more numbers aren't a good thing. I think a lot of lines are maxing out the snares at 9, down from a lot of 10 man snarelines a few years ago (personally, I miss the 7 man snarelines like BD had in the 90's), because it is simply too hard to hear and clean a snareline that covers 10 yards. Being a tenor player, I think 6 tenors is dumb. They look awkward on the field, sounds out of balance and has the same cleaning problems that 10 snares have, not a fan of this. 4 or 5 is perfect. If you don't agree, look at how many 10 man snarelines won drums in the past 10, or even 20 years. There are even fewer 6 man tenor lines that have been a part of a championship line. More corps could fill 135, making it more competitive. The more competitive the better. With only 6 corps taking 15 extra brass, that's 100 or so brass talent that could be marching for Glassmen or Troopers. That could be a whole other corps. IF every corps in DCI was filling their corps every year and the activity was turning people away, then yeah, increase the size limits so more have the opportunity to participate. As I see it, the big 6 are just taking members away from other corps, giving them just another advantage. I don't even see the size increase as a good thing for the corps who are making it to 150. By taking more, the standard for getting into that corps has to be lowered. So now we have bigger, less talented corps at the top. Edited August 21, 2010 by mgarside83 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
txpride Posted August 21, 2010 Author Share Posted August 21, 2010 I think the 150 rule is lame. 135 seemed the best way to go for me. That gave the corps a little room to play with if they wanted a large guard, or add some beef to the low brass. With drumlines, more numbers aren't a good thing. I think a lot of lines are maxing out the snares at 9, down from a lot of 10 man snarelines a few years ago (personally, I miss the 7 man snarelines like BD had in the 90's), because it is simply too hard to hear and clean a snareline that covers 10 yards. Being a tenor player, I think 6 tenors is dumb. They look awkward on the field, sounds out of balance and has the same cleaning problems that 10 snares have, not a fan of this. 4 or 5 is perfect. If you don't agree, look at how many 10 man snarelines won drums in the past 10, or even 20 years. There are even fewer 6 man tenor lines that have been a part of a championship line. More corps could fill 135, making it more competitive. The more competitive the better. With only 6 corps taking 15 extra brass, that's 100 or so brass talent that could be marching for Glassmen or Troopers. That could be a whole other corps. IF every corps in DCI was filling their corps every year and the activity was turning people away, then yeah, increase the size limits so more have the opportunity to participate. As I see it, the big 6 are just taking members away from other corps, giving them just another advantage. I don't even see the size increase as a good thing for the corps who are making it to 150. By taking more, the standard for getting into that corps has to be lowered. So now we have bigger, less talented corps at the top. At last... Someone other than myself WHO GET'S IT!!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mgarside83 Posted August 21, 2010 Share Posted August 21, 2010 To add on to what I just stated, I think it is a good thing for the membership of DCI to have a say on rule changes. However, too much power lies with too few. It appears to me that size increase was another rule change that benefited a few rather than the activity as a whole. I wish rules would be made to benefit DCI as a whole, instead of benefiting 6 and hurting the rest. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
txpride Posted August 21, 2010 Author Share Posted August 21, 2010 To add on to what I just stated, I think it is a good thing for the membership of DCI to have a say on rule changes. However, too much power lies with too few. It appears to me that size increase was another rule change that benefited a few rather than the activity as a whole. I wish rules would be made to benefit DCI as a whole, instead of benefiting 6 and hurting the rest. It all comes back to greed! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mgarside83 Posted August 21, 2010 Share Posted August 21, 2010 What pride or sense of accomplishment comes out of winning when you've stacked the deck in your hand? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
txpride Posted August 21, 2010 Author Share Posted August 21, 2010 What pride or sense of accomplishment comes out of winning when you've stacked the deck in your hand? I don't know. You would have to ask someone really greedy who cares only about his own self exaltation and glorification...like Hop. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
txpride Posted August 21, 2010 Author Share Posted August 21, 2010 Oh wait, I'm sorry. I'm wrong. Hop doesn't seek self exaltation. He told us all on his DCI interviews in the 80s that he didn't care about winning. I forgot. Silly old lme. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
greenland Posted August 21, 2010 Share Posted August 21, 2010 I like 150 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ContraFart Posted August 21, 2010 Share Posted August 21, 2010 I like Waffles! I prefer pancakes Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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