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Blue Devils 2018


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On 8/22/2017 at 6:52 AM, jmc5682 said:

What a ridiculous comment.  BD's staff has been designing winning shows since 1976, eighteen of them to be exact.  They have won with electronics and without, with a pit and without, with tics and without.  You get my point.  Jerry Seawright, the BD founder, hated to lose.  His main priority was that the kids have a great experience, but he is on tape saying how much he disliked not winning.  He knew to win he had to have a great staff, and maintain a stable organization.  I think the reason BD is so successful is because they have really focused on infrastructure.  They do not bring in many new staff, but they hire from within the organization to keep things stable.  They do not have hardly any staff turnover unless someone retires.  It really is a model organization.  They also have never hidden, or changed the fact that they are in it to win it.  However, the season is not considered a failure if they do not win.  It would only be considered a failure if the performers did not give it their all, but they do want to win, doesn't everybody?  My point is obvious, despite all the changes in drum corps that have occurred in the past 41 years, and there are many, the Concord Blue Devils have found a way to win DCI 44% of the time since 1976.   They have not been out of the top 5 since 1974, and in the last 11 years, they have won 7 Gold medals and 4 silver medals.  These are really mind-blowingly amazing accomplishments.   I am sure Jerry Seawright would be proud of what he built.

The correct wording should be "They have never been out of the top 4 since 1975 EXCEPT once (1991)". They have also had 7 Undefeated seasons of their 18 DCI wins.

https://bluedevils.org/about/history/

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On 9/18/2017 at 10:00 AM, afd said:

The correct wording should be "They have never been out of the top 4 since 1975 EXCEPT once (1991)". They have also had 7 Undefeated seasons of their 18 DCI wins.

https://bluedevils.org/about/history/

I am sorry I did not word my post to your satisfaction, but I think it got the point across I was trying to make.  I did not mention they own the highest score, or the most Zingali Awards, or Ott awards, but if I listed all their accomplishments I would be writing a book and people get irritated if one praises BD too much here on DCP.   I am happy for BD and I am also happy that SCV is now back in contention.  I think the years of SCV not winning any shows that BD is at in CA is coming to a close and soon.  That is great for both corps!  

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2 hours ago, jmc5682 said:

but if I listed all their accomplishments I would be writing a book and people get irritated if one praises BD too much here on DCP.

That's ok....I'll do it for you...'cause I don't particularly care if people get ticked off (you can always do the same for YOUR fave corps, y'know).page

 

From a post on my Facebook page (written for those who aren't corps people)

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

For those who know me and who are NOT drum corps people...let me give you a not-so-brief list of stats of the group I am an alum of...the Blue Devils Drum & Bugle Corps (who won their 18th world championship yesterday).

After reading this, you might start understanding why I have drum corps running on my laptop in my office so often.

Buckle up...this is long, and for good reason.

----------------------------

BD competitive stats (updated August 13, 2017)

Since 1973

Caption wins (captions basically being section awards for best general effect (how you "sell" your show), brass, drums, marching & maneuvering/visual, color guard):

GE: 16
Brass: 24
Drums: 13
M&M/Visual: 19
Guard: 18 Note that I could not FIND guard results on the recaps for 10 of the 45 years we've been going to finals. The first guard award I show is 1978. I found no record of guard awards for 73-77, 80-83, or 90. If anyone knows those, let me know and I'll update the spreadsheet.

Interesting to note that the guard did not have their own separate caption points until 2000. Prior to that they were lumped in with the vizh scores.

Ave placement per caption (all 45 years)
GE: 3
Brass: 3
Drums: 4
M&M/Visual: 3
Guard: 2

Ave placement per caption (Finals only)
GE: 2
Brass: 2
Drums: 3
M&M/Visual: 2
Guard: 2

The improvement in caption placement from 1973 to 1974 was amazing

GE: 22 to 7 (9 in finals)
Brass: 27 to 8 (12 in finals)
Drums: 16 to 9 (7 in finals)
M&M/Visual: 32 to 13 (11 in finals)
Guard not counted in that time frame.

Most caption wins in a row:

GE: 4 (07-10)
Brass: 4 (79-82)
Drums: 4 (83-86)
M&M/Visual: 6 (12-17)
Guard: 8 (08-15)
Additional stats:

The corps has only placed out of finals one time – the very first trip in 1973.

Has not placed lower than 5th since the 9th in 1974.

Last time they finished out of the medals was 2005.

They have failed to medal only 9 times since the first trip to DCI in 1973.

In 46 competitive seasons of Drum Corps International, BD has won 39% of them.

7 of those were undefeated...2 of THOSE back to back. The average performance season is between 25-30 shows...so those 2 back to back undefeated seasons were 51 wins in a row).

In the 42 seasons since (and including) winning their first title in 1976, BD has taken 2nd place 10 times...by a TOTAL point differential of 5 points.

The average margin of victory over BD in those 2nd place years is 0.5

The largest difference was 1.85 in 2002 -- the ONLY time the point differential was over a point....the lowest was 0.025 in 2008.

Of those 10, only 4 were over half a point.

Yet MORE proof that to beat BD you have to bring your "A game"...on steroids.

I can't imagine that any other corps in the DCI era can match this record. Un-effing-real!

Quite frankly, you’d be VERY hard-pressed to find a major pro sports team or other competitive org in a large activity with a record anywhere NEAR this.

Couple this with the fact that BD loses a fairly large percentage of their membership (about 35% on average) to ageout (meaning those members have reached the maximum participation age of 22) at the end of every season – 60 members aging out after 2017 ALONE (that’s 40% of the corps...no WAY a major sports team could recover from that between seasons) – yet they continually maintain the competitive quality year after year after year and it’s pretty #### clear that the Blue Devils are, across the board, quite possibly the most dominant competitive organization in any large-scale competitive environment....period.

(For my fencing friends...BD is probably more dominant in their field than the Italian fencing team is in theirs....and THAT says a lot.)

A large part of that is the very solid financial ground the org sits on. Another large factor is the consistent staff, especially at the top – no revolving door at BD (a lot of corps changed major staff positions on a frequent basis, looking for that magic formula...BD found it years ago and has not had a major staff change since the mid 90s). And, of course, there’s the fact that success breed success, with hundreds trying out each year for those coveted spots...BD can afford to select the best who come to audition.

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Thanks Sam.  I have been a fan of the Blue Devils since I was a little boy.  I was exposed to the Blue Devils while marching for a small drum and bell corps called the Red Knights.  Scott Johnson was our drum instructor, and Cindy Marvelli, his girlfriend at the time, was in charge of our color guard.  Since I had the chance to be around the Blue Devils because of the people I knew, I fell in love with the corps.  I was a guard member in the Red Knights for three years but very young. (10,11 and 12) I wanted so badly to march in the Blue Devils C corps or B corps, but of course they had all female guards at this time.  My Father talked to Jerry Seawright and while he did not change the C or B corps to allow for a male guard members, he certainly said I could join the C or B corps (I am saying C or B because I am not sure if the C corps existed at this time) and could learn to play a brass instrument, or of course try out percussion.  Well, guard was in my blood and I eventually grew up a bit and at age 14 joined the Freelancers as they did have guys in their guard.  I marched in 83 and 84, and it was a bit full circle, because Cindy Marvelli was the instructor of the Freelancer's rifle line in 82,83 and 84.  Still I have never lost my love for BD, and I have had many friends who marched BD and SCV for that matter.  I love both my bay area corps, but BD will have my heart until it no longer beats!

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I remember getting beat by Royal Family and Conquistadores as a kid.

I always wanted to be able to beat Vanguard just once and rub elbows with them. I had no idea what would become of Blue Crew.

Having a son age out with 3 gold and 2 silver was way more than I could ever imagine.

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19 hours ago, 84BDsop said:

That's ok....I'll do it for you...'cause I don't particularly care if people get ticked off (you can always do the same for YOUR fave corps, y'know).page

 

From a post on my Facebook page (written for those who aren't corps people)

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

For those who know me and who are NOT drum corps people...let me give you a not-so-brief list of stats of the group I am an alum of...the Blue Devils Drum & Bugle Corps (who won their 18th world championship yesterday).

After reading this, you might start understanding why I have drum corps running on my laptop in my office so often.

Buckle up...this is long, and for good reason.

----------------------------

BD competitive stats (updated August 13, 2017)

Since 1973

Caption wins (captions basically being section awards for best general effect (how you "sell" your show), brass, drums, marching & maneuvering/visual, color guard):

GE: 16
Brass: 24
Drums: 13
M&M/Visual: 19
Guard: 18 Note that I could not FIND guard results on the recaps for 10 of the 45 years we've been going to finals. The first guard award I show is 1978. I found no record of guard awards for 73-77, 80-83, or 90. If anyone knows those, let me know and I'll update the spreadsheet.

Interesting to note that the guard did not have their own separate caption points until 2000. Prior to that they were lumped in with the vizh scores.

Ave placement per caption (all 45 years)
GE: 3
Brass: 3
Drums: 4
M&M/Visual: 3
Guard: 2

Ave placement per caption (Finals only)
GE: 2
Brass: 2
Drums: 3
M&M/Visual: 2
Guard: 2

The improvement in caption placement from 1973 to 1974 was amazing

GE: 22 to 7 (9 in finals)
Brass: 27 to 8 (12 in finals)
Drums: 16 to 9 (7 in finals)
M&M/Visual: 32 to 13 (11 in finals)
Guard not counted in that time frame.

Most caption wins in a row:

GE: 4 (07-10)
Brass: 4 (79-82)
Drums: 4 (83-86)
M&M/Visual: 6 (12-17)
Guard: 8 (08-15)
Additional stats:

The corps has only placed out of finals one time – the very first trip in 1973.

Has not placed lower than 5th since the 9th in 1974.

Last time they finished out of the medals was 2005.

They have failed to medal only 9 times since the first trip to DCI in 1973.

In 46 competitive seasons of Drum Corps International, BD has won 39% of them.

7 of those were undefeated...2 of THOSE back to back. The average performance season is between 25-30 shows...so those 2 back to back undefeated seasons were 51 wins in a row).

In the 42 seasons since (and including) winning their first title in 1976, BD has taken 2nd place 10 times...by a TOTAL point differential of 5 points.

The average margin of victory over BD in those 2nd place years is 0.5

The largest difference was 1.85 in 2002 -- the ONLY time the point differential was over a point....the lowest was 0.025 in 2008.

Of those 10, only 4 were over half a point.

Yet MORE proof that to beat BD you have to bring your "A game"...on steroids.

I can't imagine that any other corps in the DCI era can match this record. Un-effing-real!

Quite frankly, you’d be VERY hard-pressed to find a major pro sports team or other competitive org in a large activity with a record anywhere NEAR this.

Couple this with the fact that BD loses a fairly large percentage of their membership (about 35% on average) to ageout (meaning those members have reached the maximum participation age of 22) at the end of every season – 60 members aging out after 2017 ALONE (that’s 40% of the corps...no WAY a major sports team could recover from that between seasons) – yet they continually maintain the competitive quality year after year after year and it’s pretty #### clear that the Blue Devils are, across the board, quite possibly the most dominant competitive organization in any large-scale competitive environment....period.

(For my fencing friends...BD is probably more dominant in their field than the Italian fencing team is in theirs....and THAT says a lot.)

A large part of that is the very solid financial ground the org sits on. Another large factor is the consistent staff, especially at the top – no revolving door at BD (a lot of corps changed major staff positions on a frequent basis, looking for that magic formula...BD found it years ago and has not had a major staff change since the mid 90s). And, of course, there’s the fact that success breed success, with hundreds trying out each year for those coveted spots...BD can afford to select the best who come to audition.

Domination like we have never seen before. Love it!! Do it up Devils!!!!

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On 9/30/2017 at 6:48 PM, flammaster said:

I remember getting beat by Royal Family and Conquistadores as a kid.

I always wanted to be able to beat Vanguard just once and rub elbows with them. I had no idea what would become of Blue Crew.

Having a son age out with 3 gold and 2 silver was way more than I could ever imagine.

I'm more impressed that he was with the Blue Devils for that many seasons. You must be beyond proud.

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47 minutes ago, Brass Lover said:

I'm more impressed that he was with the Blue Devils for that many seasons. You must be beyond proud.

The first couple of years were with BDB....not a lot of people land with the A corps for more than a few years simply because the competition to get in is so fierce.

There are the outliers like Olivia Hansen (guard captain for 2014) who basically grew up in the corps (helps when you grow up in town), but the majority don't have a ton of years in the org....there are a LOT of people with three years or less...a lot of THEM -- like myself -- one year wonders.

But 5 years in the overall org?   Yeah....that's something.

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On 9/29/2017 at 7:56 PM, jmc5682 said:

I am sorry I did not word my post to your satisfaction, but I think it got the point across I was trying to make.  I did not mention they own the highest score, or the most Zingali Awards, or Ott awards, but if I listed all their accomplishments I would be writing a book and people get irritated if one praises BD too much here on DCP.   I am happy for BD and I am also happy that SCV is now back in contention.  I think the years of SCV not winning any shows that BD is at in CA is coming to a close and soon.  That is great for both corps!  

Sorry...I didn't respond to your statement as critique. Just stating the FACTS. And I could care less if people get irritated stating the accomplishments that BD has had.

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