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Cadets v.s. Boston Crusaders


Cadets v.s. Boston Crusaders, Who will score and finish higher?  

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  1. 1. Cadets v.s. Boston Crusaders, Who will score and finish higher?

    • Cadets
      18
    • Boston Crusaders
      60


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I voted for BAC because it seems they are pushing to have fresher ideas for shows plus the staff they have assembled.  In watching both shows last year, if I was a potential marcher, I would try out for Boston.  Cadets have really lost their way and hopefully they'll find it again.  I'm not thinking it will be this year however.  We'll see.

Just watched some of my favorite shows from 2017 (Crown, Bluecoats and SCV).  Makes me hope summer gets here quickly!  Not to mention the frigid temperatures are getting old quickly!

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It’s discouraging to say this, but over the last decade of following DCI very closely, it seems very clear to me that the path to medaling is two things: show design/concept that heavily weights guard and body gesturing, and being a destination for age out talent.

Probably not in that order.

It’s just undeniable. There are a limited number of experienced, accomplished marching members. You cannot compete for a medal anymore if your corps isn’t dominated by those marchers. When Blue Devils wins medals every year and has massive age outs every year, you can’t argue with the model. Yes they have stellar coaching, stellar design, and great planning, but all of those things depend on and are accentuated by the best talent available every single year. 

I know someone used to keep track of average age of experience and correlated that to final placement, and it was truly amazing how lock step they were.

I continue to hope for the underdog corps to make a charge. It’s just not going to happen the way DCI scores shows. Crossmen, Academy, Phantom, Scouts, et al, they are all losing many of their most accomplished marchers every offseason to the perennial medaling corps. Until DCI offers some incentive to do otherwise, that will continue to be the norm. 

Cadets has an unparalleled history, but you just cannot compete for medals when your best marchers are graduating to other corps, and the high schoolers at Crossmen, Academy, Mandarins and Blue Knights are auditioning at BD, BC, Crown and now Cavaliers and Boston. I don’t care who your teachers are or how many medals are in your trophy case.

There appear to be more top level corps now, but if you fall below a certain level in this activity, it can take a very long time to get back into medal contention. Kids have increasingly short memories. And with show design changing so dramatically, it doesn’t help when you are no longer a popular corps and your banner shows weren’t Down Side Up and What Dreams Are Made On from a creative standpoint. As shows get more complex and more expensive to produce, that gap is likely to widen.

 

 

 

Edited by MikeRapp
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4 hours ago, MikeRapp said:

There are a limited number of experienced, accomplished marching members. You cannot compete for a medal anymore if your corps isn’t dominated by those marchers.

So true, @MikeRapp, and there is such a huge difference in average capability between the youngest MMs in the activity and the age-outs.  It would not be a factor if the age range were 25-35 (which will never happen) instead of 12-ish to 21. 

Cadets are in a rut. It's possible they'll surprise everyone in 2018, though more likely they'll come back gradually, like Cavies and SCV.

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On 12/29/2017 at 7:41 PM, BRASSO said:

 The Cadets almost folded in 1980. What the Cadets are going thru at the moment pales to that. They not only rebounded from that near folding of their Corps, we know they not only rebounded, they flourished, and like never before too. Time will tell where the Cadets go from here. But its not like they are on the ropes and are about to fall off the face of the earth here... lol!

Very true. What the Cadets are going through now does pale. It really has more to do with transition. Hop may not be retired yet, but as we often see at the end of careers it can be tough as one gets older when you are trying to hang onto greatness, yet innovate, yet also real in the talent needed to perform at that high level. The last 2 years were clearly a step down for the Cadets (by comparison to what we have typically seen from them). So they have definitely been trending down. People can say they will bounce back, but it's not easy to do. It took the Cavaliers a while. Look at past perennial top 5/6 corps like Madison, Phantom, and even SCV had a long skid from the top 3. 

Boston clearly seems poised to challenge those in the top 5. This may be their time. 

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On 12/30/2017 at 2:08 PM, xandandl said:

what are your sources for these generalizations or are you making conjectures? Do you have facts and figures or just rumors and hear say?  Cadets used a very different method of auditions for them this year including video. January and after will tell.

Crown is still to be considered the current contemporary standard of the East until proven on the field otherwise.

One season by an upstart is not the definition of a legacy no matter how much bitter baggage you carry.

We just hosted one of the Cadet camps and their staff mentioned to us about how they will get an influx of brass auditionees after the first round or two of Crown cuts.  But that's just the nature of the beast.  Crown has been more consistent from a placement standpoint and much more consistent from a brass perspective.  Most brass players are going to want to try their luck there first.

It's not a dig.  Things are always in flux and it's just the way things are currently.  Hoping Cadets quickly turn back into being the 'it' corps for the East.

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On 12/30/2017 at 4:18 PM, 2000Cadet said:

One would be foolish take your words with anything more than a grain of salt, as you have constantly shown your bias AGAINST Cadets anyway. 

actually until recently he was among the biggest homers for the organization. 

 

that said, and i've said it before, some of the best years in the Cadets history were never about the most talented kids on the field. it was about the hardest working kids on the field, and the adults with the knowledge to get them to the top.

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