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My opinion: A BD "horrid horn line"... whatever that means, I have no idea... is still better than the vast majority of horn lines ever put on the field.

Santana...no they probably just don't care to tell anyone what they are up to, and that's fine. Many corps choose to keep their cards close when it comes to programing. To each his/her own. Dan

Over the years I have witnessed the other side of the activity as well. Members being verbally abused, pushed beyond reasonable limits, beat down over the course of a summer for whatever reason. Can't be good for the long term health of the organization or retention and recruitment of members. Counterproductive in the long run. Don't work harder...work smarter. Dan

No one wanted that either. so for the 6th time in my life the Westshoremen are dead. I wasn't there in 72, and i didnt understand it, i just got excited Dad was going to baltimore. I was at the firehouse in the fall of 84 when Tree took over and they were going to try and keep it going...i was at the YP when they decided to fold.....and back again when they decided to do it for 6 weeks. I was at the Embers in 94 when they decided it was done...a month later came the call Jerry was taking over. I was there in 97 when it was announced it was dead then at River Rescue a few weeks later when it was being kept alive. I wasnt told about the meeting for 98 in May when it was done ( and I was on the board), and I was there in 01 when the competitive corps was folding. I was thrilled e months later when the alumni was born and was on the stage with them every year from 02 til 14 in addition to my 4 years in the field corps. I heard 16 was coming which is why I made sure to get to the last rehearsal. I even blasted someone on Facebook for taking a cheap shot at Larry ( they removed their post thereby removing mine). Can/will it come back in any form? I'd love to say yes, but you need people with the time, desire, contacts and most importantly money to make it happen. Thats not me at this stage in my life. I win Powerball we'll talk. I've predicted this about alumni corps in general the last few years and it's coming true. But sometimes with Westshore, you can never say never. The corps is responsible for me being here. Mom's best friend in high school was Sharon Milbrand. they went to see the corps together and mom met dad. and then well, LOL, finals weekend 68 led to me in May 69. In my life, there was always one thing there....Westshore. I knew I'd march as early as age 3. They folded twice, but when the fall of 88 hit, they were there, and I joined. I had a great time, learned a lot and made life long friends. The things I owe Dan DeLong and John Stauffer can't be best described in words, but it's so much more than just how to drum or judge or teach. Those guys helped pull me through some dark days, even a few where maybe they should have told me to #### off and replaced me, especially in 90.I hope over time I've repaid their faith in me and made them proud on multiple levels.To Tree, Rippon, Larry, Jerry, Dick Eschenman and John Chamberlain for teaching me the business of drum corps. To Dad, Tommy, Ronnie, Billy, you guys here and so many others before, after and with me that taught me the family aspect of the corps. For the corps to introducing me to Matt Wieseman who introduced me to Christine.Pagotto. Hoss. Joe Cool. Dougie L and Chris Dent. Shane aka my left hand. Randy Kring.I could go on and on and on and on. So, if this it, even if in true Westshore form, for now, there's only one thing to say: We're the corps from Harrisburg, you've heard so much about And we're the corps that drinks the beer whenever we go out Valdaree Valderah Valdaree Valderahahahahaha Valderee valderah whenever we go out So mothers hide your daughters, and hide your sisters too Cause we don't care what happens we're the corps in black and blue Valdaree Valderah Valdaree Valderahahahahaha Valderee valderah whenever we go out (drum lick) Salunga Soooooo Roll out....everyone from 1946 to 2016 Corps Dismissed! And of course....April 2003....I sang that song, dad on one side, Christine on the other....and dropped to one knee to propose to Christine. Thank God she said yes

I will go on record as saying that the Couchmen joke is almost as lame as the INT joke. Carry on...

True enough. My intent was just give a poke to get the holdouts to update. I get more enjoyment from a show if I familiarize myself with the music. Some play stuff that takes getting used to.

Quarterfinals - go the the DCI Live cinemacast. Semis/Finals - go up to northern WI to hang out in my relatives' cabin ... where there is no internet/cell reception for 15ish miles. Ignore all traces of drum corps and focus on the summer-fun-activities that I sacrifice every year because of my involvement with marching band/drum corps: 4-wheeling, river tubing, playing with left-over fireworks from July 4 (hoping to avoid the same fate as Jason Pierre-Paul), and living on a diet of nothing but Old Milwaukee and grilled pork loin. Return home Sunday, remember than Finals happened, and thumb through recaps and people's angry/elated reactions. I've done this for a couple of years, and will keep doing it until they move finals out of Indy.

There are *many* reasons a corps hasn't released show info by now. Some corps chose to release that info early (usually as part of their recruiting push) while others don't. Marketing plans, copyright acquisition, finalizing the program...you name it, it's a reason. And while it may be essentially April, don't assume all corps have the thematic material worked out in detail...not all corps roll that way, so they won't release the music being played until they are in a position to release a complete program. It has no impact on fans if a corps releases early or late. Sure, speculation is fun, but it matters not once the season begins.

Maybe there's some reason things have to be run differently in DCA, but on the DCI side, last year's first place, third place, fifth place, sixth place, ninth place, and eleventh place corps have yet to announce any details of their 2016 shows, and a number of others have only released partial information (e.g., only the show title, or only some of the repertoire). Now it could be that Blue Devils, Bluecoats, Santa Clara Vanguard, etc. "don't have their act together", but I sorta doubt it.

1972 Garfield Cadets probably should have been finalists. (4th M & M, 8th percussion, 12th brass, 11th GE....the only 13th place corps to be top 12 in all captions.) If 1973 De La Salle Oaklands had a better hornline....... If 1975 Squires had better percussion and horns........ If 1976 Troopers had more GE........ We already had 13 finalists in 1977 If 1978 Freelancers had a better hornline...... If 1979 Crossmen could have marched better......... 1974 Polish Falcon Cadets were TOO far away from 12th.

I plug the laptop into the tv

I can't speak for the way thing run today since I haven't been around a DCI corps for any length of time for 25 years. However, in the 80s I have strong feelings about this very subject. I think one of the reasons Blue Devils was so successful back in the day (and I am sure this weighs in to this day) is the way the members were treated during the course of the season. I had friends in other corps that couldn't believe our daily schedules. We ALWAYS got 8 hours of sleep, regardless of show logistics. If that meant we didn't rehearse on a show day after a particularly long bus ride the night before then so be it. We ALWAYS go three hot meals a day. Sometimes we even fed other corps in the parking lot! As a member we always felt like our needs always came first. By the end of the season we were fresh, excited and enthusiastic about what we were doing. Others?....well, perhaps not. I think the Blue Devils organization has this down to a science. It is one of the big reasons, I believe, that they have been so successful. Dan

The best way to do it would be to not use real props at all - if they're not going to be touched, and are there for only aesthetics, then 3D holographic images would work well. You would just have to place the emitters around the edges of the field on yard lines, preferably 15ft off the ground. Of course, the technology is probably not there enough yet to be feasible, especially financially, on this type of scale, but then again neither are the proposed robotic prop movers - but at least holographic projectors wouldn't technically be illegal. To add to this, these could work not only for just mere props, but to create an entirely new, artificial environment - something akin to a Star Trek "holodeck" - want a "Midnight Garden"? Program the system to create it, which can be turned on and off at will - and would work the same on every field without need of precise measurements of venue beforehand. But then again, this would take away from what the mm do on the field - but then also again, people make the same argument for the current generation of props that are used today.

I replied to the wrong post. Sorry. I don't see an issue with all the hype. People get excited about a corps potential and frankly right now, I would much rather listen to something like that than watch the news where everything is a downer.

OMG AND THEY HAVE BULLET TRAINS INSTEAD OF TOUR BUSSES!!!!!!

I don't really think anyone could make that comment in any way other than a joke, so yeah, that was my intention. And I made that joke as a guy who once feel off a rickety bench being used as a makeshift podium while conducting a show, so yeah - I tend to look for the humor in things. Sorry it didn't tickle your funny bone.

If it weren't for the mishap to open Candide, they'd have scored 9.9 on the field rather than 9.5. The field drum judge told them that afterward.

I wish I could say that a story book ending was when 27th Lancers in 1980 started the year with performing at the Winter Olympics and finished with a DCI championship, but sadly that did not happen, but in that year something else did happen that is more bittersweet than story book but is still moving--Spirit of Atlanta. They placed 3rd in prelims and came within a point of winning the title, all in the year Jim Ott was tragically killed. To me, that is a huge accomplishment. I also saw them live for the first time in 1980 and "Let It Be Me" blew me away.

Pretty amusing that there is so much hand-wringing over a corps that has been out of the top five just once in the past 34 seasons, during which time they won ten championships.

Not a performance or show related memory, but a funny one that sticks out for me... I think it was 1984...on tour in the middle of somehwere... I don't remember if we pulled up to a gas station for fuel or what, but we unloaded and at least half of us walked to a McDonalds nearby. If you were around in the mid 80s, you would remember that we had many attractive female guard members. As a few of them were walking in the parking lot towards the McDonalds, a local made some lewd comments to one of our own. One of our percussionists heard the comments and responded to the unsuspecting male. About that time, another witness ran into the McDonalds and yelled "Hey Spirit...we need you in the parking lot...there's a fight about to happen". As the local guy and our guy continued to exchange words, all of a sudden about 70 guys, some as large as small pickup trucks, exited the restaurant to back up our boy. Needless to say, no fight ever took place. I bet the guy had to go clean his shorts when he saw all of us coming to the aid of one of our members. Here's a clue...if you are going to pick a fight...search the area for a convoy of buses and make sure that the person you are arguing with didn't step out with a family of 127 brothers and sisters. Much of my story could be paraphrased...it was, after all...24 years ago.