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Me too, with wife and 2 kids, hopefully. This one is close to home so we can't stay away...

My wife and I will be spending time with the 2019 Cadets this coming Saturday & Sunday...can't wait!

If you're driving I-44 from OK to I-70 in St Louis and on to Indy, take in some sights along the way. Maybe veer off into NW Arkansas through the Ozarks and WalMart country. Very pretty area. Lots of touristy caves and caverns to explore as you move through Springfield to Rolla. Plenty to see and do in St Louis besides the Arch and some terrific food.The ride through southern Illinois on into Indiana is not much to write home about unless you enjoy endless miles of corn fields.

This thread is from 2005.

No alcohol. I’ll go for lunch. 😂

... without ethanol alcohol. Just sayin’. Not that I’d know.

A little south of Lucas oil. Walking distance. Fantastic deli, I’ve been told.

Some of the peanut M&M's also come from the Mars plan in Cleveland, TN, a short drive from Chattanooga. (said the guy who worked for Mars for 7+ years in the 80's). BTW, M&M's taste great before the sugar shell is applied...just the chocolate nibs.

Naw, hang out at the pubs with your friends!

most worthwhile.

I’ve never been there. I need to go this year.

That's why they built that huge chapel church there at Valpo... Enjoy the pretty windows.

The Lizard is always on my pre show itinerary and frequently on my post show itinerary as well!

mmmm Shapiros already callin my name

I'm beginning to think pre show Winking Lizard gatherings may be in order.

I'm working on my fifth straight tour jacket and first hoodie. I almost always go to the Montrose one. If you're doing the prelims cinecast at Montrose Movies, we could meet for did and drink prior to the start.

I'm driving from a family reunion to drive back to a different family reunion. Love is what you marry into

Visually, it was way too innovative and perfectly designed and executed to let the show be bad, imo. Obviously the percussion book is to die for, especially the break, but the brass book left a whole lot to be desired for me, unfortunately.

I don't think people are being overly dramatic. 2012- 3rd 2013 - 6th 2014 - 7th 2015 - 7th 2016 - 8th 2017 - 9th 2018 - 11th That's a steady downward trend. Averages don't matter in this case. In the periods you illustrated, they had highs and lows here and there, but there was never a downward trend that spanned several years. I absolutely believe they are at serious risk of missing finals in 2019. From a design perspective, everyone else in the top 15 (and some below 16th) out-designed them. With each successive year the design gets worse and worse, and they are not a big draw talent wise anymore. Both of of those facts are alarming. They have to start with design. A less talented corps with a great design can beat a more talented corps with a weaker design. We've seen in many many times. That, is where they need to start.

I loved 2011, but I also thought it could have been better. But compared to what they had given us the year before, I'll take 2011 any day of the week.

And they M&M’d the whole time.

CK and DP should have been toast after 2018, if not 2016 and 2017.

I'm going to be at finals, but i'm not sure you should be giving alcohol to minors...

What I find sad is, supposedly, these kids are tremendously more talented than those in the 70s, 80s, 90s, yet IMO, their talents are being wasted when you limit their opportunities to showcase them by, insert drum break here, activate recorded section there, run around like banshees until the dog whistle blows, and other 'design' elements that, again IMO, do not involve actual playing of their instruments (while actually moving would be nice) or a coordinated equipment section. Then again, I'm a dinosaur. Look, there were some shows last year that I really liked, Vanguard, Boston, Mandarins, Cavaliers (until they changed the ending). I can appreciate the attempts at trying to be different however, the reality is, all the shows have the same elements, over reliance on electronics rather than attempting to create organically, playing the more difficult sections while standing still, overwritten (IMO) drum parts that compete with rather than complement the brass arrangements, brass scale runs that are thrown in whether or not they were actually part of the original chart, props that (IMO) do not necessarily add to the overall production value of the show (Regiment, BD, Crossmen, etc). But like I said, I'm a dinosaur.

Gaines had fun trolling people on Twitter this week tho

GE 1st. by +.75 Visual/Guard 2nd. - .20 Music 1st place tie with the BD Beat the BD by .55 for first. The adults might have given the mm a great show to perform and a nice gap in GE scores, but the mm had to execute it. Of the ten captions, they had six firsts, three seconds, and one third. The second and third place caption gaps added up to only .6 behind the first place corps. Seems to me G that that corps was pretty strong as has been other corps that didn’t even win.

Well, all theory of course but multifactorial. 1. The challenge of maintaining the Scouts tradition while adapting to the quickness of change in DCI 2. The pressure to make the corps coed 3. The challenge of maintaining the Scout brand of masculinity and aggression in an all male corps in the current environment where masculinity is criticized DP does not have an easy job- yet, I respect his effort and donate to the corps

to anybody just casually reading this thread, yes, this is a youth activity we're not all like this

The staff is just not getting it done, but can then? Rather, can Regiment pay for staff that can get it done? I don't think so. When I think about it, in the late 80s, we had what 12-16 total staff members? I was just on Vanguard's website. They have 79 staff members this year. SEVENTY NINE. That is insane. No wonders corps like Madison and Regiment can't keep up. How is that sustainable.