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A few thoughts from 1990: I went to an early show in Canton with 2 friends (the old Fawcett Stadium) to see Bluecoats, Phantom, Star, and others. The show was held June 16. We were mostly excited to see Bluecoats after their 1989 production, and perhaps even more excited to see Phantom Regiment after their fantastic 1989 production. Phantom won the show by a BIG margin (5+ points); but it was Star of Indiana that BLEW US AWAY! Just watching them march onto the field in those uniforms was attention-getting, but then they hit you with that sound and by the end of the opener our jaws were in our laps. It only took a minute into Star's show to realize they were making a move on top 3 despite the huge gap between them and PR. PR had to follow Star and they were much cleaner and ready for the season, but you could tell Star's show was going to surpass them at some point. Scores from the June 16 show in Canton: Canton, OH DCM 1 Phantom Regiment 72.7 2 Star of Indiana 66.9 3 Bluecoats 64.3 4 Northern Aurora 40.0 5 Limited Edition 36.1 6 Northmen-WI 17.1 I drove to Columbus, OH on June 18 to see some of the same units plus Glassmen and a few others. By then Star had cut the lead to around 4 points, and my opinion had not changed. I still felt Star was going to be a top 3 corps. Columbus, OH DCM 1 Phantom Regiment 73.0 2 Star of Indiana 68.9 3 Bluecoats 65.2 4 Glassmen 53.9 5 Pioneer 38.3 6 Northern Aurora 35.7 7 Limited Edition 34.7 8 Northmen-WI 26.8 Blue Devils were undefeated on the West Coast and were the first to score an 80, registering an 80.5 on June 23 in Riverside. SCV was about 2.7 points behind them. The only way to follow other corps news was through DCW magazine or you could call a phone number to get scores. Madison had gone west that summer and were at that Riverside show, sitting in 3rd about 2.7 points under SCV. My next live show was Hershey, PA on July 7. It was the first match, I think, between Cadets and Star, plus Crossmen and Bluecoats were there. Again Star looked incredible and were cleaning nicely, but we were impressed with Cadets. My buddy in particular felt Cadets were marching a killer visual book and he felt Cadets legs and overall body technique was quite a bit stronger than Star. Cadets percussion section was also a beast. Cadets were also not finished with their show and that caused some of the difference in point total. I was still more impressed with Star, but I could see where Cadets were going with that show. Crossmen also blew me away. I love that show. Their percussion section was driving and fun and staged so perfectly. Great charts...I think this was their NY Voices show (or was that 91?). Hershey, PA DCE Hershey Spectacular 1 Star of Indiana 81.9 2 Cadets of Bergen Cty. 80.3 3 Crossmen 73.5 4 Bluecoats 72.6 5 Florida Wave 52.6 6 Limited Edition 48.3 By July 14 scores were all over the place, and if you were following DCW and scores by phone all you knew was this: BD and Phantom were still undefeated. Star was cleaning and looking very strong. Cadets were cleaning as well, and SCV and Cavaliers were also in the game. Here is a look at scores from July 14-15: JULY 14 In Georgia Star was at an 85.7 and Cadets an 83.5 in Madison, WI Phantom was sitting at an 86.2 and Scouts at an 80.6 In Concord, CA BD was sitting at an 85.6 and SCV at an 83.6 Dutch Boy had scored an 81.2 with Ventures at 72.6 in Ontario, Canada JULY 15 On the 15th Phantom's scored dipped to 84.2 and the Cavaliers were at an 83.1 JULY 16 In Ogden, UT BD also dropped some to 84.1 and SCV was at an 82.5. VK was sitting at a 73.6 and beginning to clean what would be a fun and excellent show. Cadets hit an 84.7 in Columbia, SC JULY 18 Cadets scored and 86.1 in Virginia and looked to be putting some major polish on a most difficult show Star on the same day in Illinois scored an 83.0 to Bluecoats 75.1 Scores were all over the place and it was most difficult to tell who had the show, who had GE, Visual, Brass, Guard, Percussion, etc. I was still confident Star had the brass and that they were a top 3 candidate, but I kept up with scores and it seemed the top 6 or 7 corps were all sporting fantastic shows. JULY 19 At College Park, MD the Cadets knocked out an 89.7 to Dutch Boy's 79.3 Interesting note, while Cadets did not have some of the other top contenders at this show to truly compare scores, my buddy (who lived in Philly at the time) had gone to this show. He called me and said "Look out...here come the Cadets." He was most impressed again with the visual program and the level of marching and overall execution of the show. I believe he said this was one of the first shows that they performed the full closer with a Z-pull that reversed and went into an S-pull. He said the crowd went nuts. There score would come down over the next few shows, but not by much and it was clear they were in the running. On Saturday, July 28 I attended the Drum Corps Midwest prelims and finals in Whitewater, WI. I drove up (from Ohio) with 3 other friends. My buddy from Philly was one of them who drove in to make the trip with us. This was to be a battle, at least many thought, between Phantom and BD. Both were still undefeated even though Star, Cavaliers, SCV, and Cadets were all beginning to score well. We could not have predicted what we would be witness to, but to this day it remains one of my favorite drum corps trips. After prelims BD had won with an 88.1, Phantom was 2nd with an 87.3, and Cavaliers were only .3 behind Phantom. Bluecoats were sitting in 4th and Crossmen in 5th. VK and Blue Knights were in 6th and 7th after Prelims. Of all the corps that morning, I thought Crossmen had my favorite show, but I fell in love with BD's play on Tommy. Still one of my favorite Blue Devils shows. During the break between prelims and finals our conversations were all over the place in terms of what we thought from an enjoyment standpoint and competition. My buddy from Philly was clear that Cadets would eventually beat everyone at this show and that their visual mastery, cleanliness, and complex musical book would ultimately put them ahead. I was still thinking Star was the best thing I had seen, but I also fell in love with the Cavaliers show and thought they might pass Phantom at DCI Midwest finals later that night. I thought BD was the clear-cut winner from prelims. Another friend was all Phantom and was ###### that BD had topped them. Here is a rundown of how Prelims played out: Whitewater, WI DCI DCI Midwest Prelims 1 Blue Devils 88.1 2 Phantom Regiment 87.3 3 Cavaliers 87.0 4 Bluecoats 80.5 5 Crossmen 78.5 6 Velvet Knights 75.9 7 Blue Knights 74.0 8 Dutch Boy 71.8 9 Spirit of Atlanta 70.7 10 Troopers 67.5 11 Colts 63.0 12 L'Insolite 62.6 13 Marauders 58.0 14 Limited Edition 50.8 What happened at MIdwest Finals is one of the great stories for the ages in DCI. Everybody performed their hearts out, including Bluecoats, Crossmen, and Velvet Knights who had some amazing energy and shows that I fell in love with. VK was a gas, and Crossmen continued to be perhaps my 2nd favorite show after Star. But when it came to the top 3 at this contest, it was the Cavaliers who rose-up and slaughtered the competition. I could not believe how well they were performing. They must have received 5 or 6 ovations. Talk about being "ON FIRE." The scores reflected what they had done. The Cavaliers jumped over Phantom and BD and won the show by 2.5 over Phantom (who jumped BD) and 2.6 over BD. And to be honest, not a single person in the stands that night seemed to be surprised. The Cavaliers won every caption. That might have been shocking, but I do believe they deserved it. It had become clear at that point that all the talk of BD and Phantom being undefeated and potentially being the top 2 corps of the summer was no longer the story. Now the story was 1) are the Cavaliers in the lead?, 2) where do Star and Cadets fit into this, and 3) how about SCV? Things were still unclear, but what WAS CLEAR was that The Cavaliers were likely a top 3 corps to be reckoned with. And just like that the narrative on the season had shifted in a dramatic way. Below are Finals scores from Midwest. Whitewater, WI DCI DCI Midwest 1 Cavaliers 89.4 2 Phantom Regiment 86.9 3 Blue Devils 86.8 4 Bluecoats 82.8 5 Crossmen 81.3 6 Velvet Knights 79.7 7 Dutch Boy 76.0 8 Blue Knights 73.7 ^ Spirit of Atlanta 73.7 10 Troopers 69.7 I'll update part 2 of my reflections later on. Thanks for reading.

Reflections on 1990 - Part 2: So as I look at the back half of the 1990 season, and I remind myself of show scores using scorpsboard.com, several things were evident: 1) what a fabulous season it was with so many great shows, and 2) we still didn't know who would win. In fact, although the Cavaliers had made perhaps the biggest statement of the season with their dramatic win at DCI Midwest Finals, what we did not have yet was a contest with all top 6 corps in one place. This is something we don't see today due to how regional shows are scattered and how the tour operates. In 1990, at no time until DCI World Championship Finals week did all the corps finally match-up. This is something that would probably drive people crazy today. What ensued after the Cavaliers thriller on July 28 (detailed in my part 1 reflections) was simply chaos among the top 6, and plenty of excitement for the fans with all the corps performing so well. On July 29, one day later in Normal, IL, the Cavaliers would meet The Cadets (CBC at that time) and they would beat them as well, continuing their magic from the night before. I was not at this show. We drove home after DCI Midwest Finals - through the night. We were not tired however as we had so much to talk about. Of note with the Normal, IL show is Dutch Boy's score. They were clearly making their case for top 12 status and they had a beast of a trumpet soloist that year. Scores below from the Normal, IL show. Normal, IL DCI Prairie Brass Review 1 Cavaliers 88.6 2 Cadets of Bergen Cty. 87.6 3 Dutch Boy 76.7 4 Blue Knights 76.3 5 Spirit of Atlanta 73.2 6 Orlando Magic 72.1 7 Troopers 71.0 The scores from this point onward began to show just how close everybody was among the top 6 groups. On July 30 Phantom Regiment scored an 88.6 On July 31 Cadets hit an 88.0 in Ohio. The Blue Devils scored 88.6 in a win over the Cavaliers who scored 88.2 in Indiana. Star of Indiana beat Santa Clara 88.8 to 88.1 in Louisiana. August 1 had the Cavaliers beating Phantom 89.9 to 88.5 August 2 saw the Cavaliers top BD 88.8 to 88.2, with SCV scoring an 89.5 in Arkansas August 4 featured DCI South in Alabama and SCV topped the Cadets and Star in prelims 90.4 to a tie 90.1 (Cadets & Star), at Finals SCV won the show with 91.4 followed by Star at 90.9 and Cadets at 90.8 August 4 also featured DCI Canada: BD won prelims 90.1 to Cavaliers 90.0 and Phantom's 89.7. BD won finals 90.6 to Cavaliers 90.0 with Phantom in 3rd at 89.6. The scores for this show below: Hamilton, ONT DCI DCI Canada 1 Blue Devils 90.6 2 Cavaliers 90.0 3 Phantom Regiment 89.6 4 Madison Scouts 83.2 5 Dutch Boy 78.7 6 Blue Knights 77.4 7 Orlando Magic 76.3 8 Boston Crusaders 75.3 I did attend DCI Canada in 1990. This used to be one of my favorite shows to attend. It was a great drive to upstate NY for wings and a visit to Lake Chautauqua, then up to Buffalo and Niagara for some sight-seeing, and then a full day of drum corps on Saturday. Obvious I had seen all three of the top corps at this show back in Wisconsin at DCI Midwest. Despite BD's win (and I loved their show) I still felt they did not have the room to grow where Cavaliers still astounded me. My gut feeling was that Cavaliers were still top 3 in the end. Phantom's performers were amazing and that is largely what kept them in the race, but from a design point I felt they had the weakest design among these 3, Star, and Cadets. Keep in mind I had not seen SCV yet, and I only saw Cadets once (in Hershey) and while impressive their show was unfinished and not very clean. More scores: August 5: Cadets beat SCV in Atlanta, GA 90.3 to 90.0 and Cavaliers beat Phantom 91.0 to 90.4 in Michigan Putting the Spit & Polish on their Show August 6: At the Night Beat show in Charlotte, NC the Cadets beat Star of Indiana for the first time that year. Cadets scored 91.6 to Star's 90.3, and although I likely did not get these scores until later you can argue this was the turning point for Cadets. My friend insisted to me all summer that their stunning marching excellence, visual design, fantastic music book, killer percussion and top-rated guard would ultimately be the difference as they cleaned their show. I was not at this show so it is difficult to say if the spread was true and if Cadets were on fire, but it seemed from here on out that the judges had called their shot. The Cadets would not lose another show and as we followed scores into DCI East and DCI Finals it was apparent that The Cadets were in the no. 1 slot. On August 11 I drove to Allentown to meet my buddy who lived in Philly and we enjoyed DCI East prelims and finals. Prelim scores were as follows: Allentown, PA DCI DCI East Prelims 1 Cadets of Bergen Cty. 93.6 2 Blue Devils 92.1 3 Phantom Regiment 91.4 4 Madison Scouts 87.9 5 Crossmen 87.0 6 Freelancers 83.6 7 Dutch Boy 82.6 8 Boston Crusaders 82.2 9 Troopers 78.5 10 Orlando Magic 77.8 11 L'Insolite 72.6 12 Marauders 69.8 13 Colts 69.6 14 Black Gold 66.3 15 Carolina Crown 59.9 Keep in mind that Cavaliers, Star, and SCV were not at this show as they were at DCI Mid-America in Bloomington, IN. It was a long day of drum corps but I loved just about everyone. The Cadets were really impressive. The 1990 show is not my favorite Cadets show, nor do I think it's one of their legendary shows from an entertainment perspective, but all the things my buddy had detailed to me (he had seen them plenty of times that year) were really apparent. Compared to BD or Phantom, and even over what I could remember from seeing Star and Cavaliers, The Cadets marching, legs, upper body, intervals, complex visual design and tempo adjustments...it all seemed to be so professionally polished and seamless. The music book was wonderful with what I thought would likely be a top 3 brass line, perhaps the best percussion on the field, and best guard as well. It was clear they would be very difficult to beat. Of course, come DCI East Finals the Blue Devils put up a fight (as they always do) and Cadets had some major flubs that night. They still seemed like the better corps to me, even with the mistakes, but scores were much closer. Cadets would win 93.0 to BD's 92.7, with Phantom in 3rd at 92.3. At DCI Mid-America (also on August 11) Star of Indiana pulled by the Cavaliers and SCV. Scores below: Bloomington, IN DCI DCI Mid-America 1 Star of Indiana 92.5 2 Cavaliers 92.2 3 Santa Clara Vanguard 90.3 4 Bluecoats 86.5 5 Velvet Knights 84.0 6 Spirit of Atlanta 80.9 7 Blue Knights 80.3 8 Glassmen 72.9 9 Sky Ryders 72.6 10 Florida Wave 65.5 11 Limited Edition 62.9 To this point it was becoming more clear that Cadets might win Finals, but who would end up in 2nd and 3rd was totally up for grabs. On August 12 The Cavaliers returned the favor and beat Star 93.2 to 92.6. Also on August 12 The Cadets showed some real muscle in a win over BD 94.0 to 92.5 in Endicott, NY The following are how scores came out for quarterfinals in Buffalo: ------------- Thursday, August 16 ------------- Buffalo, NY DCI Quarter Finals 1 Cadets of Bergen Cty. 96.0 2 Cavaliers 95.9 3 Blue Devils 95.6 4 Star of Indiana 95.1 5 Santa Clara Vanguard 94.2 6 Phantom Regiment 93.6 7 Crossmen 90.6 8 Bluecoats 90.3 9 Madison Scouts 89.6 10 Velvet Knights 87.8 11 Spirit of Atlanta 85.9 12 Blue Knights 85.7 13 Dutch Boy 84.8 14 Freelancers 84.7 15 Boston Crusaders 84.0 16 Orlando Magic 82.8 17 Troopers 81.1 18 Glassmen 79.5 19 Sky Ryders 75.9 20 Ventures 74.7 21 L'Insolite 74.4 22 Academie Musicale 73.9 23 Colts 72.8 24 Marauders 72.7 25 Black Gold 70.0 Talk about close. Cadets were up by .1 over Cavaliers, BD was .3 back of Cavies and Star was .5 back of BD. I was happy Crossmen were in 7th since they had one of my favorite shows that year, and Bluecoats in 8th also made me very happy. I highlighted BK, Dutch Boy, and Freelancers because the next day would be interesting. Here are semifinal scores: -------------- Friday, August 17 -------------- Buffalo, NY DCI Semi-Finals 1 Cadets of Bergen Cty. 96.8 2 Cavaliers 96.2 3 Star of Indiana 95.4 4 Blue Devils 95.3 5 Phantom Regiment 94.1 6 Santa Clara Vanguard 94.0 7 Madison Scouts 90.8 8 Crossmen 90.6 9 Bluecoats 90.3 10 Velvet Knights 88.5 11 Spirit of Atlanta 86.9 12 Dutch Boy 86.3 13 Blue Knights 85.1 1.2 down to DB 14 Boston Crusaders 84.1 15 Freelancers 83.9 were only .1 behind DB at quarters but judges hit them hard at semis 16 Orlando Magic 83.2 17 Troopers 79.4 Cadets opened their lead a little, Star made a move over BD and Phantom jumped SCV. I felt as if Star or the Cavaliers could have been 2nd place and Finals were going to be fun. ------------- Saturday, August 18 ------------- Buffalo, NY DCI DCI World Championship 1 Cadets of Bergen Cty. 97.7 2 Cavaliers 96.9 3 Star of Indiana 96.5 4 Phantom Regiment 95.3 ^ Blue Devils 95.3 6 Santa Clara Vanguard 94.0 7 Crossmen 89.6 8 Bluecoats 89.2 9 Madison Scouts 88.7 10 Velvet Knights 87.3 11 Spirit of Atlanta 83.4 12 Dutch Boy 82.2 I'll say it again, 1990 is not my favorite Cadets show but it's a darn good one. I don't consider it one of their legendary shows like 83, 84, 85, 87 or 2000, 2011 and a few others. That aside, WOW did they perform. You had to be their live. Video does this no justice. They put the spit and polish on the visual and musical package and performed their best show of the season. The Cavaliers were stunning and seemed to have the crowd pulling for them (at least where I sat). Star took brass as I thought they might and were also stunning. In the end I think Star had my favorite show that year. Crossmen were a close 2nd, then Cavaliers, Cadets, BD, Velvet Knights, SCV, and Bluecoats. But in all honestly there was no show that I did not enjoy. Finals in 1990 was a fun ride with lots of entertainment, and at no time did all the top 6 corps meet at one show until Quarterfinals during world championship week. There was plenty of suspense, great competition, and the scores were all over the place. I loved it. Thanks for reading. I had some fun times that summer and attended a good number of shows (not all of which I detailed here). I was younger and could travel more in the summer, and for me this was one of the best.

I just had my groceries delivered. I’ve been doing that for about a month now. I did go clean an elderly friend’s house this morning after she called yesterday and said it killed her back to vacuum. We social distanced.

I find the prospect of a smaller, more regionally focused touring model to be very appealing. Imagine the anticipation and excitement of a model where all the corps come together only at finals week. As it exists today, you are pretty well assured of knowing who the champion will be before quarterfinals even starts. I find that boring.

Don't care; going for my college mullet & much facial hair. Business + Party for the win! (Wife's not happy on 2 fronts: my hair & her hair color.)

I get what you're saying, BUT "The End" ending would not have had LOS standing, singing, screaming. That required "Hey Jude."

In many asian cultures wearing a mask is not about bad air, it's about not spreading illness. It is also accepted and not gawked at.

Anecdotal evidence from your personal small world view is not evidence enough to pull out statistics like that. People are defying the social distancing orders every day. The virus can travel a distance of 13 feet, and yet people can't even maintain a 6 foot distance from each other. Don't believe me? Go to a store like Costco where you will find people 3-4 feet within each other to grab groceries. My dad called me up yesterday and was telling me someone even bumped him yesterday while he was on a walk outside! If you don't have the stats, don't make the claim. There's enough misinformation out there.

Supposedly to keep from getting sick during winter. Seemed to be done more by older individuals when out in public, & esp on public transportation.

i know people tied to the legal world in Allentown, and they won't risk credibility to leak.

I was suddenly reminded of this gem from "The Far Side":

I thought Canadians were supposed to be nice? That's good though, I wish people were the same here in the States. I have half a mind to go to the grocery store in a dinosaur suit with a long tail to slap people with if they get too close to me

I think probably every COVID post in the various threads here, even those like this one sharing what now appears to be a fairly bad prediction about what would happen (although we haven't reached late April yet, and we may very well be at the peak) was made in good faith. Nobody comes to DCP to deliberately spread misinformation. People were repeating what they'd been told by sources they trust, and they were naturally optimistic, and the situation that subsequently developed was almost too much to conceive in advance. And even their sources of information, for the most part, were acting on the same reasonable motivations. So for example, when garfield posted, within a day or two of the first coronavirus thread back in late February, that he had good information, from people who stood to lose a lot of money if they were wrong, that a cure was already in development and could be deployed perhaps within as little as six weeks, he wasn't lying to us. He really had heard that from sources he's found to be reliable in the past. He and they both wanted it to be true -- and really, who wouldn't want to believe that? But (1) they were wrong and (2) even six weeks was enough time for 30,000 Americans to die from this disease. And those people, like myself, who were pessimistic, probably failed to strike the right tone to get people like garfield to take the possibility of more dire consequences seriously. In my case, the problem was probably...

Anyone else think it’s encouraging that some governors are getting together for joint plans on recovering from this? I do but then again think my guv does well working with others. Even got a mention from USAToday that during the daily briefings he says the governments part and then steps back to let the state secretary of health talk about the medical end. Guy is so #### low key I’m surprised anyone noticed him lol

It's too bad that Dr. Miss Cleo is no longer around.

Sorry, it's been a while since I associated Oz with being a real doctor.

We were warned. We were warned many times. It has now happened. I hope the next time (there will be a next time), we are prepared.

We also have to get over the idea that it’s not going to be as bad here because (insert favorite we’re different or better rant here). That goes from leaders to people posting on social media. Still remember a dcp post month+ ago saying it won’t be as bad here as Italy because we have better hygiene standards. (Need emoji of hand slapping forehead)

The reality is that other countries have much more robust systems (not gonna get into the politics of it) that allow employees in their country to receive much better benefits than in the USA (guaranteed paid paternity/maternity leave, sick days AND vacation days, better work hours, etc). The lack of these type of benefits being the norm for employees here in the USA has led to the "must work" attitude. I agree, the new "work from home" push will definitely help, but there are still many workers who are in occupations where work from home simply is not an option. Many of them have been laid off. I feel for them, truly, as they are the backbone of this country. However, the mindset we should be following is to prioritize the greater good rather than that of a few, as grim as that might sound.

At least we do not have a "time to cancel the 2021 season" thread yet.

So, I’ll say it... we still have a ways to go, but as of this moment 2021 looks improbable. I think it’s most likely 2022 before we have a realistic chance of getting back on the field. If that’s the case, I don’t see how many of these organizations, including DCI can survive with little to no revenue. There is a very good possibility that DCI will return in a much revamped fashion or as a regional activity. But I truly feel that we might have seen the last of the National touring model for quite sometime. I hope I’m wrong.

Yeah, this does seem to have been a mistake. It would have been better had authorities recommended homemade masks from the start, emphasizing that they probably have some efficacy but that proper masks were scarce and desparately needed for health care workers. Hadn't heard about North Dakota, but in South Dakota, they're shaping up to have a big outbreak in Sioux Falls. It appears that more than 500 workers in a pork-processing plant that employs about 4,000 have tested positive. The plant has been shut down, but people there are still able to gather and mingle.

Zoom is also becoming popular. then again someone sent me a screenshot tonight where he compared himself to Mandela

Just wear a do rag.

But it's not false or disingenuous at all. It's what would happen if business as usual went on. And yes, some people were advising just that. Herd immunity! I quoted a DCP poster who said that it was ridiculous that all "sporting and entertainment events [were] cancelled, [and] schools [were] closed" in response to COVID19. That person's reasoning? Swine Flu killed 12,000 Americans *over the course of a year* and we didn't do those things. (Though there were some very limited small-scale closures.) And that was before stay-at-home orders were issued in most places. That person wasn't responding to those measures but was complaining that even just shutting down events and schools was too much -- apparently even if they were to save as many as 12,000 lives. Now we've seen COVID19 has killed more than 30,000 Americans in 47 days, and we're on our way to reach twice that number. (The past 24 hours have the most deaths yet. Also, while New York has finally done the right thing and started to record *some* of the large number of people, vastly exceeding the daily average of the past five years, who died at home but were never tested, most jurisdictions still are not doing this, so the real death count still exceeds the official count by a fair bit. And yes, comparisons like that are the way that these things are normally counted. That Swine Flu count was calculated after the fact by comparing to previous years' averages, not by counting each death that had tested positive in real time.) Some hospitals are right at their breaking points. Bodies are piling up in spare rooms. (Seriously. I can provide pictures if necessary.) A fair number of doctors and nurses have fallen ill or died. (Not something that normally happens because of the flu!) They're wearing garbage bags because they ran out of protective equipment. But in the hardest-hit jurisdictions, so far, we seem to have done *just barely enough* to avoid cause health care collapses. One recently discovered fact helped: ventilators are less helpful than had been believed. (They're still needed, just not as much as expected.) People whose blood oxygen levels have dropped so low that all the books and training says they ought to be on ventilators are often better off without, because of the weird way this strange virus acts in the lungs. But again: we're going to have five times as many deaths from this outbreak, in one-fourth the time, as we did for Swine Flu. And those are 60,000 souls *on top of* those who died from the flu this year. The one disease didn't replace the other. And all of that happened even though we imposed extensive social distancing measures. It would be so much worse if we hadn't! This is just baffling: when some people here claimed that COVID19 was being overhyped ("get back to me in two or three weeks", said someone here in the last week of February) because the swine flu was worse, or the regular flu season (in which 60,000 deaths is a bad year) is worse, even though both of those claims have proved to be false, that wasn't worth disputing. But when other people here warned that it was going to be much worse, and then when they noted that subsequent events bore those predictions out, that's somehow misleading. That burgundy line on the chart is what would happen had we done nothing. (Which would lead to somewhere between 500,000 and 2 million Americans dead, by the way. Yes, that's a big uncertain spread, because there's lots we just don't know about this virus yet.) That "efforts start working" point on the chart? If we're lucky, that's where we are right now, in terms of the death toll. Or we may be just a bit to the right, just past that inflection point. What you seem to be proposing is that the efforts taken to this point weren't worthwhile, because once we reached this point, we could now take all the measures that are helping us bend the curve. Or alternatively you seem to believe that people would have taken sufficient steps on their own to match the official policies, and those would have been good enough to get us here. If that's what you mean, I don't think it's true. Had we taken the social distancing steps we did take just *one week earlier*, we probably could have cut the death toll by half. And that obviously didn't happen, whether officially or not. What are those 30,000 American lives worth? We probably ought to decide, because it needs to be a factor in how and when we reopen (and thus ultimately how 2021 plays out for DCI).

I’m covering my roots with some spray-on stuff.

Read my story about DCI Midwest on July 28. It was a sight to behold and The Cavaliers stunned the crowd and other corps with a performance that was as hot as HOT can get. As great as DCI Finals were in 1990, and I loved the entire season, that whole day in Whitewater in 1990 (prelims and finals) was really the highlight of the summer for me. It remains one of my most fond drum corps stories.

Great read. I have to say, Endicott NY was an interesting day as a Cadet. We watched almost an entire block of BD that day (Something we NEVER EVER EVER EVER did) ... I believe they were doing a clinic of some sort. They were definitely pumped when they saw was strolling in and wanted to show us what was up in 100% BD fashion. I'd say the outcome was the opposite of the desired effect. Leaving it there ..............

great stuff.

Good - someone understands. Yes, there are exceptions. But they are exceptions, few in the overall scheme of things. Amid the numerous recommendations for social distancing and other enhanced precautions, people are changing their behaviors quickly and thoroughly. And never mind this part: ... this (my observation) is not about who is ordering what, where. I am talking about what people are doing voluntarily to change their behaviors to stop the spread, on their own initiative - before, beyond, or without being ordered to do so. (Of course, we are drum corps people, so we will tend to focus on correcting every last remaining error.)

Here where I am (Montreal), people are often leaving 20 feet between them and the next person in line. Get too close to someone at a store? Get hissed at. Evil eye, raise the mask. I was in line at a grocery store earlier in the week and someone got too close walking by to get at the back of the line. The woman in front of me stretched out her arms and said "back off!"

I am using logic. If you think people are actually keeping 13-16 feet away from each other when they're out and about, I got a bridge to sell ya

I appreciate that you are referring to Doctor Oz. However, I would much rather listen to Lindsay Lohan - in a fake, British accent, than Doctor Oz. Or listen to Cher, in her impersonation of a potted plant, needing water, than Dr. Oz. These times call for people who are expects in matters like this. Not television personalities.

Definitely. It was a large oversight, many of our friends in the east (South Korea in particular) are used to using masks on a daily basis as it is the culture there. That in combination with a more robust testing system (and smaller population) has allowed SK to have some of the lowest Coronavirus #s of any developed country. Even without hard-nosed evidence from a clinical study, you can deduce that utilizing a mask or any sort of barrier would help reduce the spread of a virus that spreads via aerosols. Oh well, I am glad they changed their minds.

I get to the point of “crisis overload”. Body counts. Bacteria resistant to all drugs. Climate change. We’re all doomed. Just read the headlines. Every bit of positive news includes a “BUT...”. but testing might not be 100 percent accurate. But it might flare up again. But a vaccine might not be 100 percent effective. But treatment might have side effects. Bad news is what the media thrives on. If it bleeds it leads. Life is too short. I’m checking out of the media circus.

As long as you wear it with a mask when going outside, but I suspect people will pay more attention to your mask than the t-shirt.

Been wondering how long would DCP continue to exist if there were no more drum corps and everything here was a "historical" forum?

I think the 200 employee figure was likely a mistake or misunderstanding on the part of the paper. They were probably counting the 150 corps members in addition to admin, teachers. designers, bingo staff, volunteers, medical & physical fitness staff, etc. I suppose if you count the number of people they need to run their 3 shows (one of which is a very large show in early August) to go along with other programs (WGI, Cleveland Browns, etc.) that maybe you could get 200 employees, but even that would be misleading. I no longer live in the Canton area but I used to serve on the BoD many moons ago and continued to work bingo for the corps up through the summer of 2017. Like any corps, when you lose one of your major fundraising options you are going to be hurting. Their bingo game is great and draws a lot of people. It is a major revenue generator. I hope bingo will make a comeback. This virus may linger (we all hope not) and that could cause problems with getting people into the event center for bingo games. If we ever get to a point where they can reopen they may have to allow less people into the hall in order to space them out, and that alone can be crippling. Bingo games do better with more people. Bluecoats have great alumni who donate, and they have a few major donors as well. They organization is setup and administered very professionally. I have no concerns that they will exist or make it through this situation. They are well loved by music educators and other music professionals in the state of Ohio. I think the support will be there, and I think younger generations of talented musicians will want to march with Ohio's premiere D&BC. There is no doubt finances will be tight for a while.

Lancers just sent out an email telling all members (and others on the email list) about Chuck Wilson’s induction. Included in the email is all the info in ironlips first post. Good news going out....

Yeah, I still feel like I’m stuck between a rock and a hard place. I just signed a contract that has me tentatively starting at the end of May. Based on that, my loan broker was to move forward today— we actually may be able to close on our house. (It was supposed to be at the beginning of this month. He said it’s going to the underwriter today. Lord help us...) But they’ll STILL need to see my first paycheck. Which means donning the PPE and firing up a handpiece once again. It’s always come with a degree of risk but I’ve always felt it was manageable. For the first time, though, I’ll be a little nervous about it. But I’m also anxious to get our lives back to some semblance of “normal.” But if I catch this ###### thing, I could also put it all in jeopardy. (Not to mention, my life. As a type II diabetic, I’m at higher risk.) One day I feel like I want to barricade myself in the house and the next I just want to get on with it.

I see TicketMaster basically invoked the Ferengi First Rule of Acquisition regarding refunds for cancelled events today.

Due to the cancellation of the 2020 DCI season, we are disabling all automatic renewals of the DrumScorps Season Pass. Furthermore, the Season Pass will no longer be available for purchase within the app. As many of you know, the Season Pass, at an annual cost of $1.99, provides access to recaps, show repertoires, and more within the DrumScorps app. Since there will be no recap and repertoire data for the 2020 season, we will not be providing the Season Pass as an option within the app for 2020. Everyone stay safe and healthy and we look forward to providing DCI scores and more for the 2021 season. - The DrumScorps Team

Best post in this thread. The people who are taking this situation lightly or are clamoring for businesses to open back up in the coming weeks are naive fools.

Well to show how scary travel even within a state can be. Few days ago PA peaked (hope it’s the peak) with 1900+ new cases, then 1700+ and last 24 hours 1600+. But if you look at the county map it’s like NYC with most cases clustered in Philly, Pittsburgh and Allentown areas. Some rural counties barely have 10 cases. Have a feeling there might be an explosion in these areas as people start unsheltering and moving around. Sisters county went from 2 dozen to over 200 in a few days with sheltering. You think people in areas not hit too bad would be welcoming of outsides from hot spots (keeping on topic)

One of the things that will affect this is complacency. An attitude of "predictions were wrong so we can go back to normal." I hope this does not occur.

My problem is that I've failed every single diet that I've ever attempted.

I think it was directed at NE Brigand who I abbreviated as NEB in my post

Two thoughts: That DCI Midwest Finals reaction would have been a sight to behold. Was anyone there? The DCI Midwest tour + DCI tour must have been a marathon. They were going about a week to ten days longer than the East corps. Plus one: Glad SCORPSboard still has its place on the web.

one of my favorite seasons. Cadets kicked it in late and look out....Cavies Rutter 2 and so solid...the emergence of Star...i mean i saw them in early July and they owned the Cadets, but of course the Cadets didn't have the ending in...BD Pinball Wizard...SCV and Carmen...Phantom so solid...and hello Crossmen and the NY Voices show!...Bloo a solid show...Madison has grown on me over time, but placed right...VK was a gas.....Spirit and Tara's theme...and hello Dutch Boy...outside of finals you could see BK growing...i love Boston 90, which to me was the last truly great Conquest...Freelancers a good solid show followed by the debut of Magic...Troop was good...Glassmen was growing, and Sky Ryders were trying to ind heir non Broadway way...and the supersrats of the weekend, Acadamie Musicale winning A60 great venue too. Buffalo's stadium never gets enough love

I think the age old adage, “Hope for the best; prepare for the worst,” applies here.