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When I came to Star as a young staff member in 1985, after winning DCi as a member in 1984, I can tell you this. The hornline and guard were made up of vastly Indiana/Midwestern band kids and a few people from Pride of Cincinnati, I think 1 or 2 from Phantom Regiment, 1 Trooper, 1 Lancer, and a couple of Bridgemen horn players. The battery followed Dennis Delucia, Bob Dubinski, and Jay Webb to Star. The pit was 50/50 of Bridgemen and new people. Following an instructor to a new corps had been going on for decades and long before Star. This corps was so young and green that the last few days before we left on tour, we put the corp on buses and drove around southern Indiana for a few hours, to come back to Star Hall and unload and go to bed, just to give them that experience before we hit the road. The corps was far from recruited from other corps. Geez, I wish it was. It would have made our lives that much easier. That first year was more about teaching everyone how to be a corps, then it was about teaching and cleaning.

Really busy during Holy Week, but it's time to get back to reminiscing about DCI year by year. I proudly present the 1991 thread. 1991 was the first year I really started following DCI during the season. Went to an early season show at Franklin Field. Phantom won with an incredible show, Cadets were dirty but amazing, Crossmen promising. Then my first DCI East with Lisa, a friend of mine whose boyfriend Dale (now husband) was a tenor player for Crossmen. The buzz was that Crossmen had beaten the Blue Devils in prelims. They tied BD at the evening show and beat Cadets. Huge night for Crossmen, but they would fall back to eighth at DCI finals. Some corps called the Cavaliers won the show. That Crossmen percussion section... and BD's soprano line... and that Cavalier drill... and... and... and... There was a guy with a weird (weeaahd) accent announcing the show... when he said (Corps Name) from (Place) we had to say 'YOU!' at which point he would say 'may enter the field for competition.' The next summer Paul Cain would be my corps manager, Lisa and Dale my fellow Crossmen, and I would be one of those taking the field in Allentown. Let's talk 1991.

I can’t ... I just can’t

I think 2019 Bluecoats (with both endings) was worth every penny.

"If you’re a P-V-T, Your duty is to salute the L-I-E-U-T; But if you brush the L-I-E-U-T, The M.P. make you K.P. on the Q.T."

So you’ve got a study to cite to show it doesn’t work at all? Since we’re all apparently scientists now. Is Remdesivir BS too? Or would it only become BS if the Pres suggested using it?

I did & it's gone; at least part of it. Sorry Mr. or Mrs. Moderator. I blame it on Poppycock & beer.

I'll start with a funny memory. I took my family and brother and niece to a drum corps show in early July in Hershey, the year after Star's first championship win. It was my niece's first drum corps show , who was about 9 years old that time. Back then, order of appearance many times was done by "draw" in a regular season show.....in two groupings....the first being non-finalists from the year before, and then the finalists. At any rate, Star had drawn 1st among the block of members. I believe they were the 3rd corps on in the show, and I believe the first two were respectable, but perhaps not even top 25 members. As Star was coming on the field, I looked at her and calmly said, "this next corps is the defending World Champion". Then, this man comes walking in from the left, and people are laughing. A man dressed in a full "Uncle Sam" outfit (Star played a patriotic-themed show that year). She was amused when I told her that was the "owner" of the corps. When the corps hit the first big impact not long into the opener, the place was on it's feet roaring, and I saw this look on my niece's face; "what just happened".....it was priceless. Bill Cook was a very generous, philanthropic individual who did many things to be helpful.....He didn't care about "recognition", he just wanted to help, and that extended well beyond his own corps, but the activity. I saw his corps' food truck serve hungry kids from other corps. I heard about him flipping money to some corps who were out of cash so that they could get home from nationals. His contributions toward the PBS broadcasts were substantial. He helped other corps on multiple occasions. Without going into details, he made some very serious "phone calls" on behalf of the activity. Bill Cook cared about people and the activity. In a day and age where we have CEO's who are getting eight digit salaries and show little concern for the thousands of workers of their company, we could use more people like Bill Cook.

Statistics are incorrectly stated 107% of the time.

FACTS...We don't need no steenking FACTS!!! Booyah! Pat

I just ate a chocolate chip cookie. Now I’ll go rinse out my mouth with water because some buzzkill dentist has planted that idea in my mind forever!

Dinosaurs (minus the boids(nyuk nyuk)) had a bad day 65M yrs ago when 7+ mile wide asteroid hit near Cancun Mexico. The idea of a population limiting disease is a classic example of a density-dependent population limiter - the denser the population, the more impact the disease has. This is the idea behind the social distancing. It is also why you see a lot more cases in high population areas - its not just that more people per unit area are there, it is also that they can infect each other. Speaking of asteroids, have you heard of Apophis? You might want to watch this.

It’s the DCP version of Groundhog Day now.

Southwind & Memphis Blues competed in some DCM shows, but IDK if they ever were at DCM championships (a glance at DCX suggests not). But Imperial Guard from Evansville Indiana did in 81 & 82. I seem to remember red, white & black Cadet-style uniforms.

This was my rookie year in DCI. I hadn’t really expected to even try out, much less march in Finals. It was a long, hard summer but I had a good time and got to know some really great people. This was my first time going to California. Seeing BD for the first time live (with that insane hornline) was a near religious experience. Touring with them and SCV (whose show I loved) was a blast. I remember playing a standstill at the opening ceremonies of the Special Olympics. (SCV was there too. Man were they LOUD.) We were housed at Ft. Ord for a week or so— having bunk beds was a nice treat. (No one used air mattresses in those days.) And Finals was a home show! I’m still very proud of Sky’s show that year— fun arrangements and Brubaker drill to boot.

Paul Cain - that guy was a treasure. I can still hear his voice announcing the corps... I don't know of any other announcer who so effortlessly communicated his, and our, love for those kids on the field.

No I don’t agree with your characterization. As I said we’ll just agree to disagree. That’s okay by me. I hope it’s ok by you.

Yep. It's not alarmist to be forthright with people about how challenging the situation is.

I have not watched Robot Chicken for a while. I should catch up while thinking about DCI getting back into action.

Remember when TLC was about science and learning? And the History Channel was about history? Drum corps.

I predict someone will derail this thread by saying something about DCI.

Then don’t...just don’t

Yeah. Agreed.

Nothing is certain, of course, but the chances are pretty good that Bluecoats will emerge on the other side of this pandemic. Their next production may or may not be scaled back, but I am optimistic they won’t be shuttered.

Nah.... seeing this as a preview of what DCI and the corps might go thru when they work on restarting life....

Where you get these statistics and projections matter. Not all statistics are as valid as others. Not all studies are as valid as others. People don’t get properly educated on how to critically assess not only the sources of their info, but also the information itself. The hydroxychloroquine BS is an example of that.

I feel like this is a treasure - gives you a real window into the feelings and attitudes of the kids and the staff.

Yeah I screwed up. I meant run its course soon....

And because the deaths were less than expected that’s “proof” we over reacted. Funny how they never say how many deaths there would have been if we hadn’t taken shelter in place and other measures. on topic: DCI please look at all sides and be careful about starting back up

Yes, people don’t understand. You really think that, apparently. Illuminating.

I see the difference. But because I see the difference, I understand that those latter, speculative statements are statements of opinion made with the intent of creating hope - not claims of fact that intend to misinform.

Fred Windish. "That's a made up name. What's your real name? I am interested; we are interested". Enjoy this scene:

Music City Mystique beat it by a year in WGI and was a lot cleaner

the bald spot would give you away when i looked down

Staleys open?

and they aren't all there all day every day

I am guessing that most of these instructors, as in other corps I’m more familiar with, work 1 week or so in the summer and a couple spring camps and get a stipend that barely covers their transportation costs to show up. Calling them “employees” is quite the stretch. They are contract employees getting 500 bucks to tech for a week...

I met Mr. Cook once at Bill Lendman’s wake in 2011, just a few months before he himself passed away. I wrote about it on my website. I Did Not Know Bill Cook

Here is another look at what a fine gentleman Mr. Cook was. In the early days of Star, when DCM (Drum Corps Midwest) was in its heyday, there were a number of DCM shows in Kansas. Being a week plus "tour" of contests, the judges panel needed to be switched out a bit to enhance feedback, and inputs to the group of corps. The logistics of moving the panel in and out were beyond the budget of DCM to manage. Mr.Cook "lent" his jet to DCM to fly in "replacement" judges and take the others back to Milwaukee. As far as I know, this was all at his own expense in support of the DCM organization. As one of those judges, I was amazed and awed by the generosity he extended. Is there anyone currently in the activity to match??????

I am not familiar with that story but I did know Bill fairly well. It sounds like the corps, in a perfectly reasonable attempt to be polite, declined the host's invitation citing that the drivers were unable to drive as the reason. I have no way of knowing how the story would have played out if the corps declined because they had planned to rehearse or wanted to rest the kids but I'm am not surprised that Bill offered buses if buses/drivers were the stated reason. If he believed something like transportation was an impediment it was certainly "on brand" for him to try to overcome it. I have no knowledge of the situation and perhaps the characterization is correct but it is also very possible that Bill's actions were well intentioned and misunderstood.

Annnd back to 1200+ new cases in last 24 hours..... (27k+ total and fifth highest in country). Please don’t get too comfortable folks..... gonna be a while

DCP, Hungary, 1241: "Man, we've gotta open the gates." -"We've been through this, Phil. The Mongols are still outside." "But I've gotta harvest my turnips." -"MONGOLS" "Ugh. But we've been in here or WEEKS." -"That's how sieges work, Phil." "But the Mongols have barely killed anyone in days." -"That's because of the walls, Phil." "Are you sure? Maybe the Mongols aren't that dangerous." -"..." "I'm just saying, how bad could it be. They can't kill ALL of us" -"That is literally the thing they do." "But my turnips..." (source) - - - - - - - - - - Back then I probably would have been Phil, though.

Maybe you do not understand yet... but this should help clarify. Plenty of people were inevitably going to adopt precautionary behaviors in reaction to this virus, no matter what. Handwashing. Avoiding public gatherings. Cancelling unnecessary travel. Handwashing. At-risk people self-isolating. Completing two years worth of toilet paper shopping in one trip. Wearing masks in public. Handwashing. Staying home when sick. Cleaning and disinfecting surfaces. Working from home. Handwashing. It does not matter who would have advised pursuing herd immunity. The preceding paragraph would remain inevitably true. And denial of that remains disingenuous. You are kidding, right? Claims like those were thoroughly disputed (and refuted, IMO) by others here. There was no need for me to pile on. I have always said this virus is a serious matter. For that reason, I have also said not to panic. Serious times deserve serious responses, not meme-graphs based on utter fiction. No. What is misleading is this part: There was never going to be a "had we done nothing". Have you done nothing? No. There you go. Then it is fortunate that I am here to correct your misunderstanding. Getting closer. Maybe you do not realize just how "voluntary" this all is. We covered the obviously voluntary actions above - the ones people took on their own initiative, in advance of any recommendations or actions from authority figures of any kind. But even the recommendations or actions from authority figures require we, the people, to carry them out. We can choose either way... and it appears to me that we are 99+% carrying them out. We are setting aside our individual beliefs/self-interests/rights and making huge sacrifices to do this. Voluntarily. No need for you to guess at what I "seem to believe". What I believe is that there was never going to be a 'had we done nothing" scenario. They could be worth about the same as any other 30,000 American lives. COVID-19 is not the only thing that can cost lives. At some point, we could lose that many (or more) to lockdown-induced poverty, suicides, other untreated health conditions, curtailed fitness programs/physical therapy, bans on elective surgeries, hospital failures, healthcare job losses, etc. But the experts are not counting those losses. These are matters of life and death. But that means both life AND death. It is not lockdown = life, alternative = death. There are tradeoffs. I sure hope we are not evaluating those tradeoffs based on moot hypotheticals like "if we did nothing". Well, if we play that game, we might as well liquidate marching arts worldwide, today. Because if we assign marching arts full, direct, cause-and-effect culpability in even one future death, how can we say it is worth it?

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 ..............

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.

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.

I believe the delay is due to George Hopkins trying to negotiate proper hash marks for his prison cell.