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Awesome. Woodwind players need to go somewhere. 😜

I don't get all the Monday morning quarterback whining after this last year. Look, obviously Regiment is making changes and they seem to be working just fine. Seriously, what was NOT to like about this last show? All they have to do is keep building and putting out great shows. That means GOOD PR style music. I can't wait to see what PR does this next year building on this last year.

And I think that from an enjoyment perspective, I agree 100%. The balance has simply not yet been struck in a consistent manner is all. I think of of it almost like I think of interviewing trainers at this point. When I interview master trainers (we call them senior trainers,) they have to go through a 15 minute presentation via video (thank you global pandemic.) The basic expectation for being a master trainer is the same for everyone: You have to be good. #### good. You have to hit every point in adult education from movement with purpose to use of tools and resources, checkbacks, student proof of learning process etc etc etc. That's the bare minimum. I EXPECT that you hit a 90%+. The ones that make the cut show something even more special. They're innovative, they literally interview to the SCORECARD we use because everyone (and I mean EVERYONE) knows what the scorecard has on it. It hasn't exactly been a well guarded secret over the last decade. I'll give you an example. In the world of adult learning we often refer to the concept of building of a house. You have a foundation that supports the general purpose, walls that hold in the rules of specific actions (scope of support,) rooms that house individual processes and a roof that guards and protects any legal specifics of your client. I had a trainer (I mentored her) who explained the theory of building a house while having us all make individual lasagna's (this is when we were still on site.) At the end of the lesson, every panel member was able to recreate the steps in the exact order, relate back to a story / series of recognizable steps AND we each had a lasagna to take home that night and make 🙂 Great is great. Better than great is a story...sometimes with props...like lasagna.

If by dinosaur you mean you think the music is most important, then, you are just remembering a time when…

Crossmen 1992- Rainforest/Puma Crossmen added a great percussion score to this awesome Metheny Esque song done by Karl Lundeberg. (Not to be confused with the Puma sneakers by Karl Lagerfeld. I was once a Sneaker Head) Blue Devils 1988- Since I fell for you. This is how you end a show! Hats off to the soloist! Vanguard 1976- Dark Orchid. Santa Clara didn't play jazz. This surprised me in 76 great soloist! Cadets 1991- Letter from home. A beautiful song and great story telling.

Just from what I remember since 2019, this has been the largest turn out that BAC has seen, at least with my time with the corps. A second place finish really helps, especially since BAC has had that hype around them for so long and 22 finally delivered that medalist placement. For that 22 corps almost every day was another record shattered and set and I think that a lot of the excitement that came with that helped persuade people to come in for 23 and potentially break one of the last barriers BAC has never done before.

FOEG…. Starts at the 1:47 https://video.search.yahoo.com/video/play;_ylt=AwrgNwIMynpj1CYgqxD7w8QF;_ylu=c2VjA3NyBHNsawN2aWQEZ3BvcwMz?p=phantom+regiment+fire+of+eternal+glory+1993&vid=6aaf8621c97d9d128e2b0c52f12b7f49&turl=https%3A%2F%2Ftse3.mm.bing.net%2Fth%3Fid%3DOVP.aXHJoFtReZD30kdUYM7tQwHgFo%26pid%3DApi%26h%3D360%26w%3D480%26c%3D7%26rs%3D1&rurl=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DZMwA3upuCGU&###=<b>Phantom<%2Fb>+<b>Regiment<%2Fb>+<b>1993<%2Fb>&c=2&sigr=CF1rMpGW2kmN&sigt=tEgwyUuq4xRV&sigi=J_WkVSbJAtmm&fr=p%3As%2Cv%3Av&h=360&w=480&l=279&age=1315184905&fr=ipad&tt=b

I would not know how we would know that “ everyone( , ie all corps ) has an increase and talent and numbers from previous seasons “. ( auditioning ) My guess , some will have an increase in talent and numbers … some about the same in talent levels and numbers .., and some with a decrease in talent levels and overall numbers . Based upon placements in previous season and also in what changes in Mgt and staffs might have taken place at the conclusion of the previous season among all these Corps .

I totally agree with this. Unfortunately they got in a rut of believing they could only win with a story. Last valiant attempt was Turandot, 3rd place. I miss the days when DCI used to be mainly just about a good book and…

Call me a Dino..I’ve answered to it before, yawn….but I still maintain the premise that “The music captures peoples’ hearts.” That’s not a bad thing.

Let the music and marching speak for itself. This.

As someone who has been a volunteer on tour with them in the past, I have heard lots of conversations that would lead me to believe the leadership feels their music and style are what people really want, and the props and heady show themes are belittling to the audience. Let the music and marching speak for itself. If you think about it, there have been quite a few fads that came and went while PR stood fast with their specific style. I think what happened though is that many of those fads led to some very good progress in the sport that are now commonplace, and PR always found itself behind in adopting those new components. There always, to me, seemed to be a little self righteousness in leadership that novelty was below them, and I heard some bad-mouthing of those ideas - and the corps that used them - in front of the members. When some of those novelties became considered innovative and were standardized, the same leaders had to not only learn how to merge those ideas into PR’s shows, but had to eat crow after having thumbed their noses at those ideas for years. It was easier to keep on doing what had been done. Phantom’s prior tradition of hiring from within also exacerbated that thinking and made it that much harder to break free from tradition.

To be accurate, the tours were lengthening in the final years of these corps. There was a push to get all reigning top 25 to attend Whitewater for four straight years 1981 through 1984, a major tour rearrangement for Massachusetts corps. During that period, three of the four corps you mention folded, and the other ran their buses into the ground, contributing to their folding soon after. Suppose I built a road with a sharp cliffside curve, no lighting and no guardrail. Some corps drive themselves over that cliff. You could say it was their decision to drive there, but did the road really have nothing to do with it?

Because ever since 1972, all major decisions have been made by a group of 12-25 top corps in their own myopic self-interest, with near-total ignorance of the impacts to the rest of the 400 200 100 50 20 other corps.

Cavaliers have more instructors than there were members in the 1961 national champions.

I would also say that for the BD's and Bloo's of the world, they have the concept of writing to the captions down to such a science, that you could almost spin "The wheel of random show themes" and they would still have a top 3 design pretty much in the bag within a few weeks time (on paper at least.) They're just THAT good at what they do and they absolutely maximize their talent. It's extraordinary.

Unless you're Blue Devis. They probably had their 2023 show in the can a year ago, and are now working on 2024's winning show.

We caught Queensmen/Sunrisers alum and Hall of Famer, Billy Cobham, last night in Oakland. I swear, he was put on this earth so that the people could find 2 and 4. Here are a couple of clips, the first from a few weeks ago in Paris: You'll recognize this one: (His old instructor, Bobby Thompson, would be proud.)