E-Daddy

Hopefully this attempt by DCI at an "Honor" group will not fall as woefully short as the "Honor Corps" joke from the mid 2000's.

I got invoiced for the DVD's too. Does that mean they're on there way soon as well?

Drum Corps HAS become very theatrical in recent years. Look at 2008 Phantom in which theatrics served them well, however their 2009 show that appeared to rely heavily on theatrics again, failed them. Look at some of the 2009 shows - Boston's show was heavily influenced by the provocative dancer/color guard, BD's reliance on the guard for their theme - there are many others to cite, but you get the idea. The point is that drum corps has always had a theatrical element to it, some years it was more dominant, some years less. The key is the integration of ALL elements of the corps - brass, percussion, guard, as well as the integration of the theme into a visually pleasing and satisfying show. Just because this is "Drum and Bugle Corps" doesn't exclude guards. Do we need to rename the activity Drum and Bugle and Guard Corps? I think not.

Until the judging community actually adds a "degreee of difficulty" factor, the corps that execute their program, easy or difficult, the best will get the highest scores.

DCI, in conjunction with the Corps, set the schedule for the following year. So, NO, it IS up to DCI, not the corps with their unilateral decisions.

Historically, Crusaders have not fared well this decade. once Championship week started. I recall that once Championship week started, Boston has dropped in score and placement as the week went by. I would be shocked if Boston pulled into anything other than a 8-10 position come Saturday.

Housing was one iof the reasons, IMHO, that California got just the one year for finals. Schools in California are sooooo uptight about "someone using their facilities", even though they are public facilities, that orgainzations don't even ask. If housing was truly one of the considerations for finals being in Indy for 10 years, and it's fallen apart, then shame on DCI. If, on the other hand, it wasn;t a consideration, then shame on DCI again. Having finals at the same place form many years has the ability for that organization (DCI) to "wear out their welcome". And we're only in the second year of this (although last year it got moved to Bloomington. I dread the attitude of Indy schools in year 7 or 8 of this "partnership".

A random draw for performance would conceivably "force" fans to actually show up at the beginning of the show, especially of one of the more hightly ranked corps went on very early, instead of the stands filling up halfway through the performances.

If this is such a big deal, have one of the Open Class Corps Directors put a motion in the winter meetings for this to occur next year. If no Open Class Director puts in a motion, you have your answer. It might be the fans choice, but not the directors choice. Or conversely, there should be a strong lobby effort that is on=-going with Dan Acheson - BUT the support of the Open Class Corps is critical. Personally, I have mixed feelings. Why should an OC corps reap the benefits or participating in a WC event, when they knew the ground rules going in. On the other hand, if there was no direct financial benefit to the OC corps, then I say set some criteria, let them go on first, and let the cards fall where they may.

Nice - except Blue Stars skipped this show tonight according to DCI!

I like the Cavaliers in the 2nd position, but don't count out SCV. With the new ending, and possibly a few more tricks up their sleeves, they are quite close to second. Crown had a "mid-season" lull, but I think they are back on track. The Cadets show bores me. Don't get me wrong, they play well, and I like their old-school approach again, but I wouldn't be surprised to see them end up in 5th.

Perhaps they "make it look east" because they are very talented, prepared, professional, etc. Did Michael Jordan ever make playing basketball look difficult?

Are the other corps "improving " faster than BD, or are there scores just going up faster (perhaps because BD is closer to 100 than hey are)? I suspect the latter. I think BD is still the corps to beat. Hopefully it's not a repeat of last year when the title was stolen from them.

This was also re-hashed ad-naseum a few years ago for Academy, which was a re-hash of the PC model. Whatever works for each corps is what is "fair". Like it or not, each corps has they own unique circumstances they need to operate under in order to be successful according to their own constraints and restrictions. Hope they do as well as their system allows them to be!

1 91.4 Blue Devils 2 89.75 Cavaliers 3 89.55 Cadets 4 89.15 Crown 5 87.8 Vanguard 6 86.5 Bluecoats 7 84.65 Blue Stars 8 84.25 Phantom 9 84.2 Crusaders 10 82.2 Glassmen 11 81.8 Blue Knights 12 79.6 Troopers 13 79.1 Colts 14 77.1 Madison 15 76.3 Crossmen 16 75.9 Academy 17 75.15 Spirit 18 73.05 PC 19 72.75 Mandarins 20 69.8 Pioneer 21 68.1 Cascades