ohbaby

fixed, I thought that was a mistake as well....

True, but even you of all people have witnessed seasons that were perhaps better or worse than others. I am not one to compare 2012 to say 1992, that is not fair, but 2012 VS 2011 or even 2009 is fair in terms of recent trends in the activity.

This is based strictly on watching the few shows on Fan Network, the theater and various unnamed sites, so I still reserve the right to change my mind when I see them in Minnesota, but so far, 2012 is disappointing. Let us go corps by corps of who I have seen Cadets - You knew 2012 was going to be a let down, when a corps has a year like they did, rarely is it matched the next year. (See Cadets 1987, Star 1991, Cavaliers 1995) However, the show is IMO entertaining, but I was hoping they would have approached it from a Mannheim Steamroller aspect. I think this show will please the fans, but the judges will have no choice but to place it in the 3-4 placement. BD - When I heard the pre-season recording, I thought WOW, when I watched a few videos, I was left saying, okay, this is missing something. I think it will win, but like 2008, not a show I visit upon regularity. Need to change the ending and have the "Sing Sing" style number be a bit more in your face. Phantom- Better than I thought, but the closer like last year at this point needs to be expanded on, if they could add another :30, I think they could be a player in the top 3. Crown - I appreciate that they are taking the Star approach at a "win at all cost mode", very demanding show, but it loses me here and there and wishing for Rach Star Part Dos. I am hoping this show grows on me, it has not showcased very well on video for me as of yet. Cavaliers - Well,..... yeah, I need to see this one live. Question might be, is this worse than 1997... that may be the only question left for this season. Bluecoats - I thought last year was the best BC show that I may have ever seen, I was not there in 2008. The show like many have said, loses steam in the 2nd half, so far I agree. We will see. SCV - I am very disappointed in them this year, I really was hoping they would step up and be a top 3 corp. Yes the drumline is out of this world, but the show is borderline snooze fest. Memo to Jeff Fiedler, pull out the 1995 Cavaliers chart and feel free to use it. Hopefully, there will be more changes to come. To date, those are the only shows I have seen, and I hope I am wrong, I really do. The worst DCI season I have seen and I have been going or performing since 1988 (I missed 2008), was 2001. Of the 6 that are listed above, maybe 2 are better than 2011. BD and maybe Crown. That is not good and I have not even seen 7-17 yet. Thoughts on 2012 VS 2011 or as a great stand alone season?

This is my third year using the Fan Network, and I am more satisfied than unsatisfied, but there are a few items that I would like to see changed or upgraded. 1. To date, the recording quality of the first two shows has been poor to average at best, I am sure that will be improve over the next few weeks. I am assuming they used mics placed either higher up or in the stands. What venue will have the first decent recording? 2. As far as APDs are concerned, members should be able to stream this current year, one reason is once I own the Finals recording of a given year, I do not usually listen to early season recordings. I know a percentage of the sale goes to corps, but there needs to be an option to stream on the computer. 3. Match Blue Devils as far as mobile capabilities. I know iPhone users are out of luck so to speak, but I am willing to bet that you possibly could get more subscribers if you were more mobile friendly. 4. Last but not least, expand the archives, there are videos out there of corps 13-? and prelims, Quarterfinals etc... that need to be archived. I know it is time consuming and perhaps $$, but without this happening, it is very likely those corps members will never see their performances again if they do not own the original tapes.

There is a year in this ten year contract that Finals will not be held in Indy, does anybody know where they will be held? I would suggest a new venue, one I recently visited that would be great is Ames, IA (by Des Moines, IA) at Iowa State University. Great location to pull from larger surrounding areas.

Say anything about BD 2012, how about congrats on the 2012 Championship, no dog in fight, but I think they will win.

Did they remaster the film frame by frame? Your right, it didn't look or sound great in the theater.

So true, perhaps licensing expenses?

Obviously, in the theater, they promoted a Blu-ray of a few selected championship shows. Any word on a release date? Nothing on DCIs website, is there any insight as to whether it is worth owning, or was it just a transfer to a Blu-ray disc? Any insight would be appreciated. Remixing into "artificial" 5.1 surround would not be enough for me to justify owning and if they have the .05 second cut-off after the last note of the show I will not be purchasing either.

Might be off topic , but is the smokin' hot lead guard girl from 2010 marching this year? I know she had a somewhat reduced role last season.

Vegas Odds to win DCI BD 3/1 Cavaliers 5/1 Carolina Crown 7/1 Cadets 10/1 SCV 13/1 Bluecoats 15/1 Phantom 20/1 All others 55/1 SCV could be the best play as far as bang for buck. However, Vegas hopes that all the money paid on BD will more than offset the champion that would prevail, insiders feel it may be the year for the Green Machine.

Every season, BD releases a pre-season recording (High end recording at that too), does anybody know when that is and also if you get BD Mediabox, can you access the recording there?

I know that there is a strict media policy, but I am surprised there are for all intent and purposes, no recordings out there. Seems like with all the cell phones and point and shoots, there would be more teaser material out there. Any links to Crown, SCV etc?

Back in the late 1980s and early 1990s, for some reason there was an "echo" effect that would make drumlines sound dirtier than ####. Try this, listen to SCV 1990s drum feature in stereo, then listen with I think just the left channel, night and day.

As I stated on Facebook, I was a member of this show, love that you chose it, but I do think there were several better clips that could have been showcased. The Opener, the revolving plane, the battle sequence and the last :90 seconds of that show. Just saying, if I had never seen or heard that show, that small clip would not have reeled me in.

Okay, we may have a winner... Brass 96 BD/96 Phantom Perc 99 BD/99 SCV Visual Cadets 2000/Cavaliers 2000

Wouldn't know because I can not see it!! (I was there so, I saw it live 5-6 times) To each their own, but wow, not even sure if it is the best of 2011, did the posters forget about Phantom this year? How about Cadets? Crown gave us two endings.... All-time? Even Madison 88 is more famous, the test will inevitably be this, if people are still talking about Madison 2011 in 24 years like they still do say Madison 88, then you may have an argument. Perhaps, it's still a fresh memory....

So I decided to pull out the 1993 Legacy DVD earlier today and there are two things that have bothered me since the collection came out almost ten years ago. 1. There is an old saying when calling sporting events that you sometimes need to just let the game breathe and more or less let the game and crowd showcase the emotions of the environment. I was there in 1993 and still to this day the Phantom show was one of the most intense crowd reactions that I have ever witnessed. (Three standing ovations) However, with all the shows from 1974-1999, you never really get a sense of the crowd reaction at the end of the show because there is the super quick fade out. I have never cared for that edit and would rather have not had the vignettes to allow for more room on the disc to show the crowds. 2. If you were to watch a movie or taped sporting event, you would not watch that movie in reverse would you? Why then do they still to this day release the DVDs in a 1-12 format? Perhaps why then did they not give the option to view in reverse? I wish they would have been the broadcast style format with the chapters included for individual shows. Perhaps if there is ever a Blu-Ray release these two items will be addressed.

I have skimmed through the books, but at the time I thought they were a bit pricey for my wallet. Does anybody have either one of these books? What is the overall consensus?

Are they willing to give refunds on the CDs?

With Crown releasing their field recording, any plans for PR to do one again after doing one in 2010?

I will say this much, 2011 is on of my favorites from this year as a whole. That brass line was unreal, and it may be one of those rare shows that I appreciated better on my iPod than the few times I saw it live. Yes they placed lower than in 2010, but 2011 would have been a top 5 show in 2010.

Could you be more specific? Bad mixing on cds or apds?