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So have any "Friends of DCI" actually ordered yet and can comment on that process? My impression from reading this thread is that you choose a pricing level and then hope and pray you don't end up on the 5 yard line. DCI's announcement for ticket sales includes a graphic that states "Custom selected seating for championship events". This leads me to believe that when tickets go on sale we'll be able to know exactly what seat we're getting before purchasing. So which scenario is the real deal?

except the alarm wasn't heard by the entire stadium...... thank god i didn't hear it anyway.

07 buzz. no question!!!

#######################!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!that is all. :P

and i agree with you. i'd love to see full performances, but it is what it is. that's all. :)

when's the last time we got this much from 7-10? they got rid of the fluff pieces to show more corps, but now people want 11-12 too. there's no winning. we should call this the "bash the espn broadcast" thread.

that surprises me. i don't recall hearing any buzz on the quarterfinals APD. how did ESPNs sound end up worse??

I'm right here, but I'm not all I'm cracked up to be. :P Sorry, couldn't resist!

My TiVo recorded it as well and now I'm spoiled. Drum Corps looks AWESOME in HD! My guess is that the format war may play a part in DCI's adoption of high def DVD. Which format should they choose and what if it's not the format that wins. I don't think it would be viable for them to release such a niche product in both versions.

Did I miss the part with the detailed pricing? Perhaps the two Div II/III shows will be thrown in as a bonus and we won't be paying extra for them? Let's try not to get too bent out of shape before we even know the facts.

I kinda figured that had to be the case and almost made a comment to that effect but then thought screw it! :)

And it has an open concourse! Am I the only one that thinks that's a problem? I keep seeing people say Stanford would be perfect for Finals, and I thought so too. Until I experienced the open concourse 5 rows behind me.

i think the literal translation was "fear the hat". :)

While that's certainly a possibility, I doubt it would happen and certainly expect that there would be verbiage in the rules to prohibit that kind of behavior just in case. We don't see judges handing out 19's the first week of the season now, so I wouldn't expect them to get carried away at the end of the year either.

I voted Madison because I don't know a soul who would have even suggested much less predicted that they'd get beat by Southwind, Blue Stars, etc. early (and late) season! After the first week or two they were sitting in 21st place scorewise.... Yeah, nobody in their right mind expected that.

of course, i should point out, that the blue devil's thread got 5 stars. i call slotting! :P

touché! well played. B)

This thread only gets 4 stars??? Time to elect a new panel! :P

Here's something I thought about while attending Championships this year... Why do we necessarily have to score groups "__ out of 100"? In a year such as this when everyone in the top 7 was so strong, it seemed as if the judges were forced to make a decision early in the evening as to where they were going to place a corps in a given caption. Essentially they had to decide if Corps X was going to be the gold standard for the night or if they were going to leave room for the 4, 5, or 6 corps to follow. What if the scoring cap were to be removed, so that there is no limit to how good you can be? Leave the box criteria in place but take the cap off of box 5. That way if corps number 6 comes out with a blazing brass line, a judge can confidently give them a 19.8 or 19.9 without fear of having no room for the rest. If the rest of the corps come out on fire as well, maybe your top brass line ends up scoring 20.5. Who cares? We all say it's not about the score, but the spread. But when you get into championships week and the top corps are maxing out their shows, the current scoring system only allows for accurate ranking. Scores AND spreads go out the window in order to keep room at the top. Does this make sense? Would this be a good idea?

Perhaps there's less commentary in this thread because there is less to comment on? I did not get a chance to read any of the other threads about what happened because I was travelling, but I can only imagine they ballooned due to everyone weighing in on what they perceived his intentions to be. When he himself reveals his intentions, there will naturally be less to talk about. I wouldn't read anything into the smaller number of responses to this thread.

My 5 favorites (in no particular order, because I'm lazy): SCV, Blue Knights, Bluecoats, Regiment, and someone else. Almost anyone else! These first 4 had me from beginning to end with their shows. Just about everyone else had their moments, some more than others, and I can't decide who should be ahead of who.

To the several suggestions about having Finals at Stanford..... it's a nice stadium, but the open concourse is a serious design flaw for a drum corps show. You complain about buzzing lights, just wait until you get a roaring crowd in your ear all night! If finals ever comes out to California again, it will be so many years in the future that we don't know what the stadium options will be at that time. Last I heard, the 49ers were going to have a new stadium for the 2012 season which gives it a one year buffer to DCI's 2013 off-year (I think that was the year Lucas Field was already booked....).

Everyone but CODI. B)