noneofyourbusiness

Academy in, BK out.

Wisconsin had some pretty nasty stuff coming out when they showed them. THAT was some overblowing .

One thing people seem to be overlooking is the lines other than SCV and PR. Bluecoats were cooking last year and should be again this year, Cadets are always solid under McNutt/Moyer, BD is always great with ScoJo around, Crown still has Beddis, the Cavies were called "young" last year by many so they should be getting older (right?), and Aungst/Larrivee have won a bunch in the past and now have a second year (or is it third?) at Blue Stars. Does everyone think these lines will just lay down and let SCV jump over them simply because they have Rennick? Since Gwaltney has not beaten any of these lines in the recent past, is there any reason to think he can now? And, how is the vet retention and recruiting going at the other top 8 lines this winter? Just some food for thought.............

Heard they are also short mellophone players.

One reason why the Blue Stars have made such a big rise in the last several years versus corps like Crossmen (remember how competitive those two were in 2006?) is consistency in staff. Each time Blue Stars made a change, it was usually only one caption in a year and the new folks were usually from the same "camp" as the previous people, just a higher level. The brass staff has been very consistent, with the Frank Sullivan/Donnie Van Doren pedigree being there since 2006. Percussion has gone from Brent Montgomery for several years to Tom Aungst/Neil Larrivee in 2009, which was a pretty solid step up. The one big change in style was adding Michael Shapiro to the guard caption in 2008, but that seemed to be a huge plus based on their CG scores the last few years. Crossmen need to stick with a staff for a few years and let the program develop.

THIS! I just wish many other corps had had the forethought to do this long ago, before their demise. I think another one that can be thrown in this list is the Crossmen. Texas was truly a survival move for them, IMHO.

I'm pretty sure it fluctuates quite a bit year to year for the top corps (say top 8), based on number of age-outs, etc. However, many of these corps can have a large age-out class and still have a ton of corps experienced members due to recruits from other WC and OC corps. Many times a top corps (example: Cavaliers) can be made up of more people from the 4-12 corps than vets of their own corps in a particular year. I would say really good retention is anything above 50%.

And, if by any chance, your "Corps of choice" places in the top 8 this year, will you still be such a huge "F-15" fan and supporter in 2012?

Thank you! Something with actual news/content! Saw pictures of Blue Stars camp. Still looked very crowded, with many extras in all sections except tubas. Also saw a few from Scouts, but did not see anything with whole sections, etc.

OK, we've heard from the uninvolved. Anybody with any real news?

Quite a few corps had camps the last couple of weekends. Any real news from these camps? Did anybody on DCP actually attend a camp and see or hear anything interesting? Getting a little burned out on the usual "DCP winter threads" and would like to hear some real corps news.....................

Actually, I have a mole in the meetings. They were discussing their plan to take over the entire planet. Lots of talk of small, tactical nukes and biological weapons (i.e., used member socks). Everyone fear the so-called G8!!

Would still rather watch paint dry than watch that show. Most boring thing on the field IMHO.

Smart move. I have known several very young people (14-15 years old) who have marched in some of the top DCI WC corps for years. Developing a new program by accepting top-level, mature 13 and 14 year olds can really help toward future growth. Looking forward to great things from Music City next year and in the future!

Trolls make that happen .

It just lipped out

Another big hit corps take now is paying for housing on non-show days. I have heard of schools charging anywhere from $500 - $4,000 a day for use of the school and stadium!

Very impressive numbers. Are you still limiting membership to 18+, or do you now allow HS students?

They may also add a DCA corps or two to some of those northeast shows. It has happened before.

Those stores were horrible. This is a good move on the owner's part.

If you are in No. KY, Madison would be the closest WC corps camp, and I also heard they are still short mellos and upper trumpets. Blue Stars is probably the next closest WC camp. I heard they had something like 65 trumpets and thirty-something mellos at their first camp, but you never really know what the level of players were that tried out, so they are also a strong possibility. For Open Class, Music City is pretty close to you and seems to be doing really well for a new corps. Choose a corps and go. The money will be well spent no matter the outcome. Good luck!

When I hear the term "Family-based", I think of three corps: Colts, Blue Stars, and Pioneer.

From what I heard from the DCI camps, there are thousands of potential members who disagree. And from the financial reports, most of the corps are doing well (see Madison as an example).

Michael; What you did is exactly what you should have done. There have been too many young people with the ability to write a few web pages that have gotten many people all excited for nothing. They need to understand how desperate the activity is for any new growth at this point, and how discouraging it is to read about project after project being a load of crap. I can think of five or six so-called new corps projects in the last several years that should never have seen the light of day. People with actual backgrounds and skills have let these people use their names in connection with these pipe dreams, only to have it blow up in their faces.

Is anybody privy to the numbers they had at their first camp? That would probably put to bed any thought of this being a move to fix a recruitment problem. Or it may show this to be simply a gesture to obtain high-quality, experienced talent.