noneofyourbusiness

One big problem in NY is that the schools do not let out until the very end of June. This makes developing a WC corps in that state very difficult since anyone not already out of HS is not going to be able to do spring training until very late June, already a week or two into the show schedule.

Triple Crown. It still amazes me that this show was only worth sixth place.

Yeah, those corps that were/are Open Class should just dry up and blow away. Corps like: - Carolina Crown - Blue Stars - The Academy - Teal Sound - Mandarins - Jersey Surf - Cascades - Pioneer

Blue Stars 2010. Best eighth place corps ever. Should have been higher IMHO.

Guess he does not want to see 8 of the 9 best drum corps on the planet. BUT, if Madison makes top 8 this year, you can bet he'll be at Murf next year for the T of C show!

Murfreesboro is one of the five Tour of Champions shows this year.

Then eliminate the scores and just give feedback. Scores in the early season can result in slotting simply based on performance order at the early regionals. Scoring anything just for "Fun/bragging rights" is dumb in my book.

Maybe I'm reading too much into it, but I think this new cooperative agreement announced between DCI and DCA could blossom into something much bigger over the next few years. One of the things I see happening is the merger of DCI OC and DCA. Financially, this seems the obvious choice. It would allow those three DCI OC corps from TX to stay in the TX area for many more shows, since they would be joined with the all-age corps in that area in events large enough to be meaningful. The same could be said in the west, midwest, south and northeast as well. Reducing the touring model for the OC corps in today's economic environment should be priority number one. Then, when the costs are significantly less, they can pass these savings on to the members and I think you would see all corps grow in size as more people could afford to march (both time and money), making the competitive field much more level.

OH, SO IT'S YOUR FAULT!!!!!!!!!!!! (jk )

The problem is this: How many HS bands, etc. can you re-sell the G's to in order to consistently refresh your line, versus how many can you sell the Bb's to? There are many corps out there that have been able to re-sell their Bb instruments year after year for close to the price they pay for the instruments from the manufacyurers due to the discounts they get when buying a line. BUT, there is virtually no re-sale market for G's.

Is that a show about Alaska???

He's really going to be nervous next year when they put in the jetpacks .

Saturday June 20, 2009 Stillwater MN 2. Phantom Regiment - 72.700 3. Blue Stars - 66.200 Thursday July 16, 2009 Houston TX 3. Blue Stars - 83.250 4. Phantom Regiment - 83.050 Saturday August 8, 2009 Indianapolis IN 8. Blue Stars - 90.050 9. Phantom Regiment - 89.900 ____________________________________________________________________ Saturday June 21, 2008 Rockford IL 4. Colts - 64.500 5. Blue Stars - 62.500 Friday June 27, 2008 Racine WI 2. Boston Crusaders - 73.800 3. Blue Stars - 70.500 Saturday July 12, 2008 Orlando FL 4. Boston Crusaders - 80.675 5. Blue Stars - 77.500 7. Colts - 75.300 Friday August 8, 2008 Bloomington IN 8. Blue Stars - 90.575 10. Boston Crusaders - 88.975 14. Colts - 85.175 Saturday August 9, 2008 Bloomington IN 8. Blue Stars - 90.425 10. Boston Crusaders - 87.275 Some corps just take a little longer to perfect complex shows.

It'll be awesome if DCA shows can be viewed on the DCI Fan Network!! I would love to see the early-season shows in the east, as well as the shows in August on their streaming system .

http://www.dci.org/news/view.cfm?news_id=552ada2f-0951-4190-9e57-750b3d67db47

Corps get paid in full, fans normally do not get any refunds.

Ensemble Music: Giff Howarth Ensemble Visual: Michael Lentz Music Effect: Paul Hinman Perc. Performance: Jay Webb Visual Effect: J R Carlisle

Actually, I was at both TX shows this weekend and do not see their show as the beast you portray. Thought Cadets and Blue Stars shows were definitely much more difficult, both visually and musically. IMHO.

I have to ask the question simply because I do not know: With everyone saying that the SCV brass line is so bad, has there been a big change from last year to this in their brass staff? Who is their caption head and where does he/she come from? It seems they did a great job in hiring for percussion. Did they have a major change in brass or is it just a slip by the same staff as last year?

Re: Highlighted quote above. Just an FYI that Debbie Torchia, who judged GE Visual last night in Martin, judged CG in Saginaw on Saturday, has been a CG judge for many years, and was also a CG instructor for years prior to starting judging.

Based on last night's spreads in Martin, plus the Madison score in Indy, the answer is NO. BUT, it's a long season, so we shall see.

The huge difference is that the Blue Stars made a big commitment after the 2003 season to make the changes necessary to make the successful leap from perennial Div III champ to WC finalist. They changed everything, from Executive Director on down, and have made changes as needed every year since then to assure their continuous improvement. A friend of mine is in the organization and he said they've even made changes in areas such as the way they treat/value their volunteers, communication to the alumni, titles for their "student summer help" (ie., interns, now admins), etc. to make sure that they are always moving forward.

Another thing to remember is that tonight's shows have "mid-week" judges. The judges that normally judge the regionals and finals are not normally much of a force on the scores in these mid-week shows. The "unknowns" hold much more sway. As mentioned, the five-member panel can also mean wild swings in scores, as each caption is a straight add versus the TX shows, where all but GE were averaged.

They are usually pretty darn close to the placements and spreads of the previous year's finals, plus or minus a few points for odd individual judges. Real scroes and spreads do not kick in for 2-4 weeks, depending on the difference in a corps' actual performance of the current year versus the previous year. Example: Look at scores/spreads from the first couple of shows in 2009 of Phantom versus Blue Stars then look at the same corps by Houston/Dallas/San Antonio. It took the judges 4 weeks to realize that PR was NOT the champion corps of the year before, and it also took them that long to figure out that Blue Stars were that much better. Judges are afraid to take a risk and score what they actually see the first 2-3 weeks.

If these scores are true, then the DCI judges should be shot. I was at both shows and there is no way that SCV should be anywhere but 8th. Without their percussion, I thought they would be struggling this year to make finals. Blue Stars are definitely 2-3 levels better than they were last season as all of the reviews have noted and most reviewers have them 5th or 6th. What is with these judges? Are they incapable of judging the actual performances on the field? Were they even in the same town as the rest of us who witnessed these two nights?