DCC

Kelly's 99.9 Kohr's Bros 99.9 Mack's Pizza 99.9 Buccaneers 79.9 Caballeros 79.5 Bushwackers 77.8 Fusion Core 77.2 Hurricanes 69.2

I see a rare flip from Prelims to Finals happening for 1st. In fact, when is the last time that has happened? Prelims (razor thin between 1st thru 3rd) Cabs Bucs MB Fus CV C2 Bush Gold Sun Hurcs Finals (still close, but by about 0.5) Bucs MB Cabs Fus C2 CV Bush Gold Sun Hurcs

Reading Show Bucs 94.5 Cabs 94.0 Fusion 91.8 C2 91.0 Gold 84.9 WS 84.5 Bridgeport Show Bush 85.2 Sun 83.8 Hurcs 83.7 WR 75.0 Sky 74.6 Excelsior 73.0

It looks like it might be one of those years where captions are not necessarily lined up with placements, or even close for that matter. 4 or even 5 different Guards could win the caption this year. It will be exciting to see which Guard brings the best effort/show to the field by Prelims and Finals.

I think scores will be lower than other years. Seems like this is happening a lot this season. Buccs 92.65 Cabs 92.10 Fusion 91.85 C2 90.00 Bush 84.05 White Sabers 83.90 Hurcs 82.90 Sky 75.00

From the love blog: 01. 98.500 Cadets 02. 98.450 Blue Devils 03. 97.500 Santa Clara Vanguard 04. 95.450 Bluecoats 05. 95.300 Carolina Crown 06. 93.275 The Cavaliers 07. 91.825 Blue Knights 08. 91.550 Phantom Regiment 09. 89.225 Blue Stars 10. 89.050 Boston Crusaders 11. 87.650 Madison Scouts 12. 85.450 Crossmen

1987.

I LOVE reading posts where people still get enraged from shows that happened 45 years ago. I wonder if my friends and I will do this when we are old. Oh, wait that's right. We already do. :)

I agree, +2.5 is nothing special, but is 3.25 dramatic? It has to be at least melodramatic.

Not calling anyone out for that. That's the whole point of a discussion board for a competitive activity. I was just kind of agreeing with others on this thread that you seem to get overly aggressive in replying to people who see things differently. That drives people away from participating. But, of course you're free to continue to comment anyway you want. Some people thrive on stoking the flames.

Not that it really bothers me, but I think *these* kind of comments might be why some people get all sassed up when they read your opinions.... "That's ridiculous, and completely wrong… ...Moving at two speeds...fast and ballad...isn't displaying a variety of skills, or a variety of tempos, or musical styles. It's actually pretty dang boring. Moving fast for the sake of moving fast isn't anywhere near as difficult as it's made out to be. Not even close. …At the same time, Bucs have several spots where they are moving just for the sake of moving. It's either not musical, or contributes little to the effect they are trying to generate. Again, variety...in this case variety of effect.... ...This idea that the hardest show wins is absurd to the point of stupid… When all you do is move fast, is that really effective or demanding? …Beating the audience over the head with one or two for eleven minutes, no matter how hard, is bad and ineffective design. …Bucs won brass playing a *substantially* easier brass book, and got beat in music ensemble. …As for your edit comment, harder doesn't necessarily mean better, even when achieved. Only better means better. Crap that's hard and performed well is still crap. We've seen both from many corps over the years." Surely you can see how it would be hard to not think you were talking about the Bucs to most people reading them? If that was not who you meant, then yes, I think some people, myself included, are misunderstanding your intent and do not have very good "reading comprehension". I'll go to the library and work on it so I can keep up with you. Dangit!, I was trying to be completely objective and well-reasoned! I'm not very good at this formal debating style. ;> Let me give it another try.... Some people like to have it both ways and then call out anyone who questions their opinion. They are the only one who is informed and well reasoned and somehow, even in a very subjective activity like drum corps, they have a monopoly on knowing what is *right*, or even the proper way to argue a point. Of course, I wasn't referring to anyone in particular in this thread. Just some other posters from another forum. How was that?

Was a bit surprised by the results of the Wayne show. Who wasn't? So the Secaucas show has most of the corps from the Wayne show, minus C2, CV and Bush. This has the top 3 from Wayne going right back at it just 7 days later. Not a bad way to see where things stand at the midway point of the season. Having seen Fusion, Cabs & Bucs at WW and Wayne, I feel like I have a good feel where these corps are now and where they are headed. Here's what I predict for Saturday..... Buccaneers 86.10 Caballeros 86.00 Fusion 84.80 Hurricanes 77.90 Sunrisers 73.50 Skyliners 72.00 Windsor Regiment 71.80 I have a feeling that Bucs aren't going to just lay down and are definitely not done, as some may be thinking or saying. 10 year runs don't end with one loss. Cabs looked pretty clean at Wayne. Bucs had more performance issues tan did Cabs, and I think they are still getting in the way of having their show be as effective as it probably could be. Fusion seem to be really enjoying themselves on the field, and that is definitely coming across to the audience. Than being said, I think the Bucs seemed to have more "early season" issues than did Fusion or Cabs at Wayne. I can see them gaining more ground over the next several weeks than either Fusion or Cabs. It will be very interesting to see how things shape up by the time Scranton rolls around. I'm looking forward to that show more than I have for a long time. How cool would it be to see two heavyweight corps like the Cabs and the Bucs go toe to toe for 12 rounds this year, each corps winning rounds along the way? Kind of reminds me of when I last marched in the 90's, with Empire and Brigs duking it out all season. Of course, there is the rest of the top 5 also looking to take a shot at these two. Minnesota must be watching all of this with a lot of anticipation. With no head to head comparisons, I guess we just have to wait until Prelims day to find out where they stand in the mix.

I give those that are actually doing the work to make Championships happen the benefit of the doubt. It's easy to say one place or another would be better for any number of reasons, but until a viable committee steps up and puts together a better option and bids on Championship weekend ($1 to Jeff Ream), I think Rochester is the best option. From what I have heard, the facility expenses fro Rochester are WAY, WAY, WAY lower than Annapolis , and the level of cooperation is far higher. Are there better choices that are more centrally-located on a map to all of the DCA Member Corps? Sure, but it's just not that simple, and let's be honest, that can't be the first priority.

But Fran, no one remembers who won the division for the first half of the season.

Bushwackers. I think they are a darkhorse for Top 5, which could really upset the apple cart.

It's called having fun. It's kind of like, "Hey. Who do you think is gonna win? The Sox or the Yankees?" Then, people have fun pretending they know why their favorite team is gonna win. Maybe they bust a little balls, poke some fun about their friend's team, you know, rile people up and get excited about the game. Does I really think that Fusion will definitely beat the Cabs on Saturday? Probably not, but do I think that it's possible? Absolutely! I also like the fact that some are implying that maybe we are forgetting about Atlanta CV. How cool would it be to have not only Fusion knocking on the door of the Cabs, but to have CV right on their tail. Then all three would be chasing the Bucs. I kind of think they are still on top until someone actually beats them at a show. I know some people feel like they did, but until it actually happens, that's all it is....Feelings, whoah oh oh....Feelings. And let's not forget about that corps from the land of ice and snow. If MB is as good as their scores indicate, we could be looking at something like this at Finals for a Top 5.... Bucs MBI CV Fusion Cabs I like the idea that these five corps could be in any order. Or, who knows, maybe Bush or Cadets2 make a major push and bump one of these great corps out of the Top 5? The point is, I like it when drum corps is competitive and their is some rabble-rousing going on before the show. Don't you, Irishbugle?

Bucs 84.00 Fusion 82.50 Cabs 82.45 Bush 78.50 Cadets2 78.35 CV 77.70 Hurcs 74.69 SUNRISERS 73.0 (Ooops!) Windsor 70.85 Wish I could be there. Should be the most exciting Grand Prix in a while.

Having been around awhile, I have wondered sometimes if the corps themselves could do more to fill the seats, not only at Championships, but at all of the shows throughout the season. I think it could be a win-win, if approached the right way. Most corps are much younger than back when I marched, and the scene at the shows is much more "family oriented". (nuff said). What if the corps and the show sponsors (who are usually a corps anyway) worked out a split on any tickets presold by the corps, say 25% to the corps and 75% to the sponsor. Then the corps would have an incentive to bring a bus load of parents, friends, alumni, etc to all of the shows. Sell 50 tickets to a show, and the corps gets about $200, along with 50 cheering fans at an "away show". The corps could subsidize their own travel expenses a bit by either filling their own bus, or pricing out a Bus & Show ticket package that had a little bit of profit for the corps built in. The show sponsor gets a bigger audience that buys more food, programs, 50/50 tickets, etc. Bigger crowds tend to attract even more people year after year. Bigger crowds mean more revenue to pay to the corps. Everyone wins. Just expecting the sponsor to find 3000 locals to come to the shows is unrealistic. This is a niche activity where family and alumni make up most of the audience. Why not encourage them to come along and see what their family members are up to every weekend in the summer?

I forsee a close one between 1 & 2 and 3 &4 Buccaneers 77.6 Caballeros 76.9 Fusion Core 72.5 Windsor Regiment 70.3

Let's keep things in perspective here. "DCA" is the 10 voting members, which lately has changed more than other years. It is not some overseeing lord of the land. It is 10 corps directors voting on the rules of the competitive circuit. From the dcacorps.org website, "The primary function of Drum Corps Associates is to provide an organization of drum & bugle corps with rules and regulations which provide for continuous progress and growth for drum corps." The decision for a corps to travel to Show A or B on any given weekend is completely up to that organization. In the long term, it is wise to make decisions that will help other corps to grow and/or continue to be successful, but that always has to be balanced with each corps doing what is best for their own organization. If the 10 voting members of DCA decided that having Cabs or Bucs travel to Wisconsin or Minnesota was a priority in "providing for the continuous progress and growth for drum corps" then they should set up a short term and long term plan to make this feasible. Award extra share points based on how far a corps travels to a show, or just declare certain shows "For The Good Of The Order Shows" and award extra Championship $$$ for traveling outside a corps region. DCA probably couldn't completely cover the cost of travel for a NE corps to go to MN, or for MB to come to Scranton, but they could probably subsidize a good portion of it if they budget for it ahead of time. It could also be used a marketing tool by having a threshold of a minimum number of tickets pre-sold for the corps to make the trip. For example, spread the word that "If we have 1,500 tickets sold by July 10th, we will be able to bring the Caballeros to Minnesota on August 10th". If they can't meet the threshold, then the Cabs would have the option of doing another show closer to home. These ideas may not be the exact answers, but if DCA is going to get corps to travel farther than they need to, they have to come up with some incentives to help pay for it and to make sure the shows are successful. Otherwise, I don't see many NE corps making the long trip very often or at all.

Currently "DCA" is made up of 7 voting members from the Northeast, 2 voting members from the Midwest and 1 voting member from the South. (I have to wonder about Empire. Will they hold onto their voting rights in 2014 even though they are inactive?) In any case, either 6 or 7 out of 10 voting member corps are from the NE: Bucs, Cabs, C2, Empire, Fusion, Bush & White Sabers. There are also at least another 5 or 6 non-voting member corps from the NE region as well. It is likely that the 6 active voting-member corps will host 8 or 9 contests throughout the summer. Throw in Barnum and Scranton and the Hurcs home show, and the summer is already booked with well-established, decent paying shows. It would not make financial or logistical sense for these corps to roll the dice and head out West and/or down South without a reasonable guarantee of breaking even. The answer for the non-NE corps is to continue to build corps and shows in their respective regions. High Country Brass, Minnesota, Govies, Chops Inc, Kilties, Cincinatti Tradition and Lakeshoremen could find a reasonable middle ground, maybe Chicago for a Midwest Regional in August, especially if a corps could take hold in Chicago or somewhere in Illinois. There are lots of DCI WC and OC corps in the Midwest. Maybe talks could happen with some of them to follow the Cadets2 model? Phantom, Cavies & Madison all have strong alumni organizations. Could a DCA corps come out of these groups? Maybe. Sun Devils, Tampa Bay Thunder, CV, Alliance, and maybe Gold & Sound (although they are maybe closer to the NE) could have a Southeren Showdown in August. There have been corps out of Nashville area. Maybe with support, one of these could take hold and Nashville or Severeville could be the hub for DCA South? If these regional shows are developed to the point where they can afford to pay a NE corps like Cabs or Bucs to make the trip, so be it. If not, it makes no sense to take the risk just "for the good of the activity". Look at the long list of corps that are no longer around. A big reason for this was that the money dried up. In some cases, these corps were traveling a lot more than their budgets allowed. Maybe if they would have been more conservative, some of them could have weathered the storm a little better.

Interesting read. I wonder if you did a poll of drum corps people from two eras, say Pre-93 and 93 to now, using Star as the line of demarcation, what kind of results you would see as far as those who agree with you or not. I only go to a few shows a year, both DCI and DCA, and I really haven't noticed the crowds getting thinner or less enthusiastic. Granted, some shows kinda leave you wondering what the heck is going on here, but for the most part, I usually get it and am entertained. Mind you, I didn't start going to shows until 1984, so I guess I don't have a point of reference before then, other than video. I have a feeling some of the old memories are heavily clouded by nostalgia. That's not to say that things aren't very different now than they were then. Just that we tend to remember things from our past being better than they really were.

I like Atl CV's chances of breaking the top 5 this year.

Funny, I was thinking the same thing.

I honestly don't know as of yet. I think 4 corps could be in the race for 10th right now.