Tez

For me it is Blue Devils - 2010 Crown - 2013 Bluecoats - 2016 Cadets - 2015 SCV - 2018 Cavaliers - 2011 Regiment - 2010 BAC - 2018 Blue Knights - 2014 Blue Stars - 2010 Madison - 2012 Crossmen - 2017

Another thing I was considering... and of course this is a far more subjective topic, but..... which corps is the 2nd best corps overall in the DCI era? Number one (BD) is of course a no brainier by nearly every metric, but I believe good arguments can be made for both The Cadets and SCV for 2nd. Cadets have more titles (10 to 7), but SCV has the better average finish (3.8 to 5.2) and overall finals appearances (47 to 41). I find this interesting because the rest of the top 5 rankings I think are pretty straightforward. My top 10 corps of the DCI era 1 - Blue Devils 2 - Cadets/SCV 4 - Cavaliers 5 - Phantom Regiment It gets a little tougher after this, but I would rank the rest of the top 10: 6 - Madison Scouts 7 - Bluecoats 8 - Carolina Crown 9 - Star of Indiana 10 - Crossmen Though Crown, Bluecoats, and Star each have one title, Bluecoats has had the most longevity, and Star the least. 10th is especially tough and you could also consider 27th Lancers (several top 5 finishes), Kingsmen (championship but only 3 really decent years), Spirit (longevity), or even BAC (longevity) for the spot. I went with Crossmen because they have had the best longevity of all the ones just mentioned. What do you guys think?

My apologies if any of these has been covered in other threads (too busy/tired to read all of them). Congrats to SCV for winning their 7th overall title to tie the Cavaliers for third most all time. They also received their 23rd overall medal to tie the Cadets for 2nd most all time. The Blue Devils received the silver for the record 11th time. The Bluecoats won their 3rd bronze and 5th overall medal to tie the Madison Scouts for 7th most all time. Boston wins their first caption award of any kind. SCV wins their first Brass trophy since 1987, and only 3rd all time (also won in '84). SCV wins their 14th percussion title breaking a tie with the Blue Devils for most all time. Crossmen's 86.75 was the highest 12th place score ever at finals (previous was also Crossmen in 2014) And finally, here are our current 10 years averages for finals placements: 1 - Blue Devils (1.4) 2 - Carolina Crown (3.0) 3 - Bluecoats (4.1) 4 - Cadets (4.3) 4 - Vanguard (4.3) 6 - Cavaliers (5.4) 7- Phantom Regiment (7.1) 8 - BAC (8.2) 9 - Blue Knights (8.9) 10 - Blue Stars (9.9) 11 - Madison Scouts (11.3) 12 - Crossmen (13.3)

Didn't Sacktig do Crown's drill this year?

That is because they were under the recording mics. It has nothing to do with on field amplification. Believe me, their last chord last night (seeing it live) was probably the loudest of the whole evening.

I would still say our current era (where we can somewhat compare scores) began in 1984 with the introduction of build-up scoring. It think that rule changed overall show design more than amplification, electronics, or non-bugle brass instruments ever did. If I compare shows from 1980 to 1985, to me they are far more different than say 2000 to 2005, or 2010 to 2015.

Since it has been mentioned a couple times in this thread, here is the highest score (at finals) for each position: 1st - 99.650 - Blue Devils 2014 2nd - 98.525 - Blue Devils 2004 3rd - 97.700 - Blue Devils 1998 4th - 96.850 - Santa Clara Vanguard 2013 5th - 95.675 - Carolina Crown 2014 6th - 95.300 - Star of Indiana 1989 7th - 94.050 - Bluecoats 2007 8th - 91.900 - Blue Stars 2010 9th - 90.525 - Boston Crusaders 2004 10th - 89.100 - Suncoast Sound 1988 11th - 87.700 - Glassmen 2005 12th - 86.225 - Crossmen 2014 I can see one of the 8th-11th scores being a new high this year.

If SCV goes on to win drums (as many expect)... it will be their 13th Sanford overall, moving them into a tie with the Blue Devils for most all time. If Crown goes on to medal, it will be their 6th overall, breaking a tie with the Madison Scouts for 6th on the all-time medal list. If the Blue Devils win, it will be the 9th time that you could say they won 3 out of the past 4 years.... yet amazingly they have still yet to three-peat!

The Blue Devils have won the past 8 Colorguard trophies.... the longest streak for any single caption winner. So either this amazing streak ends, or BD puts up 9 in a row. If Crown or Bluecoats happen to take guard, it will be the first non-BD/Cadets/Cavies guard win since Phantom got it, all the way back in 1988! Conversely, the drum trophy has not had a back to back winner since Cadets got 3 in a row in 2001-2003. Since BD won last year, and seem to be a little off their game in percussion this year, this streak will likely continue. Crown is in position to win their 5th overall medal, which would actually tie them with the Madison Scouts for 6th all time. If the Blue Devils happen to slip to 3rd place (and it is Crown and Bluecoats as the top 2), it will be the first time since 1972 (DCI's inaugural season) that at least one of the big four (BD/Cadets/Cavies/SCV) is not in the top two!

May have been the case when you saw them.... but last night, Cadets did not have anywhere near the volume of the other top corps. It sounded like they were going for the ultimate "dark symphonic sound" to me. Based on the few biggest hits of each show, in loudness I would rank: Bluecoats Crown Blue Devils Blue Knights Madison SCV Phantom then maybe Cadets Edit: responding to wvu80 above (I can't figure out quotes on this forum at all)

Along with all of the other Blue Devils' records, they now own the highest 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place scores: 1st - 2014 - 99.650 2nd - 2004 - 98.525 3rd - 1998 - 97.700 Also, in the past 20 years, the Blue Devils have only lost Colorguard 6 times (1996, 2000, 2002, 2004, 2005, 2007).

I think you are missing most of what BD is actually doing. Watch some of their "inside360" videos.... they show how they go into great depths to define the character at each moment of the show... especially in these so called "casual" transitions. That is when they overload the 'character' focus the most. And this comes across in a HUGE way when viewing the show. The thing you are complaining about... and saying they do not do... is precisely what BD does so well. Go watch the show again.... you must have missed a ton.

Yes Edit: I would put money on the first part (other corps kids would not perform BD's shows as well as them). However, I don't think BD's members would automatically win with another corps' show. Performance is only part of the score, plus a show's design must be matched with the talent level of the corps. I do think they would likely score higher with BDs members though.

In my opnion, it probably is higher. Of course you could only measure this by auditioning each individual member... but to my ears and eyes they are on a considerably different level. I hear and see what I consider "professional" from BD much more than the other groups. The judges acknowledge this, I just wish more of the fans (at least on DCP) would.

We must have two completely different definitions of "difficult" or "movement." There are several places in BDs show that they do things marching wise while playing that no other corps comes close to pulling off. Literally running while playing complex syncopated rhythms in a variety of styles.... that's not demanding? And their marching form at any tempo and step size is simply impeccable. I can see not liking their show design style, or even the style of drill (it is very different from the other corps)... but if you think the Blue Devils have an easier show... then you are truly being fooled.