xelanosa

"Don't preach" starting.....now It's not preaching unless you disagree with it, eh?

this is a test

I must have missed something...are you Bob Barker? :)

I really love SCV's shows year-after-year, and I'll admit that I'm disappointed with the direction of most corps these days (which I know will disqualify my opinion for most who post here), but I'm truly learning to not value scores as much as in my competitive days. I know it's real hard, especially when you begin to think that your corps is "back". But, I just remind myself that I don't need the judges to tell me what I like. I congratulate the other competing corps, but I love the SCV style, and more and more I think they're becoming one of a very few number of corps who determine their own course for themselves rather than letting a judges score sheet determine it. Go SCV!

...and bingo!

bingo...

Ding, ding, ding...we have a winner! :)

Absolutely no one will crack open Sky 100, but certainly Sky 90 is a strong possibility. B)

Vanguard's return to the top 4 after finishing 8th the previous year...

I voted "Yes", but it has more to do with my bias than anything else. Here's the thing...from what I've seen (and heard) Cadets performers are superior (SCV is still a year away in terms of percussion and horns. But, SCV's show has so much room to grow, and overall, it's a better show. So, should be interesting! Go SCV!

Or...maybe you could realize they don't want to be like you.

Vanguard.

Yeah, when I first saw their show I thought it had the stuff to win it all. Now I see their execution is proving that I wasn't too far off. They won't win this year, but I think spots 4, 5, & 6 are up in the air. My prediction: 4. Coats 5. SCV 6. Cadets

yeah, I remember during winter rehearsals (at SCV) a bunch of their drumline guys showed up to one of our evening practices and had quit the line because of some disagreements with the new percussion lead I think. Worked well for us as we ended up getting Mike French back from Devs. The unit that ended up marching was just kinda thrown together from what I understand. No offense...they did well considering the circumstances.

No offense Cadets fans, but here's a question that no one has satisfactorily answered. What is the motivation that’s causing the judging community to unfairly score the Cadets low? Don't give me the "controversy" pat answer...this show was controversial when they played it last year, but they won. Anyone who thinks that the judges have it in for the Cadets aren't giving the other four (and soon to be five, watch and see) corps ahead of them their due. Based on the criteria judges use to score shows, this is a 5th or 6th place show...that doesn't mean you can't love it. I loved SCV's show last year and was crying conspiracy until I actually started taking other shows seriously. That didn't make me love SCV's show any less, but I began to realize that the judges are correct. I'm the one who was biased. If you're going to bringing judging into question this year, then you must admit that it's possible that the wrong corps might have won last year too. I don't believe that, but you should if you're going to be consistent.

It's like that every year...the yell sounds weak until later in the season. By Nats it'll be there...watch and see. But I agree, from a design standpoint, the sky is the limit with this show...

You're right (original poster), we don't see much technical percussion talk on this forum, but I think it's because mostly hornline/guard types visit this forum....at any rate, it's amazing that Phantom is doing so well. I've never really been a big fan of theirs in percussion, but they've been really good the past couple of years. I think BD is going to take the percussion title, which would be great to see. I'd like for Cavies to do well because Jim is the most creative marching percussion writer I think I've ever heard, and he's just a great guy too... Of course I'm still hoping that SCV will come on strong as the season progresses. We'll see.

totally agree...if you have an opinion, just say it...just because you won a championship ring (or whatever) doesn't have a thing to do with your argument/discussion...

Doesn't surprise me that he hasn't warmed up...in 91 (SCV) he'd often show us how "easy" something was without even warming up...

I'm not a Cavie insider, but as someone who knows Jim (or at least I knew him back in 91) and as someone who has played on Pearl drums, I'd take the Jim/Pearl combo any day of the week.

WOW! Not too bad for a brass guy. I'd acutally put Ralph at #1 even though Jim is probably the more musical of the two.

Lee, but this just wouldn't be drum corps if we couldn't hear some of the facts and then jump to the most outrageous conclusion! :)

I know this is going to do NO good, and people are just going to tell me I’m stupid and my mother dresses me funny, but here goes. I hate this attitude in drum corps that says that PAYING customers MUST accept anything that a corps puts on the field with no complaints. (I'm NOT advocating booing a corps, by the way) DCI charges admission. That means it’s not like when I go see my daughter’s school play that I attended for FREE. When it’s free you can say it’s all about the kids, but when people pay money, it’s all about the people who pay money. That’s why SUCCESSFUL businesses thrive…they practice the whole “customer is always right” thing. To me, the absolute best thing about marching was the fact that we could go out in front of a PAYING audience and have them go completely APES over our show…to have them say to us, ”that was money well spent”. We’re not teaching these kids in DCI today about the world after DCI. No other area of their lives is going to accept this kind of thing. If a show gets rained out, DCI should at a minimum offer a reduced ticket to another comparably priced show (that year or the next year).

Good to hear the BD percussion is doing so well. Scott Johnson was at SCV in 91 and so Ihad the chance to study under him...talk about a great guy (and a heck of a basketball player), he teaches you so much more than just how to play a drum. He hasn't gotten the recognition that he has deserved over the years, IMHO. Maybe this year will change things...

Some folks in the Blue Devils used to call us the Christmas trees, and this uniform makes me realize why. I think some white needs to separate the green and red. I'm not sure why this unis aren't working for me because this is not the first time SCV has done the red tunic/green pant thing. I think the form fitting red tunic just doesn't look right with the green. I wonder what a white tunic (red cross stripe) and green pant would look like.