PR_ducky

who was booing a drum corps? I heard alot of people booing Hopkins, didn't hear anyone booing the Cadets

OH MY GOD you are so right. the whole row around me and in back of me was cracking Napolean Dynamite jokes!

Lets please be realistic for just a minute. in 96 Cadets performed with NO lines at all. in 96 Regiment performed in a torrential downpour in Madison. BD has performed in a blackout. EVERY CORPS has performed with faded hashes. all that happened tonight was Hopkins being Hopkins

Lets face it, Hopkins blew it tonight. if there had been no lines or hashes his kids could have done the show. At the level the Cadets are at, faded hashes are just not a big deal. If he was worried about the hashes he should have checked them before he marched the corps out. Even if relining was 100% necessary he went about it the wrong way. He impacted not only his own corps but the Blue Devils as well. Cadets fully deserved the 2 point penalty he brought down on them as would any other corps that did the same thing. As with so many things Hopkins may have had the right idea but went about it the completely wrong way.

The Cadets drill was not that demanding either. effective and dazzling perhaps but they have done more complicated and demanding drill in the past. Theirs was different, but not really any harder than cavies. And I seem to recall the Cadets marching to Narration alot and standing still while playing the complicated bits of music. I have been a HUGE Cadets fan for 20+ years, but their show this year is nothing special

I didn't think Cadets or Cavies had particularly hard drill. effective and dazzling, but not hard. Both have done much more complicated and demanding drill in the past. If Hopkins was so overly concerned about the hashes, maybe he should have checked them before he marched the corps out? I wouldn't say I know the man, but I have met him enough times to not like him.

even if such is the case, if Hopkins was so concerned about the hashes he should have checked them before he marched his corps out there. I have no doubt that if the Cavaliers had held up the show for 15 minutes and the Cadets had arrived at the gate only to find they had to sit and wait for 15 minutes that Hopkins would have been screaming to penalize them. Cavies managed just fine without hashes and their method of drill relies primarily on individual dots. Cadets rely on dress and cover. If your system is based on dress and cover and you are still looking for hashes finals week you have bigger problems than faded hashes. I truly believe that all Hopkins acheived with his grandstanding was to cost his kids 2 spots tonight.

If your members are still looking for hashes finals week you have bigger problems than faded hash marks. Cavies managed just fine. and maybe it was the camera work but I certainly didn't see any drill where faded hashes would have put his members at risk. Even if DCI dropped the ball, Hopkins could have handled it better than he did. If it had been another corps holding things up I have no doubt that Hopkins would have been screaming for a penalty. All he did was screw his kids out of the start spot they should have had at semis.

Hmmmm, I didn't see anyone taking anything out on the kids. I saw an intelligent crowd letting George Hopkins know exactly what they thought of his choice. In my opinion he deserved it as well as the 2 point penalty he brought down on his kids. If the field needed relining there was a better way for to go about it. All he accomplished was pushing his corps back from performing next to last to having to go on 4th from last.

I beg to differ. I think George Hopkins got booed when the Cadets left the field. and he deserved it, as well as the 2 point penalty he cost his corps. even if he thought the field needed relining there was a better way to go about it. The kids marching in Cadets are smart enough to know whats going on. I didn't care for their show one bit, but I would never boo a performer. I have booed directors who do stupid things, I have booed judges decisions. But I would never boo a performer.

I really didn't think his statement was big deal. He could have put it better, but again, big deal. I took it as him saying to look past it. Personally I hate the narration and nothing will ever help me to get over it. I knew as soon as amps got passed this is where we were heading and I accepted it.

I would have had: BD Regiment Crown Cadets Cavies Coats Personally I just don't think the Cavies show even comes close to what they have done the last 5 years. I was very disappointed. I thought Regiment and Crown had great shows. I didn't think Cadets and Coats were anything special. I am no fan of narration and Cadets killed me with it. I thought Coats actually made good use of it. BD was good, but again didn't strike me as anything great. executed very well but I just didn't feel it. maybe it was different at the stadium. Big surprise for me was Academy. I had heard they were good, but did not expect what I saw. Crown as well, what a great show

Atlanta was a huge crowd as usual. Biggest cheers were for Academy, Spirit (of course), Crown, and Regiment. The crowd was pretty much indifferent to the last 4 performers. Crowd booed Hopkins, cheered 2 point penalty. On a personal note, this is the first time I have seen the shows this year and there are a lot of good shows! Felt bad for Madison but did not think their show was as bad as I had heard. Thought Academy was great, if not in Finals this year, should be next year. LOVED Crown, what a great show. Loved Regiment (big surprise there) I expected MUCH more from the Cavaliers. I did not think this show was up to the standard they have set the last 5 years or so and was a step backward for them. (guess it wouldn't kill us if someone else won LOL) Cadets did nothing for me, didn't care for their show a bit. Again thats just my personal opinion, I have been a HUGE Cadets fan for 20+ years but the last 3 years have been a downward slide. In all honesty I thought they deserved the penalty if for nothing else holding up BD. I didn't see any drill going on that put anyone in danger if the front hash was a bit faded. (Cavies managed just fine) BD has a fun show, but didn't really strike me as anything special. Didn't seem to have that "championship" feeling. All in all I thought this years shows are a great bunch of shows.

In my years of corps as an instructor (91-96), and I am pretty sure even now, the timing and penalty judge is a bit lenient the first few shows of the season. I recall when I was on staff in 95 at Blue Knights the TnP judge politely told me in critique I might want to time our next run through. Rules were the same then as now, 10:00 minimum, 11:30 Max. Our first show that season ran 13:21 Alot of the show was not up to tempo and we had some cuts to make still. As for being UNDER time, I don't think many corps lose sleep over it this time of year. Most would rather be under and take a penalty than run the whole show with the last few minutes looking like crap. You only get one chance to make that first impression and some judges never forget a nightmare early season run. When I was marching we always had the show complete on time, and then the first shows were weeks earlier. In 1986 our first judges/scored performance was June 1st.

I INSTANTLY wish I was under 22 again!

One of my favorite quotes came from Dan Ferrell as well. It was 89 and we were on tour somewhere. We had a MONSTER baritone line that summer, but two of us, me (Ducky) and Moose, were managing to overpower the whole line on our Euphs. Dan stops the practice, and Moose and I think we are in for it. He picks up the megaphone and says," we need all the baritones except Ducky and Moose to bring it up a bit. Those two are already convited honkers" Honkers was a good thing by the way.

Have probably met a half dozen people just honking at them cause I see corps bumper stickers on their cars. they pull over and usualy we talk for about 10-15 minutes. always interesting

82 regiment and 95 Madison I will actually be shocked if 95 Madison doesn't win this.

If I had found this thread earlier I would have voted for 89 Cadets and 95 regiment, but I will go with 97 scouts

Not sure about pregnancies, but I know when I marchedin the late 80s there were plenty of people having sexon tour (including myself). As far as getting pregnant, its the same as having sex anywhere else. Use protection and try to be halfway smart about it. It does take some creativity. If two people are sexualy active before the summer starts they are not going to just stop for 3 months, lets be realistic.

the only restriction was each corps could only appear once. If that had not been a restriction the countdown would have been a little different. I think cavies and SCV would have been in twice and bridgemen and cadets would not have made it.

As far as classic goes, the only real rsomendation I have is don't allow shows from a decade into voting until that decade is out. ie. no shows from the 00s would be eligible until 2010. This would give people some time to judge the shows in the context of DCI history and how they stack up. Personally I had no problem with 06 cavies and Regiment This last countdown we had 3 corps from the 80s, 3 from the 90s and 2 from the 00s Seems like a pretty good balance to me. And with the exception of the 06 corps, all the corps were from 95 or earlier. yes, the 70s people are disappointed, but I have always considered 84-96 the golden era of DCI so there ya go.

May not have been on Wide World of Sports but I do remember a time when the Top 6 at the world championships were broadcast live on PBS.

At Regiment we had an indoor fieldhouse that we would ducktape a field onto. It held almost an entire field and thats where we learned drill over the winter. Earliest I remember going out doors was maybe late march or april.

Not quite sure how you reached the 5 corps you mentioned. The Cadets would not have even made the countdown if it had not been for the One show per corps rule. They just barely beat out crown. (who I would have liked to see) but not at the expense of 87 Cadets. Also, Regiment and SCV need to be added to your list as they garnered a HUGE number of votes. I agree that a wider variety of corps would be nice to see, but short of doing a 70s only countdown I don't think those shows will ever get the votes needed. Most fans today are just not knowledgeable enough about that era to have an interest in seeing it. I would love to see all 70s, all 80s, and all 90s countdowns. I would pay to see each one. They would all be different, but there would be great things in each one.