HockeyDad

*sigh* Go ahead.

Ummm......is it some sort of surprise that the dci judging "community" doesn't favor G bugles? Why are you surprised, and saying that the judge should be taken over to a corner and given a tongue lashing, and it's such a scandal that you shouldn't release his/her name? Will you also be surprised when, gradually, those who don't use vocals all over their shows will find themselves judged lower and lower? Will you be surprised when those who don't employ electronic gizmos will be scored lower? Did you all just fall off the turnip truck? It isn't just one rogue judge - it's the general movement of judging in general. So, go ahead, release the names of all the judges, because it's all of them. And bring on the woodwinds - the sooner there is no more drum corps, the sooner I can get over missing it.

Does "harder" equal "better"? I think running around playing softly is exponentially more boring. Impress your music professor with your awesome intonation and tone quality. This is a drum corps at a football stadium - when did we blur the lines so badly?

No, borg.

When someone asks which drum corps does the best ballet - and gets an honest non-cynical reply, you know we took a wrong turn somewhere several years ago.

Well, you did put some French in there - so it must be good.

Why not woodwinds? Drum corps has no identity, so what possible reason would there be to restrict woodwinds? There is no line in the sand anymore, and the BOD is following the lead of marching bands, even to the point of surrendering anything and everything that made drum corps different. The retort, of course, will be that.....there is still "excellence." Whatever that moving target means. So, the use of woodwinds seems inevitable, given that marching bands use them.

The fates were aligned against the Crossmen that day. The crowd was electric for the Troopers. They had been out of Finals since '75. Their semi-finals show was special. It's just too bad that Crossmen was the corps bumped. But I think if it hadn't been Crossmen, it would have been any other corps that was in 12th place that day. Troopers had the mojo (and, apparently, to hear some tell it, they had a judge too - I don't know).

Could have heard a pin drop?? Not in the section I was sitting in. The crowd went wild for Madison.

This has to be a record: new's, diaper's, coment's (sic), band's. STOP IT. Just because a word ends in "s" does not mean you place an apostrophe in there. Are you from northern Wisconsin?

Didn't you get the memo? If you disagree, you are out of touch. Once this dismissive phrase gets used on you, your argument can be tidily ignored, because, you know, you're out of touch. It's an old trick, but one that everyone still falls for. They do it in politics all the time. Label the person, then you can dismiss them. It beats having to actually engage in a debate of ideas.

Guard unis best left in the truck: 2002 Scouts - bumble bee look, or whatever that was My fave - 27th lancers rifles

2005: "Audience, are you ready?" "NOOOOOOOOOO"

Exactly.

Even this stretch of logic on your part is flawed. The Kilts - once all male, now co-ed. Santa Clara Vanguard - once all male brass, now co-ed. There are probably others I'm forgetting. So, gender specificity in drum corps has been a continual and gradual evolution. So, now your logic of, continual and gradual evolution is ok in some areas but not in the area that matters to you, being somehow consistent, is, I guess, funny and sad at the same time. I fully respect and support Cavies and Scouts being all male. My argument is purely devil's advocacy. I think what several of us are asking is, for you to see and appreciate that we too all had things near and dear to us changed, such as, the death of the all acoustic activity. To me, that was not an area of continual and gradual evolution.

C'mon. Over 60 years, there wasn't any amplification. Over 60 years, there wasn't any electronics. There now is. Applying your logic, there is no reason for the Cavaliers to exclude women. Are you starting to see it - for many of us, our line in the sand has been crossed, and we're plenty p*ssed about it. How does it feel to have your line in the sand challenged?

Is it the music we play? The uniforms? Are you kidding me? How about - the expense, the economic ability to not work for an entire summer, the music background. Those are the things that create the gap in who can vs. who can't do drum corps, NOT the music that's played. The uniforms? He should have said - is it the lack of electronics that leads to a lack of diversity? Well then, let's solve that problem.....

These marching bands are private organizations. They can include or exclude who they want. Period.

Way to make it personal. Anyway, just what traditions have been upheld???

I see nothing unique about summer marching band. So they work for months on one show - it SHOULD be better than your fall marching band. The uniqueness of brass and percussion acoustic sound is no longer. It's replaced by the same gadgets and gizmos that don't pass the giggle test for your run of the mill marching band.

No they won't. The public will call it a marching band, because the public doesn't know what it is. And, apparently, neither do we.

You said "UCLA Trojans." Heh.

Such brilliant and compelling arguments. Laser surgery. Digital recorders. Leeches. Funny stuff. However, going with this logic, there should no longer be any symphony orchestras around. No electronics. No amps. What's wrong with them. Oh wait - somebody please respond with the one example out of a million where one time you went to a concert somewhere and they used electronics, then use that to dismiss the argument. Gawd I'm in a foul mood.

And, Drums corps con electronics isn't drum corps. It's a caricature of its former self. It's band. And I can see a band anywhere. Drum corps is quickly becoming quite irrelevant indeed. Enjoy fussing all over it and defending the changes tooth and nail. But while you're caught up in all that, you might want to consider that nobody even knows what drum corps is anymore. What do we have, 20 corps? No tv. No publicity. Pathetic. Bring on the woodwinds, and dogs and ponies while you're at it.

Pot - Kettle