Pinwiz

Leave it on the field Thursday and Friday. This show is fantastic and the crowd is going to love it.

Tie breakers, as I understand it, were for First Place ONLY and are no longer in effect. We don't know if there's a tie breaker for 12th, but there was at least one tie for 17th in the past when that was the Semis cut off and both corps performed on Friday. Odds of a tie when we go to the ten-thousandth of a point are minimal, I'll believe it when I see it. Instead, hopefully DCI will LET US SEE THE NON-FINALIST SHOWS AFTER THE SEASON and it won't matter in the long run.

Give me Colts and Troopers from last year and you have a customer.

Agreed. I've resigned myself to the fight for 13th (Academy is SO. GOOD.) but that's not a failure. The corps went for it again this year and it will pay off. Until then enjoy the rest of the summer and we'll be there cheering (and crying) in Indy. (And even if they're in 13th they'll still have knocked off a Finalist corps. If Academy wasn't so amazing we'd be talking about the Troop/BAC fight. Instead they'll both perform and I have to believe that Troop will get their usual Semis GE jump.)

I re-watched Thursday's performance and the corps appears to have taken a major leap forward since Minneapolis. Once I stopped viewing the show through the moment-by-moment "please do well" alumni honk lens I could see a confidence and fluidity that I haven't seen from Troop in many years. There's a lot work to do: The third movement still needs more GE, the second movement is getting close, I expect to see the real ending by Atlanta, etc. Right now I'm slotting Academy into Finals but this show has a chance if Troop can keep pushing between now and Indy.

Those shows don't count for Prelims, only San Antonio, Atlanta, and Allentown count. If Academy can't take 12th tomorrow then it's going to be difficult to go on in 12th on Thursday in Indy. They can still be the favorites for the last spot in Finals but if things are close going into Indy then every little bit helps. (#BACgate)

Boston got real lucky with this draw, but that's the way the game is played. I expect that they'll beat Academy tomorrow because of it, but by how much? It could have real implications for Prelims, especially since they don't go head-to-head in Allentown.

I had a chance to watch Troop right before switching over to Academy and Academy has GE for days. I think Troop has the harder drill by a long shot but that doesn't matter if it's not clean and the show isn't as well constructed. Academy's show just WORKS, and if Boston makes finals I may have to break something.

Troop has been a surprise two of the last three Finals weeks and Academy is a wild card. Boston had better watch their back.

Dear DCI, What I do in my own house on my PC is none of your business, and I wouldn't be recording the live stream if you would have just let us buy copies of the non-Finalists from last year...

You can also tell the start of the scored portion of the show when the field judges walk onto the field/lift their recorders and begin to speak.

West coast missing ending deflation?

Time to put in the changes, spruce up the middle third of the show, and add the real ending. Last year their show seemed to stall until changes were added around Allentown, let's not wait this long this year. I'm still going to have the ugly cry in the stands in Indy.

Snoopy Dance time! Thanks, Tay Tay!

Thankfully it setting down in Chicago means I'll be able to see it. At some point... maybe.