Jeremy Denzer

I watched Center Grove.....seeing the score I was expecting them to be a total mess. The kids are very talented, and the show is clean enough for this point in the season. Staging seems to be the issue. Hopefully by bringing in Wes Cartwright they can fix the issues. Remember that at this point they only need to be higher than 3 other guards to make it into finals.

James Logan signed up for WGI championships this morning. Looks like the only medalist contender not attending this year is Avon.

When you say Flanagan and Carmel are the only contenders in Scholastic World you are forgetting one other guard. A guard that currently has the highest score in the country (and I know you cannot compare scores from one circuit to the next), however don't count Trumbull out of the race for gold this year.

I saw a video of Beatrix on a site that shall not be named.....really cool show from them all done in mirror image from front to back. I also noticed that the Pride of the Netherlands was promoted to World Class after the first show. I wonder if they will also move up in WGI competition?

People need to stop making excuses.....every year I watch every single world guard in prelims, then go out for a nice dinner and still make it back for the first guard in A class finals. If people really want to get back for the first guard they can......

Yes, the Scott Chandler....WGI hall of fame member, designer of the Blue Devils, San Jose Raiders, James Logan, Tate and many other WGI champions.

I am pretty sure that all of the music used by Beyer in 1995 was original music composed by Scott Chandler.

I would venture to say that a few SO guards will be promoted this season if the registration stays at 14 guards in SW. I am sure that WGI is watching the multiple guards that dropped down to SO this season pretty closely. Also, the registration deadline is not until the end of February for championships and 8 groups that are signed up for a regional still have yet to register for championships. Looks like Avon not attending is not really a financial issue but something else. Maybe they just need a break. They are still registered for percussion championships in SW class.

Miamisburg is listed under current entries for WGI championships and has been for several weeks.

My impression was that Carmel and Avon clearly had the best guards of the bunch.....Another favorite was Lake Central. If the outdoor guard is any indication Carmel should win WGI again this year.

Why would Miamisburg drop so SO? They missed finals one time......in a very competitive class. They also have a very strong feeder program and a great staff.

When Rosie was in charge of the Crown guard before, they were consistently in the hunt for the guard title....this is a good move for Crown to get her back running the program. Michael Townsend is one of the best choreographers in the business. Rosie and Michael work together at Carmel high school (2011 WGI World Class champions). They are a great team and should push Crown guard back into the upper rankings of the guard caption next summer.

So what happens to Rosie Queen.....back to Crown??? Just a guess.

Breaking News....Breaking News.... Rumor has it that Convalescence is expanding it's ranks. Sebastienne has been spotted recruiting on the kiddy pageant circuit for his newest guard prepubescence....along with Juvie courts for the "A"dolescence Independent A Class guard.

It is my understanding that the majority of schools in Canada do not offer band or marching band as an option for students. This makes recruiting talent for a top level Canadian corps a challenge.

Just noticed on the Phantom Regiment website that they will be fielding an all female guard again in 2012!!!

Rumor has it that choreographer extraordinaire Abby Lee Miller has taken over as director and head artistic designer for Convalescence 2012.

Perhaps we should be examining the design flaws of corps who did not make the top 12.......just saying. Considering the level of competition in the world class making it to the big show is a major accomplishment.....especially considering that less than 10 years ago the Blue Stars marched with under 60 members.

The guard was good for 1989.....however from a demand standpoint they would not do well in 2011. Too much has changed in terms of what is expected from a top level colorguard.

In the past when an International corps placed in the top 12 of Open Class they took 13 corps in finals. If both Yokohama and Jubal place in the top 12 will they be taking 14 corps in finals?

Open class is judged on different sheets with different criteria. You can subtract 15 - 20 points from the current scores of Blue Devils B and SCV Cadets and you will see where they will most likely place once they are judged on World class sheets.

The difference is that World Class corps have a more extensive tour and commit to several major events that may require extensive travel. Also Open Class corps are judged on different sheets.

Here are the answers to your questions. 1-DCI requires a minimum of 30 members. Open class corps can go up to the maximum of 150 members. A few corps are close to the 30 members and a few are close to the maximum. Most are somewhere in the middle. 2-The number of performances depends on the corps. Some corps such as Revolution go on a pretty extensive tour. Others only travel out of their own region the last 2 weeks of the season. 3-The Open class has had a major decline in recent years. At one point about 15 years ago the number of corps competing was over 65. Currently DCI has 17 corps registered to compete at championships in the open class. 15 from the US, 1 from the Netherlands and 1 from Japan. 5 corps from the west coast also compete in Open class but are not attending championships.

Phantom had a very flat quarterfinals performance in 96.....and when the walked on the field for Semifinals, before they ever played a note you could feel the intensity of a champion radiating off of those kids.

The problem is that with only 18 open class corps left competing at DCI you cannot justify different divisions based on size. The only way to really make it work would be to go back to the model that was used in the past where division III was corps under 60 members, Division II was corps with 60 - 90 members and Division I was corps with over 90 members. Considering that a few World Class corps are marching under 90 members this year it would definitely change the competitive landscape.