ssorrell

Spirit has 31 age outs this year.

The irony... Everyone that is complaining about the attire is probably assuming that the girls are not covered up enough which would attract the unwanted attention of their over stimulated male co-members. What they don't know is that the guys probably don't even notice they are on the field...

Heh...take a trip to any WalMart on a Saturday and you'll see similar clothing...except those wearing the short shorts and tiny tops would weigh in at around 195 pounds...and they'd be wearing their bedroom shoes to boot.

I didn't take your post on a dig at Spirit...not at all. I wasn't offended as a staff member from that year. I just think that what you experienced is a natural phenomenon. What you experienced at Star was exceptional. But, they were an exceptional corps. They went on to win with one of the most heralded shows in history. What you experienced at Spirit is what I would expect...different attitude, different philosophy...but then again, that was the beginning of a 15th place corps. You experienced Star at the pinnacle of their drum corps career. Conversely, you experienced Spirit in the middle of some of our roughest years in terms of membership, recruiting, design, staffing, and yes...administration. Again, to repeat...a talented staff is what makes or breaks a drum corps. I do agree with you. But my position is that what you experienced is just the nature of the beast...you witnessed a corps in the middle of a struggle vs. a corps rising to the top...and there were bound to be major differences in most every way.

While I agree that the staff, especially the design staff, is what makes or breaks a corps these days, I must point out as an administrative staff member for Spirit during this time that the OP's experience resulted from one very simple idea... The top corps (Star was the reigning bronze medalist after 1990) have the resources that allow them to excel at a faster rate than their lower placing counterparts. Top corps have older, more experienced members, and usually a bigger pool of auditioning members from which to draw the most talented kids. Top corps have a staff that is usually among the best in the country at the time...otherwise, they wouldn't be at the "top". And IMHO...that is pretty much it. Comparing experiences at a camp of the current 11th place corps (who had missed finals the previous year) to the experiences at a camp of a corps that had improved their ranking from 10th to 3rd in 6 seasons and was gunning for a championship is bit unfair. I think anyone would expect to see huge differences in attitude, talent, drive, etc. Especially camps in 1991...Spirit was 15th and Star won with one of the most difficult shows EVER. How can you compare those??? But hey...even back when I marched in Spirit in the mid 80s and we were in 6th place...that's how things were. We came to practices in the winter and rarely ever got show music before March. Until then, it was basics, basics, and more basics. Maybe that's why we never won a championship? But hey...we're quite laid back in the south...that's just the way it was.

Forgive me...I've only read half of the 64 pages of this thread... But, from where I stood at the Dome, when second place was announced and the booing began, it wasn't in displeasure of BD's show content winning, but more of the fact that people were wanting Crown to win and didn't. After Crown's show, they got very good crowd response. BD did not. After 2nd was announced...boos were heard. Again...more in support of Crown win than a disapproval of the actual winning corps' repertoire. Also keep in mind...we were in the deep south, and Crown is a southern corps. To quote Rondo from the 1980 telecast..."The South loves the South". It doesn't surprise me that there were boos...the favored corps didn't win.

The bottom 8 rows of the two center sections had very few seats sold and were nearly empty. That equates to over 300 seats. But, the rest of the stadium was indeed filled nicely.

Hey...that's the way of the world these days. Corps rarely develop a musical theme anymore...it's a few bars, broken up, with drum breaks throughout. As far as I'm concerned, we can all thank BD for that, as their shows have been designed that way for the last few years. The only corps out of the 6 that I watched last night in Opelika that performed full tunes without all these hits and breaks was Pioneer...and they don't exactly burn up the competition. I liked them and was proud of their show...but music just doesn't get much credit these days. And about being "cute"...I'll take "cute" any day, instead of "what the hell was that?"...

Here's my take on Opelika... I live only 15 minutes from this stadium, so it was so nice to have such a short drive. This site is where my competitive career with Spirit started in 1982...our first show of the season was in Opelika. On that day in 82, we learned the final 10 pages of drill in the parking lot prior to our warmup...and we won the show by 10 points. Of course I was excited to see a show so close to home...outside of the ATL show, we haven't had anything close to here in a long time. I always go the the show in the Dome, but there's nothing like the outdoor setting, as you know. I was and still am a bit perplexed as to why DCI didn't throw a couple other Top 12 corps into this show. This was Spirit's home show...the corps sponsored it, but Spirit was the only top 12 corps in the lineup. That certainly didn't help ticket sales. And no...the stadium wasn't packed...there were LOTS of 50 yard line seating left empty...how often does that happen? I was glad to see many of the area high school bands show up with busloads of kids...that helped fill the general admission seating. But, I digress...I know that the top corps were practicing, getting ready for the TOC show on Friday...but hey, having one of the top 3 or 4 in the lineup sure would have helped. Heck, Crown was in Birmingham all day Thursday...would it have hurt to have them in this show before they were off to Murfreesboro? Then there was the time difference. An 8pm start time, even for a show with only 6 corps is a bit late...especially when a large contingent of the audience would be coming from the Eastern Time zone...which is only 15 minutes away. So, for me and the others that live in Eastern time, the show was over at 11:20 or so. I know quite a few people that didn't come just because of the late time. The shows...I was pleasantly surprised by the level of every corps. Pioneer was better than I expected. My 80+ year old parents really enjoyed the hymns that they played. Jersey Surf...so engaging and fun. So dirty. Way way way too much electric bass. But hey, did I mention how much fun they were? Mandarins...Nice sound. Nice adherence to their theme...a theme that is a bit too much for some of the audience to appreciate. A show about chinese immigrants just isn't an easy show to sell...but their performance level helps. They were better than expected. Academy...they set the tone immediately, bringing you into their show before it starts. However, the "narration" got a little old. The show is entitled "Piano Man", but I don't remember that being announced, so I was unaware. I thought the show had a French flavor, and at the end with Piano Man, I was wondering how it fit in. Even knowing the theme, the closer and the sing along just seemed out of place with the rest of the show...but I still enjoyed it, nonetheless. Blue Stars...Good sound, good everything. A dark show for sure, which makes it difficult to get drawn in, IMHO. The ending left me flat. If they debuted a new ending and that was it, then maybe they might need to re-think it. Several around me wasn't sure if that was supposed to be the end of the show...sort of anti-climatic. Spirit...okay, I'm a Spirit honk...look at my signature. So, in order to not appear biased, I'll leave my comments about my former corps out of this review. But, let's just say that I'm one very proud alum. Not sure how the corps came out financially with the tickets, but if a show is to continue in this area after this year, I hope that it's not close to the ATL show, as that definitely affects ticket sales, but I'm also aware that it more than likely would be within a day or two of it. But please DCI...throw us a bone...give us a lineup with some more corps in the top 12, or better yet, the top 6. And start the show EARLIER!

I don't believe that the content score and the achievement score are intertwined, except for the fact that they are judged by the same judge. For the most part, one is not rooted in the other. Both sub captions have exclusive criteria for the number given. Yes, most of the time the Ach score is lower...but that is more likely because at this point in the season, the corps are still a little dirty and getting cleaner all the time. The Achievement numbers are based on fundamentals of playing and how well those fundamentals are being executed. Here is the criteria for the Achievement portion of the score for brass: Quality of tone Accuracy of pitch and intonation Precision of Rhythmic accuracy and timing Clarity and uniformity of style, interpretation, and articulation Balance and Blend Expressiveness and Musicianship Precision of content with respect to challenge The last point above is further explained: Considering all challenges, do the performers demonstrate expressive qualities and musicianship? Most corps' design teams know the level to which they must write and compose which will give their corps the best chance to max out both numbers within their competitive goals. So, USUALLY you will see the content score to be higher, and as the season progresses and by the end of the season, the Achievement score should come up to equal it. I also think that since the same judge gives both numbers, it's in the back of their head that they must be somewhat close in number, and Achievement shouldn't be higher...but that's just an educated guess. IN a case where the Achievement is higher, that seems to me that it's just a corps that is outperforming the other corps in terms of those basic fundamentals listed above. But...this is just my take on it. I'm sure many disagree.

Boring is subjective. Offensive rants from a corps director are not.

Maybe it's just me, but IMHO when someone within the activity does or says something that has potential to affect the activity as a whole, then they should be punished for it. Maybe it's time for DCI to establish some sort of monetary fine to anyone whose actions or words can be detrimental to the health of the activity, the tour, the competition, or the corps?

Honestly...can you name ONE corps that doesn't stay "motivated and hungry" throughout the season? Spirit knows that there are corps nipping on their heals. They will likely not just allow corps to pass them without a fight. But, Spirit's eyes are ahead of them, not behind them. They are looking up...not down. I can guarantee you that... But, as we all know...things happen. Spirit can push to the end and fall short. The same can be said for Blue Stars, Crossmen, or Troopers. At least for now, Spirit has the upper hand. smh...

How ridiculous a question. Is Spirit done? Is anyone done on July 14?

I want to see the recap, but dang...it's getting late here in the East...