ChicagoFan

Since the downtown area is fairly small and most of the hotels are concentrated within a few square blocks, I think you'll find that prices are pretty similar from one hotel to the next. Also consider that DCI week is a pretty big event for which hotels can charge premium rates. Don't expect to find any bargains unless you're willing to stay farther from the city center.

Since this diatribe was addressed to me, I feel I should respond. Then again, why bother? Anything I could say would obviously be lost on someone who mocks my education yet, in the very same sentence, misspells "college." Sincerely, Robert E. Lee

I'm going to have to disagree with this. I have three degrees in music and teach at the college level. I think that would qualify as having "artistic sense." And for the record, I well appreciate the work that goes into this activity and am fully capable of recognizing and understanding the complexities of what I see/hear on the field. Nonetheless, I'm often bored. What I feel for many of the shows this season is anything but love. Like the OP, I've recently begun to question why I feel this way. Am I too old? Has drum corps passed me by? Am I stuck in the past? I was somewhat heartened (or disheartened depending on how you look at it) on Saturday in Kalamazoo after talking to several friends and corps alums who expressed similar feelings. Among the group were former Cavaliers, Scouts, Cadets, Crossmen, and Troopers and, to a person, all of us felt that something is missing -- that the excitement we once felt for and about corps isn't there. I'm saddened by this.

I teach at a university in the Chiago area that does not finish its quarter until June 12. Many area high schools have a similarly-late graduation date.

Having had several cancerous growths removed -- likely the result of spending too much time in the sun -- I can attest to the importance of covering up and wearing sunscreen at all times.

Indy is not without the school issues found in KC and elsewhere. Several corps, including the Cavaliers, have yet to secure housing for finals week due to Indy area schools starting classes the same week.

Are they booing, Smithers? No sir. They're saying 'Boo-urns. Boo-urns.'

I marched guard at the time when many of the all-female guards began to go co-ed and, as a guy, I was grateful for that change. However, I still miss the mystique and unique beauty of an all-female auxiliary.

At the risk of sounding rather snide: We are to trust a group of people to completely restructure DCI who can't even put together a cohesive, organized Power Point presentation/proposal? If they can't arrange and articulate their thoughts clearly enough to put forth a polished, carefully conceived professional presentation, how will they handle the far more difficult task of actually bringing their vision to fruition?

Even the women?

Great music but the story seems overly contrived and silly. Hopefully, this will be a production in which the narrative isn't essential to the overall understanding and enjoyment of the program.

Whether or not DCI is purposefuly trying to eliminate older fans is debatable. What I don't think is debatable is that the legacy fans, though maybe not as numerous as the young band kids in the stands, are unfailingly loyal to the activity and regularly make a significant financial contribution. How many 15 year olds can afford the steep costs of tickets to multiple events? How many routinely donate large sums to individual corps? How many sponsor corps members year after year? (My own financial support -- through ticket/merchandise purchases and donations -- totals several thousand dollars each year.) To ignore or even unwillingly alienate these people seems rather foolhardy.

If the proposal is accepted, I expect this is exactly what would happen.

Several people have surmised that this new model will somehow strengthen competition by inspiring the lower-ranked corps to up their game in order to achieve "membership" in the newly created elite 7. This would suggest that all the Troopers need to do to win the DCI title is try a little harder; that it was a lack of effort and inspiration that kept them out of finals for the last 17 years. I do see some advantages to the ideas that have been put on the table but, in the long run, I think they will only serve to bring about even greater division amongst the corps and, ultimately, to the demise of the activity that we now know. For example, should this proposal work as planned and, in fact, strengthen those few select corps that are lucky enough to participate, the results will only give them more incentive to move further away from the DCI umbrella and the other corps which now make up that organization.

1. The crowd began to react as soon as the corps came out of the tunnel. 2. Brandt Crocker announced them thusly: "After a 23 year absence, please welcome to the field, from Casper, Wyoming, THE TROOPERS. The whole stadium stood and gave them an extended ovation. That was a special moment. 3. There was a semi-sunburst by the brass line. 4. The ovation after the performance was another extended one. 5. When final scores were announced, the crowd gave Troopers another standing ovation. 6. Depends on the wind conditions. Seeing the Troopers make it back into finals was the highlight of the week -- even the season -- for me. Congratulations to you all!