Wadep66

From the folks who don't believe they should pay for intellectual property.......

The tension at the end of the ballad is one of the most intense things I've ever heard from a Corps. period.

Well if saying "I told you so" really makes you happy, then go for it!

It's interesting that you believe if Crown's percussion improves they'll win it all. Since they didn't win GE in San Antonio or in MS vs. Cadets, when the performance caption is as clean by the others as Crown, they will have an advantage in Brass. How does that make them the winner just because the drums aren't 4th or 5th? They started the year very clean with a good show. Everyone else is catching up or passing them. Unless they make some huge changes to their show I see them in a solid 3rd place (unless SCV bumps them) with BD and Cadets fighting for the ring.

If you honestly think you alone can analyze what it takes 10 judges to do at DCI finals, then you are either a god or.....

I don't find FN bad at all. In fact, I'd say the quality is more impressive than I would think you could get online for some events. It doesn't, for me at least, diminish the impact of seeing a show live. Live is 1000 times better than even the DVD's. The FN just gives me enough to know what to look for and where the impacts are, and actually helps me enjoy the live show better. That way I'm not constantly going "wait, what did I miss over there? Darn!".

Every time I watch it I see more of the side by side compare and contrast. My favorite is in the ballad, when the trumpets are in a block and pull the curvy hornline through the "curtain" where it straightens out on the other side. This while the colorguard is bending straight poles. Brilliant drill, music and colorguard integration.

Just whenever I've seen it referenced folks talked about how much they hated the uniforms and thought the show was very non-BD. You're actually the first I've seen here applaud it.

I very much respect BD, which is why I get frustrated when referred to as a "hater" if I don't like their shows. For me, it's all about style. I liked the Godfather Show and the show in, what was it-- 87 when they wore the gray uniforms and played "happy days are here again"? Classy stuff. Ironically enough it seems most BD fans don't like that show. Again, a matter of taste. I think some fear that when a corps wins with something edgy and really different that it drives the activity in a direction they don't really care for. Some may stone me for this: You HAVE to think that some of the design choices this year in several corps are influenced by the success of Cabaret Voltaire. Both Cadets and Crown seem to be mimicking this to a degree. Otherwise, explain crown's uniform to me after years of being the cream team. I know it fits the show. So would a new jacket designed specifically for it. The cadets have not used color like this since 02. I'm just happy DCI is doing as well as it is. I keep bringing new folks to see and they enjoy it.

As big a Cadets fan as I am, I'm not sold on the boxes. Seeing them live, there is so much going on that I didn't notice them nearly like I do on VOD, but it would certainly seem something simpler could have done the same thing for the show theme. I guess they wanted to be able to stash equipment in them, but that actually was a distraction when the purple flags almost fell out of the front of one of them during the Lafayette show. Ultimately I love the show, but those boxes could have been better thought out. Maybe they'll be changed by finals? Crowns bench and drums are small and unobtrusive, as are Phantom's trees. BD's use of white PVC looking props is getting a bit old, but the poles fit the show design pretty well. I think we've passed the point where props will be a rarity. We'll be seeing more and more as time goes. Thanks WGI!

Major love for the Trooper's show here. I was teary eyed several times, especially during the sunburst. My friend who had never been to a corps show at all was totally enamored and blown away by them too. I thought musically and visually it was a treat from top to bottom. Loved every second of it.

I enjoyed the Colts show. I was VERY surprised that they beat the Troopers like they did in visual. The colts appeared very dirty. Perhaps the Troopers book is just too simple? Their guard was the cleanest I think I can remember seeing them in a long time. I also loved how the colors of the flag in the opener matched the guard costume and complimented the Corps uniform. It gave the entire field a very pleasing cohesive look. Maybe I just waxed too nostalgic during their show but I wouldn't have thought the Colts would have beaten them in visual.

The Cadets guard was amazing last night. I don't know if it just "clicked" as they say or it was a rare occurance. There wasn't near the flag phasing I've seen in VOD. It was very clean. Maybe the judge favors them, but I wasn't surprised they scored as well as they did.

I'll post a full review later. My take: Cadets are going to beat Crown in the end by a respectable margin. In terms of design complexity, they're not close. And the music of the Cadets show is absolutely brilliant. Scores already show Crown outplaying their book. It's fun, but its a lot of sustained notes, and the drill is some recycled stuff from years past. I know the Cadets sometimes do that too, but this is a championship show for them. Madison was an emotional favorite as were the Troopers. I actually teared up during the sunburst. Their show is beautifully done and visually excellent.

So, he should take out a full page ad in USA Today? Anyone insulted by that post just either needs to get a life or get something real to be offended by. As a life long southerner it doesn't bother me a bit.

Cadets Crown Phantom Regiment

In my inbox this afternoon: Greetings .. Just a thank you for your recent generosity to the Cadets. As you know, we are in Louisiana today, rehearsing at Cajun Stadium, and we are appearing in Ocean Springs tomorrow. We are thrilled to be here … I chose the tour, and I am well aware of our connection to many in the South. I am sorry about the uproar from the newspaper article. My FB post, that led to all, was a bit of a desperate cry for housing assistance. We had two locations without the fields we needed to work, and we were running out of time. I love the South!!!! One of the most fabulous relationships if my life was with a woman from the South and who knows, I may retire here one day. My concern was the housing and the fields … not the people. With that said, I appreciate you and your kindness and i hope you get out to one of the shows coming up. All the best Hop George J Hopkins CEO- Youth Education in the Arts

Hoping for clear skies (at show time) and a great show!

Judging threads tend to keep rehashing these same arguments. This is like the discussions often overheard when people talk about which films they do and don't like. Many oscar winners were not big box office hits, and for the same reason the most popular show doesn't always win. My take on it is that: It's fun to be wowed by fun music at high volume really fast. You'd get tired of it if that's all there were. It's also fun to watch a show that evokes emotion, thought, or even thought after watching it. This is so subjective that it is IMPOSSIBLE, yes IMPOSSIBLE to come up with a judging system that everyone will think is fair and drive the activity the way they personally want to see it go. It seems to me that there are as many folks coming to the shows as there were ten years ago. If the judging and playing to the sheets is killing drum corps, it's doing so at a rate so slow we'll all be dead when it finally happens.

Thanks for stating that so eloquently.

I will be there. A bit worried about the weather, but it should move through quickly. It's a good stadium for drum corps and the field is turf. I hate that they made it general admission. I usually buy in advance to ensure good seats. Getting to the 100 degree stadium early to get a good seat isn't really a fun thing.

I know a little about statistics, but not the degree being discussed here. Seems there is a simpler explanation, since humans are involved, a time range is involved, and a cap on the high score is involved. Whoever wins is going to be somewhere between 97 (split captions) to 99 (if a corps wins every caption) in the scoring range, with each caption being 9.8-10.0. Back up to the start of the season, pace the scoring so you don't enter box 5 before Atlanta, and so forth. Sure seems like that combined with season long improvement plus judge variability can account for the trends we see. Without all the technical terms this is the explanation that has always made sense to me. Feel free to point out the flaws in my argument. I won't know if you are right are wrong. p.s. I don't believe in slotting. Looks like that maybe happened years ago, but with captions consistently all over the place vs. overall ranking I find it hard to argue that it is prevalent.

Actually I DID go to school in the south, went to a public university and then move deeper south. The community here lost the support for the school system with the desegregation law suits that totally destroyed the neighborhood schools. Most that I work with pay an outrageous fortune to send their kid to private school, which looks to me to be a huge waste of money from what I can tell. This has caused many of the "halves" to pull their support for public education and vote against every single tax measure and improvement on the ballot. This coupled with the lack of neighborhood schools has made these systems some of the worst in the country. Then, these are also likely the type of people whining that Hop made a bad comment about their area. I don't get it. I think he's right. He isn't a politician. He isn't hired to sugar coat things and be sweet to everyone and tell them what they want to hear. You certainly don't win DCI that way. Was it a PR mistake, yes. But the man makes mistakes. Part of his mistake is being so transparent that those who like to throw stones will criticize. I'm not apologizing for Hop at all. He made a mistake. i respect him for what he does, the number of hours and soul he puts in it, and despite what you might think, has been pretty darn successful at it. Nobody says you have to like him. Or even respect him. But you do need to get over the idea that everyone thinks where you are is great. Go around the country and get some perspective.

So Hop held a gun to Dan Acheson's head at a board meeting and said "If you don't side with me, I'll blow danny's head off". So they begrudgingly agreed. And agreed to nev speak of the incident in public again?

Your last sentence just undermined everything else you said.