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Thanks, I appreciate it. 1989 was a rough year. I absolutely LOVED our opener, but wasn't too crazy about Slaughter!

Thank you. It took a long time to get there. At the time, I seriously thought we were screwed. Heck, I thought, at the time, we should have beaten Phantom - haha! I guess years and an open mind can do wonders to make you see things more clearly. It was gutting to get beat by Star at finals, but they were so #### good. Surely one of the best 6th place corps ever! I loved their opener that year and the ballad too was gorgeous.

That was Quaters, and Quarters determined the order for Semis. We were 2nd in VP in Semis. Performance order had little to do with it. Maybe we were a lot cleaner in Semis. I just know the passthrough at the end of the opener in finals looked as dirty as it did day one - I'm guessing.

No one mentioned the Cadets train wreckk in the Z Pull in '85 at Whitewater because it never happened. It was in '84.

That was actually from 2000 Finals!

Wouldn't suprise me if smoking hash was part of Bridgemen's pre-show warm up!

Sorry, I am 100% certain it was 1984 DCI Midwest Finals, and Santa Clara definitely won the show! It can be verified at both fromthepressbox.com and scorpsboard.com. It was crazy. They were still awesome though. I heard a member broke his leg during that pile up, finished the show, marched off the field, then collapsed. Don't know if that was true or just Cadet Corps legend.

Sure, I'll work to put you guys in 3rd, with Garfield in 2nd and Santa Clara in 1st. Would that work :) Totally kidding. Sucks about '84. BD & Garfield were too close to call. Santa Clara was #### good too. I'd been happy if any of you three won, especially SCV.

Well, can you honestly tell me if you watch us and Star that we were cleaner visually? Doubt it!

Ah, you're right. I was looking at the Semi's recaps! Still, we shouldn't have beaten Star in VP! No way! And, Cavies should have walked away with VP in 1989. No one was even close...maybe SCV.

Hi All, It's been a long time since I looked at the 1989 recaps, and I must say I am stunned that we placed 2nd in Visual Performance. How? I know you really can't judge a performance from the DVDs, but when I watch our show, I see a 7th place visual performance. And, how the #### did Star of Indiana place 5th in brass? They should have been 2nd (behind Phantom), IMO. I was brought to the recaps today because I was curious how Star placed in brass. I just listened to the show, and their hornline rocked.

God, even I thought that about Phantom in 1989. Now, when I watch the DVD I laugh at myself. I did, however, totally think you guys or Garfield were going to win about two weeks before finals, esp after we heard you guys beat Phantom. I think it was the only time you beat Phantom that year. We were about to start rehearsal one morning, and one of our staff members said, "Just so you all know, Cavies beat Phantom last night!" We all cheered! Along with SCV and Madison, Phantom is my favorite corps (cause I love classical music) but I still hate it when they win or beat Madison. Yet, I tend to really cheer SCV on competitively. Funny how it's no biggie when SCV beats Madison, but when Phantom does - it's horrible! Funny how some things will never change. Do you live in Montreal now? I too was disappointed. It's one of my favorite cities.

Mike, You are so right. I thought we got screwed so big time in 1989. I was like, "How could Star have possibly beat us?" For years I thougt that. Then, last year I got the '89 DVD and now I'm like there was no way in #### we should have been closer to Star then we were. It's amazing how your attitude changes when you look back. Heck, I used to think every year Phantom beat Madison it was a judging conspiracy. Now, I generally believe the judges get it right. Mary Cherry is my idol. I'm glad my quote was recognized.

I think you are way off on both accounts. 8th place in brass, 11th in drums? I think that is way low. If Star beat us in brass, I would not complain (they had a great brassline), but I think we were clearly better than anyone else in brass that year (save Garfield and BD). I don't know much about drums, but I would venture to say your assessment is way off considering an educated and qualified judge placed us third. Of course, SCV was the bomb in drums that year and Garfield was pretty darn good too. Like I said, it seems like the judges were pretty consistent and fair considering there were two different panels and the judges from finals didn't know what the judges from semi's did. They were, in a sense, forced to judge fairly and accurately because if the scores were completely out of wack between the nights how could they explain it? They couldn't. Personally, I think this should have continued since 1988. Today, I think slotting certainly occurs and it's hard for surprises like 1988 or 1996 to take place today. Again, the judges are qualified to judge in their field and I'm not one of those who thinks judging is political whether Madison finishes 1st or 14th. Dans is correct. Madison: Visual (1st), Drums (3rd), Brass (3rd), GE (2nd) SCV: Visual (3rd), Drums (1st), Brass (5th), GE (1st) BD: Visual (4th), Drums (5th), Brass (1st), GE (3rd) Considering those placements, I would say we were most consistent across the board.

The memories of that entire night (what I have of them) are worth more than the ring itself. I remember everything that happened right up to the point where Santa Clara was announced in 2nd. After that, it's cloudy and has tons of holes. I guess I was naturally high. I remember singing "You'll Never Walk Alone" to the crowd and doing the encore, but that's it. It's strange. The whole night seemed to go by in the blink of an eye, yet in 1989 we were off that field so much quicker (in finale) but it seemed like it took 60 years.

Thanks, but we didn't win quarters. There were no quarters that year. But, the rest of your assessment is correct. It's absurd that people think the judging was unfair, but as you said the judges from finals had no idea what the judges from semifinals did, and we won by 1.2 in semifinals. Considering a few corps switch places (Cavies/Garfield and Spirit/VK) between semifinals and finals, I'd said it was pretty fair and consistent. We had our best show in semi's and the 97.8 score and 1.2 win show that, when you compare it to our finals score and the spread between us and the 2nd place corps.

Ok, are you crazy? You think DCI screwed Phantom out of a title in 1989 because the judges realized they made a mistake the year before and should have given the title to SCV? It doesn't work that way. If it did Phantom would be 1990 champions. Oh, then the Cadets would have to win in 1991 and Star would have to win in 1992 and Cavies in 1993. It doesn't work that way. So you think the wrong corps won both years, but you think it (about 1989) for the wrong reasons!

Ok, since you know more than the judges, please provide an assessment rather than slam.

I venture practice in 1990 and 1991 must have been brutal. Two of my favorite shows ever (along with '98 SCV). Those are probably my top 3. Where were you in 1989?

I know that. It would, in fact, be impossible to rehearse 15 hours on a show day. I am referring to non-show days. For us - 8 hours was the max.

I am sorry, but I do not remember that at all. Of course, I wouldn't see anyone waving off the patch deliverer, but I certainly do not remember putting my knee down on the patch. Yes, we were ###### as ####, to put it mildly, but that's what happens sometimes. Of course, performing in the show I didn't see anyone else, so it's impossible for me to say who should have placed where, but I remember the Drum Corps World write up on the show that year. It was a hoot. I'll have to dig it up for the exact wording, but it basically said we should have won. I really don't know if I can agree with that now, but at the time it was a great thing to read. Like I said, I didn't see any of the three other corps, so who knows. Guardguy89, I tend to disagree with your assessment of BD winning and us placing 3rd. I know this has been talked about 80 million times on here, and that's bound to happen in a close championship. I thought the judging was pretty much right on. We won on the visual mark! Blue Devils lost on the visual mark and Santa Clara lost on the brass mark. We were 2nd in GE and 3rd in Percussion and Brass. Could it be argued that we should have won GE? I think so...too close to call with Santa Clara. Can you argue we should have placed higher in Brass and Percussion? No way, but I don't think you can argue we should have placed lower either. I only think the guard judging was wack that year, but it didn't have as big of an impact as it does today. When I watch the DVDs, I think us, Santa Clara and Blue Devils gave the three most exciting and energy driven performances of the night. Without a doubt. However, I think Cavaliers had the best designed show overall, and I think give it another week or two and Blue Devils would have found themselves in 5th. Their show simply lacked the demand of those around it. Garfield was a mere 2 tenths behind them at finals and Cavaliers were right there. It's hard to say what would have happened, but Blue Devils had simply maxed their show out and I don't think Cavaliers, Cadets or Santa Clara did. I think we did in Semi's (where we had our best performance). It was a good year. A close competition, with a surprise ending.

Wow, I had no idea that other corps, besides the Cadets, rehearsed for such long periods. In the Scouts, the most rehearsal we ever did in one day, during the summer, was 8 hours. On days off, our rehearsals were 12:30 to 9:00, with an hour lunch. Dang, 15 hours? That's insane.

I am interested to hear more of BD practice regime. When I marched I heard that at ever rehearsal the staff set objectives and once those objectives had been reached rehearsal was over, whether it took 2 hours or 8. Is this true?

I agree with ContraRich! How many times does this stupid topic have to come up? It's really easy for those of you who haven't won to sit there and try to take that away from someone else, and it's pathetic. Truly pathetic! If you all are such big know-it-alls, then why aren't you judging? At the end of the day, I have my ring, and that's all that matters!

This is easy: 1990 Star of Indiana 1991 Star of Indiana 1998 Santa Clara Vanguard My three favorite shows from the decade.