madalumni

Thanks so much! Great wealth of information! :D

Hi everyone - I got curious the other day thinking back to the 80s and all the legendary Drum Corps and famous people and amazing soloists from the top Corps. It got me wondering specifically about the Blue Devils...and in particular, the 86 Corps. Wondering the section breakdowns, names of some of the soloists, etc....does anyone know if there's a website that might have the 86 roster or someone who marched that year, if you have a list. PM me here or post a link if it's not a bother. Thanks much!

And all three of those oldest Corps - Cadets, Madison and Boston - suffer from that same dilema of how do you take risks and be modern, while holding on to certain traditions? I personally like the subtle changes and tweaks Boston has made while retaining the basic look of Boston. I hope they can find a way to keep that brand while coming up with some type of new and original idea that doesn't "copy" what Bluecoats and others have done.

As a Madison Alum, it is disappointing to see my younger brothers sit out of Finals. But looking at the big picture, this happened in a year where everyone stepped up their game so much. There were so many great moments and surprises...Academy getting into Finals for the first time, and doing it convincingly! Boston struggling and breaking through to hold on to Finals....Crossmen getting back in with such a great show! Blue Stars, SCV and Cavies moving up...Bluecoats hanging on to win the title.....Overall, I feel like this has been one of the most exciting and unpredictable seasons of Drum Corps. And seeing the competitiveness at this level...this is good for the activity! It keeps things exciting. And I'm confident my guys will re-evaluate, re-tool and come back stronger next season (HOPEFULLY, without the early season overhype!). :)

Congratulations Bluecoats! Not just for winning the DCI Championship, but doing so with a revolutionary and entertaining program! And also congrats to Academy for being first time finalist....congrats to Carolina Crown for winning 3 captions and to SCV for winning the Sanford!!

Did anyone see Quarter Finals at the Theater (or in person) last night? How did the Scouts do? I saw their score, but was wondering how they did overall. I'm sure the crowd loved them and everything, but just wondering if anyone had any thoughts/insights. :) Anyway, crank it up another level tonight Madison! BYBO!

I know you asked Jerry and not me, but I had an interesting conversation with an alum named Dino a couple years ago. He mentioned that one of the biggest factors in sustained success at the top, is that Corps like BD have had a lot of their staff for over 30 years. And when those people moved on, they had been training a lot of their replacements for years. So they don't have a lot of staff turnover and flip-flopping over the years. KC Michel is now in his second year as Program Coordinator at Scouts. Last year he helped take the Corps from 11th up to 8th. This year ended up being a much tougher year competitively, and we might end up with a lower placement again. But had this Judas show been put on the field last year, maybe it would have also ended up 8th. There were several Corps last year that weren't nearly as strong as they are this year. I can name 4 or 5. Conversely, maybe last year's 78th and Madison, had it been done this year (I know, 79th and Madison), maybe it would be fighting for the top 12. Anyway, my point is, I don't think it's time after only two years, to start axing solid staff members because "success" isn't coming fast enough. Where do they go from here? I don't know exactly, but maybe one way that we haven't tried very much in the past, is to keep some stability, keep people around longer than a few years (if possible), give them a chance to grow and develop over the long haul, even when the waters get rough. I think Chris and Dan and company have been doing their best the past several years to build a culture like that. Also, I try to look beyond scores/placements to measure success (and I'd love higher scores/placements), like, Is the Corps getting on better financial standing lately? If so, that's huge, and I don't think we would want to pull that rug out from under them. If not, it would be the job of the B.O.D. to re-evalute things. Anyway, sorry if this sounds like a lecture, I might be totally out to lunch on this opinion, and I'm also as tired as eff. I will say, goodnight everyone, peace! P.S. One thing I would love to see again, is for Madison to come out in 2017 with something completely new, fresh, original and still powerfully entertaining....and give the rehashes a rest for awhile....a long while! Especially when the best version was already done. I felt that way in 96 when Malaguena was rehashed.....nothing against the members of 96, but 88 put an exclamation point on that song....game, set, match! I saw zero point in trying to resurrect it (no pun intended ;) )

I'm wondering if (and hoping) the Scouts have enough content in this year's program to move back up a spot or two if they clean what they have. I know some have pointed out design/concept flaws with the Judas theme, but I wonder if there are tweaks they can make where the judges would reward them some more needed GE points. I imagine in critique, some judges have offered things they can do to improve the show. I can't imagine a judge or judges that would tell the staff "Sorry, you're SOL because this whole thing is a train wreck". Anyway, back to my wish....that the Men of Madison can clean like mofos and gnaw their way up the rankings in this last week and a half!

No. YOU wipe that look off YOUR face! And you really need to get ahold of the real Captain....he's like "Bot dot dah dut DAT!"

I love the new ending drill...open, clean and easy to read, fast and closing on a big company front which to me, makes a stronger statement. The Star to Fleur are nice in theory and sentiment, but I think they're to harder to read even when done perfectly clean. My only wish now would be that they would make Judas stand out more from the rest of the guard before his ghost version shows up. Like maybe something as simple as giving him black pants (making him have more contrast and also a bit more of a "bad guy"). But overall, the guys had more umph the last couple nights and I'm liking it!

Well, most of the time. The last comment I heard was; "You better get your #### together Jeff!" Lol

I have a clipboard and a voice recorder, but it's for a different activity. Lol Anyway, good to hear. I was hoping it was something powerful and bad-Azz!!

Can you describe anything about the new ending? Is it drill changes? Or also brass/percussion changes?

It's interesting. I felt the exact same way about last year's show, but then they mega-cleaned and turned up the heat....and wow, what a show that turned out to be, I feel like even with some of my issues with the very end of the closer, this is a better overall product than last year....if they can do that same thing they did last year, this show could tear down the house at Finals!

Quite an interesting night and so much entertainment across the board! I'm hoping Academy can keep their momentum and stay in the top 12 all the way to Championships! Also hoping Madison can tweak and clean and at least climb up to 9th or 8th...but seems like inconsistent Drums and some GE/Design issues could keep them in 11th. (But I have hope for my Brothers kicking into hyper-drive!) Glad to see Bones back in the top 12 too! What a great show for them! Blooo has one of my overall favorite show in years (and probably my favorite of there's ever) and I'd love to see them finally win the big trophy! Of course BD and Crown are not known to roll over either, so I think for Bloo, it's just clean like mofos from here on in!

Great job Scouts! Getting cleaner and more powerful! Still would like to see a couple musical tweaks to beef up the final minute or two. And not sure the Fluer is the best strong set to finish on....they had one last year and changed it to an arc which made a better visual statement. I'd love to see the star into the fluer into an arc or company front with Judas out in front of it. But that's me nit-picking. This show is getting hot!

Who says you have to do one or the other? Maybe some of us are good multi-taskers! :p

How could they fix this problem?

Now that I've seen the show a couple times, I am simply amazed at what Bloo is doing this year. This is a quantum leap on several levels and win or not, this show is revolutionary for the activity. On top of that, it's mesmerizing and entertaining as F%@#!

With BD's dominance, I think it's more a case of success breeds success. They get the top pool of talent every year, which I'm sure makes cleaning and perfecting a show a lot easier. Also, you have a staff consistency with them that's pretty amazing. Many of the current staff have been there for well over 20 years. I know Todd Ryan started there in 1994. Jay Murphy has been there at least since the mid 80s. I think it's a lot more likely that BD is a well oiled, consistent machine with longevity, rather than a secret cabal handing them Championships every year. Then again, we might want to check and see if any DCI employees have attended the Bilderberg meetings recently. ;)

I think 08 or 09 was the last time DOP was at Camp Randall. I think one issue is how much it cost to rent that venue for the event. They've held it at Middleton H.S. Stadium since 2010 and it's been a huge success. Sell out crowd each year, and a great pre-show tailgate party in Fireman's Park right next to the stadium where many alums like myself get to reunite and hang out before the show....including getting to sing "Never Walk" with our younger Brothers in the Corps. Sadly, I won't be there tonight. Wish I could have made the trip this year, but between getting booked on a couple comedy shows over the weekend plus car issues, just couldn't make it. Hopefully someone will be periscoping tonight! Anyway, tear it up Brothers and friends and fellow alums, have an awesome time! MYNWA!

I strongly feel that this show has so much more "meat" to work with right out of the gate than previous years. I'm sure there will be tweaks and rewrites as the season progresses, but I see this as becoming a monster show for the Scouts. It's got so much tension and drama from start to finish....and that big dark power chord is going to rip peoples' hearts out come Finals night!

Wow, you're really putting it out there on that one!

RIP Bill Howard. You touched countless lives and molded young men, and even though I did not march directly under your leadership, my life was touched by your tireless, behind the scenes support and leadership of the Madison Scouts! MYNWA!