sparkle_motion14

AGREED! in all honesty, i love flag blocks in world class. i wish more world class groups would spend a little more time on flag because of the effect you can get from it. that's just my opinion and i am sure many people don't feel this way.

i think there should be a new class called "universe" and james logan and fantasia can complete against each other to see who wins!! :)

i hope zydeco goes to IW. their show was AMAZING this year and i can only imagine what a world class show from this group would look like!! by far, one of my fave shows from this year!

blessed sac should have placed higher

i agree with the statement that there should be some sort of system where ties can not happen in championships in a finals round. there really has to be something that one guard does better to earn a slightly higher rating.

i do not think required components would be good either. however, i do feel that many judges do not give enough credit for solid technique. for example, one guard has an ensemble rifle 7. very few catches are solid and some of the members plie on the catch. another guard has an ensemble rifle 5. all catches are solid and no one plies on the catch. many judges would give the 1st guard a better score because the ATTEMPTED a harder toss as opposed to the 2nd guard who attempted an easier toss and completed it flawlessly. in no way am i saying ALL judges do this, but it is common enough that many directors in our circuit have brought it up during the season.

the whispers through the grapevine are saying that pride is taking 2008 off BUT if they come out, the guard will be all male and will have more members from NL. i guess they had some this year. i only saw them once and it was at world class prelims, so i didn't have a chance to really check out the people. as i said, this is only a rumor and don't upset with me if it turns out not to be true!! :)

they make my cry everytime i see them!! it's so great to see how this activity can be therapeutic as well as athletic, theatrical and graceful. congrats to the kids and the directors of the group! all are an inspiration to me!

also in DCI, the cadets used baton a few years ago

AMEN! god bless the band hall!!

i think typically with aimachi, people tend to get side tracked by the batons in the air. however, when i was able to focus on the equipment, i saw them doing some pretty challenging work. i think the really deserved the 3rd place if not higher. they are finally getting credit that they so deserve!

ditto on the pride ranking. i absolutely believe the pride's show demonstrated a lot of skill, but it was quite flat. i didn't get the chills like i did when they did "everybody hurts," for example. as an overall package i believe that fantasia deserved the gold. aimachi's show was GORGEOUS!!! LOVED IT!!!!!!!! i was going crazy waiting to see blessed sac this year because their 89 show is my all time fave. i was glad they got a medal out of it.

i was equally happy that i didn't shell out the big bucks to see world class finals. i was glad to see world class prelims because i thought $30 for a full day of guard was acceptable. james logan was really great in person. i loved the whole beginning when they were holding people parallel to the floor and throwing rifles over them and catching it on the other side. i really enjoyed that show. i agree that NEi (north east independent) was great. i am usually impressed with that group! i just think this year was an "off" year. i can't expect everyone to come up with some ground break, exciting show idea every year. i was thinking on my drive home how much i missed norther lights this year, though. anyone have some more thoughts?

what are your thoughts on WGI this year? exciting? boring? innovative? safe? repetitive? my husband and i were talking on the drive home today and we were underwhelmed this year. we both usually walk out of world class prelims simply amazed at the shows we just saw. this year we could only name a handful that we were really excited about. oh my god was fantasia breathtaking!! what a great show design and wonderful performers. i sincerely hope they get the gold this year. pride was technically quite good but the show concept was flat to me and i didn't get excited at all. i am really glad that aimachi placed so high. their show was beautiful! i will be the first person to say i really don't like baton twirling at all, but when aimachi does it, I LOVE IT! they don't seem to get the credit the deserve most years and i am pleased to see them in 3rd going into finals. blessed sac's show was fantastic as well. i am disappointed that i only got to see it once this season. as far as SW goes, james logan's show was amazing. they are so innovative and creative. those kids show so much skill and poise while on the floor and by far are the best SW group. i know many people on here loved avon, so i wanted to ask why you liked it. maybe i just loved their show last season so much that this show seemed dull, but kind of like pride, i thought the show was kind of flat. maybe they just had a less that stellar show in prelims. we unfortunately couldn't stay tonight for finals and a lot of times finals shows are so much better than prelims runs. anyway... just want some thoughts. please feel free to talk about all classes... i just didn't have the the opportunity to see any open class and i saw very limited A class. *** new information*** WOW! i can't believe the IW scores!! i am so glad that (even though i hate when groups tie at championships) that both aimachi and blessed sec took home bronze medals! did anyone stay to watch world class retreat?

i am really gald to hear that! i didn't make it over to the convention center this season because we were only there on friday and i wanted to see world class groups.

feel free to answer this AFTER the weekend is over, but i am curious to know how people feel about the 3rd location for wgi guard competition being the dayton convention center? i can remember back in 98/99 when my guard performed there. IT WAS AWFUL. they had those puzzle floors that are really bouncy and lumpy. we had props that moved that year and due to the floor, the props didn't roll well and they kept falling. this only happened at this location. plus when someone dropped their equipment, it bounced like a crazy ball and made it hard for the girl to recover. i know there was some complaining about kettering fairmonts set up (no where to fold the tarps indoors and that the units had to walk outside to get into the gym) but at least the actual gym was a good place for prelims and semi-final rounds. i know we performed at nutter for both prelims and semis last year and we had to fold out tarp outside while the aux gyms in nutter sat open. this was especially a problem for prelims because it was raining! anyone else have any thoughts on this?

i imagine westerville will be in the top 3 with a chance of the gold

WOW is right about NL 06... that show was beautiful!!!

i have no formal pics of my winter guard from last season because the pics were AWFUL! i am quite glad they went back to jolesch!

if you are close to Ohio let me know because my husband is very interested!

hahahaha! :P that's awesome!!

when i has a SA and an IA guard we used 36", but i do know of several IA guards that use 39". i would imagine once you get out of the A class, 39" would be more widely used and once you get into IW (as some people said) 40" becomes standard. but like everyone said, check with the unit you are planning on auditioning for to see what size and style they use so you can be prepared. GOOD LUCK!! : :)

someone once told me that in IW as long as you attempted something tricky, credit was usually given to the group. it didn't matter if they dropped or messed up. who knows... this was a long time ago. i have never had an IW guard, so i don't really know the facts. at any rate, i can't wait to see some IW guards!!

i think DCI shows have been very exciting over the past few years. just because you don't know the music doesn't mean the show isn't good. i typically like many of the shows where i am not familiar with the music. i have no pre-conceived ideas about the show that way. all i know is that i am happy with the progression of the units in DCI.

i haven't been to any regionals yet, so i can only comment on my local circuit... miamisburg (SW) is back! their show is entertaining and very well put together zydeco (IO) is also well designed and i love their concept. they have outstanding performers. westerville (IA) wow! was a great show! i imagine this group to place quite high a finals this season.