Texas DC Dad

The only constant is change. Which applies to EVERYTHING. While I never marched I can remember watching the finals on PBS when I was in middle school and high school (I'm 50!) and thinking how amazing it was. Now that my kids have been involved since about 2004 and I've been to countless shows, spent many hours at rehearsals of the 4 differnet corps our family has been memebers of, I STILL think it's amazing. No, from my perspective which is obviously differnt from someone who has, in fact, marched, there are any number of things which are occuring both on and off the field within drum corps. But overall, I look at the activity and see the musicianship, the creativity and the talent these young people exhibit and I continue to be amazed. Everyone will look back at their time in Drum Corps as the best and will long for the "good old days."

Spirit's percussion bus had a broken A/C last night! If nothing else on these busses, the AC HAS to work in the south. If not they're ovens on wheels. And Yes, they'll be in a dome in San Antonio but not in Denton or Houston or Lafeyette or Hattesburg, MS. Its gonna be a HOT swing through the south! Never have been able to figure out why DCI schedules the southern swing in July. . . . .

Nice jump in scores. Way to go Phantom!!!!!

Way to go SOA!!!!!!!!!!!!

I agree. I think one thing the shows Sat/Sun night might show is what happens when a given panel of judges to no have previous nite(s) show order to fall back on and the affect that that has on placements/scoring They are may very well be forced to rely more heavily on thier own judging ability and actually have to reach out there a bit more in assigning scores. Definitely puts them in a position where they have to assume a little more risk and thus we see more variability in scoring and frankly makes things a little more interesting.

Well that is a possibility given that my son is in BC's front ensemble :) . But, the comments I made are true, based on comments by a lot of "non-honks" b**bs BTW - both my daughters auditioned for Xmen. The oldest would be marching if she wasn't only 15 :P Steve

I'm sorry but if you are catagorizing the BC show w/ it's "narration" the same as the cadets then we are obviously watching different shows B) . I have spoken with many, many, many people who have seent eh Cadets show and have commented on how distracting the vocals are. I've seen them a couple of times and the general comment from the crowd around me has been "shut up and play already." Granted, not everyone is going to appreciate the narration (if you call it that) in the BC's show but pretty well across the board, the comments have been positive about it's use in their show. I find that it actually enhances their show and not detracts from it. But, then everyone is entiteld to their opinion :) . Steve

You do have a good point but a previous post also made a good point in that many of the expenses for a show are incurred up front. Having been involved in our HS band's parent organization and seeing what we shell out in prep for providing concessions for football games and so on it can and is a huge expense. b**bs It really comes down to the fact that DC fans have to be aware that rainouts are a possibility (all the north TX venues are pretty nervous right now!) and that refunds are generally not given. It comes down to making the decision of whether or not you can tolerate not getting a refund if there's a rainout. If not, it's probably a better idea not to go, save the money and not take the chance. Of course, if you're going to San Antonio or any other domed venue then it's a non-issue :) Praining for sunshine!! Steve

Matt - really good point. I think a lot of folks, as they look at these scores fail to consider what placement in the show schedule does to scores. I have always maintained that if each show was scheduled randomly (i.e. all the names were put in a hat and drawn out one by one and that dictated the schedule) that scoring would be considerably different. As such, in MY humble opinion, last night's scores would have been different a (at least between Coats and Cavs) if they would have been scheduled as they are in most shows. Cavs may very well still have won but I don;t beleive the spread would have been as great. Do I think the judges scored the Coats lower since they were early in the show? - Very possibly. If they scored the coats higher and the cavs came along and DID produce a greatly superior show then the cavs score could have been inflated beyond what it might have been otherwise. But then - this is purely speculation on my part. B) Later, Steve

First Off - Happy 4th to everyone out there. We live in the greatest country in the world with the greatest freedom and need to thank God and our fighting forces for what we enjoy every single day. This forum is a perfect example of that. Being able to freely express our opinions on Drum Corps or any other given topic. :ramd: It does aloways amaze me though how someone can come on here - as in this string - and give their opinion - and it is only that - an opinion, only to have someone lambast them because they disagree <**> . Personally, I have followed DC casually since I was a teenager (I'm 46) and more seriously now that my oldest is in his 4th year in Drum Corps (Go Bloooo!) but the one thing I have seen is that those of us that are specators, regardless of our experience have no impact on how corps will place come finals. We think finals will provide a given placement - much of this based on previous years performances, but anyone and everyone can have an off year (sorry Madison). While it's highly unlikely that corps that have placed on the lower end of the list will prove to be a Cinderella story and end up in the top three, four, five, it is always possible for one of the top six or seven corps (right now) to end up in the top three or even in the winner's circle. Everyone has their favorites, everyone has their "less than favorites." Obvioulsy I'm partial to BC - always have been. Cadets and Cavs are farther down on my list of who I would send Christmas cards to. And as such we have our own personal lists of how we see finals shaking out but it certainly does not make yours any more or less valid than mine. So making derogeratory (sp?) comments to another poster regarding his/her opinion just lacks anything resembling class. Regardless of what WE think, ALL these kids are busting their tails and want to win. DC is such an incredible dynamic and this year we are enjoying this dynamic at it's pinnacle! What say we enjoy a really exciting season and cheer for ALL the corps that take to the field ^OO^ . Once again, have a happy 4th! Steve Texas DC Dad

No one has even mentioned to travel costs involved in geting to audition and rehearsal camps. Not a big deal if you live down the road an hour or two but what about those corps members who live several states away and have to drive many hours or fly in. You can add another $1000-1500 to your member's total cost for travel expenses as well. On top of that I won't even mention the cost incurred when My son and three of his corps family rolled his car at 4:00 one morning on the ice on the way back from camp. Fortunatley no one was serioulsy hurt and insurance pretty well covered th cost of the vehicle but would anyone like to calculate the cost of that phone call home at 4:05 am? All things considered, it's a pretty expensive activity