quegrawks

I understand being a fan...I'm a big fan of Stoneman Douglas, myself, but there was a lot not quite right with that show in terms of design, and the kids had a bad run at prelims. They're definitely going through some changes in that program, and I feel that it showed on the floor.

Ours is $450. Who do you use?

What about the "REAL" ultimate rifles website? Are they not selling their own rifles? http://www.ultimateriflesandequipment.com/ and then there's "Premier" rifle, who claims to have the original Ultimate design http://premierrifles.com/ I don't know who to believe or trust!?

Thanks, Gary! is it still primarily a stand-still performance?

Hi all, I've searched through the forums and can't actually find an answer. What are the requirements for mini corps? Is it 21 members minimum, or 21 horns? Is guard allowed to participate in mini corps, or just brass and drums? I know the stage is kind of small, so I'm wondering what the deal is. I know mini corps used to march, but the past few years seems like it's all stand still. Thanks!

Field of View slides onto the floor of competition after a ten year hiatus presenting their 2009 show entitled "Passion". The show takes place in the hot and sultry middle eastern desert and is set to the tantalizing strains of Chantel Chamaday's "Crazy:.

See, I wonder about this, because I also see guards who have tremendous turnover in membership do very well from year to year (I'm thinking primarily of Flanagan and James Logan). I always feel that it's the staff more so than the members themselves who bring out the talent in the kids. The kids just need to WANT IT and work for it based on what staff is saying and teaching them. Especially in A class. As for small group size...I believe something like 10 of the top 15 guards in IA had fewer than 12 members?

I liked those sunflower flags!

Yeah, at first I thought he added wrong, as this sometimes happens and they'll return the sheets and have you redo one, or initial your mistake and correct it, But this judge was handed a blank sheet. BTW-- I am not implying impropriety. I really have no idea what the whole thing was about.

Emerald Marquis used them all the time. You don't weight them, which can be kind of problematic, as each one is slightly different--some thinner than others, some slightly heavier, etc. We borrowed some of those poles from Emerald Marquis when I was marching corps. I really liked them! Your hands didn't get burned when marching on blacktop, and when you were in cold places, they didn't freeze to the poles either! The old Emerald Marquis website had a link to the company that made them, but they don't anymore (and yes, Emerald Marquis still has a website up!)

I'd love to disagree with you, but I was sitting very close to a judge in SW/IW prelims who was putting down numbers and sending off his sheets. Moments later a runner re-appeared and said (very quietly, but I was sitting close) "You need to redo this", then handed the judge a blank sheet. Obviously, the order wasn't coming from the runner. This happened a few times during the show.

I know for a fact that Russian Spy is NOT the only circuit judge on the forums. I also have reason to believe that there are a few WGI judges who look at these forums as well.

I just think it's odd that people are saying how great it is when there's not a final product to really test. That's all. Also wondering why the rep let some people spin the prototype but not others...

there was a thread for this not too long ago: I can't find it though.

Funny how people are claiming to have spun these. At Dayton they only had an unfinished prototype available and wouldn't let anyone spin it because it wouldn't be the same as the finished product. The rep was really upset that she couldn't answer all the questions people asked and didn't have a finalized version for people to check out.

I've heard there's yet again talk of people requesting a rules change to lift age restrictions on all Independent guards, and/or or possibly creating a "collegiate" classification because many people feel that collegiate groups don't face the same financial difficulties that other independent guards do since they have access to rehearsal facilities and funding from the schools (in terms of being allocated money if they are an official "group" or "class" at the university). Anyone else heard this type of thing being passed around at Dayton?

Someone had this question last year... I can't remember the answer.

I hope Light Brigade can squeak in again! It was heart wrenching watching their performance last year.

Wow. I usually sit in the stands and watch guards all day! Who knew there were places to eat outside the Arena! lol :-)

oops

To counter your discussion. I have always felt that the top tier or A class (the ones who make finals at WGI) should represent the best of A class in that they are showing skill sets (both in design and performance) that would put them comfortably in the middle of the pack for Open class, or at least you look at it and it becomes evident that they could succeed in Open class at a local level, and maybe even have a shot at finals at WGI Championships the following year. I also have to disagree with your comment about the BEST shows being mid 1990s-2000. I thought last year's A class was one of the best in several years. Consistency of technique, interesting (and in some cases unique) show design, and attention to detail that I feel have been lacking for several years were evident from all of last year's finalists. I think even 15th place could have been top 10 if they had designed the shows two years earlier.

Guards are put up for review and a review committee decides on whether or not they should be promoted. This is based on performance at regionals (as I'm sure it is with drumlines). However, you need to realize that it's not just the kids that compose the guard. If a staff designs a show that is on par with shows in the class above, they obviously have the talent to get their kids to perform at that level and to design at that level. To call out some examples: Flanigan High School has pulled out SW finalist performances (4th place, mind you!) with up to 20 new kids in their World Guard. Same with Stoneman Douglas, and countless other guards in their respective classes. Then you have those people who think "oh, we got promoted! We need to do something different!" Obviously not true, because what you were doing to get you promoted was obviously the right thing to do.

One day WGI will realize that most of their $$$ comes from the A guard (and now Regional A guards) that compose the vast majority of their population and address commentary and scheduling toward THESE groups rather than catering predominantly to the 60-80 groups that make up World Class.

lol

A class is about demonstrating basic skills, I thought: movement, equipment, design, effect. We've written our show to the box 5 description on the A class sheets, which, as a first year guard, I think is the smart thing to do. We've also hammered our kids on technique, technique, technique... At the Dallas WGI regional my guard was called out for shoulders-- not everyone had their shoulders rounded the same way while attempting the triad. The fact that they were even attempting it and being successful (except for their shoulders) was ignored. This was the only negative comment on the movement tape. Clean and consistent technique for a toss was ignored in favor of calling out about the "double" the sabres threw (it was a triple) and calling out "drops". No comments about recovering from the drops. We got 2 negative comments from EA judge-- placement of equipment outside the performance area was "messy", and one drill set wasn't exactly right. But our score was a 13. I would have expected a 14.5 or higher based on the rest of the comments we received. Do I sound bitter? I'm not. Our kids learned a lot from the experience and I think they'll come away from it stronger, but it is frustrating as a designer/instructor to have positive comments all season and think you're headed in the right direction just to find out that you're not-- or to be lead to believe that you're not. The difficult part is turning all the negative into positive for a group of performers who are still so young.