Senagod

I was at KoP, and it looked pretty crowded from the back rows. I didn't notice any problems with the picture quality per se. We lost the signal A LOT. It became funny after a while, except when we missed hearing Phantom's score. A bunch of us were happy when the signal went and we missed the beginning of Blue Devils. Crowd was mostly for Crossmen and Cadets, although there were a lot of Phantom and Cavies fans as well. The flashbacks got great crowd reaction, although the biggest crowd reaction may have been at the very beginning, when they panned around Gillette Stadium and showed the banners for the New England Patriots. I know that I booed, since I'm a proud Eagles fan, and I wasn't the only one. I enjoyed it and had a great time. I'd go back next year. Hopefully we won't lose the signal so many times next year!

Agreed. I'm motivated by money, as in "how little of it can I spend, since I don't have any?" Talk to me in 2 years when I'm out of school, and then I'll be motivated by seeing something different.

I'm really surprised that Quakertown kids wouldn't know about drum corps. Quakertown is one of the top TOB bands and their staff has been around for quite a while. Maybe there's a lot of freshmen in the band this year and they're new, period. I have my high school band director to thank for learning about drum corps. I grew up in north-central PA, where there's basically nothing. Bucs are the closest corps, and that's at least a 2 hour drive. Junior corps is at least a 4 hour drive, if not a lot more these days. My high school band director loved drum corps. At my high school, we had most of our clubs (Key Club, Pep Club, etc.) once a month during class time (yes, weird I know). His last year at my school, he formed a DCI club, and we all hung out in the band room and watched old DCI videos. This was in the late '80s. One of our members marched Crossmen one year. I don't think anybody else did. We were all much too poor to do such a thing.

Don't know how true this is, but while I was in line for the restroom at Allentown, someone said that they didn't want cars parking on the grass in the park because they were afraid of gasoline and oil runoff affecting the creek. You were allowed to park on the grass, but way way way at the other end of the park by the pool, baseball field and tennis courts. It was quite a walk to the stadium.

2004 DCA finals was my last show for a while. I knew it going into the show that it would be my last one. I'm in school full-time and working part-time right now, and while theorectically I could've marched Bucs this summer, I knew that I would be a dead woman. Something would have to give, and I didn't think it was right for me to continue marching. I would not have been able to give them my full attention that they deserved. When I'm done with school, maybe I'll come back. That's all in the future. It's been very tough for me not marching this summer. I miss Bucs so much. I keep telling myself that I'm doing the right thing for my future.

That's such a cool attitude, and I wish I had the finances to join you! Although a mudhole in Bangor, Maine...my in-laws live in Maine. It wouldn't surprise me if it was snowing in Bangor by Labor Day! :P

Well, for what it's worth, here's one fan's perspective. I don't have a problem at all should DCA have finals in Winston-Salem next year. Would I go? I really don't know right now. I admit, I've been spoiled the past few years. In the years that I have been following and/or marching in DCA, the finals have been either in Allentown, Syracuse or Scranton. Allentown is an hour away from me. Scranton is two hours away, and Syracuse is about four hours away. The only time I ever had to get a hotel room is for Syracuse in 2001, and I had no trouble finding a cheap one. What would keep me from going to Winston Salem is money, or lack thereof. It's pretty much a day's drive. How much is gas going to be? How much would I have to pay for a room? How much for food? etc. And if it's held someplace where I would have to fly to get there, I wouldn't go. Simple as that. I don't have that kind of money. Nothing personal about it, it's just the way it is. Another thing to consider...it's been my observation, and I could be wrong, that the northeastern corps have more of the younger members (high school/college age) than corps from other parts of the country. Would these members be able to afford to travel that far of a distance for finals? I know when I was in college, there would be no way I could afford it. I know that it's tough for the adults in corps from other parts of the country to come out to the east. I think that it would be worse if you're younger. Just my thoughts.

I wish I could make my husband the drum corps husband I've always wanted! He's seen junior corps and he sat through the entire Reading show in 2003 when I was marching. He had smartass comments about every corps at that show, including the corps I was marching with! The only show he has remotely liked was Cadets 1995 because it was about World War II, and when I took him to see Cadets 2002 show, he was disgusted. Those punk rock boys... However, after seeing LMS-S, and the W-S show, she wants to see more senior corps. She thinks the Renegades are "cool", and loved that Heat Wave played songs that she knew. She was happy to be there, and said it was her favorite show ever. No kidding. It's like she became the drum corps wife I always wanted. :P

Great review!

No disrespect was intended and I did not intend to "take" any victory away from Bush. I've got buddies marching Bush this year and I'm glad to see that they're doing well. I haven't had a chance to look at a recap yet, but the way that I've always looked at scores as far as "comparing" groups is this: If Group X is separated from Group Y by tenths of a point, it means that they are of equal standing and that the placement could very well be reversed the next night. It's not like we're talking about a 10 point separation between groups, where that gap could be made up (you never say never), but it's not something you'd want to put money on happening. My opinion that Bush vs Renegades was a "draw" last night was not intended to be a dis on either corps. It was based on how, since the scores were so close, you could run the same show, same performances, and it could've turned out the opposite way, with just as tight a spread. Those two corps are of the same standing right now. A month from now, things could be quite different. That's all. Please don't go looking for animosity from me where there is none.

Wow... Carolina Gold hanging right in there with Hurcs, Bush beating the Renegades (and look how tight the scores were...I'll call that a draw!) and get it Bucs! Man, I wish I was there... ...and Labor Day weekend is gonna be unreal!

As much as I would love to see DCI finals in Philly, I'd be stunned if it ever happened. Number one:I doubt that DCI could afford or that the Eagles would ever let anybody on the Linc. To the best of my knowledge, the only thing that's happened on the Linc besides Eagles games and Temple games was a soccer game, and when Manchester United's involved, best believe that the Eagles made lots of money off that one game. Number two: Franklin Field is certainly nice enough for Division II/III, but it would be a pain for the corps involved and spectators. The location of Franklin Field doesn't make it conducive for a new fan to want to come there. Parking is a hassle and limited, public transportation is available but not easy (I take SEPTA 4 days a week, therefore I know), and you're crammed in the city. Finally, I would wonder about whether there would be enough schools that would be available in the area to house corps. I know for DCI East, corps are staying at schools up to an hour away from Allentown, and that's only for one day, and that's only the top 21 corps. I believe the schools in the area are quite picky, plus, you have HS football practice going on. I certainly hope I'm wrong and that Philly could host DCI finals again someday. It could just be my cynical Philly attitude!

Talk to me about if there are Sonic Drive-Ins in Winston Salem. Unfortunately, I can't go down there this weekend :( but I wish to dream about the yummy Sonic food. Sonic doesn't exist in the Northeast, even though we get the commercials for it. The only times I've had Sonic was when I found one south of Dayton.

The oldest member of The Guard aged out of Blue Devils in 1977, and yes, there are people in that guard who were not born when she aged out. If The Guard went to Dayton, I believe she'd get the award for oldest performer ever at a WGI finals. Get it "Mother"!

I absolutely loved having the prelims on Saturday night. For me, it made prelims feel more like a normal show routine. As for I&E's, I don't think it matters what night you hold it. The corps that don't do I&E aren't going to do I&E whether it's on Friday night or Saturday night. And I'm truly amazed at the stories about the "brown shirts" every year. What is it about DCA that makes them such jerks? I've been going to ACC's for 10 years in Scranton and have never heard of any problems with security. No re-entry? What's up with that?

Yeah, I generally like non-drum corps people's take on shows as well, but trust me on this one, you don't want my husband's take on the shows. Suffice it to say, he had a smart-### comment about every corps, including the corps I'm marching in this year, so no one was spared! And he didn't comment on the performances per se, because he doesn't know enough to say if something was "good" or not. He pointed out style issues that he didn't like. But what do you expect from somebody that went to an all-boy private high school that didn't even have a concert band, let alone a marching band? (Not that I'm saying that drum corps is the same as marching band, but an average person seeing a drum corps show generally has seen a marching band before, so they have some sort of a reference to go by. Rick doesn't have even that.) Frankly, I'm truly surprised he showed up for the whole thing. When I marched indoor guard, I could only get him to one show a season, and I had to tell him what time we performed so that he could show up just in time to see my group, and then leave as soon as he thought he could get away with it! I've come to accept that this activity just isn't his thing, although he does try. He knows who the Cadets are (he liked their 1995 show because it was about World War II, but hated last year's show) and he seemed to take a liking to East Coast Jazz, but I think that's only because they're from Massachusetts (sp?) and he grew up in Maine. Someday I'll convert him into a drum corps nut!

You know, my husband attended the show (and the whole show at that, amazing for such a non-drum corps type person. As for what he thought of everybody, while I found him highly entertaining, you really don't want to know what he thought) He was in the stands, and he noticed the lack of a full end zone as well. He made the comment about what would happen if you had to run a corner play, and somebody in the audience said that he was an Albright alum and a football player, and they did have a lot of trouble running those kinds of plays with that field the way it is.

My first full weekend at Bucs...it's Sunday morning and we're doing our first extensive dance session on a parking lot. We start doing tour d'airs (sp?) and on my very first one, BANG! My left ankle twists and down I go. The worst part was that I couldn't even curse because we had a lot of young people in the guard (our youngest was only 15). I sit out for a bit, but manage to stand and learn some work. Then we go down to the field to learn drill. I'm just walking to find my drill set and BANG! Down I go again. It was so embarassing. I ended up spraining the ankle, and now my left ankle has a tendency to twist if I step wrong. Two years have gone by and my fellow guard members in indoor still crack jokes about it. Thankfully I've never seriously injured it since (knock on wood), and thankfully this year's guard staff at Bucs knows me and my ankle troubles all too well...so they know I won't be a candidate for the Philly Ballet anytime soon!