I-just-know-what-I-like.

Completely agree.. I'm a diehard Scout fan, but I didn't see BD or MS touching SCV.... really a great show.

Comments about the Centerville stadium are true.. far back from field and uncomfortable seats.... BUT, this show routinely brings in more students per seat than any show I've ever seen and what can be more important than that for the Drum Corps activity... sometimes us old folks need to put up with the student noise for the benefit of the activity. IMO

Cavies and Cadets.. Yeah... 1 &2. 12 points over Madison. No WAY!!! If I'd had one of those judges within 5 feet of me, I think I'd of strangled them. What a load of you know what. Should have taken 2nd or 3rd... not forth. No disrespect to Bluecoats. I like them a lot.

I'm interested in seeing the detailed scoring from this show. I am having a hard time understanding Cap Reg beating Southwind. I think their close, but everyone in the stands (at least) is seeing it differently. Both corps have come a long way from last year.

Wow, someone I can agee with. PR really should have taken this one. There seems to be aa 4 - 5 point benefit of having been World Champs in previous years.

I can appreciate your viewpoint. 2 points I guess: 1) The drill may in fact the the most technically challenging ever for all I know, but it did not, as evidenced by the crowd, have the WOW affect like last year. I remember being in the stands during one of the 1st Cavies shows last year and heard people in the crowd go Oooh when they made a dramatic move. There are none of those this year. At least not yet. 2) I really don't like shows that don't have music. They may be doing some challenging licks, but is is not really music (just my opinion of course). You could never tap your toe or hum along to it... it's just a bunch of notes strung together to highlight the visual.... They do it well, no doubt... but Phantom was far more entertaining... and this was expressed by just about everyone around me (section 5, upper deck)... none of whom I knew.

Went to the Toledo show and really enjoyed it. I'm going to start off by saying that I have a high level of admiration and respect for all the members, from Dimension to Cavies. Having said that: 1) Cavies. Another year of no music, just a lot of notes harmonized. Last year they had the visual WOW going for them. This year, nothing. It's not the fault of the members... they're probably the most talented group, up and down the line in all of DCI. The leaders keep giving them .... junk! I'm sorry to say that, it's just true. They took 1st tonight because they were 2001, 2002 champs. The judges walked onto the field with a 1st place expectation. I'm not saying conspiracy or anything like that... but I truly believe they get the benefit of the doubt... an unspoken edge. 2) The real winner, and I'm not a Phantom fan. The music was without a doubt the most beautiful pieces ever put together. It works. Colorguard had it all over Cavies. They looked ready for finals. 3) Glassmen. Another year of boring music and visuals... but they deserved 3rd because they do the boring so well. Again, not the members fault.... 4) Capital Regiment. A nice show. Not visually entertaining, but much better than last year. In my opinion, not 4th place. No challenges in the visual at all... yet they were all over the field, stepping out of their lines, etc. Lots of work to do. 5) Probably the biggest surprise of the night to everyone in the stands. Music was at least #2 of the night in terms of enterainment value. Really pretty. The visual is very challenging... more entertaining than Cavies believe it or not. Colorguard beat Cap Reg.... even the judges agreed, imagine that. Lots of cleaning up to do, but I think they have the most potential of any corps for moving up this year. Leadership has done wonders on this corps. 6) Marion. The show was a mix match of music.... I couldn't follow it. Maybe when they get more comfortable with the piece, it will fall into place for the fans too. Percussion was very nice. 7) Dimension. I liked the music better than Marion's, but it is so tough to pull off with so few members. OK. That's my review. I'll probably take it on the chin for giving my honest opinion... oh well.

Whether the judging community is consciously or unconsciously doing it... the MS scores are getting suppressed unfairly. Anyone who has been watching (and I have been) can attest to the fact that their show has been improving leaps and bounds... including the guard... but the rate of improvement on scores has been less than 0.4 points per show for MS and more than 0.8 for Cavies. If you look at the rate of improvement, the MS scores stand out as unusually flat, not just against Cavies, but against all Div. 1 corps. I'm not saying the Cavies should not have a higher score than MS.. but the rate of improvement does not make mathematic sense... How can it be justified that a corps (supposedly approaching perfection - 100) is improving faster than one that is so "imperfect" like MS? It is only logical that the closer to "perfection" the lower the rate of improvement is possible... and the farther away from perfection, the easier it is to improve scores. Yet MS's scores have been essentially flat for 2 - 3 weeks, I don't buy it. I've seen several shows with Cascades... and I saw a lot of problems with spacing, not hitting the form on time, etc. and the score in relation to MS just did not make sense. It could not be more obvious, there is a lot of emotional momentum to get Cascades and Spirit into the 12. That's my opinion... like it or not.

Your comments are right on regarding Madison. The judging community has really killed MS. Yes the guard is down. And the drill is not as good at the top 3/4.... Never the less, the Brass and Percussion is clearly near the top, yet not credit its given. Ridiculous. Should be a 8/11 ranking. Look at the rate of improvement on scoring across all Div. I corps. You can not tell me MS have not improved, yet the rate of change (score wise) is well under the rate of change of other corps. IMO.... clearly an intention to keep MS down and out. A statistical analysis will cleary show that the MS scoring has been suppressed, while other Div I corps have steadily risen. There is no way you can suggest that the hours of practice should yield a FLAT rate of improvement. Same score 80 - 82 over last 5 weeks... No way. The data says it all.

I hope your right! I do have a bleeding heart though.... I'm a parent. They do have a fantastic show.... though I've come to understand the weaknesses a bit better.