Tony L.

Perhaps I can get to Jersey and then take a car service? Has anyone done that? I wonder how much it would cost?

OK, New Jersey Transit has not included the contest as a "special event" for the Meadowlands bus service. If you live in Manhattan, how are you planning to get to and from the Meadowlands? Any advice would be appreciated.

Why not add another banner pulled by just 2 guard which will serve as a curtain (ala '91) to introduce the new instrumentation. Essentially nothing else is going on there, so make big pose showing the trumpets, then the banner (preferably something white and flowing since it is AM), then boom, once the banner has passed, the trumpets return to their pose, but now they're holding baritones. Actually, it would be pretty safe since the trumpets would actually be crouching behind the screens, so very little chance of a decapitation.

First of all, I must point to the highlighted portion of my prior statement to indicate that I meant that PR's stronger captions are the captions which are weaker for the Cavaliers (relative to the visual captions). The key word is "relatively" i.e. just for the Cavies, these captions are weaker than their other captions. That's all. But since you brought up recaps, I did a little analysis myself. Thankfully enough PR and Cavies have only competed head to head 4 times this year, so the numbers were easy to compare at BK's website. Interestingly enough, I still stand by my prior statement. So here is a quick synopsis of the head to head results by caption for the 4 times they've competed directly this year: G.E. Music: Cavies lead 3-1 (with an average margin of .375 for Cavies) G.E. Visual: Cavies lead 3-1 (ave. margin .425) Perf. Vis.: Cavies lead 4-0 (ave. margin of 1.025) Vis. Ens.: Cavies lead 4-0 (ave. margin of .75) CG: Cavies lead 4-0 (ave. margin of .6) Brass: Cavies lead 3-1 (ave. margin of .475) Mus. Ens.: Cavies lead 4-0 (ave. margin of .625) Perc.: PR leads 4-0 (ave. margin .3125) So my point is simply that the music captions are generally the stonger captions for PR (i.e. they are closer to Cavies in those than in the others). The surprise for me was the strength of PR's GE Vis. Even when you take away the win for PR in Atlanta, they've only lost by .4, 1.0, and .5 to Cavies this year. If they keep that number tight, they will have a great shot in the end.

I've still not seen Caves live, but I will say that the reason why I think PR has a beeter shot at passing Cavies than BD does, is because PR is essentially the "anti-Cavies". By that, I mean that PR might be able to pass the Cavies because their strengths are Cavies' relative weaknesses (music captions) while PR's realtive weaknesses are Cavies' strengths (vis. perf., vis. GE, Vis. Ens. CG). So if PR can close the gap in visual elements (which the Atlanta scores show they are capable of doing) while maintaining their advantage musically, they could catch Cavies. BD don't have the same chances. If they are going to catch Cavies, BD must have their strengths surpass the Cavies' strengths. After seeing BD live, I just don't feel that that is going to happen.

Just wondering if anyone has heard anything about NJ Transit bus service. I received my tickets from YEA! and they refer to taking the bus from New York, but I don't think that they have done anything to make the necessary arrangements. Anyone have any info?

Well I don't think it's quite fair to go back and attack a corps because a caption that was not judged as it is now was (at least in your opinion) much weaker than the corps with which that corps tied. They tied on the sheets that existed then. That's all. And as for the drill weakness, while I've not seen the 96 show in a year or show, I think that Phantom's drill was very appropriate for the music being performed. But then again, that was way back in 1996 when corps could still actually play through almost a whole song and try to marry it to the visual without chopping either or both elements into a series of non-sequitor effects. But I digress. . .

Well, let's just remember that we were not there! There is no way that I feel comfortable challenging the judges when I didn't personally witness the performances. There's no way we can see the same things they do (especially visually what with the multi-cam show tonight). So I say let's enjoy the fact that we actually seem to have some movement in placements within each caption! Remember when everyone complained about the fact that caption placements simply followed the overall placements? Well, even if you disagree, at least be happy for the fact that there is actually some suspense when scores are announced! I can't wait for Madison!

Well, for what's worth, just based on the streaming video, I can agree with that. Boston was a little down at night and BK had a great show, it's reasonable to me. I am glad to see a little volatility in the rankings. Any given night.

Wow, I believe Cadets ended in 5th in Guard and 6th in Drums! When was the last time that happened? Of course, they might have been lower but for some reason we have no recaps for 9-12.

PR wins GE Vis.! Wow!

Honestly, I think the new drill for the ending for BD is better than what they had, but on the stream video, the strings looked really weak. Cheesy! They really don't need to pull out tricks like this.

The new ending (if that was all of it) is weak. I'll give them that it is considerably better than what they had and the drill right before the little guard sitdown was nice, but come on, am I the only one that finds the use of the robot theme just a little excessive and perhaps a bit heavy handed? The last thing that show needs is MORE robot! Enough already, it's hokey IMHO.

I'm in. Thanks.

Anyone haveing a problem getting ito Season's Pass?

I can't believe all of the props and staging devices all over the field with Corps Vets. Call me a traditionalist, but I don't like a bunch of stuff on the field. I'm kind of surprised to see it from a senior corps.

Not to quibble (because I actually really did like the Crossmen show today), but why would a race car driver be stuck in a trafic jam listening to the radio stations while wearing the race suits?

Colts seemed to have a bit of a rough start (horn wise) but the show really picked up and was fantastic! Can't wait to see them in person. And I can't believe noone has mentioned the guard using a "comma" kind of like the Cadets' commas.

Is it just me, or are the Crossmen guard outfits just awful!?!? They look like pajamas. And they have nothing (as far as I can see) to do with the show. They could score 4-5 points higher with better costumes. They would look considerably cleaner, that's for sure.

Is it just me, or are the videos that they've posted missing the audio? I can get the video portions fine, but no audio. And I have the audio for the streaming portion. But I missed everyone before Mandarins, and I need to catch up.

I don't think they need to get rid of everything, I just think they need to edit themselves. There's simply too much going on. When I saw them in Kettering, I was reminded of the scene from the Steve Martin movie "L.A. Story" where Marilou Henner was just about to leave for lunch and she turned away from a mirror and then quickly turned back around to look at herself. The first accessory she noticed was then removed. That's how you avoid over-accessorizing. Maybe they should borrow the Cadets' mirror befor entering the field.

I would suggest that the type of admiration and respect shown to both SCV and Madison fall directly into the "social" status of the Dictionary.com definition. Based on who they are, and what the organizations HAVE done and continue to do, they command a certain amount of respect and admiration that they receive not only from the audience, but from their fellow corps colleagues. "Elite" isn't a shifting status, once it is achieved, it is never lost. Just ask members of BlueStars when they were a DIII corps. They had a certain aura and status that survived from their Open Class days. Just ask Troopers who continue to receive the utmost respect and admiration from all in the activity because of what they've achieved and what they continued to do. That is a social status that never leaves a corps. And that status is affirmed each time one of the "Elite" corps enters the field. There is just no denying the feeling that exists when the audience sees one of the Elite corps entering the field. The anticipation is amazing and the respect is always there. That being said, others can ascend to "Elite" status, but it takes time to earn that status. And it most certainly is not achieved simply by outplacing certain corps a few times in one's history. it takes years of consistent achievement.

All I can say is that the response that Midwestern Corps (esp. Phantom, Cavies, & Madison,) received in Madison at my first Finals there in 1999 was unreal. And in the other Finals in Madison, it's been the same. With that kind of support and energy coming from the crowd, I really think it will come down to Cavies v. Phantom for it all. And picking between them is going to be really tough!

If anyone is looking for hotel reservations, I have just cancelled two reservations (both with one King bed) one at the Residence Inn Madison West/Middleton, the other at the Madison concourse Hotel (I believe that's the name). But anyway, I just cancelled them.

I think the answer to the question of whether SCV or Madison should be considered part of the elite anymore is answered by the increased buzz and energy that arises the moment either of them enters the field. Say what you will about the merits of the corps show designs or the quality of the performances, but for me, I'll judge their status on the palpable change of energy and anticipation that occurs each time they take the field. That's what makes them elite. And as a result of that special energy that both create, any kid in attandance is bound to fall for either of the two. Case in point, SCV last year. By all accounts a down year for them, but, aside from the Cadets and Phantom last year, noone performed and created as much positive energy from the audience as SCV did at Finals. They are a class act and every time they enter the field, they command respect and admration from the audience.