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Looking at prelims scores again, if Crossmen aren't necessarily a lock, then neither are Mandarins. 0.350 is almost nothing (referring to last night). I'm super hesitant to count Spirit out of Saturday after that run.

Wow, that guy's a really good drummer. He should teach!

If you're on high cam, it's because you're on high cam.

This show really hasn't done anything for me all season, but holy cow is there energy in this run. That 12th spot is definitely on the line!

So, is Spirit going to show Crossmen the door?

The same year Boston almost didn't make Finals. Who says there's no movement in drum corps, right?

Well that's what made me think about it. I just saw a judge speaking into the recorder. Let's say Spirit doesn't make finals tonight, that tape is actually going to outline exactly what Spirit could have done to get in. Harsh, but interesting.

I was just thinking, the judges tapes on Finals night, while they probably provide the most important criticism of the entire season, are the only judges feedback of the whole season that never gets to be applied.

I was really pulling for Academy this season, but if anyone's gonna pass Crossmen it'll be Spirit (which is interesting considering their relationship). Side note: I love this Spirit show so much!

Level of difficulty is a part of GE. It compares the difficulty to enjoyment to execution ratios. If difficulty were measured in music performance, you could theoretically balance weak performers with harder music. It sounds crazy, but that's how the math would shake out. On the same token, it's included in GE so a corps doesn't just perform something hard for the sake of it being hard. There's an entertainment factor in there as well. To counter my own argument about a shorter show being an easier show to clean, the less show (or music or drill or whatever you're doing) over the 10-13 minutes you're on the field is all the judges have to work with. If you're having a shorter [show/brass book/visual book/etc.] and it's just not very entertaining or even technically clean, then that's what you've got. A longer show gives you more opportunities to show how awesome you are, and is theoretically a great idea for corps whose design teams are notoriously hit or miss.

I always appreciate BDB, they're a strong and very quality corps, but their uniforms always make me think of what it would look like if Halloween costume companies tried to produce a Blue Devils costume from the previous season or two.

I like the new age of uniforms/costumes in drum corps, but holy cow these uniforms on PC are absolutely beautiful!

I constantly wonder how 08-present would be for them if they'd made Finals first year out of the box.

This Music City program is a really great show.

Coworker just walked by my desk and asked why some kid in a red shirt was flipping off the audience. Good times.

From a competitive side, absolutely. We don't score length, we score excellence. If Y = show length and X = total practice time (the season), then X/Y = amount of time you can dedicate evenly to each part of the show. X is fixed, which means the only way you get that practice time to show chunk ratio in your favor is to decrease Y.

I just learned yesterday that two kids who live near me (not sure where, but they go to the high school my kids will be zoned for) are marching Gold, so that's cool. Solid program, I dug it.

I'm so unbelievably baffled by why this is an issue. It's not like drum corps compete against each other in business (I realize the drum corps activity itself is competitive, but as far as raising funds goes, it's not like BD is McDonald's and Phantom is Burger King). If someone is doing it majorly well, excelling, shouldn't that just become the model that everyone follows? BD runs educational clinics, sells branded merchandise (referring to System Blue), has a program designed to provide the highest level of marching/music on demand for cost...basically they understand how to work the business side. Meanwhile, they also design shows that work extremely well with the scoring system, and have a teaching staff/methodology that clearly communicates well and treats members a certain to yield results. It seems pretty obvious that the Blue Devils organization is the textbook for how to run a drum corps that thrives.

I'd rather change the judging rubric than eliminate corps. An all-day all-drum-corps free-for-all is everything I've always wanted from a single event.

Hey, it's all a game, and that's just smart strategy. If someone gave three months to learn a piece of music to perfection, and gave me the option of learning either a 6 minute piece or a 5 minute piece, there's really no question which one I'd pick.

Nope. High score isn't based just on performance, but on the gap between first and second. I'm not sure who's taking second this year, but Vanguard isn't that far ahead of them.

It's actually an interesting story. In the late 50s, most corps wore either yellow or bright red, which usually signified that they were a non-competitive group. When competitions started, most corps needed a color that would show that they were competitive and not in an amateur class. With red and yellow taken, and no one wanting to wear green (match the field) or white (might get grass on the uniform), that pretty much left blue. The funny day finally happened in June of 1962, at the first competition of the season. None of the corps coordinated, but sure enough, they all showed up in their new uniforms at the first competition of the season, and everyone was not only wearing blue, but had also changed their names to include blue in the name, and then I completely made this whole thing up.

This one's a blast from the past, but Cadets 06 ballad is incredibly underappreciated, and was the first time I really felt like singing might have a place in this activity when used properly.

I'm not sure if it's an 'It' factor I'm referring to, but there's something to be said of 'Magic'. I use 'Magic' because I don't know what else to call it. A lot of corps have it consistently, but not all, and not always. Two good examples: 1) If you can track down a copy of Phantom's 2003 quarterfinals performance, this show has no magic. I've seen it over and over, and it's just not there. But two nights later, on finals nights, it's there. Literally at the first moment, you can feel the difference, that presence of Magic. 2) Crown in 2015 didn't bring the magic to finals. They'd had it all season, and I felt it every time I saw them. The moment they started playing after the drum break in the opener, I just felt it missing, and said out loud '####, they're not going to win tonight.' Again, I don't mean magic like Merlin or Harry Dresden, I just don't know the right word for it. Every member is in sync, the audience is bought in, and there's an almost tangible energy around a show and a corps. To answer OP's question, SCV, Bluecoats and Boston definitely posses the potential for that magic, and have demonstrated it many times this season.

The show about differing languages and the difficulty of understanding one another as a result is a loud and clear message???