Newseditor44

Ok, so I've seen all of the shows on the fan network, and have a few thoughts.. Cavi's are clean as hell, but I don't really think their book as all that challenging compared to BD and a few others. I wouldn't give the trophy to them just yet. Cadets are bordering on boring right now. I'm ok with narration, but this is too much, and its poorly executed. I think the theatrics bury the horns and drums. BD - They are the corps to beat this year. Ca't wait to see them going head to head with the east coast folks. Crown - Yes, this is another one of those "Crown can do no wrong" posts. I was surprised by this show, and think it has great potential. Don't think it wil win, but if there is a dark horse, this corps is it. I can honestly see them with a top three finish. There is a lot to clean, but it looks really good for June. They have a better overall package the the Cavi's and BD. Flame away...

PBS isn't going to get the rights again, because the rights are not up for sale. The public broadcast is dead in the water for the foreseeable future. It ain't happening folks.

The folks at DCI have really been waiting for this technology to improve and its finally to the point to where we can reap the rewards. DCI should be commended!

Believe me when I say, having a pay-per-view broadcast has been investigated by DCI numerous times, and each time it's been determined that it's not a cost effective option. Knowing what I do about the broadcast industry, I have to agree with DCI's findings. Its NOT a smart business move.

While this is wonderful thought, the fact of the matter is, it would never happen, for many reasons. It would be just as expensive to rpoduce this type of program as it would to produce the ESPN show. And to top it off, I seriously doubt the revenue from the show would be able to cover the costs. The other question is how much of the pay-per-view audience would stay home and watch the show rather than attend a championship? The ultimate goal is to get people to travel to Indy. $75 a ticket (times 2) vs. the $40 for one tv and a room full of people, you do the math. It's a money losing venture for DCI.

Hmmmm, that was extremely vague. I hope they can pull this off. No where in that release did it say the field would be repaired in time, in fact, they did a very good job of dancing around the topic. All I got was that they were meeting, and oh by the way, there's a high school team in the background. I'm sure everything will be fine, but I worry about the tone of the release.

Amen...

This is one of the most asinine posts I've ever read. If you think you can do it better, be my guest. Planning these events begins years in advance, and as far as large events are concerned, they go off without a hitch nearly every year. DCI had a back-up plan, and as far as we know, they might have a back-up plan for their back-up plan. I've been to quite a few championships, and despite questionable weather, I haven't yet been to one that wasn't run with professionalism and class. There will always by hiccups, and you can never anticipate all of the problems that might come your way. but as far as events are concerned, DCI World Championships are one of the very best. And as for strategic leadership is concerned, this is one of the best we've had in the history of the activity. We were nearly bankrupt and out of business about ten years ago, yet, Dan and the board branched out, took some calculated risks, and put the activity back in the black. And as for the musicians, you darned right I want musicians in the leadership. Who better to understand the intricacies of the activity than those who've been involved with it and have a passion for it?

Wrong. Sorry, but very few people outside the activity have the knowledge that drum corps is not band. In fact, as its been said here a thousand times, there is very little that separates us from bands now days. People know what bands are, and drum corps look just like bands. To those of us in the activity, we are offended way to easily when people call us bands, but in terms of the rest of the world, that is exactly what we are. You cannot just assume that the reporter is going to know the difference, you have to make it a point to communicate to the reporter hat the difference is and why its important (remember the Who, what when where and why?). A journalist is only as good as the person/people that provide the information. Whom ever is providing the information to the reporter needs to do a much better job of communicating what the activity is about, and if you don't want it to be called a band, then you better say so. Journalists are human, and they get facts wrong, but in the grand scheme of things, if this is the worse thing that has happend, then I think we'll survive. As much as we hate to admit it, perception is reality, and he folks at DCI have done a #### poor job at marketing the activity to the non drum corps audience. Any publicity the activity gets is good publicity, but there needs to be more of a grass roots effort by DCI to reach outside demographic an attract a new audience. I have been a journalist and now a PR rep for almost 20 years. The responsibility falls not only on the journalist, but on the source as well.

The lawyers on the board can probably get way deeper into this (if we really want to go there), but I doubt there is any legal recourse for DCI in this matter, nor do I think they would want to go down that road. They knew Lucas might not be ready, and what happend in Bloomington can be considered and act of God, in which no one could have forseen. The big thing now is to try and figure out what is going on. I imagine that DCI will call an emergency meeting or conference call once they get the report from IU. I am sure that phone calls have been paced to various venues, and I am guessing that Lousiville, Chicago and Madison are probably the front runners at this point. There are two major issues: 1). Housing for the corps - If they don't stay in the Indianapolis area, housing for 20 or so corps has to be figured out, like quick. 2). Announcement to the fans - Obviously, DCI wants to lket the fans know what is going on, so travel plans can be changed, refunds administered, tickets redistributed. From a logistical standpoint, this is going to be a nightmare. From a financial standpoint, its going to hurt. If they have to go outside the area, then attendance will be a big issue and I imagine we'll take a hit in attendance. With that said, the city of Indianapolis was very instrumental in bringing DCI to town, and they might try and lean on the contractors to see if they can push construction at Lucas. Since the RCA Dome is nearly a shell at this point, that option is out. Also, you have to wonder if DCI has an insurance claim at this point?

"Park and Blow Jesus" (Wow, I'm going to hell for that one...)

I spoke with a friend last night who is the facilities manager for a collegehere in Southern Cal. He just managed the installation of a field similar to what they have in Bloomington and said its difficult to know how bad the damage is until they get a peak underneath the carpet... however, the entire carpet will most likely need to be replaced. You can't just do one section. Plus, everything underneath needs to be graded and packed and a new foundation would need to be constructed (I have no idea what this means). His estimate is that it's going to be at least October before IU is playing football there, but could be sooner. He thinks DCI should be looking for new place to host championships.

I was having a crappy day until I saw this thread.... now I know my day can't be nearly as bad as Dan Achison's. I just called my bookie, he's giving bad odds for the field getting fixed. However, adding an obstacle course to championships could be kinda fun. "Not only did the Cadets drop .4 points from quarters to semi's but they lost half the soprano section in the huge sinkhole on the 35 yard line."

BFD... Can we move on to 2008 now?

After reading the article in this morning on the Cadets, I'm growing more concerned about the health and well being of our activity. With fuel and food prices going through the roof, corps are having to refine their budgets to make it out on tour this year. And that's just the start. There are many questions: 1) How many corps are going to deeper into debt after this season? For some, rising gas prices mean an extra 50k to 75k, that's a hell of a lot of money. 2) Will there be corps that won't be able to finish the season, or have to cut down on travel? 3) Oil jumped $3 a barrel today, but that price hike will take about 6 weeks to hit the consumer. If diesel jumps a dollar more a gallon by the end of the summer, how will that affect the corps. 4) How many corps will be out of business following this season? I am guessing there will be more than a few that have to close their doors. I haven't really heard anyone sound the alarm yet, but we all need to start thinking about this before its too late. This activity is in trouble, and we need to figure out a new way of doing things before we kill off more corps. Thoughts?

Very simple solution... if you don't want to share in the hype, don't read the thread, and don't participate. No one put a gun to your head and made you respond. But most importantly, don't bring everyone else down just because you are getting tired of of the preseason hype. Just makes YOU look like an arse (which you've succeeded at, congratulations). Slowly back away from the computer and don't come back until you feel the need to add something constructive. If people wanna hype, let them hype. God knows we need something positive in this world...

Ah..... WOW! 16 freaking contras? Gotta love that! I think the only thing there hornline needed last year was more bottom voices... and I think they have taken care of that. Go get'em Crown

Remember when Wayne Downey used to be God? LOL Seriously, back in the day, he was. Anyway... I would love to see the 88 show again, but it ain't gonna happen. One thing is for sure, there always has been, and always will be, good and bad drum corps shows every year. To me, last years show was boring. Too many notes, not enough melody, but then again, I am somewhat old school, so what do I know, eh?

IMHO - They lost me last year... and on paper, I'm not too terribly excited about this show, but that's just me. Doesn't mean I won't like it when I see it. But I'm not going to go out of my way to see it. I don't really care how they do competitively, I leave before the scores are announced... just like to watch drum corps. I would love it if they played good, hard Jazz shows every year, but artistically, that can get old. Wishing them well this year. I'm sure the kids will put on a fine show. =)

Can you imagine... a VK drum major working on a Freelancer documentary.... the Horror! Or maybe it's closer to reality than you might think... lol... well, kinda. (Inside joke, Ryan will get it...) Mr. Turner, I might just take you up on your offer. Give me a couple of days to put a few things together. I have one more shoot I need to do.

Just to give you a little sneak peak... here is a tease from the docuentary I have been working on for the past year in conjunction with the Freelancers. Hopefully this will be up on their site ASAP. Enjoy...

I think all f this assumes that we are talking about the non-drum corps fan. But lets be honest with each other, 85 percent of the people that attend a drum corps show are already drum corps fans, already have some interest and understanding of the history of the activity, and know what they are looking for in a good show. I can't tell you how many people I have talked to that were simply floored by Crown this past year. And that is after seeing Crown and Madison at the same show... the talk was still about Crown. Not to put the Scouts down.... but Crown had one hell of a year, and a show that will go down as one of the best in DCI history. It's a sad thing to say that the seventh place corps got much more props and play than the corps that won the championship.

Thanks Brad. Tim and I have talked about this, but I recall one night somewhere in Ohio, we had a show with Sky, Spirit (anyone know the sop player known as "House"... that dude rocked!) I think SCV and Madison and BD, and after the show, going to the McDonald's across the street (I felt so bad for those McD's workers, they had no idea what hit them). A group of us were standing in line, waiting to order, and these three girls from Hutch were in front of us. We really didn't talk, other than to say hi and how much we liked their show, but midway through the wait, a couple of locals came up and stated harassing the young ladies. Seeing this, the three of us (all guys) jumped in and stood between the girls and the geeks, and basically told them to leave (in so many words). They got the hint. The point to all of this is, we may do battle on the field, but when it comes to off the field, we are all family. I will never forget that night, and never forget them saying thank you... I know I speak for everyone who marched that year when I say we admired you work ethic. Our staff used to yell at us when we were slacking saying, "you guys are whining, when Hutch has been up since 5:00 am on the rehearsal field... we know, we drove past them earlier" (they would say the same thing about SCV also... The motivation worked. But the bottom line was you folks had a bit more experience, and we were a corps that had just risen from the ashes, still a little wet behind the ears, probably a little to young to know any better. At the end of the day, I think all of us were satisfied with where we ended up, and 1988 gave us a taste of being a world class corps again. We used '88 the following year as motivation, and from day one we knew we were going to be in finals. 1989 we came out of the gate swinging, and the confidence was incredible. We had experience, and we knew how to pace ourselves. There was nothing that was going to get in our way, except ourselves. 1989 was an incredible year, to say the least. Sorry, rambling, so many memories.

1988 - OH MY GOD! I have never been so hot in my entire life. And we did the southern tour, which just sucked monkey balls. Michael's right, it was absolutely the worst. Rome, NY - hands down the best show. Anyone who was ever treated to the steak dinner by the local VFW post will back me up there. Yummy! San Jose - also a great venue, and nice and cool at night. Whitewater - just because of the history and the great crowd Old Mile High Stadium - Just flat out fun Cheif's stadium, KC - despite the heat, it was a great venue Worst- Birmingham, hands down. We were so scared of the area, that our staff locked us in the dorm room at 6:00 pm one night. I hope I never have to go back there again.

In all my years in drum corps, I have never seen a reaction to a show like that, and not sure that we ever will again. It was pure magic. I was sitting with a few buddies from the Freelancers, and we just looked at each other in disbelief. There was absolutley NO DOUBT who one that show, but the big question was if the judges would allow it to happen. Side note: after battling with Hutch all season, that night was the first that we truely had the opportunity to enjoy the sound of music show. Yeah, we were bitter we got beat after ripping them up all season long at the major DCI events, but those kids worked their butts off, and I have to say it's still one of my all time favorite shows! Hat's off the Hutch '88. Between Freelancers, Crossmen, Dutch, and Sky Ryders that year, we all beat up on each other, but it was good times. You'll never see a battle for 12th like that ever again.