RMelson

I have no problem with slotting as long as it is known that your drill isn't good enough and the absolute highest your corp will score is X. I do think that a 4 point swing is ridiculous. And It is fundamentally unfair how they set-up the order of the performances.....That makes no sense to me at all. They should just draw them beforehand and that will make the judges score what they see not what they expect to see for the first five corps and then the next and so on I agree 100%. There have been some great comments in this thread and i have learned alot. I believe, as it appears the author of the above statement also believes, that judges tend (tend-not absolute) to score out in the order of performance...he who preforms first is scored lowest, etc. Again, I am no 25 year vet or life long follower of Drum Corp....it is exciting and my son loves it......Being a Judge must be incredibly difficult.....all the Corps always look and sound greatr to me.....ever since I first saw them I've thought the Troopers were great, yet they are always scored low...which they must deserve...i don't know.... Anyway, I do really enjoy the shows.

Great comments and insight concerning the Colts....Greg Orwell is a special person and the Colt family is strong.

QUOTE (RMelson @ Jun 23 2008, 10:21 AM) A breif analysis of Super Bowl pairings will reveal that out of the 30 NFL teams, almost 75% of the teams have an honest shot at making the Super Bowl....parity, salary caps, free agency, etc. make it a fairly level playing field...I just don't see that with DCI Pro football players also get paid millions of dollars Meanwhile, drum corps members, the vast majority of which are still in school, pay thousands of dollars. If you want a level playing field then come up with ways to bring the bottom up, not the top down. The level of excellence is what makes drum corps so much fun to watch. I'd rather watch BD, Cadets, and Cavies be really freakin good and then have everyone else not be as good than have everyone be the on the same level as a 10th place corps. Sorry for the confusion.....no way am I suggesting the playing field needs to be leveled and the only reason I mentioned the NFL was in response to another posting concerning predicting who plays in the Super Bowl each year. No question, Corps who work the hardest and play the best should be at the top....It seems to me...a true novice...the Judges automaticlly place certain Corps at the top all the time.....Maybe they are always the best.....It just seems sometimes...even at a minor show...one of the "lower" rank corps could win....I just don't see that happening...ever

No doubt there is some moving around and as you pointed out some pretty big swings, but, in my opnion, the top five or six seem to stay (almost) the same....

A breif analysis of Super Bowl pairings will reveal that out of the 30 NFL teams, almost 75% of the teams have an honest shot at making the Super Bowl....parity, salary caps, free agency, etc. make it a fairly level playing field...I just don't see that with DCI

First I am not saying or implying any particular group has been shafted in this past....I just think it is strange that none of the lower ranked corps ever get better. Take the Colts for example....making finals is their big goal every year (not to say its not everyones goal).....Making top ten is almost out of the question....Blue Devils don't worry about making Finals...they always do...They are just fighting for 1st, 2nd or 3rd.....I don't know, it just seems odd that no one ever gets alot better or alot worse. FYI-I'm a parent, never marched and have only been following this competition 6 or 7 years....and maybe I am completely wrong but this is my perception

IU has posted a brief statement on its athletics Web site saying that “the athletic department and the university are currently in negotiations to replace the existing turf with a state-of-the-art playing surface that will be installed and ready to use by the first week of August.” That timetable would have the field ready for the Drum and Bugle Corps event that’s scheduled to draw thousands to Bloomington in early August.

“We were in contact with stadium officials today and received assurances that repair efforts are already being put into action,” said Dan Acheson, DCI executive director and CEO said in a statement on June 6. “No matter how solid your planning is, there are certain events that cannot be foreseen, and this is one of them. As something we hadn’t considered as part of our planning process, we’re confident that this will turn out to be nothing more than a minor inconvenience and will not delay our ability to prepare for this year’s World Championships.” Making matters more difficult for IU is the fact that Southwest Recreational Industries Inc., the company that installed the field turf in 2003, has since gone out of business after accumulating considerable debt. IU athletics expects a full report from assessors to come through later this week. “Right now we’re looking at hopefully having something finalized by Friday,” Director of Media Relations J.D. Campbell said. “We’re anticipating the best in terms of having the field ready for everything. Our expectation is we’ll be able to move forward the best we can.”