skevinp

Has become? The (arguably far more heinous) SCV incident was 13 years ago if I understood the comment correctly.

My vision did get a little blurry after my twelth beer.

I am not from California, I am not affiliated with any specific corps, I have been to 12 world championships in a row, and I find little evidence to support the contention that west coast fans are somehow worse than anywhere else. 1. People were still entering during performances because it took so long to get into the stadium. The lines snaked out of the tunnels and criss-crossed each other. At times, getting in line long before the end of the previous corps performance did not assure you of getting into the stadium and to your seat. That may have been poor planning, but it is not the fault of west coast fans. 2. I've seen it everywhere a little bit, no more here than anywhere else. 3. I saw no more of that than any of the other 11 finals i have attended. 4. If you mean the Cadets show, it was a lightning rod and blaming west coast fans for the fact that some people responded to that is ridiculous. In my observation, the west coast people were actually less opinionated about the show than fans from back east and the midwest who had already seen it and begun to form opinions, plan comments, print up t-shirts and so forth. And from a multitude of comments i have read on another thread, the Cadets were thrashed by comments and boos in movie theaters all over the place back east, so it's hard to imagine they would have been silent in any other venue. 5. Heaven forbid people root for corps in their own location. I thought it was great that for once, it was feasible for BD and SCV fans to attend finals. Sorry you feel they should have been rooting for the Cadets. The Cavaliers, Phantom, Crown, and Bluecoats seemed to be treated at least as warmly in Pasadena as I have seen the Blue Devils and SCV treated anywhere else. If some people reacted strongly to the Cadets show and the antics of their director (whether they were right to do so or not) is a separate issue and has nothing to do with west coast fans. 6. I didn't see any drunk people, but I guess I will have to take your word for it that there were some, that they identified their place of domicile to the world, and that it has never happened anywhere else. 7. No different than anywhere else I have been in the last 12 years, except that the local favorites may have shifted a little. 8. It was the traffic coming into the rose bowl, the distance of parking and then the lines into stadium. I left 45 minutes early for what was supposed to be a 10 minute drive, and I missed the first 3 corps. I can assure you I was not happy about that, and I have no reason to believe other people in my position were either. 9. A bunch of cadets fans poured into the seats in front of me, watched only their show, and then left again. One of them flipped off the audience when they laughed at the "no voice" statement (which has been acknowledged to have been intentionally funny) using not just his finger, but his whole arm. But perhaps it was just those 'west coast' cadets fans. Despite this, I did NOT draw a conclusion about all east coast fans or corps based on their behavior. Even for the individuals, i assumed that perhaps they had a valid reason for not watching the other corps, and although I thought the gesture of the one fan was inappropriate and his angry expression was actually frightening, I assumed there could have been positive motivations that led him to become so angry. That is how we all get along, not by generalizing, exaggerating and pigeonholing others. 10. Didn't see it, so I can't comment.

If I applied that standard, there would be few corps, organizations, countries or planets left with any class. Just out of curiousity, was the desired meeting demonstrably free of romantic eventuality?

Too bad one Cadets fan didn't realize you were joking. He turned around and flipped off the whole audience for having the audacity to laugh during the show. Looked like he was about to punch somebody. I thought it was funny, though, and the show needed that little release.

I heard that Youth Education in the Arts (YEA) will be renamed Bands and Other Organizations (BOO) to more accurately reflect the crowd reaction.

You mean each corps had a separate theme? No wonder I was so confused on finals night. I thought the theme was: Eureka! I believe that in the beginning, Picasso danced with criminal gypsies of the equinox until Billy Joel rode horses with wings through the air.

I have no affiliation with the Academy, but I do live in Arizona so I have had the opportunity to observe them on several occasions, and I must say that I have never witnessed a trace of arrogance or unfriendliness. As far as I can tell, they and their director seem like very nice people and the very personification of humility and professionalism. So, a handful of new and inexperienced fans voiced irrational expectations? Oh, the horror! We'd better rush in and humiliate them quickly before DCI gets any new fans. Whatever isolated experiences others may have had, I found myself swimming in Academy fans at the Phoenix show and heard nothing of the sort. I didn't see any bitterness or crying in Pasadena either. I can easily understand how enthusiastic fans could get carried away with positive expectations. It is difficult to fathom, however, why anyone would be so obsessed with 'putting them in their place.' Every mother thinks their baby is cute, but is it really necessary to tell them when you disagree?