Tekneek

With the changes in retreat, the recent recordings would be quite boring. If they had them going back to 30 years though, it would be incredible.

I am opposed to increasing the eligible age for any reason.

I was hoping for a 10th anniversary Disney show! Seriously!

The cool thing was that, from the stands, it looked like we were all locked down. On the field, it was a lot different. I never really understood what it was like until I was out there. Those were some of the best times. There were all sorts of 'unofficial' things going on related to retreat. I still remember the laugh we all got when Southwind left the field one night and one of their contras had a sideline cone/pylon in his horn. We kept waiting for it to fall out and that guy got it off the field successfully. You also don't know what it is like to have all your horns/equipment out in a block and having to leave members to guard the block. One night in '93, I remember checking out the Troopers' horns because they had a piston-roter bugle. They were real strict about it and wouldn't let me even get a look at a horn in their block for the rest of the night. VK were always fun to be close to on the field, as well as BD. Cavies were a blast to go around close to when we had to lap the field for the really FULL retreat ceremony. You kids who don't get to do any of this stuff are really missing out on something. For the fans who never saw a full retreat, it is hard to not feel ripped off at shows these days. For me, seeing/hearing retreat was at least 25% of the reason I even went to the show.

If it really is licensing issues, then we can blame draconian copyright law and copyright holders who wish to punish non-profit drum corps in their desire to grab every last royalty penny they can scrounge up, right? This sort of thing only encourages piracy.

Everybody used to play something in the past, and they would salute the champion as they went past on the way out. It worked just fine and it would still work. Your comment begs the question, "Have you ever seen a full retreat at Finals, or any show at all?"

I cannot believe the time saved is all that much. Despite having full retreats at most shows in 1993, Colts still moved from 20th to 12th. How did they do it despite losing all that time to those evil retreats? For me, this is another example of the self-serving nature of the activity these days. I wonder what the vote was on this proposal and if any of the directors acknowledged how much it meant to alumni and fans while abolishing it.

I have a BD CD with it, that I bought back in 1993 or 1994. Interesting that DCI edited it out but BD pressed CDs with the mistake. When was this bit of history revised by DCI and/or BD?

If it is used only for the ESPN2 broadcast (and not the DVDs), then I could accept it.

Slightly off topic question, but when did the term "spring training" start being used regarding drum corps? I don't remember anybody using it back in the early 90s unless they were talking about baseball.

Roast Beef and Ice Cream? That is a frightening combination.

Why do they need time to mill around on the field?

It seems like they already tried something like that once. Back in the early 90s. It didn't work out so well. Thankfully those shots weren't used for the final video recordings.

At the show in Atlanta (Georgia Dome/DCI Atlanta) they didn't even have a "Victory concert."

It is a nice piece, but compared to a full retreat it is incredibly boring for me.

Yet there have still been a few problems with the camera or its cable interfering with game play.

There should definitely be a retreat at finals, regardless of what they do anywhere else. Beyond that, I think it should be done at every major show (aka "Regional"). I would prefer it be done at every single show, but apparently today's drum corps are afraid of dealing with the time involved in putting on the same show they used to. Aren't ticket prices higher than they were when you got a full retreat as part of the show? Effectively, that means you're getting less for more. What a deal.

Seems like they could do both, right? :)

Understudies? So people went on tour with Phantom on the chance they might get to march? Instead of going somewhere and definitely getting on the field?

Bill Cook and his corps were not properly appreciated. It is a shame. The man spent his own personal money time and again, to help out kids that weren't even in his own corps without asking for anything in return. People should've been happy that such a rich man was interested enough to bother. How many other people on that list have done anything for drum corps?

So, why should he even bother? Each drum major can go out there and salute at whatever point his program designer tells him to and let it be that. Brandt can just take the night off.

I thought the GE judging continued after the gun and it was only the "tick system" judges that stopped at that point.

How do you salute the "Is your corps ready?" before it is even done? Your argument is not logical.

I don't know why they even have him ask if the corps is ready, since it is meaningless ceremony (these days) and some corps just totally blow him off (such as Bluecoats this year who blew him off at Quarters and Semis, and presumably Finals as well).

The flawed concept was saying everyone should be calm because this is like a CEO being let go in any corporation. My point was that nobody reacts very calmly to a CEO leaving and especially when his support staff is heading for the door right behind him.