BlueR36

Being from near Buffalo, N.Y., I don't like the California thing. Too many corps won't be able to afford it. Just my opinion. Besides, all the west coast corps will still have to come to the east coast anyway. It's not like BD and SCV will stay out west all season. With Indy and Allentown, they'll still have to come out here. This is just adding a major expense to all the other corps. Sky Ryders are one example of how going to California can kill a corps -- they never fulled recovered financially from going to California in 1991, even though they made Finals that year. It's about time DCI get a Finals rotation started ... four set cities over a five-year rotation, leaving a "wild card" every fifth year. My choices: -- Denver ... that should be good enough, West Coasters -- Madison ... well, DUH!! -- Buffalo ... sure, I'm biased, but it's a great stadium. -- Orlando ... now, I keep hearing that everyone hates it there, but DCI seems to have such a good rapport with Disney/ABC/ESPN. And can we pull these major regionals out of Domes, please? - R -

Performance times???

Anyone? That way I know when to send good vibes to my Bluecoats. - R -

Bluecoats ... fourth in brass, fifth in drums (both ahead of BD), fifth in CG, fifth in GE Music, fifth in Ensemble music (behind BD -- beat them in brass and drums, but .6 back in ensemble ... com on!). Tied for sixth with Boston, .6 behind Madison and .8 behind BD, in Ensemble Visual. Ugh. Judges were 5-4 in favor of Madison head-2-head with Bluecoats, with Madison taking both percussion judges, so 4-4 overall. Judges were 6-3 BD over Madison and 7-2 BD over Bluecoats. When was the last time Cavies didn't take first on ANY judges' sheets??? - R - P.S. -- If Cadets' and BD's shows are so strange and sooo many people don't like them, how good would those corps be if the shows were enjoyable. I have yet to hear or read from anyone who enjoys BD's show, and yet there they are tied with PR for third in overall GE ... I don't know if I'll ever completely understand judging. Performance is one thing, but if people seriously don't like the show and think the basic design is flawed, how can that be effective?? Cadets -- you might not "get" what they're giving you, but from what I hear/read it's not all "that" hard to understand, just a bit "out there."

I think they still announced corp A's score after corp B performs; corp B's score after corp C performs; corp C's score after corp D performs; etc.; etc.; until the final corps performs and they re-announce everthing else, adding the final two ... I don't mind that for quarterfinals when 24-ish corps are performing, but I think they should go to a DM-only retreat for semifinals and (obviously) keep the grand finale for Finals. What did they do for Regionals (SAnt, Indy, Allentown) this year? - R -

Unfortunately, I can't get to Foxboro ... nor a movie theatre showing Quarters. Who's going to have the scores posted the fasted? Here ar Drum Corps Planet? DCI.org? (Allentown was aweful!) Drum Corps World's Web site? I seem to remember last year or the year before someone saying that the Blue Devils' Web site or the Cavaliers' site had them much faster than anyone else ... Any recommendations for the next three nights??? - R -

I too was expected a lot from Madison when I saw them, PR and Bluecoats at the Bluecoats' Hall of Fame show in Massillon this past Sunday. Don't get me wrong -- Madison is solidly in the 5-6-7 range, which is a step up from last year, but I was expecting more. The show left me a bit flat ... too choppy, "Carmen" is a great effect at her entrance but a distraction after that (PR's "Gershwin" is much better!) and the show doesn't seem to go anywhere -- big beginning, but ending nothing special. Very good show -- better than last year. BUT, Scouts are not close to Phantom. No question. Being a Bluecoats alum and fan, I am a bit biased -- but I still don't think Madison is better than Bluecoats in corps talent or show quality. Madison is obviously better than Boston, so staying in 5-6-7 is a no-brainer. (I haven't seen CCrown, but have seen enough scores (including Thursday) and heard enough to know they're in the mix too, but likely at the bottom of that mix behind Bluecoats and Madison.) So ... if Bluecoats move up to 5th and Madison takes 6th, that's a one-spot improvement for Bluecoats and a two-spot improvement for Scouts. That's awesome for both. Madison has had a great year, and while the trend that seems to be happening of them falling behind Bluecoats (we won't know for sure until Quarters) is the same thing that happened last year, ANY corps that can move up two spots in Finals from year-to-year had to be happy with its season. No matter what -- great year from drum corps. Not having seen Cadets, Cavies or BD, if any of those coprs can beat Phantom, they've got to be pretty #### good. And if those four all beat Bluecoats and Madison, again, nothing to be ashamed of. - R -

Great to get a nice compliment from someone involved in a corps whose corps just got beat. Unfortunately, there are many out there who would get ps'd off and slam a corps for beating their corps. SCV will be back -- if not this year, soon. As was already said, there are now just two corps the Bluecoats have never beaten -- BD and Cadets -- and they've beaten both of them in various sub-captions this season already. Great year for the corps -- and yet, with Madison and PR doing so well, they still could finish exactly where they were last year! - R -

Obviously, what happens tonight (thursday) could affect this a bunch ... 1- Cavies 91.10 (sorry, but I'm tired of them being there) 2- Blue Devils 90.20 (I predict they win it all) 3- Cadets 89.95 (edge Cavies for second in the end) 4- Phantom 87.75 (the swing corps ... some say third, some say sixth) 5- Madison 87.25 (happy for them -- but not too happy because ...) 6- Bluecoats 87.00 (my team -- hard to be fair, but they'll catch someone for 5th) 7- CCrown 85.80 (any push left for finals week?) 8- Boston 84.90 (peaking too soon?) 9- SCV 84.50 (seventh at Finals ... too good not to) 10- Blue Knights 82.70 (major drop from previous three corps) 11- Glassmen 82.55 (solidly in finals, but 10th is highest they'll go) 12- Spirit 81.75 (what a battle for 12th ...) In the AM ... behind the four who advance ... (scores will be higher than bottom of night show) 13- Colts (good to have them back around) 14- Crossmen (too entertaining to be left out???) 15- Mandarins (welcome) 16- Cascades (welcome back?) 17- Cap. Reg. (is Ohio big enough for three finalist corps?) 18- Esperanza (welcome as well) 19- Southwind (five years ago -- one-tenth from 12th place) etc., etc., etc. ... ... check back for updates after Thursday's scores ... hope someone is adding these all up for average predictions before Saturday!!

Nothing against SCV ... nothing against BD-Cavies duo ... but seeing some new blood get up in the top two, three, four would be nice for a change ... and maybe even lead to some surprises come finals week!! I'm solid behind my Bluecoats, and confident in them climbing, but I wouldn't hate it if it was Madison who broke through. - R -

It's unfortunate how defensive some people are. <**> I'm a Bluecoats alum, former staff member and long-time supporter. I'm as excited as anyone about their success the past few seasons. I'm also super excited about the possibilities of this season. But I was lamenting the other day that they could seriously be better this year and challenge upward, but not actually move upward if they pass someone like SCV (Bluecoats have never beaten SCV) and yet get passed by Madison. Would that frustrate me? Yes. Do I want to see Bluecoats pass one or more corps without getting passed by anyone, moving them further up? Yup. But am I going to flame anyone who suggests Madison is better or that Phantom is too good to catch or that SCV will rebound back up to their usual top four spot? Nope. Heck, the visual caption head for Madison is someone who marched Bluecoats for four years. He's from my hometown, I used to be one of his instructors in high school and I'm the one who convinced him to march Bluecoats in the first place, putting him in touch with all the people who helped him get this far in drum corps. And boy am I jealous of what he's done since ... and the talent he has ... but that's another story for another day. Be honest. Be fair. Tell people how you see things. And DEAL with reviews and opinions -- that's what this site is for, isn't it? Pump up your team without necessarily bashing someone else's group. Luckily for me, I'm going to get to see Bluecoats, Madison, Phantom and Boston (along with Glassmen and Crossmen) at the Bluecoats' home show in Massillon on Sunday, July 31. BTW -- if you can, get to that show. It's always one of the best of the summer. - R -

Already have my tickets ... just hope I don't have to sit in front of Vic again this year!!! :P -- Rodney

Outstanding review. I loved not only you describing what you saw and heard, but also comparing it to other corps in the show and previous years. Again, excellent review from someone who seems to not only view drum corps as a "drum corps person" but also as a drum corps fan. And frankly, most of the people coming to the shows are "fans" as opposed to "persons," if you know what I mean. Did you agree with the point spreads once you saw them? - R -

Interesting that you said the Bluecoats' drill wasn't that hard. Just about every other review said they have some of the best field coverage in the activity this season. I haven't seen anyone yet, so I can't directly speak to it, but it's interesting to see different opinions. I guess, from my angle as a Bluecoats' alumnus and fan, it's also interesting that you said the Bluecoats' show made no sense and didn't appeal to you that much, but you still had them in first place by three points, which almost matches exactly what the judges said. Thanks for the review!! - R -