flugelswerebugels

So Stu has been complaining about slotting but then sites 2008, when Devs lead through most of the year and in quarters- and semis- and then were overtaken at finals? I think the slot machine broke!

In this era what could be more genius than taking away potential topics of analytics from fans? Yeah, no one is interested in that crap anyway.

Why yes, my stunning looks are the only reason I was ever able to march BD. Too bad it hasn't worked anywhere else in my life.

Blue Devils will score high, a Brazillion at least.

Thumbs up for the flugel (see my user name). But what - nobody makes bell front French Horns any more?

I've been struck by the fact that DCI opened up the front sideline so that marching members could cross it, but then corps immediately closed off that possibility by building a wall of pit instruments. Lots of practical constraints, but why build your own? Why does the pit have to be front and center?

One bass drum in a set of rolling hoops. Perfect for a very large physics and mathematics classroom.

I always loved Spartan Stadium in San Jose, for Pacific Procession: Spartan Stadium images The acoustics in there were amazing. -K

OP: Hilarious. Some of the replies: obtuse, and missing the point at best. Irony is dead.

If you liked that triple tonguing run on the field...

I'm pretty sure Wells Fargo Bank (at that time, at least) would have been only in California.

Crown's show was great. But, if you are talking about winning a championship, I think the bar is pretty high for a first time champ. For all first time winners in DCI since 1983, the lowest placing caption was Cadets percussion in fifth in 1983. Otherwise all first-time champs since then have placed no lower than third in any caption.

Wonder if people were upset about the spread as much as who won. Spirit won prelims by .35, Phantom won finals by 3.05! Must be an interesting story (or 5) there.

For part of what you are looking for, search "competitive intertia" in this forum.

Mr. Boo - it does not mean you don't need to take out your garbage cans. It may mean you should be locked in a glass case for permanent display, though. With a nice Camembert.

Its about 1370 miles from Seattle (where I live) to Denver. Its about 1301 miles from Allentown, PA to Wichita, KS. Would you suggest to someone in Pennsylvania that they should be content that the closest show is in Wichita?

Sailor Squibb Cakes in Space

You can get some idea of some of the different scoring systems in use through the DCI era on fromthepressbox.com: fromthepressbox dci scores Click on one of those years and then look for a little red box which says "recap" (its not on every show listed there) 1976 bayoone show recap This will show you the different captions. Unfortunately, it shows only the scores the corps received in each caption, but not what the maximum possible was in each caption. But you can kind of guess what that is by looking at the recaps from DCI finals - the top scoring corps were usually pretty close to the maximum scores in each caption. If you look year by year you'll see how the scoring system evolved. Of course, this doesn't explain exactly how these scores were arrive at but some of the other posters here have done a pretty good job of explaining that.

I don't know the answer to your question, but it sounds like you were at the show in Renton last night, and I had the same thoughts after watching Oregon Crusaders and the Cascades perform. The Crusaders performance level is comparable to World Class corps (I don't know their situation in regard to other elements of qualifying for World Class) and Cascades look like they more realistically fit in Open Class, at least in terms of performance.

I liked all part's of BK's show where the horns played. And they played quite a lot in the closer, so it was one of my favorite parts of the show.

I was at the show. I can't say I can write reviews of the shows, but I can give my impressions. Since I'm a horn player, that's what I mostly focus on. Unfortunately, we got there late and missed Thunder. Oregon Crusaders sound very good. Lots of their music will be familiar to old-time drum corps fans. They still don't have drill for their closer. Cascades are quite a small corps. I still find it a bit odd that there are more people in the pit than in the guard. They use some permanently placed flags to create a smaller field, so it does make them look slightly larger. Their sound is pretty good, considering their relatively small horn and battery. Blue Knights have a pretty nice sounding horn line, but they spend a lot of the show running around while synthesizers are playing. I'd like this show better if their horn line wasn't serving as visual so often. The guard uni's are certainly eye-catching, and they use some seriously bright colors in both the uniforms and the flags. Boston shows they mean business the second they enter the stadium, with a horn block proceeding in tight formation all the way around the track to set up in the front corner of the field. They have several big brass hits which are very effective. This is an in-your-face show, and will probably not disappoint those interested in a more old-school style of performance. They have some very nice nuanced moments as well. I really enjoyed this show and so did my 13 year old daughter, who didn't want to go to the show at all, but ended up wanting to get a Boston Crusaders shirt. And, since I wanted to make sure to thank Boston for coming to the West Coast, she got one.

This raises the question of whether the cymbalist or contra-ist are Belgian. That could make all the difference.

Then lets just have finals at Mars. Come, enjoy the glow of the gas flames, the breeze from the Bay, and the craters. No one would ever forget it.

This whole thread reminds me of conversations I have had repeatedly with my east coast in-laws: Me: "Why don't you come visit us?" Them: "Its too far to go to the west coast. Why don't you come east?"

I don't think Jeff was arguing to schedule finals based on who won championships. But it is absurd that this event has been held only one time in 40 years anywhere west of the Rockies. I understand financial considerations, etc. Did holding finals in CA in 2007 really kill corps' budgets that year? Did DCI go broke after that? Did those big bad Californians steal everyone's PB&J's? Did some corps' wagon train break down in the Mojave and the members had to resort to cannibalism in order to survive? Was there a massive snow storm crossing the Sierras and certain east coast corps had to make sleds in order to slide down the west side into Pasadena? Did corps buses lose the Oregon Trail and end up missing their left turn at Albuquerque?