BRASSO

Yes, it is kind of funny, as " many " ( if they indeed do think this is " new " ) were not even around attending shows both now and back in the 60's/ 70's. But yes, it is true that Marching and Maneuvering / Guard seemingly was rewarded a bit more on the judging sheets than Brass and/ or Percussion was.. even in the 70's. For example, the Oakland Crusaders ( Canada ) WON Percussion in the DCI Prelims in 1977 ( with both Percussion judges, incidentally ), but failed to make Finals. They finished 15th in the Prelims. Even the best on the field Percussion playing in the DCI Prelims could not bring them decent Music Analysis scores ( finished 22nd), nor overall GE ( finished 14th in GE ) either. What are the chances that if that Corps finished 1st in Marching & Maneuvering in the Prelims ( instead of Percussion ), their GE scores would not be in the Top 12 ? I know, that IS a funny question, as it would be just unthinkable that a Corps that won the Visual side in the Prelims would fail to make Finals altogether. Heck fast forward to today, and a Corps can finish 6th in Percussion at Finals and still win a DCI Title, if their Visual and Guard are 1/2. ( Crown, to their credit, did this in 2013 ). Could a Corps win a DCI Title if the Guard finishes 6th, instead of their Percussion finishing 6th ? No., not a chance, imo. if a Corps Guard (or Visual Analysis ) is 6th, it will bury them on the GE sheets, something that clearly does not occur if the Corps Percussion is not in the top tier in DCI. Finally, the Mandarins made Finals easily last season. ( 10th ). Neither their Brass line, nor their Percussion line finished in the Top 12 in the Semi's. But their Brass Section, nor their Percussion Section, kept them out. They excelled in what counts most on the sheets. And thats why they comfortably made Finals, as they smartly and correctly figured out what it takes to generate the most build up points on the judging sheets. Good for them.

Yup... and the irony of this ( imo ) is that there are no ( or few ) College Degrees in" Guard", nor" Visual".... as there is in Music Theory, Percussion, or Music Ed, Trumpet, or 50 other College Degrees that deal with Music, Brass and/ or Percussion. While many of the Brass players in the top Corps tend to be pursuing degrees in the Music and/ or Music Ed Field,, one does not have to go to College for " Guard", nor even show the ability to read a note of music,... nor go to College at all.. Many in Guard do, of course, and good for them.. Don't get me wrong, what the modern Guards do today is quite extraordinary and simply amazing in their abilities on Flag, Rifle, Sabre. But the ability to help a Corps score well in DCI is not predicated at all in their ability to perform well on any musical instrument as a matter of fact. The fact that " visual matters more period " on today's modern judging sheets is simply something the Corps have agreed upon,.once proposed. So thats how we have arrived where we're at now in DCI, where as many have assessed " visual matters more, period. ", now.

No. I believe George Dixon is an independent thinking person, and is seeing what others are seeing as well re. the emergence of Guard/ Visual a bit more on the judging sheets of late, thats all Ghost. One superior performance caption excellence alone won't get it done either however, as the Zingali, Ott, Sanford Award winners the last 6-7 years seem to indicate, imo.

I hear you, and share the disapointment. However, if there is any consolation, Madison Scouts are no different than most DCI Corps in giving fans any info. Only a small handful of Corps have released the info on their theme/ music for this season. It really is the nature of the activity these days ( as you stated ). Corps do have the right to do this, and I do understand some of the rationale for it. But is this a business model that is embraced by other sports and other youth activities that intend to grow their activity ? Oh heavens no. So growth of the activity is seemingly not as important as other things we must conclude from this relatively new and novel approach to keep fans unengaged beyond approx 9 weeks out of the 52 week year. But don't blame your Madison Scouts for this, imo

I'm also looking to see if the Mandarins and Music City can keep their momentum going after last season's well received shows. I think they both will. We'll see though

That would be something, Jurassic Lancer

Boston's Drum Major, on Finals NIght in 2013, after providing his the salute on the podium before the start of Boston's show, then reached over and took a bottle of unopened Johnson's & Johnson's Baby Powder from the podium, and held it up to the judges booth for them all to see, grinning from ear to ear, then slowly but surely took it down so the judges could watch him, and then he put it back on the podium, before turning to his Corps to start their show,. Most here that were around in 2013 know what happened in the Prelims the day before for BAC to later make that light hearted, harmless, playful gesture with the DCI Finals Night judges up in the booth that night.. I got a kick out of that, and thought it was the quintessential Boston Crusaders there. haha!.

Yup... thats another BITD DCI huge placement jump up in one season, now that you mention it. Star of Indiana , along with the Bleu Raeders of Louisiana, are also the only 2 DCI Corps to ever emerge and make DCI World Class Division Finals qualification in their 1st year of DCI Competition as well. That was BITD too... But its highly unlikely that will ever happen again in the DCI World Class Division Finals Night competition again, imo..

Perhaps so. Then there's DCP poster Bruckner's Competitive Inertia Theory ( that so far holds true ) that states that before a Corps can win a DCI Title, they must first medal. Would like to see some Corps debunk that Theory of his some day in the future too.

Yes.. forgot about that one.( 14th in '72, then 4th in '73).. Thats impressive to be sure. ' Not sure we'll ever see a 10 place jump up in placement in any one season in World Class Div. DCI any time soon.

Only in Exhibition it would appear BD did something about as close to a " nostalgia " show as modern judging will tolerate/ reward in their 2017 DCI winning show... and it was mostly found in the Opener ( and parts of the Closer ) only. DCI judges are looking for new innovations, new ideas, creativity, performer excellence, Show Design/ Visual excellence and the like... not " nostalgia ". Since this is a SCV thread, I will be interested in what their Show Designers have in store for us this season. Whatever it turns out to be, I think its highly doubtful that it will a show filled with lots of " nostalgia " in it.

Yes!.... " Send in the Clowns ! " ("don't bother,... they're here " ) lol

I might add in the Madison Scouts as having pretty significant placement volatility movements from year to year in some stretches of their DCI years as well. When they are down placement wise , historically they have shown the capacity to rebound, and in some cases with a pretty significant placement movement. They went from 6th in '87 to DCI Title winner the next season in '88 ( but dropped again to 7th in '89 ). The Madison Scouts went from 14th in 2002, to 8th in 2003 ( 6 placement improvement in 1 season ).... 9th in 2006, to 15th in 2007 ( another placement movement of 6 places in one season, but this time downward ). Madison also had 5 placement movements ( upward ) year over end, in 2009 ( 15th ), 2010 ( 10th ).... and again ( downward ) in 2015 ( 8th ), 2016 ( 13th ). Lots of volatility here, imo. Madison Scouts finished 16th last season. I sense a potential rebound coming from them given their history. But... who really knows. Only time will tell.

Yup.

In before the close... my vote for the best bump goes to this couple:

Yes ! Stop all the boycott threads. Bring back the Bump!

Doggone it, you could be right, Stu.

They're welcome on DCP. Don't want this site to go to the dogs.

I'm hopeful that I should be able to think of something before the season starts. If not, I might call on you.

You're very utilitarian, Terri. You took the window curtains, and turned them into a mighty fine dress indeed, imo.

And If I wanted to be even more naughty, I'd wear my Nike Sweatshirt on the Air France Flight, relax, sip an x large coke and watch the NFL Network all the Way to Moscow. But its cold in Moscow, so I can't forget to take my fur coat along too.

I intend to boycott all the boycotts on here till I figure out what I should to do next.

When did you attend your last downhill event DrumCorpsLover ? Just curious as to whether you decided on the bugles or the boycott gig recently, or maybe 35-40 years ago ?

If it aint fast food, then it ain't a fast food . I'm boycotting all fast food restaurants till I get me my fast food the way its supposed to be served.... fast.