shockkwavvv

...only when both knees are bent at the same time. You can be just as tall with one knee bent and the other leg straight. Just sayin' ;)

And perc is about the only thing they have going for them that would compete with Bloo IMO... we shall see

I'm not so sure about that one.

Check your messages up top ;)

an accurate description

Probably not, but that depends on which corps you march ;)

Keep in mind though, a tuba teacher won't make you good at tuba. That is your responsibility. The teacher will just guide you in the right direction and hopefully speed up the process.

I realize a lot of this has been said already... but to chunk it all into one post... Ingredients to make a DCI corps: 1. Determination 2. Persistence 3. Desire 4. Practice, Practice, Practice 5. Self-motivation 6. Ability to improve your skills consistently 7. (obviously) being the proper age (not 10 or 23) 8. An ounce of talent 9. A positive attitude 10. Dedication 11. Doing exactly what the staff tells you to do in between camps Things that will keep you from making a DCI corps: 1. Lack or opposite of the above 2. Having personal issues that must be taken care of, but cannot be if you march drum corps 3. purposely psychologically preventing yourself from doing it or cutting yourself from a corps (chickening out) Disclaimer: I know that list is not a perfect description, but I believe it is a fairly good one. Weighing 280 is NOT going to stop you altogether from marching dci at ALL. If you are determined, persistent, self-motivated, etc., you will take the responsibility to do what you need to lose it. As others have suggested earlier in this thread, one thing that will help greatly is not eating junk (or fake) food. Cutting out chips, cheetos, candy, SODA, ice cream, etc. will help a lot (don't cheat!). When you're thirsty, drink water or juice, for example, not soda. When you're hungry, eat good food, not junk, until you are almost full, then stop. I learned once from a health teacher that it takes about 10 minutes or so before the feeling of being 'full' completely sets in. Overall just be smart about it. Another disclaimer: I am also not a dietitian. I know someone else mentioned some similar advice earlier in this thread... it's all good stuff. I really don't believe we need to be dietitians to tell someone to avoid junk food, but just in case, here's the disclaimer There are many, many examples of people who marched who were as heavy as, and heavier, than you at one point. One contra player, was heavier than you, and not as tall, and he marched something like 7 years at Crown I believe (2009 age-out Paul? someone correct me if any of that is wrong, but you get the idea). Another example, would you believe, is one of the lead trumpet soloists in Blue Devils currently, Garrett. He was in a similar body to yours in high school. He ended up marching 3 years at Surf and is aging-out this year in his 3rd year at BD. Just a couple examples for inspiration. GO for it. Ultimately, you are the one who determines how far you will go. If you want it badly enough, you'll do it.

NIGHT!

...and the questions in your response were answered in the part you didn't include... which is why I said read it again. I'd love to see it happen... and hear the tapes! But still, you can get a rough idea of how a corps is doing on a night to night basis. Perfectly? no.. but most of the same things happen the same way night to night, with a few exceptions. Do you really think a multiple panel tonight would have scored it like Debbie did on any of those other nights? I mean, it's possible, but I think it's fairly safe to say at this point probably not. The top corps today are more consistent in July than you think. I DO agree, however, that a multiple panel like that would be the BEST way to tell. Thank God for the doubles in the late season. One thing is for sure.. DCP wouldn't be this much fun if it wasn't for Debbie

That reminds me of a friend of mine from Cavies who said to me a long time ago, "We don't really care TOO much about what the judges think... If they knew what they were doing, they'd be on our staff."

Read it again... it was edited. My opinion of that score being a little far-fetched has nothing to do with the fact that I like the Bluecoats. The only part where me liking Bluecoats has anything to do with it is I MIGHT not care enough to post about it if it happened to a different corps.

So then, according to your theory, on all those separate occasions where Debbie had Bloo much lower than normal, you are saying that she "scored what she saw fit on those nights." Therefore, on three different nights, with her judging a different caption on each of those nights, the Bluecoats just so happened to not do as well in HER caption only. "Darn! That is so unlucky of them!!!"(<-sarcasm) You are missing the point. Nero was pointing out that she is constantly scoring Bloo low no matter the night NOR the caption she's judging. It is not a matter of what happened on a particular night, as you say it is; we aren't talking about one night. Her judging them low in any caption is consistent and starting to become predictable. As I said before, "while I think it is a good thing to have a judge who does not slot (wish we had more), it's still just as bad when one is that far-fetched with their scoring,consistently, to a point where bias starts to seem highly plausible." If the other judges do, in fact, have minds of their own as you say, what then are they consistently missing that Debbie is seeing? OR PERHAPS, is Debbie missing things that the other judges are rewarding? Seeing as though judging is SUPPOSED to be based on achievement these days and not ticks, I would venture that the second question is more appropriate, no? It just seems quite difficult to believe that those fine judges who have minds of their own and experience etc. all agree fairly that Bluecoats are in one ballpark while one judge thinks they are completely in another. And it's not me "scorning" a judge just because "my favorite corps didn't do well." It would be equally ridiculous if Bluecoats were ahead of Cavies by more than a full point in visual ensemble alone. Would I be happy? You bet! Praising Debbie if she did that? no... I would still say that's a little far fetched (along with a crowd of others because of Cavies track record of visual excellence for that matter).

There was quite a mix of sarcasm and seriousness at the same time lol (I will try to mark things as such next time... I know better than to be a mix of the two through text). Everything in the 2nd paragraph was serious. I was trying to say that, while I think it is a good thing to have a judge who does not slot (wish we had more), it's still just as bad when one is that far-fetched with their scoring, consistently, to a point where bias starts to seem highly plausible. I was agreeing with you.

That is quite a point. Think about that for a second... No matter what caption she scores Bluecoats in, they place MUCH lower in her's than in the other captions that night. Likewise, they always place WAY lower in her caption than they do on all the other nights with any other judge. So either she's out to lunch and has some sort of bias against Bloo, or just about the entire rest of the judging community is severely over-placing the Bluecoats. Don't you know by now that it's an accepted practice for judges to display their personal dislike for certain corps by... being a judge!?!? It's one thing for a judge to disagree with the other judges... that's fine! (That's the whole point of having many different judges, and I believe that is a good thing!) However, being so far off on a different planet is another story.

It's JUNE. Just about ANYTHING can happen in the long run.

There's a fine line between pageantry and gimmicks... ;)

I'm getting a little annoyed that some of these corps value gimmicks and use them to sell their show... not just to the audience but to the judges as well. Here is our society.. getting all pumped for people playing upside down and swinging their horns around like guitars. It's a shame that those kind of things get rewarded by judges and fans more than the part where they make incredible music. Listen to crown play a major chord and make it sound like an organ. Listen to Bluecoats make more music in their opener than most corps make in their whole show. Listen to Blue Devils string beautiful thick harmonies together one after another. That's where the REAL magic is in drum corps. Those are the things that make the hairs on the back of your neck stand up. I guess I'm on a different wavelength than most... and I'm okay with that.

go BLOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!

I'm seeing a lot of talk on here about the "what the hell am I doing here?" part. I was at the show Thursday and I'm fairly certain that was all taken out... unless I was just unconscious and missed it. Someone correct me if I'm wrong.

...Which doesn't have anything to do with how accurately and/or properly judged the shows are.

Because everyone is overall a mess right now compared to what it will be in the end. It's difficult to judge anything like that. The corps will separate themselves more clearly later in the season.

What about Bluecoats???... I'm quite surprised (not really actually) that nobody is talking about how mature the Bluecoats brass and drums are this early in the season compared to the other corps, or talking about how far they still can go with the insane repertoire they have this year. The tuba book is especially ridiculous... probably better than 2007. Also, almost nobody is talking about their percussion going from 1st to 7th. From what I saw tonight, the percussion is leaps and bounds above the rest in both cleanliness and difficulty. That being said, I personally did not see any CLEAR winner tonight... I believe this season could just about go in ANY direction at this point in the game, as far as for BD, Cavs, Bloo, Crown, and Cadets. I'm forseeing a lot more fluctuations in placements than usual, not based on scores from the past two nights, but by what I saw and heard from the corps shows.