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I think it would take more than one year for this to be a problem. IF Cavies were to end up around 8th this year and stay in that position for 2 or 3 more years, then YES, it would IMO cause a talent recruiting problem. I think the numbers of young men would still come for tryouts, but the overall abilities of the recruitment pool would suffer. I've talked to a lot of kids at tryouts and being on a winning corps is very high on their list. They like to migrate to a corps they see as a favorite or one that is moving up. The kids also seem to know a lot more about the staff than I do. They have their favorite educators and will do almost anything to tryout for that corps. A staff change, IMO, will change recruiting much more than last year's championship placement (unless you finished 1st or 2nd). Having said that, I dont think the Cavies will have a problem just because of one year with the rebuilding of staff and such.

MAYBE it is time to scale DOWN the number of members per corps - pushing some talented kids into other corps and raising their performance level? (....this is sounding like parity isn't it......just a thought)

Congrats on breaking that 80 mark tonight! 81.7 Can't wait to see you tomorrow, Saturday and Sunday! SUTA!!!

You KNOW FOR A FACT that Teal didn't have the money to put down on the original contract? YOU have read such contract and KNOW FOR A FACT that Teal did not pay the amount asked for by the bus company - thereby stranding the kids when the money ran out? REALLY? So, you know for a FACT that Teal was in trouble BEFORE the season started? The contract issue DIDN'T CAUSE the FINANCIAL issue? (I hope you dont believe that every corps should have enough money lying around to be able to finance another complete tour in case the bus contract is broken! That is a major part of any corps financial budget....unless you believe they didnt budget it at all.) ....I will wait and see before accusing people I don't personally know. I HAVE made bus contracts in the past and almost stranded my co-workers by not reading the fine print that the bus driver was not going to stay with us until the end of the event we were taken to unless he was paid for his idle hours. ...I smell something similar here. Not that Teal is blameless. Someone messed up there. But I reserve any shots at the financial people there until more facts come forward.

The more I think about this, the more I see it as a bus contract problem. A lot of corps 'rent' busses for the tour BUT have their own volunteer drivers. Mostly school bus drivers that load up and tour with their favorite corps - on a volunteer basis. What if Teal contracted buses AND drivers? Did they read the fine print? Did they write their own clauses into the contract? Professional bus drivers I have contracted with (ones that come with day trip tours, casino tours....) must be provided with a hotel room and restaurant meals. Home cooking for weeks? Sleeping on gym floors? Teal staff might have messed up there, but until more facts appear, I'm looking at the bus contract.

IMO we have REALLY jumped the gun here! We need to start with one FACT FIRST! Did Teal's finances CAUSE the bus problem OR Did the bus problem cause the financial problem? BIG DIFFERENCE between the two! Not many corps have the money to fill TWO bus contracts in one year!!! I'm thinking that possibly the bus contracting company or the drivers did not understand that this was more than a trip to Massachusetts - and bailed out of the contract leaving Teal having to come up with more contract money. How would you plan financially for THAT?

I was looking at the Stanford recording to be sure. Asheville is right.....I didn't want to say anything before looking at the recording. The standstill picture is before the drum feature/beheading event in the show. Several guard members come out with long poles and meet up with brass members. The brass member attaches a streamer to the pole, and at the proper time the guard member pulls away the pole which has a red streamer attached to it. Everyone is watching the beheading, so I think this part of the show is often missed. The streamer is bright RED and made of very light weight fabric. I wondered how the streamer is attached. The picture gives us an idea. There is a black end on the streamer (matches, somewhat, the coin), which is then attached to the pole by the brass member and the guard member pulls it out. ....let's watch the next few shows and see!

I can't wait to see what you guys are talking about when I see the corps on Thursday night in 'Salem' Wisconsin (I think the stadium is still in Paddock Lake!). When I placed the patches on the jackets the only 'pocket' was formed when the patch was sewn to the jacket (the coin is open in the center rectangle). There was no fabric pocket attached to the back of the patch. MAYBE that has changed? I can't imagine removing all those patches sewing a pocket to the patch and sewing everything back on......but it is possible. Haven't seen the show (other than on FN) for several weeks, so I dont know if the staff has changed what is stored and/or used in those pockets! Everyone is so fixated on the 'beheading' that I believe everyone misses some great guard and brass interaction during that time. Could it be an item from that part of the show that Glasgow saw. Was it BLACK or a deep RED???? Either way, good catch everyone who noticed! Can't wait to see how Phantom does this week - especially in Minneapolis on Saturday and back in Rockford at the SoS TOC event! Blessings and much happiness to the corps!!!!

This is so sad! Hopefully most, if not all, the membership can move to other corps to fill holes or make corps larger. Management can now learn from this experience, make some changes, start planning for next season and come back even stronger. My best to all the staff and members. See ya next season!

Great pictures Liahona! Thank you! Whoopie! Don't have to stay up til midnight for scores! Thanks everyone!!!

There's one thing that I wish more DCP posters understood, there is a degree of difficulty with each score. As the season progresses, so must the abilities of the corps members. When one level of 'achievement' is reached the corps is judged on the next. The degree of difficulty rises, so even if you have a 'bad' night, you will still score above someone with a lesser degree of difficulty program that is near perfect. It's like diving competition. A swan dive, no matter how clean and perfect is not going to have the added degree of difficulty multiplier of a backwards, double twist, pike whatever - even if the diver doesnt go cleanly into the water.....its the multiplier for added difficulty. The imperfect difficult dive will win every time over the perfect less difficult. So we need to look at the degree of difficulty between the corps and then the execution and we need to learn the degrees of difficulty. I wish DCI did more to help us understand the degrees, the levels, the competition is graded on.....not that it would change some opinions on DCP, but all of us would have a better understanding of what the judges are looking for and judging on. (fyi. I went to a judging class years ago in Champaign IL and got to see the judging sheets at that time. It was an eye-opening experience that lead me to look at things I had not thought of looking for previously. By now, I'm sure the sheets have changed a great deal, and the members are expected to achieve even more.)

DCI Minneapolis is going to be very, very interesting this Saturday! It will be our first chance to see how the East/Midwest/West tours match up and will finally sort out the scoring. ....then, we can discuss the strengths and weaknesses of our favorite corps using realistic numbers and results. Can't wait!!!!

They were beyond LOUD! Anyway, thanks for ending the broadcast on a good note BK. I hope everyone is OK after seeing a few falls. ....now, send that rain on to the middle Midwest!

Wow is it raining! Great job BK!

Man, do these shows sound odd without the electronics!!! Something missing here..... BK sure does cover the field. Group left, group top, group center ..... Are the drums really lime green or is it my tv? Lovin' this, go BK!

Oh, oh. BK gets set up and it looks like more rain!!! Delay!

Check this, maybe I am wrong, but I believe the term West Coast inflation came from the early shows out west being scored seemingly higher than Midwest and East. The last couple of years with Midwest and East based corps starting June out west, the scores seem to be more equal. DCI Minneapolis will give us our first reading on if it has happened this year. As for BD always coming out hot - why wouldn't they, they have 2 feeder corps to start the members out early. IMO that makes a BIG difference!

Keep the faith! EVERY show is going to have some tweeks, some changes and some additions. No need to throw everything out there in huge chunks just to leapfrog up in the scores....then stall or fail to really improve for the rest of the season Phantom is known for saving the biggest changes for the biggest stages - each regional becomes a bigger stage and this opera presentation is just getting started. Besides, didn't they just WIN this show? What more could they do??? Let's see what happens tonight....remember the tortoise and the hare? How was that competition at the 1/4 mile post? Certainlly not saying Phantom is that slow (they are winning and keeping the winning margin), but slow and steady works as does leaving your best for the last week.

I'm assuming this 'lighting' problem was due to the camera lens having problems with the bright sunlight earlier in the show? The stadium turf was very well lit. Few shadows and no lighting dead spots. Does different types of stadium lights show up differently on video?

True! They stopped and we stood to clap. Very entertaining encore! Thanks Scouts!!!

The lighting is excellent! And the grass - its perfect ( and artificial)

Pio up. The wave recording and 2 bell chimes gets old. Over and over.... Field is almost covered in shade.

One GOOD thing at Whitewater, the stands face away from the setting sun. Most of us might actually be sitting in shade! BUT, it might also block any cooling breezes coming from the west. .....its just the walk up the stadium steps or up the blacktop road that is going to be a killer in this heat!

True, true! An 'awe look at that' moment. But until that first 2 minutes is over, I fear for some corps members lives in this heat and humidity! ....was sad when the drum conductor 'uniform' changed......or is that back?

I'd agree with your synth point. But, there was one corps (and I can't remember which one it was!) that was using a lot of synth and I found out that a that it was electric drum pads! I'm hoping to see them tonight at Whitewater.......so I can remember what corps it was because I am starting to like the sound - even tho it is just a synth hidden under drum pads. To me its 'better' than sound coming from a keyboard with buttons of pre-recorded sound/voice to push. The corps are finally starting to show distint style and showing us where they need improvement before Finals. I am very positive on this season and I believe there will be some new names in the top 12 and maybe even the top 8! NOW....is there something someone can do about all this HEAT!!! (as in hot humid weather)