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July 29 Run-Down There were a few changes in placement in Open Class based on head-to-head competition results. River City Rhythm moved ahead of Louisiana Stars and Heat Wave moved ahead of Raiders. In World Class, Blue Devils expanded its lead a bit over Bluecoats and has now won three of the last four head-to-head meetings. The corps meet one more time prior to Indianapolis on Saturday night of Allentown.

July 28 Run-Down Just one show tonight but it was an important one with the Top 9 and 12/13 all in competition and what a show it was in terms of analysis. Blue Devils topped Bluecoats for the second time this season with a margin of victory of 0.075. The Cavaliers not only moved up from 6th to 5th over Boston Crusaders but also closed the gap to Carolina Crown considerably. A commentary piece coming into the show was the fact that Boston Crusaders was before intermission. I don't know if that worked in The Cavaliers favor, but it is pretty clear it did not help Carolina Crown to go on last tonight. At the top, it should also be pointed out that while the blue corps battle it out, Santa Clara Vanguard lost ground. The Cadets also caught up quite a bit to Blue Stars. Quite a lot of point movement the day after DCI Southeastern Championship. With three nights in a row with most of these corps, let's take a look at a three-day trendline... Net score increase from Fri-Sun Blue Devils - 0.650 (+.138, +.512) Bluecoats - 0.650 (+.338, +.312) Santa Clara Vanguard - 0.825 (+.675, +.150) Carolina Crown - 1.500 (+1.513, -.130) The Cavaliers - 1.900 (+1.113, +.787) Boston Crusaders - 0.300 (+.700, -.400) Blue Knights - 0.375* (different show on Friday) (-.275, +.650) Blue Stars - 0.100 (+.163, -.063) The Cadets - 0.600 (-.100, +.700)

I have two tickets in the Friends of DCI section for the first time and would love to swap with someone else so that I can watch each night from a different section. Would be happy to adjust differences in face value as necessary. My tickets are Section 541, Row 2 for each of the 3 nights. I have no interest in going up to the 600s but happy to consider lower.

Atlanta Analysis Note that in 2017, the DCI Southeastern Championship did not include all World Class corps. Asterisks in the graphic at the bottom indicate corps that did not have scores on this Saturday night in 2017. The Medalists Despite a swap at the top on Friday night, there are no changes in the medalist race from San Antonio to Atlanta. There were no changes from Atlanta to finals in 2017 or 2018. The spread from 1st to 2nd remains very tight at 0.125 although it was 0.200 in 2018 and 0.013 in 2017. Third place is closer to first place in 2019 at 0.513 points than in 2018 (0.675) or 2017 (1.450). In my humble opinion, this is still a three-way fight for the championship. Carolina Crown is still 1.662 points out of third place so it appears the Top 3 is solidly in place. The Top 6 The 4th-6th spots remain identical to San Antonio and the mid-season analysis. No corps moved out of this grouping in 2018 or 2017 from mid-season to San Antonio, from San Antonio to Atlanta, or from Atlanta to finals although 5 and 6 swapped from San Antonio to Atlanta in 2018 and 4 and 5 did the same in 2019 from Atlanta to finals. Carolina Crown leads Boston by 0.913 for the #4 spot, a significant increase from a week ago when the spread was 0.350. The Cavaliers continue to narrow the gap to 5th place from two points at mid-season to 1.013 in San Antonio and just 0.062 in Atlanta. While the 4-6 group is further from the Top 3 in 2019 than it was in 2018 or 2017, the spread within the group is much tighter this year with less than a point separating 6th from 4th The Top 12 No changes here from San Antonio either. This grouping has seen change in previous years from Atlanta to finals with Mandarins passing Phantom Regiment for 10th in 2018 and Blue Stars passing Crossmen for 10th in 2017. Just a coincidence or should we be paying attention to Crossmen moving up on Mandarins? The spread between the two corps was 0.300 in San Antonio and 0.837 in Atlanta. More intriguing this year may be Phantom Regiment closing the spread between 11th and 12th to 0.488 in Atlanta after being down 1.262 in San Antonio. Not only does this put pressure on Crossmen but it also suggests that Spirit of Atlanta has a tougher road ahead to fight for a finalist spot. The corps is now back 1.325 points compared to 0.601 points back last year when it left Atlanta in the same position. Largest Changes from 2018 (Atlanta to Atlanta) +8 - Vessel (39th to 31st) +6 - The Battalion (33rd to 27th) +6 - Southwind (34th to 28th) -6 - Guardians (29th to 35th) 5 with +4 (Impulse, Jersey Surf, Pacific Crest, Spartans, Watchmen) The Battles Here are the tightest spreads in the 2019 Top 15 as of Atlanta: 0.000 points - #14 The Academy & #14 Colts -- Tied after trading the #14 spot mid-season vs. San Antonio 0.062 points - #5 Boston Crusaders over #6 The Cavaliers -- This wasn't even one of the top 5 closest races in San Antonio. 0.125 points - #1 Bluecoats over #2 Blue Devils -- Most attention is here especially after the Murfreesboro flip. 0.262 points - #7 Blue Knights over #8 Blue Stars -- Blue Stars have been consistent in their fight for this spot. 0.388 points - #2 Blue Devils over #3 Santa Clara Vanguard -- Still hanging out for an all-out race to Indy. Here are the tightest spreads in the 2019 Top 15 as of San Antonio: 0.200 points - #1 Bluecoats over #2 Blue Devils -- How exciting to have the closest spread at the top! 0.300 points - #10 Mandarins over #11 Crossmen -- The corps have traded wins so this makes sense. 0.325 points - #7 Blue Knights over #8 Blue Stars -- Bad news for The Cadets to see these two corps battling it out for 7th place. 0.350 points - #4 Carolina Crown over #5 Boston Crusaders -- These corps have also had some back and forth throughout the season. 0.538 points - #2 Blue Devils over #3 Santa Clara Vanguard -- Would generate a lot of excitement to see this stay tight. Here were the tightest spreads in the 2018 Top 15 and what happened as of Atlanta: 0.050 points - #5 The Cavaliers over #6 Boston Crusaders -- Boston moved into #5 by finals. 0.100 points - #10 Phantom Regiment over #11 Mandarins -- Mandarins moved into #10 by finals. 0.200 points - #1 Santa Clara Vanguard over #2 Blue Devils -- Santa Clara Vanguard held on for the win. 0.325 points - #8 Blue Stars over #9 Blue Knights -- Blue Stars held on to #8. 0.475 points - #2 Blue Devils over #3 Bluecoats -- Blue Devils held on to #2. Here were the tightest spreads in the 2018 Top 15 and what happened as of San Antonio: 0.163 points - #5 The Cavaliers over #6 Boston Crusaders -- Boston moved into #5 by finals. 0.187 points - #8 Blue Knights over #9 Blue Stars -- Blue Stars moved into #8 by finals. 0.288 points - #9 Blue Stars over #10 Phantom Regiment -- Blue Stars moved up and Phantom Regiment moved down. 0.300 points - #2 Blue Devils over #3 Bluecoats -- Held. 0.363 points - #14 Spirit of Atlanta over #15 Colts -- Both corps moved up over #13 The Academy. And for 2017 San Antonio: 0.200 points - #10 Crossmen over #11 Blue Stars -- Blue Stars moved into #10 by finals. 0.300 points - #12 Mandarins over #13 Madison Scouts -- Madison Scouts moved into #12 by finals. 0.450 points - #2 Santa Clara Vanguard over #3 Carolina Crown -- Held. 0.475 points - #1 Blue Devils over #2 Santa Clara Vanguard -- Held. 0.600 points - #6 Boston Crusaders over #7 The Cadets -- Held. Top 15 Atlanta Analysis Corps 2019 2018 2017 Mid-Season San Antonio Atlanta Finals Mid-Season San Antonio Atlanta Finals Mid-Season San Antonio Atlanta/* Finals Bluecoats 1 1 1 3 3 3 3 4 4 4 5 Santa Clara Vanguard 2 3 3 1 1 1 1 2 2 2 2 Blue Devils 3 2 2 2 2 2 2 1 1 1 1 Carolina Crown 4 4 4 5 4 4 4 3 3 3 3 Boston Crusaders 5 5 5 6 6 5 5 6 6 6* 6 The Cavaliers 6 6 6 4 5 6 6 5 5 5 4 Blue Stars 7 8 8 8 9 8 8 10 11 11 10 Blue Knights 8 7 7 9 8 9 9 8 9 9 8 The Cadets 9 9 9 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 Mandarins 10 10 10 11 11 11 10 13 12 13* 13 Phantom Regiment 11 12 12 10 10 10 11 9 8 8 9 Crossmen 12 11 11 13 12 12 12 11 10 10* 11 Spirit of Atlanta 13 13 13 14 14 13 13 Colts 14 15 14 15 15 14 15 15 The Academy 15 14 14 12 13 14 15 14 14 14 14 Madison Scouts 15 12 13 12* 12 Troopers 15 15*

I'm going to go a little different...I think we may see an unusually high number of placement changes by finals despite the consistency we have seen so far. This is supported, I think, by the super tight margins in several places and judges that appear to be calling their captions as they see them each night which could create opportunity for swings if the stars align. I doubt all of the shifts I have below will happen, but it will be an exciting two weeks. 1. Santa Clara Vanguard 2. Blue Devils 3. Bluecoats 4. The Cavaliers 5. Boston Crusaders 6. Carolina Crown 7. Mandarins 8. Blue Stars 9. Blue Knights 10. Crossmen 11. The Cadets 12. Phantom Regiment

July 27 Run-Down After one night in second place, Bluecoats wins the DCI Southeastern Championship to go two for two in the regional competitions. The Top 3 are separated by just 0.513 points and will meet head-to-head again on July 28 and August 2. There were no other placement changes in the Top 12. The Cavaliers narrowed the gap to Boston Crusaders to less than a tenth of a point and there is probably still room for movement within the 7-10 spots based on various wins/losses over the past few weeks, maybe even through 11 given the fact Crossmen beat Mandarins at times. Phantom Regiment established a larger margin over Spirit of Atlanta for the last finalist position. There appears to be a battle brewing for the last broadcast spot as well with the tie in 14th and Pacific Crest just behind them in 16th. Every drum corps going to Indianapolis was in competition for the first time this season so there are areas to watch further down the list as well. The Open Class Top 3 is well established with Spartans, Legends, and Gold. Gold does not meet up with either of the other top corps until July 31. With Blue Devils B and Vanguard Cadets done for the season, there are two more spots in the Top 25 up for grabs as well. Right now, 7th Regiment, Seattle Cascades, and Southwind are the likeliest contenders for moving on to Friday night. A complete analysis of the post-regional statistics will be posted later.

July 26 Run-Down Here comes the sun (doo doo doo) Here comes the sun, and I say It's all right The Blue Devils topped Bluecoats by 0.075 points, ending Bluecoats aim for an undefeated season. This is not that big of a deal in terms of competitiveness, more about the idea of being undefeated. More significant I think is the fact that Carolina Crown increased its score by just 0.575 points after several days off compared to all of the other Top 6 corps with less time between show. Madison Scouts showed a strong improvement and beat Troopers head-to-head as a result. There was also a bit of a reset in Open Class with numerous corps that have been out of competition for awhile coming back into the fold at the same time. Spartans, Legends, and Gold appear to be the clear favorites for medalist spots in Indy at this point.

July 25 Run-Down No head-to-head placement changes in the one show last night. The corps that were off a couple days went up more than the corps that were not as one would expect. The most interesting non-improvement goes to Genesis. The corps improved by just 0.325 points with three days between performances. The Top 7 are all in head-to-head competition tonight setting up two exciting days in a row.

You're right. I usually say "first time since the corps returned to World Class" or something like that.

July 24 Run-Down For all the talk about slotting, there sure have been some interesting moves this year. Mandarins beat The Cadets for the first time ever in head-to-head competition joining Blue Knights and Blue Stars in doing that for the first time. In the same show, Phantom Regiment closed the gap on Crossmen significantly, pulling within 0.650 points.

July 23 Run-Down No changes in placements among the corps in competition tonight.

July 22 Run-Down Troopers made a significant move coming out of San Antonio. With a 2.637 point increase, Troopers passed Madison Scouts in head-to-head competition moving them into 19th place overall and 17th place in World Class. There were no other head-to-head placement changes. In the Top 6, The Cavaliers had a good night with a 1.100 point increase, bringing the gap to Carolina Crown down to under a point. Blue Knights was the only Top 12 corps to lose ground with a -1.000 point change. The Cadets gained on Blue Stars while Mandarins gained on The Cadets. And Spirit of Atlanta is pushing into home show regional narrowing the gap to the #12 spot to 0.700 points.

Saw the show there last year. It is the BEST! The private bathroom areas on the club levels, the affordably food and drink (including beers!). Really great!

July 21 Run-Down No shows this year but there was one show last year.

San Antonio Analysis The Medalists Since the mid-season analysis one week earlier, Blue Devils passed Santa Clara Vanguard to move into the silver medal spot. No medalist positions changed from San Antonio to finals in 2017 or 2018. That said, the spread from 1st to 2nd in 2019 is just 0.200 compared to 1.350 in 2018 and 0.475 in 2017. Third place is closer to first place in 2019 at 0.738 points than in 2018 (1.650) or 2017 (0.925) as well. Despite the tightness of the Top 3, the 4th place corps is further away from medalist position this year (1.612) than 2018 (0.587) or 2017 (1.150). Conclusion? For an undefeated corps, Bluecoats sure has its work cut out to maintain that lead for the remainder of the season with both Blue Devils and Santa Clara Vanguard hot on its heels. Based on trends in previous years and wider spreads to 4th place this year, it seems unlikely that Carolina Crown or Boston Crusaders will penetrate the Top 3. The Top 6 No changes at all in the 4th-6th spots since the mid-season analysis. No corps moved out of this grouping in 2018 or 2017 from mid-season to San Antonio or from San Antonio to finals although there has been movement within the group in each of those years. Carolina Crown leads Boston Crusaders by just 0.350 points for the #4 spot, the tightest in the past three seasons at this point (1.675 in 2018 and 1.025 in 2017). The Cavaliers narrowed the gap to 5th place from two points at mid-season to just 1.013 points in San Antonio. The Top 12 If the current Top 12 holds, the corps will be the same for two years in a row. There were no changes in the make-up of the Top 12 from San Antonio to finals in 2018. In 2017, Madison Scouts moved up from 13th to take the last finalist spot from Mandarins. From mid-season to San Antonio this year, there was some minor movement within the groupings of three (7-9 and 10-12). The spread from 1st to 12th right now is 10.600 points compared to 11.475 in 2018 and 11.775 in 2017. There has been some commentary about the overall strength of the Top 12 and the tighter spreads suggest that to be the case. Bad news for corps trying to break into finals, though, as the spread from 13th to 12th is larger this year (1.738) than in 2018 (1.125) or 2017 (0.300). Largest Changes from 2018 (San Antonio to San Anton) +6 - Gold (26th to 20th) +6 - Shadow (43rd to 37th) -6 - Guardians (30th to 36th) +5 - Southwind (34th to 29th) +5 - River City Rhythm (39th to 34th) 4 with +4 (Blue Devils B, Golden Empire, Vessel, Incognito) and 2 with -4 (Troopers, Music City) The Battles Here are the tightest spreads in the 2019 Top 15: 0.200 points - #1 Bluecoats over #2 Blue Devils -- How exciting to have the closest spread at the top! 0.300 points - #10 Mandarins over #11 Crossmen -- The corps have traded wins so this makes sense. 0.325 points - #7 Blue Knights over #8 Blue Stars -- Bad news for The Cadets to see these two corps battling it out for 7th place. 0.350 points - #4 Carolina Crown over #5 Boston Crusaders -- These corps have also had some back and forth throughout the season. 0.538 points - #2 Blue Devils over #3 Santa Clara Vanguard -- Would generate a lot of excitement to see this stay tight. Here were the tightest spreads in the 2018 Top 15 and what happened: 0.163 points - #5 The Cavaliers over #6 Boston Crusaders -- Boston moved into #5 by finals. 0.187 points - #8 Blue Knights over #9 Blue Stars -- Blue Stars moved into #8 by finals. 0.288 points - #9 Blue Stars over #10 Phantom Regiment -- Blue Stars moved up and Phantom Regiment moved down. 0.300 points - #2 Blue Devils over #3 Bluecoats -- Held. 0.363 points - #14 Spirit of Atlanta over #15 Colts -- Both corps moved up over #13 The Academy. And for 2017: 0.200 points - #10 Crossmen over #11 Blue Stars -- Blue Stars moved into #10 by finals. 0.300 points - #12 Mandarins over #13 Madison Scouts -- Madison Scouts moved into #12 by finals. 0.450 points - #2 Santa Clara Vanguard over #3 Carolina Crown -- Held. 0.475 points - #1 Blue Devils over #2 Santa Clara Vanguard -- Held. 0.600 points - #6 Boston Crusaders over #7 The Cadets -- Held.

July 20 Run-Down The night we were all waiting for! I'll do a more detailed year over year comparison post in a bit but first I'll do a quick summary of the night here. DCI New Hampshire - Goffstown, NH Spartans came out guns blazing with a 11.150 point increase over its last competition on July 1. Spartans and Legends are now in the Open Class #2 and #3 spots among corps heading to Indy. Les Stentors returned to the field of competition after a yearlong hiatus. Gold Showcase - Vista, CA Blue Devils B and Vanguard Cadets went out with strong scores placing them #16 and #17 among all corps and #1 and #2 in Open Class on their last night of competition. Their scores were high enough to have been in medal contention at last year's Open Class championship so these two corps' names will likely remain high on the ranking list even as they stop competing. DCI Southwestern Championship - San Antonio, TX Bluecoats continues to find a way to win, maintaining an undefeated season by a 0.200 point margin. Placements stayed the same all the way through the top 6 although Boston Crusaders narrowed the spread with Carolina Crown to just 0.350 points. Blue Knights and Blue Stars proved their victories over The Cadets were real. If these placements hold through finals, we will see historic finishes for Blue Stars and The Cadets -- on opposite ends of the experience spectrum as Blue Stars would have its highest finish since returning to World Class and The Cadets its lowest placement ever since first joining the finalist ranks. Mandarins bested Crossmen by 0.300 points and Phantom Regiment earned the #12 spot with a pretty good lead over Spirit of Atlanta. Madison Scouts are down in 17th place which would rank the lowest finish for that corps. There were very large score increases down at the bottom of World Class with Genesis breaking 70 and coming out ahead of Music City and Jersey Surf. Despite a nearly 4-point increase, Seattle Cascades remain several points back at the bottom of the World Class standings.

Let's see if I can the rest of these to post from my viewing partner... The Cadets - 7/10 -- loved the whole performance and then it went down when the "do better" part happened Blue Knights - 7/10 -- ...I remember nothing about this performance Blue Stars - 8/10 -- good show, it all flowed, I was entertained, "when you they're supposed to be in a straight line, they were in a straight line" The Cavaliers - 9.1/10 -- most emotion, cohesive Carolina Crown - 9.5/10 -- so quick, so much happened, they are great Boston Crusaders - 9/8/10 -- best show, best music, best everything so far The Bluecoats -- I feel like none of my scores count now. That was amazing. Santa Clara Vanguard -- That was a 10 and nothing else counts. That was a show! Blue Devils -- Least favorite of the top 3

Everytime I try to reply, I get a 403 forbidden error.

Mandarins - 8.5/10 -- Liked the whole show, it was good, it all worked

Crossmen - 9.0 -- that was a whole show, a performance, the first one, my favorite so far

Phantom Regiment - 7.25/10 -- like the ending, first group to use the field

I've been watching today's broadcast with someone with extremely limited drum corps exposure. Here are her thoughts so far: Music City - 5/10 -- too corny Genesis - 4/10 -- it was fine Troopers - 4.5/10 -- ... Pacific Crest - 7/10 - I like the costumes, the girls look good, like the black and white Madison Scouts - 3.8/10 - They need a new person in charge. Colts - 7.5/10 -- Understood the theme for once Spirit of Atlanta - 8//10 -- liked the energy & costume changes The Academy - 6.5/10 -- boring and disjointed

I like the effect and its tie-in (no pun intended) to the show concept. It just seems like there were so many problems with it that performers were in danger throughout the opener and the closer.

Tons of credits to the tubas who figured out a way not to die at the end of the closer.

I'm usually very positive on here but these "grid" lines seem like a catastrophe waiting to happen. 60 seconds in and multiple performers already tripped...