Photographer Jim

My wife sings in two choruses which compete at the international level. Judging is in many ways similar to that of DCI in terms of captions, skill analysis, showmanship, etc. like DCI judging is done by a panel of judges who judge a single and specific caption area and who direct their entire attention to that caption for the entire performance (something few fans ever do). Similar to DC, their performances are meant to entertain, in addition to being a skill based competition. What they do to acknowledge this is provide 100 randomly selected audience members ballots where they can vote for an “audience favorite”. The winner gets an award, which is highly coveted by competing choruses. BUT ... THE FAN FAVORITE VOTING HAS NO INFLUENCE ON THE COMPETITION TO DETERMINE WHO IS THE WORLD CHAMPION. That is determined by the judging panel alone. Were DCI to adopt a similar system I’d fully support it. But when fan opinion is figured into determining the champion the competition would become much more subjective, much less skill oriented, and much less meaningful.

Love the call back to last years door and uniform in the SOA opener. Nice little touch.

They're just not ........... Colorful enough😜

Actually, I’m not sure that this is accurate. This actually the first time in past decade that Blue Knights have joined the West Coast shows during the second week. It is for sure the first time in at least ten years when they have not been present at the Moonlight Classic in Sacramento. When I purchased my tickets this year I was totally surprised that they were not in the lineup. There are good reasons for starting a week late, I’m sure, but it is an unusual start for the season for BK

I’d be interested in knowing more about those rules. The other night in Sacramento we were looking at the “bridges” used by the Academy. They appear fairly steep. From what we could see there doesn’t seem to be any texturing to their surfaces. In damp weather I question whether they would become slippery and cause problems.

I don’t think anybody who has seen Mandarins live this year has any doubts about them being a finalist corps again this year. The real question is how high up they can finish above last year. This is a very aggressive show, and they are performing it with focus and intensity. They do a great job of building the energy level throughout the show. With the right tweaks and additions this show will be impressive, memorable, and a fan favorite. It won’t surprise me at all if they are pushing that sixth spot hard come finals week. This is not your father’s Mandarins!

Mandarins had the biggest jump in score over last nights scores at Stanford! I am so enjoying the growth I’m seeing in this corps. These guys are focused. This is an aggressive show. If they can keep bringing the intensity I saw tonight, and keep making good choices about show changes, whoever is in sixth place in the rankings is going to feel the heat of this corps on their heels.

Indeed! Unfortunately that grey just disappears.

I do not like Vanguard’s uniform. There I said it. Not sure if they are pajamas or hospital scrubs. It bothers me because musically these guys are so good.

First, thank you Cavaliers for coming west this year. It was a real pleasure to have you here. This is a wonderful show. My question is how well it can be expanded upon from now until finals. Unlike both the Mandarin and Blue Devils I don’t see as much room to make major additions.

If I have one frustration with the Blue Devils its that being a west coaster I only get to see the skeleton Of their show. By the end of the season this show is going to be a monster. So much good going on and so much more room to work with.

No the preshow was much shorter tonight. Last night it was due to some technical difficulties they were having moving scores on and off the field and they just had to kill a lot of time. Tonight it was rather short and they got right to it

MANDARINS! Standing O and well deserved. So much energy in this show, and they just keep ramping it up as the show progresses. There is no doubt about it, mandarins will be in finals this year.

I am hoping the Academy decides to do a little work on their bridge props. They’re rather steep and not much texture on the surfaces. In wet weather or just a lot of humidity they could cause real problems

Loving the look of the Academy’s uniforms when seen live

Is it me or are the Troopers very young this year?

Just a FYI for those of you attending the Moonlight Classic tonight; its will be pretty warm for the first few hours of the show. Current temperature at the college is 95.3 F. and little in the way of breezes. Stay hydrated people! 😎

Be prepared; its going to be hot. Temps won't drop below 90 degrees until after 8:00 and not much in the way of any breezes predicted. Bring plenty of water. Good thing is that the sun drops behind the stadium such that the stands will get shade earlier if you are high enough up.

After watching the Stanford show on FloMarching last night, I'm very eager to see these corps live tonight in Sacramento. There were moments and details I really need to see in the live context. Can't wait.

Pardon my ignorance (Despite being a drum corps fan for over 60 years now, I'm a totally visual art oriented person) but I find that comment perplexing. If judging is being done using a rubric, and there are multiple judges used to constitute the final total score, why would an individual judge HAVE to make a numerical distinction between two corps' performances? Is there a requirement that judges cannot score two corps the same? In true rubric judging, each performance should stand alone on its own merits: past performances or placements, or the performance of another corps, would not have any bearing on where the judge places a corps on the rubrics matrix. It is quite conceivable for a judge to end up having two corps score the same. (I guess I'm saying I just don't buy this concept of "competitive inertia" at all.) [Not trying to be a jerk about this; I have just been very interested in the topic of judging in "artistic" activities lately, as my wife's two choruses have both qualified for, and are headed to an international competition this fall. In our conversations it strikes me that the judging in both drum corps and chorus competitions are incredibly similar in both content and application.]

I see this as a complete absurdity. At the very least, it is an example of some unfounded conspiracy theory. Look, there is nothing wrong with being a homer for a corps, and being disappointed when they don't score as well as one might like, or being annoyed when a corps one is not particularly fond of scores well. But being a homer to the point where one wants to completely change the underlying competitive fabric of a competitive activity goes beyond reason. There is, of course, a certain element of subjectivity in judging any "art" activity. After all, the outcome of the activity cannot be quantified as easily as say a track race or a basketball game, where the victory goes to the person or team that completes the race in the fastest time, or puts the ball through the hoop the most amount of times. But, that does not mean that competitions in artistic endeavors are left to totally subjective whims. Judges in drum corps (or choral singing which my wife is involved with, or visual art competitions which I am involved in) use rubrics which are much less subjective than many "fans" recognize. Because those rubrics are applied by multiple judges paying specific attention to a specific aspect of the performance, their ability to make an accurate evaluation of the technical skills of the performers (as defined by the competition framework of the activity), judging results are much more accurate than those of the unskilled spectator who may have pronounced biases, and who is viewing things from a broad rather than skill specific position. I'll go a step further and say that the proposal here would, in the long run, result in a deterioration of corps' quality. If mastery of technical skills are no longer specifically evaluated, there is little incentive to work hard to master those skills. Corps performances would degenerate into who can put the most wizz-bang effects on the field and/or who can promote themselves the best so as to garner the votes of the homers. From a competition standpoint the activity would become much less based on merit, and MUCH more subjectivity driven. Complete absurdity. [Sidenote: In my wife's chorus competitions at the international level, the organization does give a reasonable nod to audience reaction. At the beginning of a competition 100 randomly choosen audience members are given ballots. They can pick their favorite chorus from the competition. These ballots are collected at the end of the competition. The winner is awarded an Audience Choice trophy. This result is entirely seperate from the technical judging and results. If this proposed app were used in this way, I would have no objections. I could not support any suggestion of this app being used to determine or influence the results of the competition itself.]

I believe it might happen. My next question is where will Blue Knights fit into the mix?

After tonight’s scores Mandarins are alone in 7th place in the rankings!

I’m starting to feel like I know Rickie Fowler personally.

The alternative is running the Rocket Mortgage commercial thirty times to fill in the intermission time.