bluestarscg

I actually marched w/Swanny 1 year (Blue Stars 2001). He's easy to pick out anyway, he's super tall! Bummer about the t-bar; it did kinda look like he was holding the drums up come to think of it. In any case glad to hear no harm done. ccdrummer - I took the scores from the recap on the DCI site. Whoops. I didn't stick around for the DMO finale; went out to the buses to visit friends still marching. Thanks for the fix. On Canos and MGC: I also think Marion is way ahead of Canos at this point. It could just be the "first on" effect that dropped Marion's score, but who knows. I don't think they should have been only .15 apart. Looking at the recap again, it just doesn't look right, especially in the GE department. Marion's music sounded better to me, and their stamina towards the end of the show was better as well. The only caption Canos should be winning over Marion is guard IMO, though that's the only thing I'm any kind of qualified to be judging. *shrugs*

Edit - Lowbrassman and I were replying at the same time. That's a relief to hear! I was afraid he was injured badly since a staffer carried his drum off the field for him. And minimaster - thanks for the clarification. I was pretty sure it was at least a five, but it's kinda muddy yet and the girl who's rotations I was counting dropped. :(

Standard disclaimer: being a Blue Star alum and staffer, I am of course biased. Marion Glory Cadets has a great show this year. I recognized much of the music from BS '99, but I think their versions will serve them well. The drumline is larger than this corps has fielded in recent years, and they are playing clean for this point in the season. Hopefully their book gets beefed up a bit. The guard only has 4 girls right now; I hope they pick up more. The horns are putting out a good quality sound already despite low numbers (which limits their volume potential). Overall a good performance and a show that will take them far in Orlando. 41.40 Blue Stars have great musical selections this year. I saw them in Woodstock as well and thought they turned in a better perfomance there, but this one was certainly respectable. My bias allows me to forgive the guard for their inability to handle the wind; I know they are a young group that has a lot of potential and a great touring staff. They'll come around. The drums had a solid show, and the horns struggled at times. The large point spread leads me to believe the judges agree with my assessment: this is the show to beat this year in D3. 49.40 Americanos colorguard is always impressive. They carry themselves with a maturity and performance quality often lacking in D3. If only they had more of their book written! The drumline and hornline are unusually small for this group, and are having a lot of issues with their music right now. 41.25 Pioneer... well, you love em or you hate em. Year after year I enjoy their performances, personally. They aren't as demanding or as awe-inspiring as the top corps, but they are entertaining. I hope this corps is around for a long time, and I hope they get better every year instead of just every day. 55.25 Colts had a great opening statement. The guard is pretty clean and has most of their book written. Aside from that though, the show left me kinda flat. The jazzy number was fun, but would have made a better closer than centerpiece IMO. 64.15 Cadets are a corps I don't usually much care for, and sadly this show is no exception. I agree with prior sentiments about confusion at the show's beginning. The guard looks like they're in practice gear and spinning with practice flags. While the musicianship is great, I don't like the Maleguena arrangement; it's all chopped up. That song builds wonderfully all on its own, no need to skip around. Rocky Point was definitely the highlight, but still, overall, 79.15 Cavaliers are again the corps to beat. The drill is creative, the horns sound great, and the guard is super talented. The drums need a little work yet, but they'll get there. On the guard unis: I actually liked them. They fit the show, and the color didn't bother me since the guard is clearly a focal point this year. The end is a little abrupt and disappointing right now, but I wouldn't be a bit surprised to hear they simply aren't finished with it yet. Regardless, a well deserved 80.65 Phantom Regiment clearly turned it up a notch tonight for their home show; the Woodstock show only one night before was far inferior. I like the new unis, but I wish there were more color on the field with the guard costumes. The orange rifles annoyed me, though once it's clean the ensemble quad (or was it a 5?) will be hot. As for the corps proper, the music is great. The drumline is leaps and bounds better than last years' (although one tenor marched but didn't play - injury?), and the horns have an awesome sound. I think they are headed in the right direction and in my perfect world they would beat Cadets this year. 76.20 My $16 was well spent! A great show to watch all around.

Well, I don't know if it counts as an injury or not, but towards the end of tour in 2000 my wrists were really hating it. I had to lay in bed an extra 10 minutes every morning (we always had an hour for breakfast, etc) just stretching my arms out. At shows, my forearms started to go numb. I never even noticed it until one night I dropped completely randomly. I didn't even realize the flag was not in my hands until it hit my feet! It was scary and strange, and I was mad at myself for dropping. To combat this, I started applying extra strength Ben-Gay to my forearms at the end of warmup before we hit the field. It burned/tingled like crazy, but I could definitely feel my arms! I even had most of the guard doing it by finals - we also had a couple bum shoulders and knees to contend with that year. Crazy!

I'm marching Tapestry (IO), and we're performing to the song "Bridges" by Tracy Chapman. What we have done so far (~1:30) is very cool, and I'm really excited about this winter! I too wish everyone best of luck! See you in Dayton. ^_^

Hot pants all the way! Of recent years, it's difficult to narrow it down. I really liked Phantom's costumes this year, and Cavaliers. I don't care how "Tron"-like they were, I was impressed by the effect during the ballad when the colors came together and played off each other. I also enjoyed Phantom 1996, 2000, and 2001; BD 1995-2000; SCV 2000; and too many more to name!