N.E. Brigand

Love Bloo's brass sound, wished the show flowed more. Another close-up that should be briefer: of the trumpet-baritone-cymbal trio, because the cymbal player has the goofiest look on his face. Consistent, though: I felt that way last night and the night before, too.

Love how Bluecoats' opening hit drill is a flag shape.

I find it odd that SCVC was penalized for warming up too near this stadium, where there was no chance of their being heard inside, while Bluecoats could shout so loudly during Phantom's Akron show that it was audible to the audience both live and in the cinecast and get no penalty for that. Not to mention all the shows during the year where quiet moments in the show of the corps on the field are interrupted by other corps' percussion in the distance.

I agree, although I would say the same of horn soloists as well. Show where they are on the field (something the broadcast did not do with SCVC's opening soloists), give us a brief close-up, and then quickly cut to something moving!

I see that Michael Boo wrote on his blog, just before 8 p.m.: "By the way, I know nothing about the technical aspects of the live broadcast and I have no way of connecting with those who do." He must have been getting an earful--because there was no one else taking complaints!

Made it all the way through Cavs' show with no problems. I wish I could have seen Boston's show without gaps to decide who's better!

Cavs' guard has yet to keep that line straight as it moves left to right across the field in the opener. Can they finally do it tonight?

Got all the way through Madison's show, live, with no skips, to all appearances because they switched to a much poorer image feed. But I'll take it! ...and then I get to hear Brandt Crocker repeat himself three times because the skipping returns right after their show finishes ... and then the feed freezes altogether.

And now Boston is frozen just before the end of their show, following six 30-second jump-back-and-skip-forward moments.

Apparently Boston "will rise" twice.

Went back to live. The last two minutes of Blue Knights' show actually came through with no problems. Keep it up, DCI, and I'll only ask for a refund for the first 25% of what I paid! Question about the climax of BK's show, when the guard members throw rifles over the platform. There's an audio clip of their opening speaker, but all I heard her say was "and everything". Is that all we're supposed to hear? If so, doesn't make much sense.

And now I'm an endless loop of the first 30 seconds of Spirit's show.

Trying to watch the start of Spirit's show, and the feed, more than 20 min. behind now, still skips: from the first knock on the cymbal door to the quintet playing behind the piano.

I'm now trying to watch 20 min. behind, and it's still skipping. After DCI refunds everyone's money, how much will they lose on this fiasco?

And now it's jumped back to the Blue Stars loading onto the field.

Big skip in the broadcast at the top of of Blue Stars show. I tried refreshing, then going back a minute, and keep getting the same jump.

Michael Boo explained on his live blog that SCVC was penalized 0.5 points last night for rehearsing near the stadium. That's why they fell behind BDB (and Academy, who they would have tied).

It's only 6:25 p.m., and yet SCVC, scheduled for 6:30 p.m., appears to have started. If only the feed were working, I'd know for sure.

A couple people have used a food metaphor this year to describe different corps show. That makes me think of a dinner out a few months ago, for a birthday celebration, at a fancy restaurant where the cheese "tour" had been recommended. The waiter brings out a tray with a couple dozen cheeses, describes them all at length, and then your table picks seven of them. My three companions each picked two for us to try, and I let the waiter select the last one. I asked him to pick something adventurous. He asked if I minded if it was a "funky" choice. I told him to go for it. It was the most hideous thing I've ever tasted. A rotting corpse mixed with old gym shoes. If a food could be evil, this would be the one. That some people actually like such cheese can only suggests to me that they're not right in the head. That's how I imagine some people feel about BD's show.

My stream seems to have fallen a minute behind. And then as I'm typing this, it skips ahead back to live.

INpact kids look a little morose as they walk to their instruments.

Directors of Crossmen and Genesis, respectively.

My feed froze for a couple seconds ... and now it did it again.

Hearing a pre-echo on "Star Spangled Banner".

There certainly has. In 41 years of championships, the lead at Semis has been 0.5 or great on 32 occasions. For reference, here's the history. It was easier to boldface the exceptions: SEMIFINAL RESULTS 1972 SCV over BS by 2.70 and over Kingsmen by 3.20; Kingsmen win Finals 1973 SCV over Troopers by 1.25; SCV wins Finals 1974 Madison over Kingsmen by 0.90 and over SCV by 1.15; SCV wins Finals 1975 Madison over SCV by 0.80; Madison wins Finals 1976 BD over Madison by 1.95; BD wins Finals 1977 BD over Phantom by 0.35; BD wins Finals 1978 Phantom and SCV tie; SCV wins Finals 1979: BD over Phantom by 0.10; BD wins Finals 1980: BD over 27th by 1.05; BD wins Finals 1981: SCV over BD by 1.95; SCV wins Finals 1982: BD over SCV by 1.45; BD wins Finals 1983: SCV over BD and Cadets (tied) by 0.75; Cadets win Finals 1984: Cadets over BD by 0.70; Cadets win Finals 1985: Cadets over SCV by 0.20; Cadets win Finals 1986: BD over SCV by 0.90; BD wins Finals 1987: Cadets over SCV by 0.50; Cadets win Finals 1988: Madison over BD by 1.20; Madison wins Finals 1989: SCV over Phantom by 1.30; SCV wins Finals 1990: Cadets over Cavs by 0.60; Cadets win Finals 1991: Star over Cavs by 1.50; Star wins Finals 1992: Cavs over Star by 0.20; Cavs win Finals 1993: Cadets over Star by 0.30; Cadets win Finals[/b] 1994: BD over Cadets by 1.00; BD wins Finals 1995: Cavs over Cadets by 0.80; Cavs win Finals 1996: BD over Cadets by 0.30 and over Phantom by 1.40; BD and Phantom tie for Finals 1997: BD over Cadets by 1.00; BD wins Finals 1998: Cadets over BD by 0.80; Cadets win Finals 1999: BD over SCV by 0.90; BD and SCV tie for Finals 2000: Cadets over Cavs by 0.70; Cadets and Cavs tie for Finals 2001: Cavs over BD by 0.50; Cavs win Finals 2002: Cavs over BD by 1.50; Cavs win Finals 2003: BD over Cavs by 1.25; BD wins Finals 2004: Cavs over BD by 0.325; Cavs win Finals[/b] 2005: Cadets over Cavs by 0.750; Cadets win Finals 2006: Cavs over BD by 0.850; Cavs win Finals 2007: BD over Cadets by 0.050; BD wins Finals 2008: BD over Phantom by 0.375; Phantom wins Finals 2009: BD over Crown by 0.850; BD wins Finals 2010: BD over Cavs by 0.755; BD wins Finals 2011: Cadets over BD by 0.500; Cadets win Finals 2012: BD over Crown by 0.750; BD wins Finals The top corps only competed in one pre-Finals round at Championships until 1989, but since then what you describe has never quite happened. However, something more impressive happened in 1998: Cadet had been third in Quarterfinals--0.40 behind Santa Clara Vanguard and 0.60 behind Blue Devils--but they were first in Semifinals, ahead 0.80 of tied SCV and BD. PRELIMINARY RESULTS 1989: Phantom second to SCV in QF (by 0.10) and SF (by 1.30) 1990: Cavs second to Cadets in QF (by 0.10) and SF (by 0.60) 1991: Cavs second to Star in QF (by 2.10) and SF (1.50) 1992: Cavs second to Star in QF (by 0.70) but Star second to Cavs in SF (by 0.20) 1993: Cadets second to Star in QF (by 0.40) but Star second to Cadets in SF (by 0.30) 1994: (top corps rained out of QF) 1995: BD second to Cavs in QF (by 0.20) but Cadets second to Cavs in SF (by 0.80) 1996: Cadets second to BD in QF (by 1.10) and SF (by 0.30) 1997: Cadets second to tied BD and SCV in QF (by 0.50) and second to BD in SF (by 1.00) 1998: SCV second to BD in QF (by 0.20) but BD second to Cadets in SF (by 0.80) 1999: SCV second to BD in QF (by 0.80) and SF (by 0.90) 2000: Cavs second to Cadets in QF (by 0.30) and SF (by 0.70) 2001: BD second to Cavs in QF (by 0.45) and SF (by 0.50) 2002: Cadets second to Cavs in QF (by 1.75) but BD second to Cavs in SF (by 1.50) 2003: Cavs second to BD in QF (by 0.85) and SF (by 1.25) 2004: BD second to Cavs in QF (by 0.525) and SF (by 0.325) 2005: Cavs second to Cadets in QF (by 1.550) and SF (by 0.750) 2006: BD second to Cavs in QF (by 0.375) and SF (by 0.850) 2007: Cadets second to BD in QF (by 0.700) and SF (by 0.050) 2008: Cavs second to BD in QF (by 0.375) but Phantom second to BD in SF (by 0.375) 2009: Crown second to BD in QF (by 1.850) and SF (by 0.850) 2010: Cavs second to BD in QF (by 1.350) and SF (by 0.755) 2011: BD second to Cadets in Pre (by 0.500) and SF (by 0.500) 2012: Crown second to BD in Pre (by 0.950) and SF (by 0.750)