DC Guy

Would one of the other "Dino's" (Mr. Boo? :-) please refresh my old Dino brain ... Back when DCI started, there were only Prelims and Finals for all corps (excluding All Girls), right? Or was there also a "B-Corps Championship"? When did the marketing hype happen to break off the B-Corps Div. 2/3? Then there was more marketing hype to rename to Open/World. When was that? So it seems to me like DCI is "returning to it's roots" with the "free-for-all" format ... With the exception that some of the smaller corps can compete for their own Championship. Also, what would stop Pioneer from competiting/winning Open, and then moving on to compete in World? New format = doesn't make sense to me.

Full Article Excerpt: "New Experimental Events Being planned separately from the traditional format of the 2011 tour will be a handful of experimental drum corps events, also produced by Drum Corps International. The top eight finishing corps from 2010 have been invited to participate in this series, which will feature additional competitive and non-competitive performance material developed beyond the corps’ standard 11.5 minute production. “This series will give us the opportunity to explore several new elements in the production of our events using a number of our very best ensembles,” said Mark Arnold, Chairman of the Board of Drum Corps International and Executive Director of the Blue Knights Drum and Bugle Corps. “By creating these unique opportunities for our corps and our fans, we hope to develop exciting new features for future DCI events, helping us to expand our audience while providing a thrilling and engaging experience for everyone.” A unique competitive environment is also being developed for the experimental series which may include judging techniques not currently utilized under current DCI rules. Further details are in the preliminary stages of development, with additional information expected following the annual meeting in January. " Your thoughts?

THANK YOU ... that's a GREAT map! I was wondering if you'd consider doing some re-coloring to indicate show dates. It would be great to see this with, say "lighter colors" to notate the beginning of the season, and going to darker colors toward the end of the season. And maybe smaller circles for Open Class shows ... as they are usually a "more local draw".

THIS is the most intelligent statement of this entire sub-forum (and something I've been saying for a long time! ) I cannot for the life of me think of how corps directors, who have a fiduciary responsibility for looking out for the best interests for each their organizations, can impartially guide an activity of which they are a part. We need a set of people with diverse business experiences (i.e., finance, legal, technical, administrative, etc.) who have experience and a passion for drum corps to impartially lead DCI. THAT is what will save the drum corps activity.

Sort of interesting ... Blue Devils get slammed for making "so much money" ... and they probably use a nice chunk of it for transportation to get the A and B corps across our beautiful country. BUT, when it comes to getting midwest / east corps out to California, it's hard because "it's too expensive". So, if people complain about BD making "so much money", they might want to take this into consideration ... it ain't cheap to put two champion drum corps on the road! As far as drum corps in California ... their (World Class) season ends when SCV and BD leave before July 4th. If you live in California and want to see World Class drum corps you have to travel to TX, AL, PA, or IN to see a decent show. It doesn't seem fair to the California fans.

Wish I could be there! Good luck to the DCP Blog Team ... may your servers stay up and your bandwidth stay high!

Actually ... in '75, BD came in third ... SCV came in second! As a side note ... in 1975: I believe that BD beat SCV in every show they competed together in, EXCEPT when Madison was there. If Madison was in the show the placing was always 1) Madison, 2) SCV, 3) BD.

IMHO, this thread should be left wide open. In all of the other G7 threads, there is unfounded speculation on the G7 corps ... why can't there also be unfounded speculation about DCI? I do agree with you that to be more "thread friendly" things should be phrased in questions ... and I would HOPE that would also hold about the intent of G7 as well.

Stone Ground 7

I watch other corps rehearse, and I'm continually amazed and appalled that this type of practice still goes on. If performers take it upon themselves to "do pushups" (or whatever) to acknowledge they made a mistake, that's one thing ... but for a staff member to use physical punishment as a threat for not making errors is something I haven't seen in decades. Physical threats is part of the 'old school' system, which may produce results, is NOT sustainable ... and the practice should be stopped ... in drum corps, band, whatever. It's a bad practice.

I tend to disagree. I don't believe a "drastic" overhaul has occurred WRT DCI. Out of the 9 total BOD members, there were only 4 "G7" Directors (Glasgow, Hopkins, Fiedler and Valenzuala) on the DCI BOD before "all of the action" (ouster, re-appointment, resignations). The "G7" was in a minority on the board, and ergo could have been out-voted at any time. Yes, there are no more G7 directors on the BOD, but as far as I'm concerned the "jury is still out" on how drastic this change is. IMHO, a "drastic change" would be for the DCI BOD to re-organize such that there are 9 member of the BOD with NONE of them being corps directors. I think that no matter what, there will never be impartiality on the part of DCI unless all of the corps directors are out, and a board consisting of professional business people (who are also passionate and knowledgeable about the activity) are seated, and can focus on the needs of DCI without the influence of any drum corps.

I don't know if you saw BDs new King trumpets ... a brand new model that no one else had ... big bore conical lead pipe, smaller bell flare, valve placements moved back. Those things REALLY projected the sound. I think that with this trumpet, King might have captured the "G bugle projection" with the "quality of a fine Bb trumpet".

I think that "Boom-shaka-laka, Boom-shaka-laka" trumps Yowza.

May I be the first to offer my congratulations to the performers on your 14th Drum Corps International victory ... and to the entire Blue Devils organization for the 16th Drum Corps International title for your organization. You guys just blew me away (or "blue" me away ;-) with a) your show design, b) your performance level, and c) your friendliness and professionalism during the times I spoke with your performers this year. There might be a lot of "BD Haters" out there, but none of them can argue the fact of your success, both on the field, and off the field. Thank you for an entertaining year ... sorry ... an entertaining 54 years!!!

You guys, again, had a fantastic show ... both in design and performance. Congratulations!

There were more than a few posts that say "I hate ...", some of them removed. I don't believe that any of the posts expressed hatred towards the performers (I prefer NOT to call them "kids"), and for that I'm thankful. But, there were posts that expressed hatred to the corps, or their directors, or the show (some of them have already been removed) ... and the hate was represented in an almost venomous manner. If you saw an earlier posting in this thread, the poster said they hate the Blue Devils show ... but did it in a fashion that wasn't nasty, rude, vengeful, or in a negative fashion what-so-ever. And if you want to see REAL hate ... just peruse the threads in the G7 .... sorry ... the World Series of Drum Corps thread ... there's some real nasty hatred going on there, with full un-moderated name calling of directors and corps.

Very good questions, and probably a more definitive set of questions than the singular question "Why Hate?" that I originally proposed.

I hope the mods close this thread, as it's been beaten to death, and as of tomorrow morning it won't matter!

No secret ... it's posted right here. I guess if I were DCI, I'd be making more of a "front page item" of this.

Ditto that ... one winner (well ... per class!). From Dictionary.com to find fault; judge unfavorably or harshly to make judgments as to merits and faults. I think that the negative posters usually criticize using the the first definition, not the second!

Thanks! You expressed your opinion (even one of "hate") very eloquently. You didn't do it by insulting others, and you didn't post it in a spiteful manner. I guess that's what I'm talking about.

Haha ... very good point. Quick Google search on fanatic: Filled with excessive and single-minded zeal Obsessively concerned with something I guess I'm not a "fan" of any one corps then, and ... I'm not "fanatical" or "fanatic" (except about hate! ;-) ... I guess I would have to classify myself as a lover of drum corps. On the other hand, in Wikipedia, a "fan" is described as: "... sometimes also called aficionado or supporter, is a person with a liking and enthusiasm for something." Well, no matter what it's called (and back to the tread OP) there are posters on DCP filled with hate, and it is upsetting to me.

You da man, Tony!

Please, Tony ... no flame bait ... thanks!