Midgar87

Yep. Both Cooper City and Cape Fear are in Open class now. And their next regional is the Southeastern Regional at UCF. It'll be exciting to see how they do in their new class.

It's official via word of mouth! Stoneman Douglas High School is coming back to WGI this year! Competing in SO! Their last time was in 2009 when they were in SW. Word on the street is that their field show is absolutely stunning. They got an 86 at their last competition and it's not even states yet (and they got best auxiliary in their class at states last year). I'm INCREDIBLY interested to see how they do this year. Thoughts? Any of us happy that they're going back to WGI? They were always one of my favorites in SW (2005 & 2007 specifically.... and 2004 when they got 2nd in SO in Cali!)

IMO Braddock has gotten tons better since ATL to Orlando... and I think they got screwed again by the judges. From prelims to finals they only went up .5 while every other colorguard in the arena went up at least a point and a half. I don't think the judges are seeing the same thing as the rest of us... Braddocks flags though. Confusing. Looking different and then kind of coming together to represent something in the end? I like the idea, but I can't really make out what it is.

Got to see some great guards at the Orlando regional this weekend. Freedom is amazing. Cypress Bay is making the transition from A class to Open class very smoothly! It's great to see a program do that... at least, I think so. :-) Stoneman Douglas looks like they're back on the map the way they used to be! Like in 2005 and 2007 in SW. The show was awesome! The talent in that colorguard is very good. Thoughts? Anyone else about any SO? Open class is great this year!

To be honest, it all comes down to how 9/11 affected you as a person. 9/11 affected my family pretty hard. It was a really, really tough time. In result of that I can't really watch any shows about that event. Not Zydeco. Not West Broward. Not anyone. It's a sensitive subject for me as a person, and no matter how good those performers may be, it's just a show that's going to bring me back to a time that I'd rather not go back to. Granted, if they're live and in front of me, I'll watch and cheer. I'll be a good sport. (Because why would we not support anyone that is in this activity that we love so much?) But when it comes time for FanNetwork, YouTube or the DVD... I just simply pass over it. I think it's all about personal preference there, folks. All just in my opinion though.

Who IS the guard of the year prior? Members always come and go. Though, I'm willing to bet with the unfortunate series of events with Premonition not coming out we'll see some of those members on the floor with Braddock this year. If not there than probably some other South Florida guards. Who knows where they all went, if they went anywhere at all? Trumbull could be a contender, but their weapon line always carries the show. If they have a flag line that's just as good as their weapons - they'd be UNSTOPPABLE. I'd love to see someone else other than the usual names being up in the top. It's about time things got changed around! I'm excited for Scholastic World. Hoping more units sign up though..

Rumor has it that Braddock Ind. has quite the rifle line this season! Can't wait to actually see it for myself.

Looks fun!

South Shore was GREAT. I knew they'd do well when I found their video on the fan network. I was shocked! Freaking loved it. Trumbull is fantastic. They have hands for dayyyyyyyyys! <3

In my opinion, catching is only part of the battle. Finding a colorguard where everyone catches the same, and all have the same GREAT catch is very rare! Or at least, to me. Maybe I'm just hard to impress with catches. But yeah. Also, their dipping technique is VERY different too. Notice how they (all) dip their left shoulder in as they go to the dip? That's different from most colorguard. That's just their own technique I guess. Though some members do it more than others, they still all do it the same. However, did you see their flag feature? It's ridiculously clean. I mean, I've seen it cleaner from them (fan network regional) but it's still very very clean. All their hands in the same spots... all the right angles... and all their drill is clean too. Plus their book was smart. Very musical. They had a smart show that was written to the sheets. Good movement, good book, good show concept. They played by the rules, and played them well. :) All in my opinion. I personally enjoyed their show loads.

How silly of me to forget! West Broward! They were great this year, and were great last year too! This kids got something going for them. Can't wait to see what happens to them next year! :)

I'm so lost as to why there is so much hate on Premonition this year. How can you look at that show and say that there is no need for it to be in finals? That drill design was amazing, and it was clean. That choreography was beautiful! Sure it could have been harder, but the only crazy hard book out there is Corona! They ALWAYS have the hardest book. If you want someone to impress you, just watch them. And as far as changing their style, why is that such a bad thing? So many different colorguards do different kind of themes every single year, which forces them to change up their style. Yet, no one hates on them. Premonition adopts Jill and Robby from NEi onto their staff, and has a different type of "style" (which they would have done WITHOUT Jill and Robby) and everyone in the colorguard world blows up and hates on them. Why just that one team? Why not hate on Pride when they changed up their show styles a million times? Is it because they're Pride and have been out and loved for years? And Premonition has only been active for 4 years and has made finals TWICE out of the four years (and was #### close the other two years)? Is that a reason? For the most part, I'm sensing a HELL of a lot of jealousy from members here on this forum that Premonition, the little nobody colorguard from south florida, made finals this year. The fact that NEi didn't come out this year after 10 years of excellence, and Jill and Robby went to Premonition seems to upset a ton of people. Isn't one of the biggest things about learning how to teach, is to learn from other friends and instructors in colorguard? I'm SURE that it was a great learning experience for all of those involved with Premonitions program this year (students, staff, and volunteers). Don't we all do this for the same reason? Because we love it? Hating on a certain program seems to be a load of crap to me. I'm also not sure as to how you can hate a program where you can physically SEE every single member in TEARS after their Finals performance. Not just one person with a close up giving you the scrunchy cry face. Every single member was in tears on that floor when they finished their run. That, to me, just SCREAMS with their passion and love for their program and activity. I didn't see all the members of Onyx crying at the end. But hey, that's just me. And I'd be backing up ANY colorguard that seems to get a bunch of hate. I'm not just picking Premonition to side with. If you all were hating Beatrix or someone, I'd back them up too. I just DON'T see the point in hating a colorguard. It's stupid. But, to each their own. BACK TO THE TOPIC. I loved Ars Nova, SCV, Sac, Zydeco and First Flight this year. Alter Ego was fantastic as well! And Carmel was my favorite in SW, hands down. My hats off to the Pacificiers too. Two gold medals back to back??? GET IT!! And yes, I do think that Ars Nova was cheated out of Finals this year. But maybe that's just because I really enjoyed the show.