euphmmx

1) Carolina Crown 2) The Cadets 3) Blue Devils 4) Santa Clara Vanguard 5) Phantom Regiment 6) Bluecoats 7) Madison Scouts 8) The Cavaliers 9) Boston Crusaders 10) Blue Knights 11) Spirit of Atlanta 12) Blue Stars 13) Crossmen 14) Troopers 15) Colts 16) The Academy 17) Cascades Top 3 is a tossup. I see a late season BD bloom to topple Crown but not at the first regional. The Cadets are a dark horse for 1st place at Minneapolis and perhaps Indy, since we haven't seen them at a show where they've had competition at their level. I think I have 4-8 down. Phantom Regiment and Bluecoats are so close it's hard to tell, but minus percussion Phantom Regiment will outperform Bluecoats with a full panel. I see The Cavaliers powerwashing their show and overtaking Scouts eventually. Doing it by Minneapolis remains to be seen I honestly don't think Spirit will upset Boston again since they're peaking so soon. Blue Knights will be their real competition in Minneapolis. I think 12-17 is also solid, but The Academy could come out swinging and rise a few slots from 16th, although I don't see it happening. We'll see how much they've improved since Mesa when they go head to head against The Troopers in Denver. Then we'll know where The Academy should fit, since we already know how the Troopers are doing against Blue Stars, Crossmen, and Colts.

Angels and Demons kiss and makeup?

Give me all the negatives you want (like I care in the first place). I'm just passing on the word from a source I trust who has managed and instructed in this activity for many years.

I was told by a top 12 corps director that the tuba hole was actually the horn sergeant and was not allowed to march because he got busted with drugs.

That would be Spirit of Atlanta

I hardly consider winning brass, edging the Cadets by .1, a landslide win....

Bluecoats: Creep was LOUD and powerful. Continuing John Mackey repertoire from 2010....no complaints there. Blue Knights: Awesome! Great music and show design. Most favorite show I've seen from them live. Madison Scouts: Robert W. Smith and ESOM....nuff said. Spirit of Atlanta: THE favorite. 17th to 12th in three years. It's apparent from their show why they were able to recapture a Saturday performance. Some love for the corps outside of the "top" 12: Troopers: Show was beautifully done. Infinity chord and ending was gorgeous. Crossmen: Best Crossmen show in the past decade, period. "Hallelujah" was one of my favorite ballads all year. Jersey Surf: some may not agree, but I thought this was a fun show. The opposite of what people coin modern drum corps ("esoteric")

I'll play. Excluding open class. Blue Devils - I think they'll go for 15 Cadets Cavaliers Carolina Crown Santa Clara Vanguard Phantom Regiment Bluecoats Madison Scouts Boston Crusaders Spirit of Atlanta Blue Knights Blue Stars Academy Glassmen Crossmen Troopers Colts Pacific Crest Teal Sound Mandarins Cascades Jersey Surf Pioneer

Here's how SoA 2011 did against the four "peer" corps that beat them in 2010: (W/L/T) Glassmen (12/2/0) Troopers (9/2/1) Colts (16/0/0) Academy (7/1/0) They had a late season surge, yes. The score at semi-finals was a mere .45 behind the G8 Blue Stars. But to say they had no chance earlier in the season? The statistics speak for themselves....it was pretty much established early in July that Spirit was extremely likely to finish their season on a Saturday.

This is pretty much the most ridiculous topic I've seen on DCP....and I've seen A LOT of ridiculous topics on DCP. Band is band, drum corps is drum corps. There is no comparison!

That was their 2011 show.....

Correction.....Spirit's dm was a euphonium. There IS a difference

The numbers on Jersey Surf and Glassmen don't add up. Those lines weren't loud at all. I think this is an issue of who has the best speakers.

No closer for Spirit?? It also would've been interesting to see the compared results of Atlanta and Finals. The 2 weeks in between is when corps really start kicking it up notches.

Correction, you got THREE correct

I don't know about open class, but to audition for world class you need to initiate the auditioning process. Do what most others do and go to the corps website. Look for staff e-mails and shoot them messages. I promise you that Spirit's staff will be more than happy to take people with prior drum corps experience. Finances can be worked out and problems with traveling can also be worked out. Good luck with SoA! I'm sure they'll have another great year.

What really bothers me is how people are slotting Spirit of Atlanta in 18th place, behind Crossmen and Pacific Crest. Spirit of Atlanta hasn't placed that low since '96. Low expectations, much? As I recall for the 2010 season, Spirit beat Crossmen 11 out of 12 times (the only time they lost was their first show together), and had a two-point lead on Pacific Crest in Quarterfinals. This was with a majority percentage of rookies (~75% if I had to guess), and many of these rookies are returning as vets this year. If anything, they only have room to grow and we should expect Spirit to climb even further. (list w/o factoring in OC) 1. Blue Devils 2. Cavaliers 3. Carolina Crown 4. Cadets 5. Bluecoats 6. Santa Clara Vanguard 7. Phantom Regiment 8. Blue Stars 9. Madison Scouts 10. Boston Crusaders 11. Blue Knights 12. Glassmen 13. Academy 14. Colts 15. Spirit of Atlanta 16. Crossmen 17. Troopers 18. Pacific Crest 19. Teal Sound 20. Jersey Surf 21. Mandarins 22. Pioneer 23. Cascades