Dan Detweiler

Just an FYI...the official name is now Atlanta CV. CorpVets is still used in reference to the alumni, but the corps name has officially changed. Thanks, Dan

To question the decisions that had to be made that night, to me, is something we have no right to do. Those of us that were not there have no place judging the decisions of those who had to live it, and share it with those kids. ...just sayin Dan

From all of us down here in the deep south, good luck in all your endeavours and may 2013 be the most successful year yet for you. Dan

Easy champ...my ears are fine. If you read my post I said Phantom was ONE of the few corps, not the only. I realize that there are others, but, in my opinion, nobody is doing it as consisantly or as well. That is just my opinion, as you have yours. No harm, no foul, but no need to get huffy.

Of course you are entitled to your opinion and I respect that... ...however, it takes far more ability to musically interprut a melodic phrase spread out on a football field with balance, sensitivity and ensemble clarity than it does to ram a bunch of notes at one dynamic that has absolutly nothing to do with the musical content. I never really understood this until I sat as a member of my college orchestra years ago, in the percussion section and really dug into how my few notes complimented what was going on elsewhere in the ensemble. It creates a whole new appreciation for what the composer intended. Why would people pay $50, $75 or more to hear an orchestra play music that has been heard and played for centuries? Because each performance is unique and the beauty is in the subtleties that each ensemble can bring. That is what amazes me about Phantom and what they have done, they can capture the nuance and sensitivity that nobody else does at this time. This borders on blasphamy coming from a Blue Devil alum but it is really how I see things at this time. I love the activity, I really do, but I feel like, more often than not, I am sitting watching a combination of an aerobics class and a brass methods workshop rather than a musical interprutation that stimulates my artistic sensabilities. (Good lord, I am waxing poetic here and I don't mean to.) Just a different viewpoint... Dan

My issue with today's horn aranging trends is that it is technique for technique's sake. It has really spelled the death of melody for the most part. The mold one must fit into in order to be competative has little room for melodic development. The shows have become centered around visual development with musical accompanyment instead of the other way around. That is one reason I would rather watch BOA Grand Nationals than DCI finals. That is also the main reason I have grown to love Phantom so much over the last several years. They are one of the few corps that seem to take efforts to be sensitive to the melodic content of their genre. With so many modern corps, their shows seem to be a 13 minute brass technical study instead of a musical development and performance. I know it is old school, but I miss the days of the sanctity of a melodic line. Just my opinion and I know that this view would not be a top 3 focal point. Dan

Here's a purely self serving, not to be taken seriously, unrealistic suggestion... Come on down to Atlanta! Choice of Georgia Dome, Georgia Tech, UGA or even a Cobb County high school, McEachern that could accomodate. All turf fields. Flying into Atlanta would be as cheap as you could find. (Delta hub, Southwest/Airtran hub) Plenty of suitable rehearsal sites within reasonable distance. More hotel rooms than you can shake a stick at. Every possible cuisine you could imagine. Worked for DCI in '84 as well as the super regional each year... What could go wrong other than the traffic and the travel... OK...nevermind. Dan

My wife was in that 1980 Spirit rifle line. It was her rookie year of drum corps. She went on to march '80 and '81 Spirit, '82 and '83 Bridgemen and '84 Blue Devils with me, where we aged out. She then taught Spirit for three years after ageing out. Through 3 years of dating and 26 years of marriage, we have shared every experience in our lives with each other, including all our drum corps memories. One thing she has never shared with me though is her feelings regarding that summer...just too painful. When this video was first posted I told her about it and all she said through a pale face of shock was "I don't want to see it". Sort of sums up the emotion that is still so ingrained in that experience for her. I have many friends that marched in that corps and while I don't want to put words in their mouths, I think most of their reactions would be similar. Dan

Yeah, I thought that was a nice touch too!!

Well, if it isn't "Sam, Sam, the elfquest man!" How the hell are you bud? It's been a long time since '84 finals in Atlanta. Thanks for chiming in here and sticking up for a bunch of great folks down in Tampa. Only got to compete against them once but it was truely a pleasure having them at our show. If they could only come out once, it was an honor they came to our show that one time. Every now and then someone just has to call "BS" on a post here. Hope all is going well with you and your family. Any chance of seeing you in Annapolis this weekend? If your in the area, stop by and see us all at CV. Would love to catch up. Dan

I started, and then deleted this reply at least a dozen times before deciding to post...maybe a bad choice, but here goes... First...I don't whine. Whining involves feeling like you got the raw end of a deal and then complaining about it. I don't, and I wasn't. It is what it is. I am just stating facts as they relate to the topic someone else put up. Second...my reference to the FACT that northern corps tend to not travel south or west was simply to illustrate that finances play a huge roll for all corps, not just the non-WOW corps, as it was put. Third...my issue with the original post has nothing to do with who goes to what show, but with the off hand and offensive implication that smaller corps are somehow not worthy of this poster's time or money. At the Douglasville show this year we had four corps, CV, Tampa Bay, Cincinnati Tradition and Shenedoah Sound. We had a modest to descent crowd and judging by the crowd reaction I witnessed, they were appreciative of all of them. Not sure what the definition for a non-WOW corps is, but I think they felt they got their money's worth. Don't know, I'm just guessing on that one. I'll say this, as the host corps drum major, I tried to get around to each of the corps to say hello and see if they needed anything. What I witnessed in every case were groups of people who were committed to their product, proud to represent their corps, working incredibly hard and excited at the opportunity to share their show with the crowd that night. Could be wrong here, but is that not what is most important? Please folks, let's be careful what we say here. Do we really need posts that seem to delibrately offend or put down certain groups? We all love this activity, this type of conversation is only setting us all back. To ALL my fellow competitors...may you all be a WOW corps this weekend. Dan

According to their announcement on their Facebook page, they were facing numerous members that were not going to be able to attend for many reasons. Also mentioned " dealing with numerous school cancellations, work closures, tornado warnings, flooding and concerned parents". Hate it for them. Dan

Just heard the sad news that due to the threat from the hurricane, Tampa Bay Thunder will not be traveling to Annapolis this weekend. I hate it for all of their members after all the hard work they had put in. I hope and pray that everyone is safe down there. I very much enjoyed their show when they came to Douglasville. Great people. All of us here at Atlanta CV wish you guys all the best moving forward. We will miss you all this weekend. Dan

Perhaps a little perspective is in order. Those of us outside the New England area are at a distinct disadvantage when it comes to late season contests. We would love to come up and add to the "competative fanfare" as it were the week before championships. As it was stated earlier, with the Annapolis trip staring us in the face, it is difficult to fiscally justily a trip of that magnitude (700 miles or more) the week before. This is especially difficult when it has the potential to effect our perormance seed going into prelims. Nobody down here is complaining, it is just a reality of trying to run a corps this far away from the center of the DCA activity. I am sure the corps in the midwest share the same concern. Keep in mind that for us, Tampa Bay, Gold, MBI, Govies, Kilties, etc. to compete anywhere other that our home shows is a 600 plus mile endeavor. We won't even mention the challenges that Renegades face. By the way, when was the last time any of the "big boys" came to a southern, midwest or west coast show? Why is this so...probably the same reasons that keep us from attending more north east shows. Maybe we should be a little less judgemental and a little more sympathetic to the logistics involved. Also, aren't coments like "limited ability to wow a crowd" somewhat of a slap in the face to the smaller corps out there that are busting their tail to entertain you? Are they not deserving of your respect and praise? They are working just as hard as Bucs, Cabs and MBI. Isn't it a little condescending to infer that they are somehow unworthy of your time and money? This is the type of attitude that keeps the activity from growing more than it has. Not trying to rant, just saying maybe a little perspective is in order here. See everyone in a few days. Wow, it's hard to believe championships are upon us already! As I have said all along, good luck to everyone...including those that some may feel are inadequate...GEEZ! Dan

After reading through the replies since my first post, I think, perhaps, people are mis-interputing my original intent. (One reason I am leary about posting on these forums...too often the intent is missed when put in print) Let me try one last time to explain my thoughts. My original post was not in response to any posts relating to CV. I was not, and still are not, upset by or offended by anyone's stated opinion on this thread. We all have likes and dislikes based on our own previous experience. That's great and totally normal. My concern is based on any negative stated opinion about any group on a public forum like this. It just seems to me that there are a ton of great people, doing great and extrordinary things in every performance ensemble, at every level, that will appear in Annapolis. It seems to me that too much time and effort is being wasted on undermining those efforts with these "prediction" threads, instead of praising those that are going out there and laying it on the line. Every ensemble, regardless of size, classification, or eventual placement, should be lauded for their efforts, commitment to entertaining us all, and fellowship they have inspired within their personal chosen drum corps family. That, to me, is what this is all about. Let the judges do their job. That's what they get paid to do. We will all know where we stand soon enough. In the meantime, RELAX...grab a six pack of your favorite beverage and go out to some rehearsals and see what this activity is really about. Check out all the hard work, sweat and determination these great people are putting into their shows to make it a butt kicker for all the fans out there. That's all I'm saying...no hidden adjenda, no between the lines hidden meaning, just a concern for seeing the activity and those that participate in it in a light which is deserving of their efforts. I'll shut up now and get off my soapbox! Have a great week everyone. Safe travels, stay dry (especially all you folks down Tampa way) and we'll see you a week from today! It's going to be GREAT! Dan

You forgot "uphill...both ways".

OMG! I remember passing around the latest edition of DCW in Blue Devils back in '82 to see what all the East Coasters were up to. By the time it got to the back of the drum bus it was pretty much trashed! Dan

Please, don't get me wrong, I really and truly don't care where people feel we are with respect to everyone else. That's not my motivation. All I am saying is let's not loose sight of why we are all doing this and who the beneficiaries are. Every corps member out there, whether they belong to a "contender" or not deserves, and has, my respect and admiration for choosing to give of themselves in the manner we all have. I am just asking that we not loose sight of that fact in our all consuming, all encompasing view of things. My previous post was not meant to try to vent any frustrations or pent up anger towards anyone's opinion of CV. If it came across that way then I missed my mark and I am sorry. I just feel like we need to keep some of the focus on the dedication and sacrifice of the members that are out there providing all of us here on this forum with the fodder on which to make these predictions we make so confidently sitting safely behind our keyboards. Dan

I have to say that I find all of these prediction threads very amusing. I understand that they are for the entertainment of those here on the forums. I get that it is just speculation. I get that this is a commpetative activity and as such, will be subject to people speculating about the outcome. I get it...I really do...BUT.. Here's what is going to happen...FOR SURE We here at CV are going to bust our tail this week. We are going to clean. We are going to make changes. We are going to work our backsides off to make this product the best thing people have ever seen. We are going to ice those sore muscles, wrap those senior citizen knees, pop that Ibuprofen by the bottle, sweat till we can't stand the smell of ourselves and then we are going to go out and work some more. Then we are going to get on a bus and head to Annapolis. When we get there we are going to have a fabulous week with the people whose lives we have shared and we have grown to love and respect over the last nine months. Then we are going to go out on Saturday and do our best to bring the house down. We will leave nothing in the lot. We will let everything we have hang out, and we will spill our souls for those in attendance. ...and you know what... ...so will every other corps out there all over the country. A class, Open class, Allumni corps, Mini corps...doesn't matter. Every single one of them will be doing the same thing. BRINGIN' IT! The absolute, guarenteed, hands down, without a doubt winner... The crowd and the members who have given of themselves to make it happen. Can't wait to see everyone in a week or so. I have nothing but respect for all of you. If you get a chance, check us out...I think you will like it. I will try to do the same for you. Good Luck EVERYONE!!!

Let's hope it doesn't come to that. I was so impressed with everyone associated with your organization at our show...it would be terrible if they were not able to share everything you have worked so hard to achieve with the crowd in Annapolis. Hopefully this will be a non issue in the end. We'll pray for ya. Dan

Let's hope our friends in Tampa Bay Thunder can miss the brunt of this storm. Safe practice and travel guys! Dan

Just a thought here, but what about Friday night? Doesn't interfere with Semi's or Finals. Many DCA corps use Thursday night as travel time anyway (at least we do at CV). I don't think anyone is more than an overnight trip away from Indy, except maybe Thunder and Renegades. Certainly could be a very beneficial event financially for both DCI and DCA. Might add some "legitimacy" to DCA in the eyes of the "DCI or nothing" crowd. Great facility to perform in... I don't know, sounds like it might be worth looking into. Lots of issues to iron out, but worth a look. Dan

Sorry, don't follow the inference. Dan

Wes, I won't lie, those calls are difficult to make sometimes. However, they are made and I think those calls are made more often then people realize. When you are looking at recaps make sure you are looking at subcations as well as the big picture. Often there are decisions that go unnoticed when you dig a little deeper. You are right though when you say it all comes down to a person's opinion. That is why judge training and experience are so important. I think the biggest thing I see in regards to young judges is that they haven't learned the value of a tenth of a point and that that value changes based on the numeric value of a given subcaption. They seem to have plenty of content knowledge but little in the way of numbers management. Once again, just my opinion. Dan