Dan Detweiler

I personally don't think that Cavies will miss finals, but there are comments on here that rub me the wrong way a little, no disrespect intended. To say things like "DCI won't let that happen" or to imply that politics will keep them in finals is, I think, a slap in the face to the judging community. Cavies will end up where they deserve to end up as will all the corps. We all need to stop thinking with our hearts and start looking at the criteria the corps are being evaluated on and be realistic. Corps have good years and bad years. Cavies have had an incredible run. They are having a tough year by their standards so far but let's not imply that they will be handed a finalist spot just because they are the Cavaliers. That is slighting them, the corps that they compete against, as well as the integrity of the judging community as a whole. I have been judging for 30 years at various levels and I am here to tell you folks. We are not the political boogy men people try to make us out to be. We evaluate performances based on the criteria on the back of the sheet...period, with no concern for wether the uniform is green, blue, white or maroon. (Or any other color for that matter) Just my 2 cents. Dan

At this point in the season I think the most honest review of just about any show would be: It's early, some nice moments, still a lot of work to do. Doesn't that just about sum up everyone at this point? It would have been nice to hear from some folks regarding this show but the fact is there weren't a whole lot of folks there. Certainly not the thousands you would see at a show up north. Those that were, probably have a bias one way or the other, so we'll all just have to keep working, get better and see everyone on down the road. Being a member of CV, I obviously didn't see anyone in performance, but what I saw during the course of the day in rehearsal was very positive. Fusion was right next to us for about an hour rehearsing and Gold was just on the other side of some tennis courts. Both groups seemed to have some great things going on. Sorry I can't be more specific but we were a little busy in our own rehearsal at the time! How's that for a non-descript useless evaluation! Oh well, best I can do at this time. Best of luck to all the corps that were at this show and I look forward to seeing the fruits of everyone's labors later in the season. Dan

I, respectfully, could not disagree more with the original post. Why on earth would you want to all of the sudden bring a second standard of evaluation into the mix? It is hard enough for creative staffs to put together shows that meet the competative standards of evaluation and also entertain the crowd. Now you are asking them to roll the dice and choose a standard based on where they think they might be after prelims. No way in my book is that a fair expectation. I am also in the corner with the poster that stated we, as fans, get to vote with our feet. If we don't like a corps' choices, we go get a dog. If we don't like DCI's rules of evaluation that lead to the creative products we see, we don't go to the show. Enough people vote with their feet...things change. We as fans should not be involved in the evaluation process. It's hard enough to figure out the way it is. Just my two cents. Dan

Boy, aint that the truth Mike!!! I wonder what those uniforms are going to smell like next week....YUM!!! Dan

This is my first year in CV so don't take this as gospel but, it was explained to me that the reason for the name change was to better represent the younger age group that many DCA corps are beginning to appeal to. With the term "Vets" in the name it was thought that this might lead some to believe that you had to be a corps...veteran to participate. This went against the recruiting model that the corps was striving for (and I might say very much succeed at). The corps made a concerted effort to recruit the younger high school age student that might use CV as an introduction to the activity that is more time and finance friendly than a DCI experience. The corps put together a fantastic video that they showed during the Georgia Music Educators Association convention this year that was tremendously successful. You can check it out on you tube by searching Atlanta CV GMEA Production. Sorry, I am a technological midget...don't know how to attach the link directly! Anyhow, that is the reason for the name change as it was explained to me. Hope that clears it up some. Dan

Gotta disagree with you here. "Can't somebody have a bad night"...sure. "Will scores fluctuate some"...sure. But, when a product is assembled that is consistently more in line with the criteria on the sheet than another product, it is going to take more than an off night to overcome. Like it has been stated in other posts, drastic shifts in placements over the course of a few weeks just isn't going to normally happen. It takes significant improvement (changes to parts of the show that aren't working, cleaning, defining, etc.) to overcome these differences in programing and training. Consistancy is the name of the game. Consistancy of design, programming, teaching, recruiting, etc., etc. and I mean over years, not weeks. Dan

Very Cool!!! What a great addition to the event. Dan

I don't know the answer to the question in this specific instance but, as I am sure everyone is aware, it is an incredibly daunting financial task to take a group on the road. I would guess that for many groups, the prospect of going on the road week after week is just not a viable option for their members. This being the case, perhaps they choose to wait to come out to apply their limited financial resources to the last month or two of the season. Just a guess on my part. Dan

Ditto to all the positive posts about the hospitality shown by our hosts this weekend. Really made for a great first "away game" for us. On a side note, I was quite impressed by the size and assortment of flying bugs that accumulated for retreat. Reminded me of those legendary mid west summer mosquitos! All kidding asside, thanks again for making this such a great first experience for all of us at Atlanta CV. Looking forward to seeing everyone again on down the road. Dan

Congrats! Nice clip. This heat is really turning out to be unprecedented. Seems like nowhere in the country is safe from triple digit temps. Looking forward to seeing your show, although I think it will be Annapolis before our corps cross paths. Best of luck to you! Dan

Thanks for that! After a camp of 105+ last weekend, I know everyone will appreciate whatever you can do. Puts everyone under the lights for sure too. See you all tomorrow! Dan

Bottom line...any competition is a good thing. It will make everyone better in the long run. If the existence of C2, or any other corps for that matter, motivates others to be better, then everyone wins. I know I am excited about getting our show as good as we can possibly make it, as I am sure everyone else is about theirs. Let's all take care of our own business, work hard, revel in the combined efforts of our fellow members and enjoy the competition that will ultimately play itself out this summer. Can't wait to see what everyone has to offer as well as sharing what we have worked so hard to produce. See ya on down the road folks! Dan

Perhaps the consistency in spreads was a result of a consistency of relative error between the groups. Groups do improve over time. Often members tend to see the effort they put into their show over a period of time as being more beneficial than the effort put in by another group. This is understandable but not always the case. More often than not, a group is consistently above another group because they are consistently better at addressing the criteria for which they are being evaluated. Now, having said that, I realize that there are times when previous history sometimes will sway a judge to "give them the benefit of the doubt". This shouldn't happen, but it does. Judges are human too. I will say this, in 30 years of judging I can not site one example where this prejudice was used on a concious, knowing, manipulative level...not once. Like I said in my first post, judges are subject to the same emotional reactions that fans are. We need to constantly remind ourselves as judges to evaluate the product placed before us on any given night, and not base decisions on what could be there or what we think will be there at the end of the season. Judging is truely an art that is developed over an extensive period of time. This is especially true of numbers management. That is why judge training and practice are so important. Just my two cents! Dan

Interesting thread here. Let me say first off that I am new to DCP. I understand the intent of this type of ranking/prediction thread is one of entertainment for the members here. I get it. There are a couple of things about this type of conversation that bother me however, whether it is DCA, DCI, Winter Guard, Indoor Drumline, Marching Band, etc. I have judged at various levels for the past 30 years and I spend a lot of my time sitting in clinics, training seminars and the like talking about different sheets, philosopy of judging, numbers management, etc. etc. The first thing people need to understand is that judges react to a given performance in exactly the same way the crowd does. We are impressed by good construction and performance quality and disappointed when these and other factors are lacking. The only significant difference is that the opinions (scores) of the judging community are based on a specific set of criteria that can vary depending on the sheet in use. The average spectator is usually basing their opinion (score, if you will) off of solely their personal preferences, which is fine by the way. Judges are, and I believe should be, moved emotionally by a performance as well, just like the crowd is. Without that emotional reaction we might as well write a computer program that evaluates the musical and visual performance and be done with it. The ability for a show to "connect, if you will" with the crowd and judges is effected by many contributing factors. The vantage point of a given stadium, weather conditions on a given night, field conditions, lighting...all these things and many more contribute to the unit's ability to project their product to the evaluators (judges or fans). How does this all relate to the topic at hand? Well, you just can't compare numbers from one show to the next...period. Different show, different stadium, different weather conditions, different panel, in many cases different sheets. It's what many of us in the judging community call contest dynamics. It's the intangables from one show to the next. To say that because one corps scored a 77 at one show on the east coast and another corps scored a 75 on the west coast 3 days later, that the first corps is somehow a higher ranking than the second , and to use that as a prediction of what will happen down the road is just a waste of air. Or, to rant about a unit dropping two points from show to show when they felt it was a better run is a waste of breath. Could that group have had a better run and their score drop?.....sure it could. We try to keep some sort of consistency in the performance evaluations from show to show but the only way to do that consistently would be for the panels to study recaps from the previous shows...do we want them doing that?,,,,I certainly hope not. So, and I will get off my soap box, use these type of threads to feed your need to know but understand that this type of thinking is futile and very misleading. Let's just wait until everyone is in front of the same crowd on the same night in the same stadium with the same panel and then figure out where people stand. Even then, all that could easily change the next time around! Contest dynamics...it's one of the things that makes this activity so much fun. Good luck to all of you and your units this summer. I am looking forward to seeing the fruits of all of your hardwork on the field...and for once it won't be as a judge but as a fellow member!!! Can't wait! Dan

Hope all you folks in Virginia will enjoy watching the show as much as we enjoy performing it for you. GOD SAVE THE QUEEN!! Dan

As Tyler said earlier, we here at CV are looking forward to sharing our show with everyone in Nokesville this weekend. After coming through the blast furnace camp this past weekend relatively unscathed, we are looking forward to the cool 99 degree weather forcast for Virginia this weekend! I am seriously considering one of those "cool suits" the MLB umpires are using this year! Dan

Hello folks, Just a quick hello to all the drum corps fans at DCP. I am a new member here but long time drum corps member/staff member/fan. I marched in the Blue Devils in 1982 and 1984. I was a member of the staff at Spirit of Atlanta from 1988-1990 and have been a fan ever since. I am currently enjoying sharing my son's first drum corps experience at Atlanta CV. He is marching Contra and I am one of the drum majors. Having a blast with lots of great people. We have our first show this weekend. Anyway, just wanted to say a quick hi and best of luck to all the marching members of all the corps. Dan