Bass Skate

This page has been quiet. As we approach spring training, anything new on the Blue Stars front? I bet they will be good with the new design and instructional team. Richard Saucedo, Michael Shapiro, Ian Grom, John Mapes, Fred Feeney, Emery Craig, Eric Shriver, Chris Kaflik. What a team, expecting great things.

Everyone has high hopes for Crossmen. They have been up and down for years. The corps finally makes finals again at the expense of Blue Stars failures. I am surprised to see some predictions of Spirit out of finals when in recent years, Spirit has been the only corps to make it back into finals and stay there. This was their 3rd year in a row. The 12th place corps before them made a 1 year appearance and dropped again. Nothing against Crossmen, but I am not placing as much faith in their seat in finals. Especially when you have quality, more consistent corps like Blue Stars gunning for their place back into finals with a SOLID new design and instructional team.

I agree with you! I should have specified it, but I was speaking in terms of what the corps' fans hype every year. Ask anyone who supports a certain corps, most of them who don't really know the inner workings will say that the corps is "better", "on fire", "awesome" or any other description one can think of. BTW, I like a healthy debate BRASSO and have enjoyed the back the and forth. Thank you, take care.

Of course that would be a safe bet. Most corps don't move more than 2 places because of one simple reason. Everyone likes to hype up or post that X corps is so much better this year and try to back it up with reasons that don't really play major factors when it comes down to it. The reality is....EVERY CORPS gets better the next season and that's why movement is minimal. Those that try to wish that X corps got better and no other corps did is being ridiculous. Most lower corps that are "pigeonhold" change their staff and/or design teams every other year or can't hold onto a good thing. Majority of your top corps have had the same admin, designers and staff for several years that know how to be successful in the activity. 2010 Troopers is a great example. They had a great team that knew how to be successful. Most of that team changed for 2011 and they haven't made finals again since. (Although, looks like they have a good team in place now!) So some of being "pigeonhold" is self induced.

Texas has some wicked talent for sure. I would not go as far as saying Texas = musically the best at HS level. Texas is a very large state and there are A LOT of not so good bands too, funny how the not good bands aren't heard or mentioned. Since the state is so large the amount of good bands should be calculated as a percentage not total number. One would probably find that proportionally they are close to the same as states like Indiana, Michigan, Ohio, California, Georgia, Florida, Oklahoma which all have phenomenal programs. Keep in mind too that when Texas marching bands compete against the south or Midwest they are often bested by other states. At least in the BOA circuit. There is much truth to your statement, but I believe it is a positive stigma that Texas has the best there is to offer.

And if you remember the 2009 show, the design was not of great quality. Their design formula changed and PR was not successful hence allowing other corps like Boston to move up. (09 was also their first year on Jupiter horns which were not battle tested yet for the activity.) Same deal with Cavaliers having an off year. I happen to like Boston and like I said BEFORE I listed my predictions, I accounted for POLITICS as well. No one is pigeonholing Boston, but records have shown that Boston has not made a push for top 6 since 2003. Other corps have been up and down. Even though PR had a rough season in 2009, they came back to top 6 and quickly. Boston has not done that and it's been 10 years. It is not a matter of attacking Boston, it's stating the information that has been given through the years. When another corps moves up with the current 6 still in their prime there is true cause for celebration.

Based off of design, instruction, consistency and politics, this is a realistic placement: 1. Crown 2. BD 3. Cadets 4. SCV 5. Phantom 6. Bluecoats 7. Cavaliers 8. Boston 9. Madison 10. Blue Stars 11. Spirit 12. Crossmen or BK Not sure where this thought of having a large number of people at audition camps means your corps will move up in placement. Even large vet retention is no promise. Look at Bluecoats 2007, a predominantly vet horn line and the corps fell from 4th to 7th. These days, design is approx. 70% of your success. Members can be solid and instruction at the highest level, but if the design is flawed the overall success of the corps will be limited. The top 6 on the list have consistently proven to design effective shows in recent years. The bottom 6 have not shown enough consistency in design and/or instruction to not have a good year be considered luck. Boston has come close, but still hasn't been able to add up to the corps above. Let's be honest, Boston beat Cavaliers last season because the Cavaliers were not in their prime. Boston had a great show, but if Cavaliers were on point as they have been in recent years, they would not have fallen and Boston would not have moved up. Same goes for Crossmen. Blue Stars were not at their best which made room for Crossmen to shine. The reality is that the top 12 are eat or be eaten! If a corps slips up, there are several other hungry corps ready to take their place. Or a lower corps may decide to sharpen their teeth, do some things different and best a complacent corps. Regardless, it's exciting and why it's fun making predictions based off of literally no admissible data.