seniorcoolio

Great discussion this is! I apologize if my point in the original post wasn't easily understandable.

Staff members always tell the corps at the beginning of the season to not pay attention or even look at the scores from the performance. If it's one thing I have found in the years that I marched, after the show, nearly all corps members are on their phones constantly updating dci.org/scores to view what they received regardless if they were told not to. The score is then yelled out throughout the bus echoing itself down and up the aisles to either the members' dismay or satisfaction. Granted, everyone will remember their finals/semifinals/prelims score. It is the cap-off of the season and probably some of the more enjoyable parts of the summer. I remember my finals scores well and can recall how well the performance went. On the flip side, scores during midseason are, from my experience and others alike, completely forgotten in the grand scheme of things. At the time they are announced, they possess a superficial monumental importance to each member regardless of the stance on the matter.: a) 'I don't care about the scores' (but secretly does) or b) I care about the scores and try to better myself from each judgment. Again, in the long run these midseason scores are typically forgotten This constant bashing of oneself during the season because of what a gentlemen (or woman) says in a green shirt is unhealthy to the psyche to not only the individual marcher but to the corps. Allowing the scores to sway how a performer acts on and off the field is against one of the most repeated statements ingrained in the brain of anyone who has marched a competitive DCI corps which is "don't change your approach." My point is to not get wrapped up in scores during the season as a performing member. Most of the things that are remembered are centered around the people you were with. There are far too many speculations about where a drum corps should be or shouldn't be placement wise and this should not have any influence on the actual marching student. To you who are embarking on the journey starting in November in marching with a corps, remember why you wanted to be in DCI in the first place. -seniorcoolio

Drum Corps- Everything is Made Up and the Points Don't Matter