ChildrenOfAugmentation

These are remarkably bad. Wow. BK has had a wonderful look the past few years, this is a major step in the wrong direction. One of the worst uniform changes I've ever seen.

IMO, the mid-Atlantic region is best. Raleigh, NC has three great venues (I think, for the purpose of DCA, Wake Forest's football stadium would be the best), and it splits travel distance between north and south fairly well.

Can't wait.

I'll agree with you there too. MBI getting third is a testament to how fantastic this DCA season was. So is CV getting sixth. Can't wait to be on the field next season.

I didn't see the show tonight, but I know from prelims last night that Empire was not better than C2 or CV, and they definitely weren't two and a half better than CV. I loved Empire this year... I mentioned that it's the kind of show I'd show someone who's never seen corps. But they weren't particularly clean, and they had arguably the easiest drill in finals. Still, proud of CV for their highest placement and score in finals ever, Also, if it's true that the Cabs beat MBI, I'm going to have a problem. Bucs and MBI were on an entirely different level than anyone else. Cabs were great, but to me they were clearly the third best.

Can anyone in Annapolis give me an idea about how big the crowd is? Guesstimation of the number of people?

Scratch that.

Poorly worded, I just meant you said that the Bucs didn't get as much applause as a few other corps.

What a stupid post. He's a Buc alum and he just said the Bucs didn't really cheer very hard for them. Bleh.

I think you're thinking too much. I just said it was too bad that you don't like the Bucs this year because they're quite special. Which they are... since, you know... they won. Other guy rattled off numbers that literally do not matter at all, making him the biggest over-thinker of this debacle. I'm perfectly fine with you thinking MBI should have won/should win tomorrow. I'm sure the DCA fan base is split about 50/50 on it. In your initial post, you just made it seem like you don't want Reading to win simply because they win all the time, which is what I took umbrage with. That's all. If that's not how you feel, then it was a simple misunderstanding.

Scores from a different panel on a different night in a different year don't prove that at all, though. I think it's safe to argue that this is the hardest Reading show of all time, so a lower score is somewhat to be expected. Both the Bucs and MBI have shows that are on par or even above many junior corps in terms of difficulty with their show, and if the judges got one thing right this evening, it's that the Bucs and MBI were clearly the two best corps tonight and should be right with each other tomorrow night. Scores from past years mean nothing. It's the same in DCI. This constant pursuit for the "highest score of all time" is completely nonsensical to me. It's great to set benchmarks on an individual corps basis, like a corps wanting to break 90 for the first time, but comparing a corps because a certain panel of judges combined to give them a score from a certain year, while an entirely different panel of judges combined to give them a slightly lower score another year is ridiculous. It means nothing. There is no correlation. Further, it's not like I even said it was the best Buc show ever (even though I do think it is). I just said they deserved every bit of the victory. I'm from SC, I'm close to people in the MBI organization (in particular their indoor line), and I'd say I'm impartial. And impartial me is saying that MBI was absolutely incredible, but the Bucs were just a little bit more amazing. The entire reason I even said this is because I read the original post as, " I don't want the Bucs to win because they're the Bucs," which is just silly to me.

They deserve to be happy. Make sure they know a lot of people found the results questionable and that they made a lot of new fans tonight. I saw the FN show from DCI Atlanta and I knew they had something great this year. They've gotten even cleaner and more refined since then and what they're doing now is really special.

All you've shown me is that scores change on a yearly basis with different judges. Are you trying to tell me that, because the Bucs scored half a point lower than last year's prelims, they didn't deserve to win or that they're worse this year? That makes a slippery slope look like a Route 66 trip through Arizona. Nothing to do with tonight.

First off, thank you for the condolences. My family and I have been taking it well for the most part. She was my great grandmother, and had lived a full, healthy 102 year life. We've had several years coming to terms and preparing for this time. I mentioned in the play-by-play thread tonight that if she knew that I had tickets to DCA prelims and finals, and an invitation to the Bucs rehearsal today, grandma would have told me to skip her funeral and go have my fun. She was that kind of person. Naturally I'd never skip her funeral, of course. Regarding marching, I am both a percussionist and a brass player. I've done my time in WGI, now I want to try DCA on brass, which will hopefully make getting into the corps a little easier, as percussion is significantly more competitive, no matter the activity or circuit. Should I be cut or make a decision change and want to march bass instead, living near Philly is the quintessential location to find a DCA corps to march, so it's definitely the plan to march somewhere somehow next season. After watching tonight's performances on the FN, it'd be a privilege to march anywhere. I hope you, too, find the luck to get back into the activity. We might end up marching together or competing against each other, and I've learned that DCA is quite similar to WGI in that competition between corps is much more friendly than you'd expect. Thank you again, it means a lot. And good luck to you.

Agreed. CV really got the low end of that shaft.They had the most demanding drill of the four corps, were as clean or cleaner than those four corps, and played phenomenally. The only one I thought may have had a chance was C2.

That;s too bad... because they're pretty spectacular this year, and deserved every bit of that prelim win.

That particular list is in order of appearance.

Empire was awesome. They were not, however, two points better than CV.

I'm going to take a cheesy moment here, acknowledging the fact that tomorrow I will be burying my grandmother and trying to get over the fourth significant death in my life in the past year, making tonight a difficult night to handle. Thanks to the FN, and all of you guys who partook in the play-by-play as we watched what will likely be viewed as one of the best DCA prelims in the history of the circuit. You guys not only made tonight bearable, you made it enjoyable. I know my grandma would want me to enjoy myself and not dwell on her passing, and if she were alive, she'd probably tell me to skip her funeral and just go to finals. I'm not doing that. Kevin, and everyone else... give an extra shout to all of the corps for me tomorrow night in Annapolis. I truly wish I could be there to meet all of the people I had planned to meet. You guys are wonderful people, and tonight was an absolutely astounding night for drum corps. Thank you.

Definitely wouldn't be able to tell who won by the crowd. From what I could tell on the FN, crowds ate both shows up.

Nothing against the Cabs... they were great. But MBI doesn't have anything to worry about from a corps coming up from behind to top them. lol. That was a championship caliber show, and if I hadn't seen the Bucs already this year, I'd say it's the best. But I've seen the Bucs. And the Bucs are awesome. If any Buc members read this at any point, wish I could be there in person. I had a personal invitation to visit today's rehearsal, wish I could have. Would have been great. I'm cheering for the Bucs hard tonight. But I will fully acknowledge that MBI is a legitimate threat. lol

I competed against MBI's indoor percussion ensemble. Great percussionists, cool dudes. This show is kicking ###. It's going to be tight between them and the Bucs.

So does every other DCA corps. Just like every other DCA corps has kids in their teens. It's not a big deal. All-age. That's a good thing.

Agreed 100%. This has been an incredible series of shows to watch.

I think a lot of the kids and adults marching in brand new corps in the circuit would argue about what the good old days were/are. Have you been watching this? It's been unbelievable. And it's not like "senior" members have been phased out... I've seen plenty tonight. CV had two mello soloists who were both probably at least in their late 40's. Someone contacted me via DCP messaging saying he was a 50+ year old Buc. Just because they're different doesn't make them worse.