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BOSMarcher

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  1. Actually, they have sadly gotten 7th in that subcaption from a GE judge a few times. I think Atlanta and I know Murfreesboro are examples.
  2. Depends on what you consider the modern era. Magic of Orlando is still the only non Div 1/World Class corps to ever make the Saturday show. They finished 11th in 2002 after winning Division 2. Of course, they had an amazing staff with Gino Cipriani, Collin McNutt, and Jeff Sacktig.
  3. Been away for several years, but I'm back! Unfortunately, I see DCA as a classic example of the group that failed to jump the S-curve. If you aren't familiar with the concept, it's when a business misses a trending change and fails to adopt quickly enough... getting left behind, and ultimately, going out of business. DCA did itself in 10+ years ago when it was trying to hold on to the good ole' days. I know this because there were some great DCA corps who are no longer with us that shared in these frustrations because they were trying to design shows that were what their pool of talent was interested in performing... except they were limited in what they could do. DCA took a chance by thinking the differentiation was good, but then they changed their business model... When DCA decided to allow performers under 21 to participate, this was pivotal. This was the right call in my opinion. DCA needed to clean up its reputation... but then they decided they weren't going to market to their new and (rapidly) growing clientele. It took a bit for B-flat instruments to be adopted and high school band directors weren't going to encourage students to learn how to play an instrument that didn't improve their playing ability in their ensembles with marching organizations that didn't perform at as high of a level. It took a DECADE to pass amplification after DCI. Finals staying in the same place and not finding a way to give enough incentive to encourage northern groups to travel has hurt the spread of the activity. Right now, the strongest corps is CV in my area (which is pretty strong), but it wasn't that long ago that they were a 6-8 place group. If groups like Cadets2, Bucs, or MBI had traveled south, that would have done wonders for building excitement. Creating a partnership with DCI to allow a limited number of DCA groups to perform in the regionals would have helped (I think joint local shows with DCI Open Class has been a good move). I know that is a highlight for many of the students currently in DCA, but it happens toward the beginning of their season. Hopefully, I'm not rambling, but I do think the only way for DCA to survive at this point is to create some kind of partnership with DCI or encourage groups to form WGI Winds groups. There is no size limit on those groups and a relatively small group of 30 is fairly large in that circuit. Building an ensemble that way could create great name recognition for the organization, allowing them to pivot to an outdoor ensemble in the future... OR... it would allow for easier recruiting to a DCA corps. Think about it... if a DCA corps produced a quality winds group, they would be able to easily recruit at local winds shows and help spread the good word about DCA. I do think the other big issue is that DCA doesn't have much of a marketing presence. When I go to the DCA website right now, I can't even find last year's scores. I don't see them promoting their circuit at winter guard shows, DCI shows, or local marching band shows. Yes, it's the corps job to do that, as well, but if DCA wants to survive, it is going to have to start doing some of the lifting on its own and promote all of the groups. Awareness is key because I had great high school musicians who were thrilled when they made CV or Alliance down here in Georgia, and they were very aware of DCI. DCI just isn't an option for everyone, but if I had not told them, they would not have known about those opportunities with DCA corps.
  4. Maybe. I thought about going to this show, but between getting there on a weekday with terrible metro Atlanta traffic and a major regional happening in the exact same city two weeks later, I didn't see the value paying the ticket price. As long as there is a major regional in Atlanta, you really have to have a much earlier show, and perhaps not two in the same school system.
  5. I would think Crown or BD could very easily be in that discussion. The original post was implying that they are corps below the top three that cannot break into the top three despite being just as clean. I just do not agree with that statement. The top three in a class of their own this year and that's ok. Next year is another opportunity.
  6. Who do you think is marching and playing better than Bluecoats right now? Maybe BD or Crown, but I think by your criteria, the top three are very correct this year.
  7. I think his post was meaning that CT's highest score was not used.
  8. I wouldn't be too concerned. DCA will not make that mistake when it comes to seeding. With that being said, their drop in score with a completely different panel may show that the panel in Rockmart was tougher on the corps. For instance, CT was VERY close to Kilties at their last show. Tonight (albeit at different shows) they are 6 points behind. I think it makes finals more exciting, but I hope it does not result in a cops like CT not making finals because they get a terrible prelims spot. I saw them last night and I feel like this show is contender for finals for sure. Alliance was strong last night and definitely a contender for the Class A title based on past offerings. Not a ton of weaknesses as they are pretty balanced across the board and their show is designed for Class A better than their 2008 Championship run. Their brass had some endurance issues at the end, which made it difficult to hear them over the battery. Hopefully this will get corrected in the next two weeks. Carolina Gold's guard was on fire last night. Especially their flags! It is weird to see their hornline the size it is in Open Class, though I imagine their guard is what pushed them up a class (or made them choose to do so). It is a good show and has a shot at making finals. Brass and percussion need to get cleaner to do so (brass especially in the drill, but holes may have contributed). Hoping they can pull it off and we can have three southern corps in finals again (four if we count CT). CV is doing a lot of stuff this year and taking some chances. I have never seen them move this much. With that being said, it is pretty dirty still. They have a camp weekend and the southern groups always get a nice endurance boost when they go up north, so they may have a shot of pulling off the "upset" and beating Kidsgrove and/or Fusion (I automatically put Kidsgrove there because they usually rank in that area). If they do not clean it up, then I would be concerned about them getting passed by those two and White Sabers. It is exciting because it could go either way. The crowd loved their show and, like I said, they had a lot of energy in their performance last night!
  9. Yeah... but that is usually achieved during the last weekend of competition. Sometimes a Sunday score goes down, but usually the last weekend there is a bump for everyone. It isn't like someone is going to a higher score two or three weeks earlier... at least, I have never seen one. Maybe this year will be the first. I realize that does not change your point, just throwing out something as part of the discussion. In regards to the rankings, it is looking tight at the top for both classes. Very interested to see what Govenaires and CT do with a DCA number in Class A. I am also interested in seeing how much MBI shakes things up in addition to Kidsgrove. Groups that are in the top 5 right now, could find themselves as "low" as 7th soon.
  10. Or was that 13,000 paid? I cannot remember, but I remember thinking that it totaled more than DCI Finals when it was in Orlando.
  11. I think the big story this year was the 18,000+ paid attendance at the Atlanta regional this year.
  12. Check again. There is a "communication" line on their recap and that does not exist on DCI sheets. I know that means their score went down, but I would image they did not have necessarily a bad run. It is very difficult to place groups accurately, score-wise when there is no one else. Not to mention DCI judges whether we want to believe it or not have a difficult time judging a DCA groups simply because they are exposed to a much higher quality on a regular basis due to the superior amount of rehearsal hours a junior corps receives. It will be fun to see what the MBI and the Govies get with an actual DCA panel. Until then, we wont' really know for sure. With that being said, we might be able to compare Alliance with them when Alliance performs at the Dome. It will be similar situation... albeit different weeks, so maybe not.
  13. Midwest? Are we talking about Bluecoats or Crown? If Crown, then they are from the south... regardless, I see your point, but I am going to say that this round will go to BD (even though I am a Crown alum). I would be very happy to see that not be the case, though.
  14. Any word on Shenandoah returning sometime soon? Also, did I read the other day that Heat Wave is back?
  15. Maybe I am reading into the tones of some posts, but my comment regarding the Govies was simply to say that none of the scores other than Alliance can be treated as 100% accurate since they are the only ones who have had a DCA score. This is not a statement of who is better or not, just a simple observation. ... to be fair.
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