MikeRapp
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Posts posted by MikeRapp
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On 8/21/2024 at 2:03 PM, DAYGO said:
Just got an email from BD listing all of the audition dates. Looks like it starts in 60 days. Did the buses even make it back to NorCal yet? LOL
I'm sure BD is going to bring fire next year. The only thing better than BD is an angry BD.
They don’t need anger. They need a fresh design concept.
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12 hours ago, bluecoats88 said:
#### I went to toledo in the mid to late 80s and we got Cheap Trick, Heart, and REO Speedwagon. Would have loved to have the shows you got.
I grew up in Toledo, my dad graduated from UT.
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Bloo review:
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16 minutes ago, GREENBLUE said:
don’t you think some of it could’ve been: the instructional staff, the musical arrangement and lastly the constant design changes (more so then normal) the members had to deal with?
thats a lot of “stuff” to consider before blaming it on the gender/talent of the men. I’ll say it once again…if you gave the 2024 Cavaliers the same staff/design that the 2024 Bluecoats had and they still finished in 11th then I might agree with your point. Until then…Of course, it’s not one thing.
But I do believe it is a factor. Not between 11 and 1–but perhaps 11 and 6.
And I’ve been watching this activity for decades—it is so much about athleticism that comes with experience and talent.
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23 hours ago, jasgre2000 said:
It's a fair point, but why do you think it is more impactful now than it has been in the past? Cavies have a long history of being an elite corps and, as far as I know, have always been male only. Is it that there are significantly more talented females interested and participating in drum corps than in the past? I'm sure that is definitely true when compared to 30 years ago, but has there been that much of a change in the overall demographic of auditioners since Cavies last medaled in 2011? Or pre-pandemic when they were consistently placing in the top half of Finals. I'm sure there has been changes. Just not sure it is as drastic as you are suggesting. Definitely open to being wrong about that though. I'm guessing no one has compiled statistics on that, but would definitely be interesting to look at if they're out there.
To me this isn’t arguable. It’s just math. Look at the rosters of every corps above them, they all have A LOT of female brass musicians. Frankly I would guess that 80% of them are better than most of the guys who marched Cavaliers this year.
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On 8/13/2024 at 8:55 PM, MGCpimpOtimp said:
Probably more the design/staff than males not wanting to be in an all male corp. Members only get a few years to march, and it's EXPENSIVE, why risk going some place that has a shaky record on cool shows?
Cavies were obviously fine for like...most of their entire existence being all male. It makes it more difficult, but is a small short term bump worth abandoning your entire identity when that's not the actual issue?Easy answer: Yes. Because it won’t be a “small short term bump.” And I believe it is a big part of their emerging problem. This year was the worse brass line I’ve ever heard at Cavaliers.
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Because he joined the BK staff he couldn’t do the usual in-season video critiques. I agree, it would be cool if he and his crew did them now.
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17 hours ago, jasgre2000 said:
Why else would the gender of their members impact their competitiveness? What does that have to do with what they put on the field?
Math.
When you disqualify half of the most talented marching members due only to their gender, why would one think that wouldn’t impact competitiveness?
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1 hour ago, jasgre2000 said:
I don't think anyone would have predicted Boston would be where they are right now before 2017. I don't think being all male has anything to do with anything. It's design and talent ... neither of which are gender dependent. Unless you think the judges are punishing them unfairly for socio-political reasons.
Who said anything about punishing them for “socio-political reasons”?
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13 hours ago, LoveKathyG said:
Not every organization has to serve everyone. That is not equity and inclusion. Equity and inclusion means that there are opportunities for everyone within a broader community or context…not within every single organization within that community. Treating everyone the same is not equity. The greater community benefits from individual organizations whose mission is the develop a specific segment of that community.
I am not talking about equity and inclusion.
I'm talking about competing for medals. And right now I’m talking about making finals.
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7 hours ago, BlueStainGlass said:
I have not enjoyed a bluecoats show since 2014. They design the same formulaic show musically and smack a new idea on it. Everyone goes bananas but they do the same thing that people hate on BD for. It's a formula that works for them that slightly gets modified. Using sound equipment for effect is their insert whatever you want to compare to BD. They only like it because it's not BD. I could put a Box5 bet that of BD did Bluecoats show everyone would complain how boring, park and bark, and nonsense it is. Also, Boston is what crown used to be and I hate that crown isn't like that because I haven't liked anything Boston has done with the cadets/crown staff. I haven't listened to one show after the season ended. Also, bottom 5 were more entertaining to me than top 5.
That's a start of my unpopular opinions on design teams 😁
Bluecoats is park and bark?
okay…
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6 hours ago, Brass Lover said:
I think every design team has their own quirks and people either love them or hate them. I'll pray for your safety for the rest of that post 🙏
You had me until the last sentence. I get your frustration as a BD fan. It’s been a long time since BD was not the talk of DCI.
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8 hours ago, saxfreq1128 said:
I feel like we can only really say Crown is at a crossroads if we believe that winning is the most important metric. Even then, they haven't won championships since 2013, so if they're at a crossroads today, then they've been at a crossroads for over a decade now, and personally I just don't think that's true. They've been doing great. They're an automatic top 5 corps and a guaranteed Ott contender before they've even played a single note in June.
What BD/Bloo/BAC have really been doing is doubling down on what their corps can offer that no one else can offer, be it theater, trippy sonic innovation, or whatever else. Crown has spent the last 2 years reminding us that there's no one else in the top 5 offering classical, brass-forward storytelling on an epic scale. I sincerely think they'll get further by playing to their own strengths than they will by chasing everyone else's.
Totally get that success is measured in different contexts. I doubt that the org is content finishing fifth.
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8 hours ago, Slingerland said:
When your GE and content numbers are bottomed out, it is most definitely on the design staff.
Who hired and leads the design staff? This isn’t some open class newbie. It’s the Cavaliers. Leadership is to blame for this situation.
imho: scouts are on a clear upward trajectory and it corresponds with moving to coed. Their talent level was obvious.
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2 minutes ago, NewArpege said:
They don’t need to abandon their strengths which are operatic music and staging. If they applied that formula to a show like BAC or Bloo this year, they’d be a top contender.
Inferno was imo their best ever show. In some ways quite similar to 2024, but not weighed down with the wooden story telling.
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17 hours ago, oldbandguy said:
OK...the 2025 show will be titled "AGRICULTURE"...change is indeed everything.
“Currency”
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Anyone else watching the Olympics closing ceremony and thinking about which corps this reminds them of?
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1 hour ago, NewArpege said:
A concept that is more abstract or a story that doesn’t require an over-abundance of literal imagery to derive understanding. The past two years Crown has needed to develop the storytelling in a ton of detail in order for the concept to work. That’s creatively difficult and takes a long time to put a broadway-style production on the field. The end result is beautiful, but the 2 month time window is a disadvantage unless they go less literal or put more on the field earlier.
This to me is the biggest issue. Crown has become the home team for high school bands—but that isn’t proving to be interesting compared to the competition. They need to stop being so on the nose—totally my opinion here.
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5 hours ago, lawdn said:
I really appreciate you and your words and your contributions. Not gonna lie, it was a bit of a tough year for BD fans but we understand the game and we recognize excellence. Bloo stood up to every challenge and is a more than worthy champ.
It took me a while to understand that your critiques of BD this year came from a place of almost surprise that you saw the design falling short from the corps that has been the historic standard of excellence from 2007 (and before). We didn't always agree but I respect your knowledge and where you are coming from.
Savor Bloo's win and all the great memories of an unforgettable season!
Thanks for your kind words.
My criticisms of BD have been consistent over the years—even when they were winning golds. That said, they have an organization to run and they have chosen a path to do so. I respect their commitment to greatness and also to leadership within that context. This activity would be something far less and far different without BD.
My hope is that BD zags for the first time in at least a decade. Maybe they won’t. Maybe they will say we just missed the trees for the forest and let’s just flush it. Have you heard of Jackson Pollack?
What I do now feel is that the activity has evolved to something new. There can be no doubt now that Bluecoats are the creative standard bearer—realizing that there are some other groups that can claim the their own part of that.
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BK has a couple of the most loved shows of all time. I really thought they were the next medalist. Hope they can figure it out.
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20 hours ago, Ediker said:
They were definitely substantial, but compared to Bloo’s Beatle’s show props they looked like so much less.
Pretty similar though. I noted it at the time.
BD could learn from their best shows. Props were out of the way and used to “stage” the story. This year they clearly got in the way, literally.
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9 minutes ago, mrk said:
My dad would say, "If they sound good, look good, and play tunes I enjoy, everything else is a perk or superfluous."
Yeah well that’s great and all but corps success is directly tied to income. Not sure what the split are but if you don’t make finals you are in a financial world of hurt.
Favorite show not in the top 6 Any Year
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