MikeRapp

Sure, but there has to be some criteria. Otherwise, what is the point of scoring It?

How is GE judged? By what criteria?

That's interesting because that very thing was referenced in the BD360 video on Bumblebee as one of the "high difficulty" aspects of the arrangement and staging.

I mean that literally, I don't understand something about GE that is apparently fundamental to the scores.

I clearly have no clue what the hell GE is if Blue Devils are ouscoring Bluecoats in GE.

Why does Blue Knights continue to make the same visual decisions every year and get the same blah response? Multiple small props on a football field do not ever work. Hand held still props never work. Never. Go big or go home. Knights are so close to being a heavyweight, but they continue to make weird, predictable and totally correctable visual mistakes that kill their entire show. Please, no more mirrors. Come up with some new ideas that actually progress the plot.

Wow, everything seems to be aligning for Boston.

What are the odds of a new ending? If the follow the leader drill is seen as not advantageous to scoring (may not be the case), would they consider a new ending?

Don't start with me and the Tom Blair crew. Obviously they continue to get that gig because of their relationships with the dci brass. Their commentary is so pathetic that kids actually laughed at their comments in the theatre broadcast.

Usually my iPhone gives me very reliable streaming. I stream ESPNU and ESPN3 constantly, hardly ever have these issues.

I think it is more likely Crusaders begin to threaten Cavaliers than Cadets leaping them. Maybe they introduced their ending too soon, waits to be seen. Not a fan of what I've seen of the Cavaliers show, but I know the kids love it.

Please don't use the word Awakening...

I actually think it would be a great podcast for DCI. But I doubt many directors would choose to participate.

In your list above, you project your version of the near future. Nowhere did you mention the fact that right now Crusaders are in that group of corps "above" Cadets.

Every corps evolves their show. Cadets is the only corps whose director chooses to talk about it on Facebook.

Are you saying Crusaders drop below Blue Knights?!

I tried streaming from my DSL line, and from my Verizon phone as a modem. Both through my iPad and my AppleTV using the Flo app. Nothing was even watchable quality wise. At multiple times the audio was 15 seconds out of sync with video.

I just love the Bluecoats kids' reaction when they complete the show. The looks on their faces is just so emotional to me. It chokes me up. That's what it's all about right there!

It is inarguable that the very idea of show design and performance has changed dramatically since the 80s. The ability to discover a compelling story, put it into an 11 minute show that kids can learn and perform, and do it both for playing members and guard members equally...sorry but that's very difficult and not all the kids can do it equally well. A high schooler isn't going to be as good at it as a college kid. If your corps is mostly high school kids, news flash, you aren't going to be able to design a show on the level of the corps that are mostly college kids with years of drum corps experience. The demand of modern day guard is light years different than the 80s.

Like last year, SCV has some really cool a ha moments that involve their props. Last year's ending was just magic. This year, the center line use of the props midway through the show, followed by the ripple effect of the entire corps...hey, you don't have to know #### about drum corps to be wowed by that!

Let me say this before things go in a different direction. Every corps can learn something from Blue Devils as far as how the think through and design shows. On every and all levels. I sense that some other corps are getting it, including Boston Crusaders. I continue to be in awe of their organizational culture, and how cleanly and clearly their intent makes it into the kids and onto the field.

I sincerely hope you are right. Last season sucked, because the show was a dud and George just couldn't step back and let others lead.

Blue Devils absolutely does deliberately appeal to the judges. They do it better than anyone else in the activity, and the proof is the last decade of gold medals. You may choose to see that as a criticism, but it's a statement of what I think is pretty clear fact. And I think it is a clear statement of respect. Everything else you say I totally agree with. There was a time not long ago in which if I were introducing someone to drum corps, I would have them watch Blue Devils, maybe Cadets. In the 80s it would be Cavaliers. Now, I am just as likely to point them to Carolina Crown, Bluecoats and SCV. Each has in essence done what Blue Devils have mastered, which is carve out a unique style and direction. What they have not yet done is systematically build in multiple scoring concepts that build their rep with judges, at least at the level Blue Devils do. What is difficult about drum corps for me, having worked in performing arts my whole career, is that in music and drama, what is "gotten" by the crowd on the stage live is all that matters. And that is not the case with drum corps. That makes it hard to understand why one corps scores better than another. And as the activity grows, it will most certainly grow with people who have precisely no clue about the history of drum corps, and really don't care about how someone grips a drum stick. Transparency is the key at dci. They have to get proactive about explaining the whys of scoring. Otherwise, people will get frustrated, and not be as convinced as we would like them to be that performance is all that matters.

I love Cadets, it is one of the corps that got me into drum corps 30 years ago. Some of their shows still blow my mind. But I'm glad there are now a lot of other corps to focus on and talk about, because I got tired of the drama that always seems to spin around Cadets. I hope this doesn't signal the end of "Good George," and the drama we have had to wade through in recent past seasons again returns to the second half of this cadets show. If it does, then we could see Cadets drop to an historic scoring low.

I think anyone in the top four can medal, maybe even get gold. After that, I would say the order may be fairly well predictable. Crusaders could top Cavaliers but I don't see them dropping. Knights, eh, their arrangements rock and their playing ability is crazy great, but again their show concept is just a GE dud. Cadets have a better show design than BK imo. No way Cadets falls below Phantom. Those two shows and corps are in different categories as far as I am concerned.