GlenI

I'd hate to see Allentown go from the schedule. My first time there - I was 20 in 1985. My friend and I took time off of our summer jobs and drove from Boston in my '79 Honda Accord. We stayed at the George Washington Motor Lodge back then. I remember arriving at the stadium at 7am and sprinting up the hill to get seats at the top of the concrete section on the 50. We baked in the sun there all day. Luckily as I approach 60, no skin issues to address. LOL But those were magical times for me back then - and the highlights of my summers throughout the rest of my life. As I've gotten older, however, I've become less happy about worrying about the weather. Maybe all of the big regionals should be in domes? With the heat levels expected to rise, maybe SanAntonio, Atlanta, the East show and of course finals ought to be indoors. Not just for the reliability of the schedule, but also for the health of the kids. Just a thought...

I don't think it's such a wacky request. Heck - the NY Jets and Giants share the same stadium in the Meadowlands. They change the graphics on the 50 and both end zones every week. But they may be set up for it specifically. I can't imagine it's impossible. But I'm sure it will cost something to do it - and that may be the rub. I'm guessing it's not cheap. And if you are going to take the horse shoe off the 50, you might as well remove the COLTS from the end zone too. If they keep the contract for multiple years, they can probably put DCI branding in the end zones and use them over multiple seasons. But in the hierarchy of challenges... I'm not sure this ranks in the top 5 of things the DCI "top brass" are facing in 2023.

Wow, Boston in 4th? That would be something! But I'm projecting Boston closing the gap with BD...

I'm really looking for the first face-to-face between Phantom and Cadets. Also wanting to see the how momentum between the big 4 corps is panning out. In recent years, Boston has had a way of adding a twist near the end of the season for a final pop of excitement. While I live in the Boston Area, I've struggled to warm up to the corps for some reason. But their appeal just can't be denied over the last few years. And the complexity of the brass score and visual frenzy in the drill is astonishing. It will be interesting to see how far they can take it. The competition at this level is really exciting. Let's see how the gaps change or if any of them can overtake the others! BTW, has anyone noticed that Flo has improved this year, both in the quality of the camera work and consistency of it's delivery?

I remember seeing Crown back in the beginning of the 2015 season. It was one of the first shows and it was in Foxboro, MA. The drill was so clean, brass sounded amazing. But there was absolutely no color and all of the visual effects with fabric, etc. had not been incorporated to the show. I left the stadium thinking, "That's a great show, but there's not enough content to win it all." Boy was I wrong! by the end of the season, it was a completely different experience. I don't rule out anything from Crown any more. I'll take a wait and see attitude on this one!

Smart move for safety's sake. But maybe also to keep the wraps on a surprise ending they are preparing to unveil in Indy to catapult them past BD? Nothing like a juicy rumor.... LOL

I want to echo what many have said in that I am really happy with the direction that the The Cadets have taken this year. To be honest, I've not been a big fan of Darcie Aungst's creative decisions, finding the 2019 show heavy-handed and cringeworthy. The irony is that I've loved her work with Dartmouth H.S.'s indoor programs. I think her maturity and growth this year is commendable and I'm excited to see how she and the organization develops in the coming years. As for this show? A wonderful step for the group's march back to the top! (see what I did there?) LOL

I'm with you 2000! Why the crickets?

Nice. It will be interesting to see how they work out the guard positions from this year.

While I haven't completely thought this through, I don't think there is a lot of harm done if they get grandfathered in for the 2021 season. If they choose to compete for a spot and can make the cut, I think they should be able to march as if they were one year younger. Just for the 2021 season and to accommodate the unusual circumstances. What say you?

Media is like food. There's highly nourishing stuff out there, junk food and everything in between. Treating all media as a monolith is odious. In this information age, each individual must be discerning about what to ingest. Find a few quality, trusted sources and follow them. And for Pete's sake support them with subscriptions, etc. so that real journalism doesn't get supplanted by social media garbage. Like most things today - buyer beware.

My thoughts are that with all of the tumult in the past 2 years, my expectations are very low. I hope that the corps can get on firm financial and organizational ground. If they can achieve that in 2020 and stay in the Top 12 - that would be success in my book. Any more is icing.

I hope that for the first time since I began having contact with the organization (1989) the powers that be will recognize that the Development role (fund raising) is an actual profession. That they will hire a professional of considerable caliber - preferably from outside the DCI activity - that the organization will finally have a professional and dynamic development plan, led by someone who has experience building and growing sustainable funding that is aligned with best practices in the profession.

I like that. But who gets bumped?

Hey - I bought a MM's hat! Very cool way to have something for my office and give the corps a boost.