Tenoris4Jazz

The scores vary from year to year, but the placements are a better measure of how good you are in comparison to your peers. 18th place this year was the lowest SOA has finished since '96. Add that to the reckless spending and you get a recipe for folding.

I remember that moment vividly. The single white balloon released at the wall, followed by dozens released by the crowd. The show could have stopped right there and there would have been a full minute or two of standing O. That was major GE, and it was done quietly and deftly.

This does compare to the sports world. The franchises and colleges that change coaching staffs and front offices every couple of years are always struggling to "build a winner." The more stable teams tend to perform better. But it's also possible they get complacent too.

Technically, no, it's in unincorporated Cobb county. The land from Windy Ridge Parkway south to I285 is not part of Smyrna's city limits. That's why the Braves have been dealing with Cobb county and not Smyrna. That little corner isn't part of Smyrna or Vinings.

A third place corps everywhere but percussion. I think people find it easier to self-judge marching and brass than drums, so they have trouble figuring out a 3rd in M&M, a 4th in brass, and 9th in drums.

That must be the lot by the substation. There is NOTHING like that near Bobby Dodd. I wonder if each greek house would be willing to park 1 corps worth of vehicles at their place...

Would that be the final notes of Cadets' '87 show? I know there was a sop playing, but you couldn't hear squat besides the deafening ovation.

It's the difference in fishing for that one giant fish from a bass boat, or fishing for tuna with a commercial fishing boat. So 4 out of 5 people that tuned in to the ESPN2 broadcast didn't even stay long enough to see a full show. That doesn't sound very good at first glance.

Where did DCI stage and park everyone around the Ga Dome? If it was the GWCC marshalling yard, that's almost the same distance from the dome as Grant Field is, but I don't think they could walk to the stadium from there because of the railroad tracks and the residential area in between.

I went to the Atlanta show and after experiencing all that, decided to go to the theater as well. I wasn't going to buy the championship package, but after sitting through the theater show, I decided I HAD to see Finals live. This was the best season DCI had in ages, and I was not willing to read the scores Sunday morning and wonder. I will buy the entire season next summer, unless my financial situation gets even worse. I meant to watch Finals on my 60 inch smart TV, but I relinquished that to my 2 yo who wouldn't go to sleep and watched on my 25" monitor instead. The video was good and the audio was great. I had no technical problems at all, even though I was streaming Amazon video for my daughter on the tv while I was streaming DCI on my PC. If this is the way DCI is leaning to get people to watch, I can live with it.

Many years ago, before I had children to soak up all my income, I donated $500 to BD, just because I was a fan. I have donated to Friends of DCI twice as well. I just don't have the same income anymore and I have a LOT more expenses, so it's easy to justify focusing what I can give locally, in one place. Mind you, my family tithes, which means 10% of our income goes to the church and other charities. We as a nation only donate to charity at a 3% rate, so I think I'm doing pretty good.

There is no way UGA athletics would allow two dozen drum corps to march on that grass a few weeks before fall football practice started. They would be able to pack 40,000 people in there though! That place is enormous.

I know several alums of SOA, one who is in a particular position to know and do something about things. This person dedicated money to Spirit when all logic said they shouldn't. This isn't about logic though... it's about passion, loyalty, and family. My wife and I set aside a percentage of our income every year to donate to charity, and now every penny of that I can spare will be going to SOA. There aren't many activities left that instill the positive traits in youth that drum corps does. When Little League teams cheat to win and high schools illegally recruit football players to win 1 or 2 extra games, I look to support anything that will help kids learn about hard work, dedication, perseverance, and loyalty.

It's a perfect example of using leverage. Blank told the city he'd go to the suburbs if they didn't pony up for a new stadium. The city blinked. Likewise, the Braves saw the writing on the wall and took off for Marietta knowing the city was committing all their money to football.

DCI will have a venue, if they choose to use it. Ga Tech will take any event if you're willing to give them some money. The problem will be logistics... there is NOT enough room down there for all the buses and trucks.

My HS band director pointed something out to me 30 years ago and it applies just as well today. Two bands, roughly the same size, at the same show, were going head to head for the overall title. One played really loud, had a huge trumpet line, and jumped around and played to the crowd. They were also very dirty for a band that good. The other band didn't have the histrionics, had a much more balanced sound, and marched an incredibly clean show. In the end, the crowd favorite won GE, but lost the contest because they spent their efforts on "putting on a show" instead of cleaning their drill. I think judging GE is not as simple as standing O's and "throwing babies." If the effect of playing loudly, or fast, or both, but being dirty is the judge likes it, but wishes it sounded better, then that's not good GE.

I wonder if the delays in construction had to do with changes to the final construction that affected the acoustics. I recall lots of immediate complaints about the sound both with the roof open and closed.

Hmm, buried it in a story hardly anyone read all the way through. Good move.

DCI is not going backwards. MM are not going to accept less than the experience they are currently getting. Electronics are here to stay. Full corps dance and movement is here to stay. Thematic shows are here to stay. All the money in the world is not going to stop the momentum that already exists. The drum corps experience is what the kids make of it, and we need to stop standing in the way for our own selfish interests.

Where did you see that? I haven't heard anything about the GWCC agreeing to tear it down.

They didn't build the stadium for Manning. They built it for the city... and I quote from the press release on the new 10 year extension with the city: Visit Indy President & CEO Leonard Hoops stated, “The World Championships have a significant impact on Central Indiana, and DCI’s partnership with Indy will generate more than $115 million in economic impact over the next decade. This event annually brings thousands of talented and passionate drum and bugle corps performers—and their friends, families, and fans—to Indy while helping support the more than 75,000 people in our region who benefit from tourism for a paycheck. Over the course of a year, Lucas Oil Stadium will host more days of competitive marching music events than it will football games. When we built the stadium in 2008, we were the first city in the country to design the environment with marching music in mind.”

Quarters in '93 was actually higher than semis or finals, even though Star beat them in Perc GE that night. The lower their scores got Friday and Saturday in execution, the higher they went in GE, leading a perfect 10 in Perc GE Saturday night. So, dirt = GE???

I remember that. DCI actually helped design the stadium so that the sound would be better for them (how did THAT work out?!). Finals week was supposed to be the first official event in LOS when it opened... until it couldn't open on time.

Have you taken a hard look at the present, and what will be the future? I would LOVE to live in the past...

EXACTLY!!! If they had been clearer, it would have just brought down the tone of what was, and is, really great news about this year's attendance. btw, has it really been 8 years in Indy???? It doesn't feel like that long...