OldSnareDrummer

This will be a blast. Tower of Power, Soul Train, Barry White. Wow.

I dunno, Chief. Perhaps the degree of Mandarins improvement took some people by surprise, but I don't recall many being shocked by their trajectory over the last few years. A couple of dinos even talked similarly to BD's rise in the early 70's. Not saying they'll reach the top and dominate for years and years (assuming the activity stays alive that long), but the stories of year-to-year placing improvement has some merit. Someone on here commented at one time that the Mandarins would likely win a championship before SCV wins another one. I tend to buy into that myself. I'll give you this - the number of high-caliber corps has dwindled to the point where we likely won't see a lot of 1972 Bleu Raeders or 1978 North Star shake up the status quo and that has impact. It'd be nice to see a little shake up, though, perhaps Pacific Crest or Music City catching lightning in a bottle and disrupting the seemingly endless same top 12.

A little mystique used to be nice, i.e. not knowing with much if any certainty who was getting into Finals and/or winning. Now DCI is as predictable as a Kardashian failed relationship with any guy dumb enough to get involved with one.

Tops in my book.

Oh, what a treat. I thought I was going to have to go a full day without any SCV bashing.

Sigh...live with the Ayatollah for 36 years if you want to hear some yelling.

I cut singing in drum corps a whole lot of slack when the voice sounds like that young lady. That was mahvelous.

I'm just happy he came over to the Dark Side of the drum corps world, i.e. Percussion. You're sitting at the Cool Kids table now, Suta.

@Sutasaurus makes history. The first DCPer featured on a corps t-shirt. On another note, got a real nice hand-written card from PR CEO in the mail yesterday thanking me for my support in 2023. Class organization and I'll be supporting again in the years ahead.

After '76 we had 4 go to the Kilts, 3 go the Cavaliers, 1 oddball go Troopers (I kid, he was a life long Troopers fanatic). I stayed and instructed my last two years of marching eligibility. If I had it to do all over again, I would have probably gone to Phantom Regiment. Their upward trajectory was stronger than the others where friends went, plus they had Marty Hurley on Percussion. A hero of mine since his time with the New Orleans corps, so yeah, I would have been influenced by both the staff and chasing a ring.

I got it. Rename the corps legally to The Cadets Formerly Known as The Cadets. I gotta say, my 50/50 hopes of (insert corps name here) making a comeback in my lifetime have gone to 20/80 just today and nosediving. But with this corps name change, they could start to improve.

Ok, like the bank robber dude said in Dirty Harry, "I gots to know". What is this? A bot thing where every time bodhran is mentioned in a 13 year old thread, that thread gets resurrected?

I'm in your camp on this. Well, maybe 50/50. Somehow, I just can't believe given all of the history, alumni base and glory of this corps that someone's going to say nope, this ain't happening while I'm still alive and pull a rabbit out of the hat.

Very similar to my monthly poker games with the corps buddies/budettes. Beer, drum corps videos, re-hashing the same old old drum corps stories for the 10,000th time, some bickering and disagreement. Come to think of it, they're not unlike DCP.

Not to be difficult and in before the close, but isn't that why a Facebook and talk place formerly known as Twiiter were invented? I'm as guilty as anyone about swaying OT, but if you think people disagree and bicker about drum corps.......yikes. The best pizza discussion alone nearly turned into a slugfest.

No need to remember when, 'cause everything old is new again. Wish that were true of me. Or at least my joints.

Or SCV troubles threads, Blue Devils judge payoffs, woodwinds in drum corps, Taylor and Travis, best pizza, best burgers. Enough dead horses out there to keep every Kindergartner in America in Elmer's Glue for eternity. As Tony Soprano says, whattaya gonna do.

Followed by blue hair anarchy.

Like everything else in this tired old body, not as far as it used to. "Hey honey, how about some eggs for breakfast?" "You old goober, you just ate eggs for breakfast 10 min ago."

There's never been a corps good or bad who ever went wrong playing Appalachian Spring. One of my all time favorite drum corps tunes.

It's Vanguard Mania!

Thank you, Paul for checking in and the feedback. That's so great to hear. I'd forgotten about your time with SOA, so I'm sure the talk you had with Daniel was very informative for him. This storied drum corps looks to be in the best hands.

Not anything that PETA got involved in, was it?

Just came across some trivia while reading through the SRPAF site. Sky Ryders were the only corps in DCI history to use live animals in their show in 1980 with the release of doves at the end. The following year, DCI banned live animals which I guess would explain why the Troopers never sent wild horses charging across the field.

Wondering if @Paul Milano can add anything about this announcement. I do like that Daniel is young and new blood. Also wishing him much success.