asvab

Hopefully, the insinuations that you guys know something means that an announcement is finally imminent.

Rick's reasons for moving on are his and his alone. How can they be anything but the right reasons?

Yikes - and my apologies for my part in this. I did not mean to inflame anything. I simply misinterpreted your post. I thought you were implying that Gordon's announcement was a slight to Matt H. Clearly that is not the case. My misunderstanding.

I don't see the conflict. Gordon was announced as the leader of Visual Design. That role is usually, or at least often, separate from the caption head role.

So what does your impression of a specific instance have to do with the issue of women directing corps GENERALLY?

I have never witnessed a more rediculous thought process. Let's all stop setting goals for fear that we might not achieve them, for anything short is a FAILURE. Come on! That is BS. You set a goal that is appropriate for YOUR SITUATION and you go for it. If you don't make it you strap them back on and try again, and again, and again.

I would strongly suggest you consider partnering with an Allegiance alum in Calgary and try to form a base from the two cities. I think you will need both to sustain a reasonable membership.

Of course it is impossible to definitively know. That does not mean there is anything inherently wrong with being a fan of the competitive aspect of drum corps and making the claim that corps a would beat corps b. It's not any different than talking about your favorite college football team and where they should be ranked.

Oh brother, the drama. I think most of us are quite capable as taking his statement as his own without letting it impact our impression of the Santa Clara Vanguard. Regarding the statement, yes, there is plenty of evidence that the Academy were superior to every other Div II corps. Look at their spreads versus the Fever and look at how well Fever did. Of course it is not an exact science, but that doesn't mean we can't talk about it. It is fun to speculate, no? As far as the "it was a crime" statement, I'd prefer to call it sound financial management, and I applaud the Academy management for building the program over time. We will see them at nats soon enough (2006?), and when we do they will knock our socks off.

The Colts will be 14th. It's an absolute lock.

I just downloaded the APD from San Antonio. They sound like a corps that is going to finish somewhere in the second half on finals. I can hear why they are placing where they are. I really like the music and I think RCM works just fine as a closer. They just don't seem to have the horses to pull it off. They are clearly totally out of gas during that piece. They have nowhere near the power that the hornline had in 87. RCM actually sounds bright and happy. It needs to be dark, deep, rich, ominous etc.

Did you indicate what? You absolutely indicated that there is a point at which change will cause this activity to cease to be 'drum corps', then you proceeded to say that what we are watching IS drum corps. I didn't say you would walk away. I merely pointed out that you can only define what constitutes drum corps for yourself.

It is not quite that straightforward. The definition of drum corps is in the eyes of the beholder. Most of us have a line that when crossed the activity ceases to be drum corps. You've indicated that adding woodwinds will cross the proverbial line in your eyes. For others that line has already been crossed. Others will just go with the flow regardless. So no, it is not necessarily "still drum corps regardless of how you feel about it."

I suppose it's pointless to point out that they were not at the same competition.

Yep - this happens every year. The Devs and SCV head east on tour while the Mandarins and Pacific Crest remain behind competing in California. That makes them the class of the compeition. There is no pressure on the judges to "leave room at the top" and it tends to inflate the scores a bit. Their scores normalize when they get out on tour in bigger shows.

That says everything you need to know about the author of this thread.

The BD drum line was great, but so was SCVC. They were outstanding IMO. I think the judges got it right. It was a toss up.

I'll be back Friday night to say "I told you so"... B) ...or eat crow! :P

PR 79.5 SCV 78 Cascades 72.5 PC 68.5 Mandarins 68 I realize that is a big number for the Cascades, particularly for their first show, but I saw their Memorial Day run through and I see them back in finals this year. Great show and well performed.

Post of the year IMHO. I could not agree more.

That is not exactly true. The park is run by Herco, which is a wholly owned subsidiary of The Hershey Trust Company (www.hersheytrust.com). Hershey Trust owns about 19% of the outstanding common stock of Hershey Foods Corporation. Without looking it up, I think it is safe to say they are one of the (likely THE) largest shareholders.

Why would anyone in their right mind care to attempt to change your opinion after a comment like that?!?! You opinion is yours and it is based upon your individual experience. GT's time with the Argonauts was just a small slice of who he was within the drum corps community (as evidenced by the posts here). You had a negative experience, others had a positive experiences. To each their own. So you had to move on to the Marauders. There are worse things in life. The Marauders were a quality drum corps at the time. You are lucky to have had that option. btw - there is no ffffn way the Argos had "80 other kids in their ageout year...."

My anxiety dreams were always related to my uniform, and I had them while dozing during the ride from housing to the show site. I'd wake up in a panic that I forgot my horn, my uni, my bucks, etc. Never actually happened, but my heart skipped a beat!

I'm partial to the Auburn, WA Black Watch. It is interesting the the WA and NJ corps with the same name won back-to-back Class A championships. The WA Black Watch won in 78 and the NJ Black Watch won in 79.

92 Xmen made my list, but my favorite is 82. I don't think it is a slam dunk that the Xmen will make it. I realize I could stack the odds in favor of my corps by voting for multiple years of the same corps, but I'm sticking with the one vote per corps. That is making it really tough for me. I have an SCV vote and a Cadets vote that are locks for me in the 80s. Now I am having to choose between Suncoast, 27th Lancers and Spirit for that 3rd vote. Tough call! BD, SCV, Cadets, Cavies, Madison and Phantom are locks. Anybody else could be shutout IMO.