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Tickets for the Championships in Indianapolis in DCI Friends Section 441. Same seats in Row 8 for all three nights. Prefer to sell as a set at face value ($574 for the pair for all three nights - $59/Prelims - $89/Semis - $139/ Finals.)

I agree with others, if it's going to happen, it will be in Indy. I'd rather see both of them overtake BD, but I suppose that's a different thread.

Furthermore, other than its deformed creepy appearance, it's not that scary. I'm guessing even the most out of shape judge could out run it. Please, PR chalk this up to a really bad craft project idea and kill it for good. Bring back Spartacus... he can take it out for good.

This is just wrong... all wrong. As someone else commented... this is PR. They traditionally typify class, refinement, etc. This prop comes off as a cheesy distraction and, based on what I saw on the Fan Network, it's poorly executed and integrated into the show. I hope they go back to the drawing board and come up with another way to integrate the Evil Queen or any other characters they feel the need to kill off in order to meet the PR annual kill quota.

I suppose too much has already been said about the uniform change, but seeing Boston last night live confirmed for me my initial reaction when I saw the uniforms in the cinema. IMO, the flat grey reads very poorly on the field. I understand the tribute to the Cadet uniforms, the mood they are allegedly trying to create, etc., but purely from a visual perspective, this uniform doesn't work at all for me. With this said, I really like the different direction Boston took with this show. Once they clean it up (and hopefully do something with the uniforms), it has nice potential.

You apparently missed the part in which I specifically stated I wasn't singling out the Scouts with my request for a moratorium on Malaga and Malaguena. BTW, I didn’t even comment about ’08 other than to state that Latin music suits the Scouts well. Wow… drop the defensiveness. If it will make you feel better, create a thread about any of the other corps you bashed and I will post a similar reply. I thought this one was about the Scouts. You apparently are more comfortable hearing a lot of the same music over and over again each year, which I respect. I’d rather not hear Malguena or Malaga (or many of those you mention) for a while.

And the fourth time in the last 15 years that the Scouts have done Malaga. I honestly think there should be a 10-year moratorium on Malaga and Malaguena (and not just the Scouts). They are both great pieces of music for drum corps, but they have both been beat to death. Also, at the risk of inciting the Scouts fans who are already somewhat defensive into this thread (I love the emotion of Scouts’ fans!), put me in the column of those who thought the announcement was a bit pompous. Drop the preface, which takes pot shots at other corps’ announcements and just issue a brief statement… we will get it. To be honest, aside from the cheap shot at other announcements, the first thing I thought was that they must not have had have enough time to put together a “lofty and abstract” announcement of their own and wanted to quickly get the show information out there. With this said, I like the Scouts doing Latin music and think it suits them extremely well. I suspect by having only hints of Malaga in the show they are attempting to regain some of the emotion (and fan support) from the 1994 and 1995 shows. I hope they succeed. Good luck Scouts

When I first read this, I thought the comment meant that the 42 returning brass members exceeded the number of brass players in the corps in 2007 and 2008, which didn't make sense. My bad. I might be wrong, but this might have also been BRASSO's confusion. Now that I read the other comments, I get the point and it's great for Crossmen.

Great. Just what drum corps needs... more WSS. I'd rather a show with another door.

I can understand the PR – BD debate for 1st and 2nd because it could have gone either way. I personally thought PR had the winning show, but contrary to the judges’ scoring, I also thought they had the winning show all three nights. To the extent BD beat PR the two previous evenings and because I didn’t see much of a difference between the two (great) performances on finals night from those shows, I can see how it maybe should have gone BD’s way. However, I do not understand the perspective that Cavies should have placed 1st… aside from a great pit and another interesting visual show, the show wasn’t Championship caliber, IMO. I believe there is a stronger argument they should have finished 4th behind Crown. I know the topic has been beat to death on DCP, but Cavies brass needs to play more than half of the show in order to present a complete package. (With that said, this was the most enjoyable Cavies show for me in years… it just wasn’t a 1st place show.) I was fine with all of the other placements (other than I still contend Crossmen should have been the 12th place corps.)

I agree, but I don’t put much stock in any announcement that alleges the person is resigning “to spend more time with my family.” This is the standard, benign, and professional way of parting ways. Most often, it simply means the person needs a change or a better paying job. How many staff members have resigned to “spend more time with their family” only to resurface (sometimes immediately) with another corps? (e.g., wasn’t Fiedler’s explanation of his retirement to step away from the stress and spend more time with his family?) BTW, I am not implying this is the case with this announcement; instead I am saying you can’t really take these announcements at face value.

Sure, you could still technically “see” the corps on the field, but the shade of green blended so much into the turf that the visual presentation lacked clarity. There wasn’t any “pop” and, frankly, on the field, it’s a rather depressing shade of green. In your foyer, olive green might "rock", but on a football field, I think not. I have to say, however, when I saw the uniform up close it looked very sharp, but that perception is completely lost once they are on the field. IMO, the poor color choice completely wiped out the impact of the new design.

Good for the Bluecoats and David Glasgow. This is a perfect way to handle an unfortunate situation like this.

I honestly believe (or I’d at least like to believe) Greg Newell simply chose the wrong words in responding to the “rumor.” However, the link in his original post, the one in which the cat was let out of the bag, refers to a topic that was started that asserted Adam Sage “resigned.” Replying to that “rumor” by stating Adam Sage was “let go” is the source of the criticism. So the "cat" that was out of the bag turned out to be an entirely different cat. Nonetheless, the poor (and ill-advised) wording is the source of the controversy or criticism because it really serves no positive purpose for Phatom Regiment (unless they needed to go on record he was being terminated for very serious issues (e.g, legal etc.), which I suspect isn't the case.)

Oops... my bad. I fixed the typo. Thanks.

I’ve obviously made my opinion clear that this wasn’t handled perfectly, but the notion of a lawsuit based on this announcement is a bit extreme and almost certainly without merit. I presume the announcement is factual… i.e., that Phantom terminated Adam Sage. Disclosing factual information, even in an employment reference, is a highly defensible position. (In fact, in many states during an employment reference, an employer has a legal responsibility to disclose more than start and end dates for employees under certain circumstances … e.g., the employee had exhibited acts of violence, etc.) However, it is always safest and highly recommended to stick to the bare basics… a generic, non-positional, but factual disclosure. That's the memo I don't think Greg Newell received.

Crossmen 2006 -- 10 pages so far and everyone has ripped apart the use of narration and no one (unless I missed a reference) has yet to cite 2006 Crossmen, which was a total disaster. The show design was straight from BOA, the narration was the most amateurish of any use of narration thus far, and the design and flow of the show was less like Changing Lanes and more like a Train Wreck. On a great note -- They’ve come a long way since then. I also have to cite 2005 BD – Aside from the narration, the show concept just didn’t work. This show was clearly a “miss” for BD in a list of otherwise impressive performances since 2000. In terms of specifics within shows – 2002 – Crown’s guard uniforms. Wrong. Simply all wrong. 2002 – Cadets’ 911 reference, which came off as a desperate plea for points 2002 – Boston Crusaders “drum corps for dummies” banners. I guess it was better than narration, but just slightly. Wow… I just realized 2002 wasn’t a good year of drum corps for me. 2008 – Scouts moss green jackets that blend perfectly into the turf. I’m sure they looked nice in the studio, but the competition takes place on a football field.

Again we disagree. Perhaps your experience with PR or HR exceeds mine, but I am comfortable with my educational and prefessional credentials on the subjects. When it comes to employee separations, only under certain specific circumstances is it ever in an organization’s best interest to proactively announce they have “let go” or “fired” an employee. It only makes the organization look responsible if the “firing” was mandated by a breach of ethics, moral code, etc. Otherwise, there is rarely any positive to be gained by the organization, which BTW is responsibility of a BOD member. If his words should have been “better” then he should fix them by restating the announcement… that’s also a responsible PR tactic, but I’m guessing that’s a moot point. So the world now knows Phantom Regiment had the upper hand and they “canned” Adam Sage. And this accomplished exactly what for Phantom Regiment?

I'm sure I am missing your point, but I don't get it. It was handled poorly from a PR standpoint; anyone with any PR knowledge or experience would definitively agree. "Let go" directly states Phantom terminated, released, or whatever word you want to use... Adam Sage. What value does it serve the organization to validate this instead of simply confirming he is no longer with Phantom or, as others have correctly suggested, spin it positively by taking the high road? This has nothing to do with PC... this was a Board Member... a senior official with the organization... to cry foul because he simply used the wrong words or wasn't being PC is bogus. As far as always being able to saying something "better", that's why it should be handled by a PR person, which was my point. They are trained to say things "better." God forbid we hold drum corps organizations to the same professional standards as companies in private industry. What a horrible thought.

Add me to the list of people who believe this was handled poorly and that it reflects very poorly on the Phantom Regiment organization. To have a member of any Board of Directors use this terminology when an employee has been released is purely unprofessional. Call me naïve, but doesn’t Phantom have a PR person or at least a primary person responsible for PR releases? How about anyone who knows a little something about HR? If so, this person should be pretty peeved that a BOD member took it upon himself to make this announcement and that he breeched all professional standards in doing so. If not, someone in the organization should step up and begin to control this type of information and its release… employee separations are never good, whatever the reason, but to make it worse by handling it poorly is absurd… this is HR/PR 101.

4. 1994 Blue Devils Edit: Oops... I included 2000 Cadets, but they are already included on list, which violates your rule.

Great points Geoffrey and I completely agree. After first viewing Bluecoats in Allentown, the next day I posted that they were the biggest disappointment of the evening for me for many of the reason you cite. Comparatively, I was totally impressed with SCV. I honestly couldn’t figure out how these two shows were so close in score. SCV had the better show from top to bottom. However, with this said, SCV was flat on Saturday and Bluecoats left it all out on the field… they simply had a much better show. I wasn’t surprised by and fully expected the outcome. Congratulations Bluecoats… BUT… next year drop the cheesy narration and gimmicky show concept and give us more of what we loved from you in the previous few years. (And please, no more dancing sports characters.)

I’ve never been a believer in the “louder is better” school of thought. Frankly, whether or not they put out as much volume as the other corps was immaterial. Crossmen played their show well… very controlled… and with confidence. In general, I was okay with the judging at Championships this year (particularly with the placement of Phantom ahead of BD); however, the one glaring judging flaw in my book was placing the Scouts ahead of Crossmen. With no disrespect to the Scouts, it was a popular, but invalid move by the judges.

Great review, G. I fully agree with many of your observations, especially – Madison – Horrible, horrible uniform color, what were they thinking? In fact, to your point about Mandarins’ uniform, I believe the Scouts’ uniform color makes the pumpkin color of the Mandarins’ uniform look fresh and exciting. Can you imagine? Did anyone look at this color green outside of a studio… perhaps on a field? They perfectly blend into the turf and really blow the visuals of an otherwise nice program. Bluecoats – You are spot on with your observation that Bluecoats took a big step back this year. This was the most disappointing show for me of the night and, yes, SCV should and will stay ahead of this show. The boxing ballerinas are a big mistake, the narration is amateurish and annoying, and the overall show is a big diversion from the progress they were making in recent years. Blue Knights – I have avidly defended this corps the last few seasons for sticking to their guns and, IMO, putting great musical programs on the field. I’ve frequently alleged that they’ve gotten a raw deal from most DCP critics. However, there isn’t much I can do to defend this show because I too found it to be a bit slow and without excitement (I am trying to be tactful.) Cavies – Yes, DCP reviewers also let me down in their reviews of Cavies and allegations they are having an off year. This show was a complete surprise to me and is probably going to be one of the first Cavies shows in years that I will listen to and watch over and over again. The visual package is stellar and the music sets a perfect mood for the premise of the show. This might be tough to beat in Bloomington (even by Phantom.) I disagree, however, that you were in row 37 on the 50 Y/L because I was. You were on the 49 Y/L.

Unfortunately for the Scouts fans, I don't see them passing Crossmen. I also think it's beyond a longshot that they will jump into 10th or 11th place...sorry. However, they are moving in the right direction.