Phirefenix

This happened to corps I marched in three times. I left for tour with very little in the way valuable items. Smartphones are great and all, however it's worth carrying a cheap prepaid cell phone on tour. Along with a dummy wallet, and I once carried blank CD's marked with various artists in a spare CD case.

Not WC, however Spartans get a necklace with a Spartan head, and two red beads for their first year. A pair of black beads each year after, and silver beads for their age out year. If you teach then you put white beads on as well. A fair amount of us have also gotten ink.

Poor choice of words. Whoever it was who claimed theft, and all that rabble rousing was off his rocker. Rather I was pointing out that the parents were right to be upset at the apparent mismanagement, and lack of communication in the process of bringing kids home. So that's my bad. For the record, I marched there for 4 years, so this organization is very near, and dear to me. It wasn't my intent to add to the slander.

The facebook page is a #### wasteland right now. There is nothing of any use being said aside from updates on the progress of getting the members home. It's wholly depressing. The parents have every right to be angry, and for the reasons they're claiming. However this is all still in the 'who do I kill?' stage in the parents minds. When the members are home, or placed in other corps I hope it settles down, and the board feels that they can release information to a level headed audience.

#### shame. I was quite proud to see them grow beyond my wildest dreams from the time I marched there. I hope they can sort this out, and continue touring in the future.

I really really enjoyed IMAGO. That was my rookie year in drum corps, and I always caught their show on the road when I could.

.

For G contras I absolutely loved my Kanstul Contra Grande. Spartans had the 3 valve config. Very easy to hold, and a wonderful low end. A little difficult up top, but that just made it interesting. I wanted to keep mine after agin out as the corps went Bb following 2007. Alas I could not get my hands on it. I marched the same horn for two years, and really had a chance to dial it in. I've never had a horn in drum corps that I loved more than that one. With a helleberg mouthpiece they're very forgiving. I have a King K-90 that I bought in 2008 for 500 bucks. A little dented up, but plays like the legend it is. Gorgeous low end, and so effortless to play loudly with quality. Balance isn't what the Kanstul was, but is doable for me. I'm still young I also play it with a helleberg, and while I need to get some more two valve literature I have a lot of fun. It's my only 'tuba' like instrument for now so I have nothing else to keep my chops up. I also have a piston/rotor euph from Dynasty. It's fun to tool around on. Uses a Euro shank mouthpiece. It can be played with a nice dark tone but still gets crass if I open it up. I can make the bell shake like a leaf in a stiff breeze lol. Lots of fun at Tuba Christmas I marched dynasty horns otherwise for the rest of my years. I hated them. The bari's just didn't feel right to me. I played on a schilke 51D so I bet it was just a matter of too large a mouthpiece. They felt stuffy, and never really sang the way I wanted them to like a King bari.

As you mentioned with Spartans they have had an incredibly consistent run for an Open Class corps. Very few in this division have 50+ years on the field. I like 7th Regiment as well. Proving there is room for multiple Open Class corps in New England, and remaining stable while doing so. Raiders also impressed me. Starting in 2001 when Teal Sound ran into them on tour. The members ended up being awesome friends, and great supporters of us while we hunted for a finals appearance. Throughout my marching experience I never heard negative comments from Raiders or about them. Now I continue to be impressed as last season a group of students I teach in marching band all went on tour with Raiders, and loved it. I have a bit of a Northeastern bias, but alas that's just by my experience.

I'm glad this is making a comeback. The size, talent, and design in Open Class the past few years has grown immensely. I believe they can make an impression on the WC corps without a doubt.

Spartans will be putting pressure on the top two for sure. This is shaping up to be great race. The top four or five corps are going to push each other that much higher in achievement.

Superbly put. Placement never defined success for me when I marched. Improving my craft, and consistently perfoming at my peak defined a successful season to me personally. The program will grow, and you'll have a solid foundation to ride on.

Chris? Whats happenin man? OC looks pretty legit this year from what I've seen. I have yet to see a video of Spartans, but I'm hoping either one makes a run for the title.

Herbert demands FAA clearance before each rifle toss. Flights are rerouted around him.

I'd first buy the contra I played my age-out year. Then a shako from Star 93.

Neither, it's New Jersey, something Snooki said or did is the headline. But seriously would the baboons have any bearing on general effect scores?

I'm not as close to the Spartans as when I marched, but I don't exactly see them seeking out WC status. Being the powerhouse they were circa 2003-2007 they proved they can be consistently in the hunt, and they like it that way. They are getting their legs back after a year off, and doing a fantastic job of it. I anticipate they'll continue to do what they've done for decades right where they have always done it.

Not the smallest yes, but still fairly small. Yes a big clean corps will have an edge but the judges are educated people. They understand the factors that make a top corps, and I've never felt that they unfairly rewarded large groups.

I find it hard to agree with the size issue. I was never in the largest corps out there. Yet summer after summer we were top 3 with a solid hunt for gold, and intimidated a lot of our competitors big and small. We took gold in 07, and were the smallest corps in the top 4. Winning in DCI isn't easy, nor should it be. It's not impossible for the small corps to do well against the 'big boys'. Larger corps have drawbacks that work against them. More feet to clean, horns to correct, and drums to muddy the sound. They take a little longer usually to work those issues out depending on show material, and staff. There are just too many variables even now to putting out a solid product that the judges, and audience will react to. A big corps isn't going to show up at finals, and walk away a champion. Looking at gold medalists back to 2003 when division 2 corps started getting really big Esperanza won over a larger Patriots, ECJ won in 2005 over a larger Spartans, 2006 Academy shook everyone's world, 2007 Spartans win over a larger Surf, and Teal Sound, 2008 SCVC wins over a bigger BDB. 2009 BDB takes it, and in 2010 repeats due to a very successful group of staff, and kids. There just isn't a history of biggest=gold without fail. Thus I don't see it being an issue.

I'll keep an eye out for 80 brass from MC this summer. In open class 80 in March is a far cry from having 80 in august. I hope the corps is taking time to build wisely, and avoid the stigma usually associated with Div. 2/3's that grew big fast, and burnt out even faster. With the sizes of some OC corps reaching WC levels I think it's also a fair assumption that people know they exist. I personally loved the 'mid size' corps like ECJ, Spartans, OC, Raiders etc... Never the biggest, but always in the hunt for the top. There are far fewer corps around now then even when I started marching, but bigger on average in open class. I continue to promote open class to anyone I teach in marching band season, and this year four of the kids I teach are at Raiders. Just gotta promote.

Best sound? Hands down 92 Star for me. A G bugle line has never sounded better than that opening statement. Simply gorgeous. Best execution? Cadets 07. Sop feature was pretty epic. The line as a whole really threw down.

I'll play along: Top 3: BDB, SCVC, Spartans (any order thereof) 4-9: OC, Revo, Raiders, Music City, 7th Reg, Legends (any order thereof) 10-down: Yokohama, Colt Cadets, Jubal (any order thereof) I'm intrigued by MCDC. Large is good, but never a guarantee of success. Open class is still a tough field full of smaller corps that pack a competitive punch. (Revo, Legends, Spartans, SCVC) All mentioned have proven track records of doing more with less. A smartly written show, and keeping the hype machine to a minimum will certainly put them in contention. Too many corps in this division have gone out for blood only to come back empty handed.

Brass: Donnie Van Doren, JD Shaw, and Matt Harloff with techs of their choosing. Percussion: Paul Rennick and Tyler Dempsey with techs of their choosing. Visual: Micheal Gaines, Marc Sylvester, and Gilles Ouellette with techs of their choosing. Guard: Lenny Machado, and Bruno Zuccala with techs of their choosing.

I thought I was reading RAMD again for a moment there. Anything concrete come out yet regarding this new uniform? I'd like to see it before rousing some rabble. What's the lyric? "The times, they are a changin' "

Generally I figured the first show was the deciding moment. If you don't finish the season for reasons entirely under your control however I feel you shouldn't wear the jacket. You made a choice to quit then. Injuries on tour are merely an unfortunate accident, and shouldn't make you feel like less of a member.