decompressed

Well I appreciate your opinion. I guess my question is: you actually watch it in Ernest? Most of the lines play two excerpts from the show they have. It's not like they are spending hours in practice planning their routine.

Lol. So now we are analyzing a goofy drumline battle!?!? It's entertainment folks. As I near 50 I initially cringed at it, but came to realize it's all part of the show. DID YOU NOT SEE The drumlines both get together after and shake hands!?!? Seriously. Did you create this thread to shout at the world or just to cause more useless outrage. Next time just email the corps director. It'll save you time and myself as well for having to respond to such a non-issue.

And we were proud of them last year too. As brass caption head I was proud of what we did in 2011 with Teal especially considering the limitations we had for staffing and all the other problems that hit us. The kids were TAUGHT and taught well do I do take a bit of an offense to The suggestion that there wasn't good teaching going on at Teal last year or in years before The brass line finished a tenth or two from 18th despite all the issues we dealt with. Until you understand a corps complete situation I suggest you don't implicate the teachers. I won't even touch the part about teal vs a band. I wish nothing but the best and hope the kids get through this.

"grokking" is from Robert heinlins "a stranger in a strange land" where an Earthling turned Martian uses that term for a myriad of things Particularly for understanding or consolidating ideas and concepts.

Part of the problem, from what I understand, is that the person who ran the website was let go shortly before tour. This made the FB page and emails I guess as the only true source of information for parents.

I can vouch for what JVN has said. I was one of those who called DCI last August due to issues left over from 2011 i'm not going into anymore detail here until Teal makes an official statement, however suffice to say that I still am owed money by Teal from last year. I reached out to them to suggest a year of restructuring would be best, but they wanted to Tour. So be it. It was good intentions and you cannot argue that the hearts were in the right places. However, from am organizational standpoint, there was much that needed to be addressed before thinking about touring. Sadly for the kids, staff, administrators and all involved, drum corps don't get by on good intentions. I know the individuals in charge used personal finances to help us out to finish 2011 so I know they truly wanted this to succeed. However, a lack of income, assets, equity etc was a huge problem.

And who could forget SCV 1986? Costumes, magicians and pictures!!!!

Madison 88

Thank you for a very thought-provoking post. Perhaps a return to the "two-tour" model for less financially equipped groups. I remember when I marched we had two tours (mid 1980s). Of course this was in line with the Drum Corps South tour. We would compete at DCS chamopionships and then go home. After a week off we would gather again and head out for the DCI tour. I believe ultimately this still was a problem because many fine corps folded in the 80s and 90s regardless of the two tour system. But in theory it could save thousands of dollars. DCM, DCS, DCE, etc couldn't survive due to a dwindling number of regional corps that could participate. So I'm not sure how you go about it. Seems to me, corps that started slow, did limited tours are healthy financially. Pacific Crest and Acadeny come to mind. Kind of ironic that DCPers were up in arms over them being able to get seeding in DCI Regionals despite a limited tour. By doing so, they are alive and entertaining audiences as we speak. I don't know. It is a Quandry to be sure. I look forward to people's thoughts.

I think our state is cursed. Wave, magic, suncoast, et al. And now this.

As for me, I would be happy if they let us know how and when they are going to pay the thousands owed to us from this past summer.

This will be the last time I respond. In my 20 plus years in this activity I have never responded to inane posts like yours however here we go: Perhaps you didn't know about the stomach virus that hit our corps extremely hard in Prior to Atlanta. The virus that caused 16 holes in the brass line just a few shows prior to Orlando. This doesn't include many of the guard/drum holes we had either. Perhaps you were unaware of the housing switch in Atlanta where we had 140 kids piled into a small non-air conditioned gymnasium without a practice field. Perhaps you didn't see the guard member running off to puke in a trash can during the Orlando show bc she was sick but still out there giving it her all. Perhaps you didn't know about he 1200 plus miles we traveled in 3 days to get to Orlando virtually negating any practice time the week leading up to it. Despite all this, our kids went out there sick, tired and gave the crowd in Orlando everything they had and the crowd responded. Your post reeks of sophomoric sarcasm and warrants no reply. However, I assume I am lecturing a child and as a teacher, such is my job. Say what you will about the design, use of amps, etc. To insinuate it is sad for our children to go out there busting their butt to get better is neither worthy of their efforts or those of my friends on the instructional staff. I suggest you restrict your reviews to show and performance but to question training is an insult unless you come to a practice and observe for yourself. We were proud of our kids' effort that evening because frankly they were running on fumes. As for the high school kids that scrimped and saved they seemed to enjoy the show immensely. If you have an issue with the training then perhaps you can submit YOUR resume for perusal. I leave MY experience below as to assure you we know what we are doing. Evan Rogovin brass caption head Teal Sound 2011 Boston crusaders brass tech. 2008 crossmen brass staff/asst caption head 2000-2003 Spirit of Atlanta brass staff 1997-1998 Director of Bands AW Dreyfoos School of the Arts 2010 - present Director of Bands Santaluces HS 1994 - 2010 (2003 WGI SCHOLASTIC A WORLD CHAMPIONS 5 TIME WGI OPEN CLASS FINALISTS 3Time FMBC 4A Florida State Champions 3 time FMBC State runners-up

By "in good conscience" not reviewing Teal you actually did more disservice than you intended. I promise you that through all the adversity we have had this season our kids are thick skinned enough to take it. We are a very young corps with an ambitious program that has grown tremendously this season. We are proud of our progress. So take your best shot. As you said, it's just an opinion. So you can get off your high horse if you prefer or leave this be. Rest assured, your conscience is the least of our concerns.

Yes. They are that much better (if not more)

Difficult does not equal better if it is not executed and not achieved.

good points here. I prefer WGI to DCI these days specifically because groups are ABLE TO maintain their own identities and not look alike from one to the next...seems to me DCI is turning into the opposite where the judging system kinda forces you to be the same. I appreciate Teal for their commitment to an identity unique to anyone else and agree with you on comments related to them...and not just because I helped them out this year!

I think the original poster had a point but it applies more to the younger corps. A group like Pioneer or Teal or Pac Crest often needs traction from those one or two judges that will put them ahead and then others follow suit. Those corps do indeed need to be points better to eke out by tenths over a more established WC corps. This is the nature of subjective opinions. When we taught Crossmen 2000, all it took was for one show for the corps to edge out Madison and then we never lost to them the rest of the year. The reality is...other judges saw the numbers and gave pause. Judges follow suit and that is an unfortunate by product of the activity. Without judges critiques now, it becomes harder for those developing corps to do what they need to do to improve. Just look at the numbers and you'll see that the green shirts low balling the younger corps is having a "trickling up" effect and minimizing movement by the corps in that 16 - 18 range. If judges would use the sheets as they are clearly trained to do and value the meaning of a tenth of a point in a subcaption as they should do, then these issues would be less transparent. Sadly, i guess you have to pay your dues in DCI before you get credit, especially if you are a new kid on the block. AS always...my 2cents

Agreed.....as i have repeatedly said...the best visual technical program in the marching activity year in and year out.

Teal Sound is doing great for their first year in WC. I like the fact they are trying to have an identity and not be a cookie cutter drum corps

This is, without a doubt, the dumbest topic i have ever read. Perhaps the Baltimore Orioles should move to the minor leagues then following your logic?

You guys overvalue demand vs. achievement. Running around the field is a choice that affects achievement. Too many corps do this these days, without any apparent reason for it, other than they think that it will be effective and competitive. The Blue Devils make hard things look easy because of their stellar technique. The cadets, although an amazing visual drum corps, do things that give away individual issues. Remember spin cycle? The cavies finally wrote a drill that their members simply couldn't perform. The same may be with the other corps this year. There are just some things that won't be achievable, although admirable to watch. Judges evaluate excellence in relation to demand, but demand won't be credited if the excellence is compromised. BD has the best technical visual program in DCI and has for some time now.

CONGRATS TO BD! And a shout out to Danny Aiello (former student) who now has a ring! I'm proud of you bro!

It is just very hard to beat Blue Devils at their own game...which is the BEST DARN FEET IN THE PLANET...typically....year in and year out. But...have faith..look how long BD's technical staff and design team have been together and then read the names on the design team. I mean, when they put a package together and its clicking, it is just really hard to top. Crown fans, members and staff should not feel like they missed an opportunity...i mean HECK...they FINISHED 2ND...which not so long ago was "no man's land" for any corps other than SCV, BD, Cadets or Cavies (or even PHantom). So they are in rarified air and i'm sure that will just make them hungrier. So i totally disagree with the OP...Crown won a Brass Title and beat Devs in Music....pretty darn impressive. CONGRATS CROWN!

Great commentary AL! And to think that you survived almost half of those years with me!!! Hope all is well my friend!

Parity exists OUTSIDE the SEC!