Jump to content

Academy...why the special treatment, DCI


Recommended Posts

Related yet unrelated question. In years past, some slack was cut for PC, Mandarins and Esperanza doing the limited tours because finals have always been in or east of the Midwest. This being the case, shouldn't the Left Coast finals actually be an excuse for Academy, Mandarins and PC doing a non-regional tour?
Pacific Crest was in Allentown. Mandarins and Academy are in Texas now. All three will be in Denver.
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Replies 292
  • Created
  • Last Reply

Top Posters In This Topic

Pacific Crest was in Allentown. Mandarins and Academy are in Texas now. All three will be in Denver.

WOW!!! All the way to Denver............from the west coast??? :)

Seriously, I give PC credit for getting to Allentown. Wonder why they didn't just stay east and get on one of the circuits?? Did they fly?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

WOW!!! All the way to Denver............from the west coast??? :)
Believe it or not, Denver is over 1,000 miles from the Pacific Ocean.

If traveling from the west coast is not prohibitively expensive and difficult, why is it so infrequent that corps form out of the region make it out here?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Believe it or not, Denver is over 1,000 miles from the Pacific Ocean.

If traveling from the west coast is not prohibitively expensive and difficult, why is it so infrequent that corps form out of the region make it out here?

997 from Diamond Bar, actually, but given that drive, 3 miles is nothing.

You forgot to mention that the most direct route is through Las vegas (i.e.....the desert) and then over the Rockies....not the most comfortable drive for a bus or semi hauling gear.

I'm of the belief that those mountains are more of a factor than simply the cos of fuel. If it wasn't for teh Continental Divide being in the way, there would be more corps from east of there coming out west.

Edited by 84BDsop
Link to comment
Share on other sites

WOW!!! All the way to Denver............from the west coast??? :)

Roughly the same as Allentown to Memphis (1003 miles sez Mapquest)

Any East Coast corps would break up a thousand mile drive by scheduling shows every day or so. A West Coast corps going to Denver does it in a straight shot, over the Rockies and through the Mojave Desert, unless you schedule housing somewhere for a night or so.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Roughly the same as Allentown to Memphis (1003 miles sez Mapquest)

Any East Coast corps would break up a thousand mile drive by scheduling shows every day or so. A West Coast corps going to Denver does it in a straight shot, over the Rockies and through the Mojave Desert, unless you schedule housing somewhere for a night or so.

and about the only place they COULD stop for a night would be Cedar Springs, UT or St. George, UT....otherwise it's either some tiny truck stop out in the middle of nowhere or Las Vegas (bad BAD idea! :P ).

There ARE any number of towns in Colorado they could stop in, but that would make teh drive from there to California just brutal....the Utah stops are about halfwayish.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

and about the only place they COULD stop for a night would be Cedar Springs, UT or St. George, UT....otherwise it's either some tiny truck stop out in the middle of nowhere or Las Vegas (bad BAD idea! :P ).

There ARE any number of towns in Colorado they could stop in, but that would make teh drive from there to California just brutal....the Utah stops are about halfwayish.

We pretty much never stopped on those types of trips. In 1982, our first show of national tour was Whitewater, Wisconsin. We went stright through to a small town near Boulder, CO where the former corps director lived and practiced there for 4 - 5 days, then did the rest of the trip straight through. That was about 2,000 miles for the first show in two 1,000 mile legs.

In '83 it was Concord to Casper. Every other year I marched it was either Anaheim or Concord straight through to Ogden.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

We pretty much never stopped on those types of trips. In 1982, our first show of national tour was Whitewater, Wisconsin. We went stright through to a small town near Boulder, CO where the former corps director lived and practiced there for 4 - 5 days, then did the rest of the trip straight through. That was about 2,000 miles for the first show in two 1,000 mile legs.

In '83 it was Concord to Casper. Every other year I marched it was either Anaheim or Concord straight through to Ogden.

Just some food for thought...

2004 tour of champions; The corps going on to CA left from Denver to meet up in southern Utah for a mass rehearsal day. Those that took the 70 west to the 15 were on the road for hours going through the rockies (Mine took over 20). Cadets avoided it altogether and went via Cheyenne.

Don't knock AA, so far they have managed to do what no other corps from AZ has done. ..

Survive after going to Nationals

Thom W

Link to comment
Share on other sites

WOW!!! All the way to Denver............from the west coast??? :)

Seriously, I give PC credit for getting to Allentown. Wonder why they didn't just stay east and get on one of the circuits?? Did they fly?

They flew home the day after Allentown.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Just some food for thought...

2004 tour of champions; The corps going on to CA left from Denver to meet up in southern Utah for a mass rehearsal day. Those that took the 70 west to the 15 were on the road for hours going through the rockies (Mine took over 20). Cadets avoided it altogether and went via Cheyenne.

I'm kinda confused, having done that drive just two years ago. You're out of the Rockies before you even get out of Colorado. Grand Junction is on the Western Slope, and only 224 miles from Denver. You only averaged 12 MPH?

Cadets may have gone via Cheyenne, but they still had to cross the Rockies and added a lot of miles to their trip. I still think they would have been smarter to go through the Eisenhower Tunnel. It's almost all downhill from there anyway.

I made it from Grand Junction to Denver in about 4 hours. Sure, I was in a Honda, but travelling with a drum corps isn't much more difficult than travelling with a 9-month-old...and it was just the two of us.

Don't knock AA, so far they have managed to do what no other corps from AZ has done. ..

Survive after going to Nationals

Using a comparison between PC and Academy...

PC never went to finals as a Div II corps in 7 years.

Academy went their third year and won.

PC used the Div I "regional touring" model for the first time in 2003. They've finished 17, 19, 19 and 21. 2007 will probably be their best placing to date.

Academy has a shot at finals their first year.

Regarding Arizona corps, only two have gone to nationals before. The Musketeers competed in A-60 (85) and A (86/87). Arizona Sun competed in Div II in 91 and 92. Sunset Regiment and Sun Country Wranglers never went to nationals. Academy has already surpassed all other Arizona corps by winning a divisional title.

Garry in Vegas

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.



×
×
  • Create New...