Does anyone know what attendance was for DII/III prelims?

[MARK74]

I dare not get into arguments about the "what and what if's" about Division II/III and the apparent "lack of support". But let me make sure people understand something, as I was there, announcing and helping to run the show.

First--DCI committed a LOT of resources to making the show site work. There were a TON of volunteers there helping out. So if there's that commitment, it seems to me that DCI wants it to succeed. And prelims WAS successful. It was ON TIME with NO PROBLEMS.

Second--to the person above who said you're missing out if you follow just the Top 6. 10000000000% correct. I'll be honest. I went to Division II/III last year in Madison and I don't know what my issue was--old, grumpy, whatever--but I was bored silly, except for Academy. This year...HOLY COW!!! Yes--most of the corps are smaller (but so is Mandarins)--but there are GIGANTIC GOBS OF ENERGY flying off that field. There were yesterday that's for sure. And if you need your face peeled off, you'll get that too! Can anyone say...TEAL SOUND--THE ENDING?!?!?! Can anyone say...SPOKANE THUNDER--THE FIRST IMPACT?!?!? Can anyone say...JERSEY SURF!?!?!?! Can you say...MEMPHIS SOUND--THE LAST 30 SECONDS?!?!?! I mean...to coin an old drum corps phrase...YOWZA!!!! ($1 to BD).

I'm not just saying this to fill up the stands. I personally could care less how many people show up. I have no vested interest. BUT--it would be nice for THE KIDS to see more people there. I'm being very honest--we had a GREAT time yesterday with the 200-300 people that did show, and the corps were PERFORMING THEIR ##### OFF. I can only imagine the hearts that are going to be left out there on the field on Friday as these groups duke it out for Grand Finals. The bloodbath ain't just up in Division I...

So--if you have an extra 10 bucks laying around, get your rears down to PCC on Friday and see what you're missing. And here's an idea--this just hit me--

IF YOU WERE THERE YESTERDAY, TELL EVERYONE...EVERY SINGLE FRIEND OF YOURS...TO COME DOWN. SUPPORT THESE CORPS!!! AND TELL THEM THIS DIVISION II/III AIN'T NOTHING TO SNEEZE AT!!!!

THANK YOU RYAN !!!!!!!! I'VE FELT FOR SOME TIME NOW THAT THE HEART OF DCI IS IN DIV II/III . By that I mean THIS IS WHERE THE ACTIVITY IS FROM , WHERE IT SHOULD BE. Take a bunch of kids largely local (to your corps home area) AND MAKE SOMETHING OF THEM. That's what Drum Corps once was BEFORE the age of the THREE AUDITION SITES in THREE different Parts of the country AND TAKING ONLY THE BEST 135 PEOPLE YOU CAN FIND ON AN" INTERNATIONAL JOB FAIRE TYPE RECRUITMENT DRIVE"

I have a hard time believing that Div I does more to EDUCATE the young people involved than DIV II/III . I KNOW for a fact ,that if you're looking for DRIVE, COMMITMENT, AND RAW ENERGY DIV II/III is where you need to spend your time.

Sadly though , WE are the ( N.I.Ts) to DIV. I (NCAA) . OR the AFL to Div I NFL .Sure alot of corps are having trouble in our division WHY WOULDN'T WE BE ? The drum corps community has become jaded into believing that DIV I is all there is . I Have no gripe specifically with the individual Div I corps or for that matter with DCI .They marketed what they feel is the most marketable.

NOT ONE OF THE TOP 4 OR 5 DIV II/III corps would have much trouble being presentable in competition in Div I. I'm NOT delusional ,I know they 'd place somewhere between 16th - 27th , the point is ,they could be there and ,be as entertaining .

People have forgotten that ,in alot of ways the only reason a corps is in Div II or maybe Div III is because they 're S-M-A-L-L-E-R NOT LESS OF A CORPS .

FOR MY MONEY DIV II/III IS WHERE DCI MEETS THE ROAD. It's Drum Corps for the masses , It's enjoyable, It's often ,High energy

AND SO DARNED UNPREDICTABLE ,THAT IT'S ALMOST LIKE COLLEGE BASKETBALL." ANY CORPS ,ON ANY GIVEN DAY" (to some degree)

Again DIV II/III IS WHERE MY HEART IS AND I KNOW IF MORE PEOPLE WOULD TAKE INTEREST ,MORE PEOPLE WOULD BE EXCITED.

[crfrey71]

I dare not get into arguments about the "what and what if's" about Division II/III and the apparent "lack of support". But let me make sure people understand something, as I was there, announcing and helping to run the show.

First--DCI committed a LOT of resources to making the show site work. There were a TON of volunteers there helping out. So if there's that commitment, it seems to me that DCI wants it to succeed. And prelims WAS successful. It was ON TIME with NO PROBLEMS.

Second--to the person above who said you're missing out if you follow just the Top 6. 10000000000% correct. I'll be honest. I went to Division II/III last year in Madison and I don't know what my issue was--old, grumpy, whatever--but I was bored silly, except for Academy. This year...HOLY COW!!! Yes--most of the corps are smaller (but so is Mandarins)--but there are GIGANTIC GOBS OF ENERGY flying off that field. There were yesterday that's for sure. And if you need your face peeled off, you'll get that too! Can anyone say...TEAL SOUND--THE ENDING?!?!?! Can anyone say...SPOKANE THUNDER--THE FIRST IMPACT?!?!? Can anyone say...JERSEY SURF!?!?!?! Can you say...MEMPHIS SOUND--THE LAST 30 SECONDS?!?!?! I mean...to coin an old drum corps phrase...YOWZA!!!! ($1 to BD).

I'm not just saying this to fill up the stands. I personally could care less how many people show up. I have no vested interest. BUT--it would be nice for THE KIDS to see more people there. I'm being very honest--we had a GREAT time yesterday with the 200-300 people that did show, and the corps were PERFORMING THEIR ##### OFF. I can only imagine the hearts that are going to be left out there on the field on Friday as these groups duke it out for Grand Finals. The bloodbath ain't just up in Division I...

So--if you have an extra 10 bucks laying around, get your rears down to PCC on Friday and see what you're missing. And here's an idea--this just hit me--

IF YOU WERE THERE YESTERDAY, TELL EVERYONE...EVERY SINGLE FRIEND OF YOURS...TO COME DOWN. SUPPORT THESE CORPS!!! AND TELL THEM THIS DIVISION II/III AIN'T NOTHING TO SNEEZE AT!!!!

Ryan,

Yeah, I prefer hearing you tell the incoming crowd where there are seats lefts or telling the crowd to become friends with your neighbor in the stands, vice, having to advertise and drag folks in with a stage cane.

I am not sure why they needed a prelims for this, with the amount of corps performing. Tuesday morning/afternoon is just not going to attract folks. They could of had the corps from the San Diego show there and it would not have been much bigger than your crowd or the crowd that was at the San Diego show. I think you will see improved numbers Thursday and definitely for Saturday.

[Walter]

I live in Canada and have a satellite dish for my TV !!

I was truly saddened when the local TV station KTLA had NOTHING about the DCI DIVISION II/III PRELIMS !!!

Not to mention that the frigging WEBCAST was NON EXISTENT !!!

DCI DROPPED THE BALL ON THIS ONE....AGAIN !!!

And the poeple on the west coast wonder why they haven't had Championships out there before ?? It'll be a long time before they have it again.

I believe the Division II/III corps should have their own circut and the heck with DCI !!

Let DCI look after the BIG BOYS and let the true drum corps people look after the real talent in DRUM CORPS !!

Edited August 8, 2007 by ODBC

[sunguard]

THANK YOU RYAN !!!!!!!! I'VE FELT FOR SOME TIME NOW THAT THE HEART OF DCI IS IN DIV II/III . By that I mean THIS IS WHERE THE ACTIVITY IS FROM , WHERE IT SHOULD BE. Take a bunch of kids largely local (to your corps home area) AND MAKE SOMETHING OF THEM. That's what Drum Corps once was BEFORE the age of the THREE AUDITION SITES in THREE different Parts of the country AND TAKING ONLY THE BEST 135 PEOPLE YOU CAN FIND ON AN" INTERNATIONAL JOB FAIRE TYPE RECRUITMENT DRIVE"

I have a hard time believing that Div I does more to EDUCATE the young people involved than DIV II/III . I KNOW for a fact ,that if you're looking for DRIVE, COMMITMENT, AND RAW ENERGY DIV II/III is where you need to spend your time.

Sadly though , WE are the ( N.I.Ts) to DIV. I (NCAA) . OR the AFL to Div I NFL .Sure alot of corps are having trouble in our division WHY WOULDN'T WE BE ? The drum corps community has become jaded into believing that DIV I is all there is . I Have no gripe specifically with the individual Div I corps or for that matter with DCI .They marketed what they feel is the most marketable.

NOT ONE OF THE TOP 4 OR 5 DIV II/III corps would have much trouble being presentable in competition in Div I. I'm NOT delusional ,I know they 'd place somewhere between 16th - 27th , the point is ,they could be there and ,be as entertaining .

People have forgotten that ,in alot of ways the only reason a corps is in Div II or maybe Div III is because they 're S-M-A-L-L-E-R NOT LESS OF A CORPS .

FOR MY MONEY DIV II/III IS WHERE DCI MEETS THE ROAD. It's Drum Corps for the masses , It's enjoyable, It's often ,High energy

AND SO DARNED UNPREDICTABLE ,THAT IT'S ALMOST LIKE COLLEGE BASKETBALL." ANY CORPS ,ON ANY GIVEN DAY" (to some degree)

Again DIV II/III IS WHERE MY HEART IS AND I KNOW IF MORE PEOPLE WOULD TAKE INTEREST ,MORE PEOPLE WOULD BE EXCITED.

These opinions are so true, but unfortunately DCI does little to address Div.II/III needs. Perfect example is payment for a show. If a Div. II/III corps is in a DCI Div. I sanctioned show, they are compensated. If the show has only Div.II/III corps, there is no payment. Makes it hard for a small corps to make it.

As for Div. I, very few corps seem to relate to the common fan anymore.

[guardian]

anyone got attendance figures yet? I am really hoping that they got a good turnout. I really wish I could have gone

Somebody .... won't say who... said about 400

[guardian]

These opinions are so true, but unfortunately DCI does little to address Div.II/III needs. Perfect example is payment for a show. If a Div. II/III corps is in a DCI Div. I sanctioned show, they are compensated. If the show has only Div.II/III corps, there is no payment. Makes it hard for a small corps to make it.

As for Div. I, very few corps seem to relate to the common fan anymore.

sadly for whatever reason ,it is hard to promise money to corps for performing when your average DivII/III show barely makes money. I remember hearing three years ago that Div II/III had lost tens of thousands of dollars for the previous year. I'd like to see corps get "paid" too, But first I'd like to see some investment in promoting these Corps and the competitions so the money would be there.

[guardian]

I live in Canada and have a satellite dish for my TV !!

I was truly saddened when the local TV station KTLA had NOTHING about the DCI DIVISION II/III PRELIMS !!!

Not to mention that the frigging WEBCAST was NON EXISTENT !!!

DCI DROPPED THE BALL ON THIS ONE....AGAIN !!!

And the poeple on the west coast wonder why they haven't had Championships out there before ?? It'll be a long time before they have it again.

I believe the Division II/III corps should have their own circut and the heck with DCI !!

Let DCI look after the BIG BOYS and let the true drum corps people look after the real talent in DRUM CORPS !!

perhaps if it had been on the west coast half a dozen times in the past.... The state and it's school systems would 've been more cooperative. But that's water under the bridge. Personally I'd rather travel anywhere else in the country, but then I live here and can't wait ,sometimes , to leave. Maybe when my kids are older.

[XDome]

Unfortunately I didn't go this year (should have!). If past years are any indication, the crowd is very sporadic and changes frequently dependant on the corps performing. It's a shame, since for most of these corps it is their last performance of the year.

It was the same thing this year - most people only showed up to see their corps and left when it was done. I think there were only a handful of people (I was one) that stayed for the entire day. It was the same situation at prelims in Orlando and Denver, too.

I came to prelims because that's the one show where you can see everyone perform. The first time I only went to see my old corps and I wasn't expecting much. I was pleasantly surprised and impressed by the quality of the performances. I cannot understand why attendance is so low - 22 corps (all of them entertaining) for $10 (plus $2 for parking within 100 yards of the seating area). Yeah, the stadium was small, but that works for me - I doubt if I'll be able to harass the announcer at the Rose Bowl....

ps to the sound board guy from OC - I was only kidding about needing a building permit..... B)

[tubadon]

I was kinda surprised the crowd wasn't bigger with the number of CA corps being represented. It was great to see some of the corps from back east that I've never seen before. Very cool stuff.

[oldguard]

About 200-300 tops.

And a ham sandwich.

But the ham sandwich was in his seat first.

... and three very happy travelers from the east coast, who almost did not make it. Great show!

It was great to see some of the corps from back east that I've never seen before. Very cool stuff.

It was great to see such an appreciative and supportive (albeit small) audience.

PS:

(I signed on today for the first time since the night of the Manchester, NH, show and found private messages asking for reviews. I am sorry to those who have asked that my reviews have been few and far between this year. I shall try to make up for it sometime after we return.)