Why the Cadets should have won

[drumcat]

Wouldn't surprise me.

Me either...

[Einstein On The Beach]

Funny funny thread

[dcsnare93]

Having marched Star 93, it kind of sickens me to see people comparing us to Cadets 2007 -- and not because they placed above us in '93. Both shows may have been unpopular amongst some of the fan base, but for completely different reasons. I don't see people holding The Cadets usage of narration in any higher regard years from now. I will say this though, I know how it feels to be 'boo'd', and I sympathize with them in that regard. No corps should have to go through that after the hours of hard work that put in to fielding a show for the fans.

That said, the Blue Devils are traditional, consistent and a tad bit tacky at times. It is just not enjoyable to see them win as, say, it would be Phantom Regiment. The Blue Devils tend to bore me each and every show between the exciting spots. Their visual style is rather hum-drum, and their music is always a hit or miss. Every year, they seem to play a song that will stick with us forever. Remember "When a Man Loves a Woman?" Well, can you name something else they played that show? What they do, they do extremely well, but they never do anything memorable or remarkable. They have had the nickname "Blah Devils" for decades now, and I believe they have earned it. I would rather see a corps do everything 80% well, and have a totally entertaining show (i.e. Madison, Crossmen, Blue Stars) then to see the Devils play really super fast loud complex music perfectly and leave me bored with everything else. However, I'm not saying that 80% should triumph over the Devils near perfect show scoring wise.

So, in the end, I think the better corps did win Saturday night. Having sat through finals watching all the corps perform, that much was apparent. Cadets had a few other issues besides narration that night.

Edited August 15, 2007 by dcsnare93

[euponitone]

How about 2000 Cavaliers. Set a new standard for color guard and drill. Another corps with 5 titles in 7 years. But wait, this is DCP, where we like to trash the Cavies (the don't march and play...).

Get over yourself please. It is possible to debate the design merits of an aspect of a particular program or corps without 'trashing them' entirely. And by the way...i basically agree with everything else you said.

[George]

I think BD had the best performance Finals night and they did deserve to win. Cadets were also excellent, but the narration was just too much. Cadets were pretty much told by the crowd with a chorus of boo's how a lot of people felt about their show. I don't believe Cadets 2007 show will be remembered as a classic such as 1988 BD when they lost to Madison in a shock, but were clearly the better corps.

If future corps want to be booed off the field they should follow the Cadets example.

Ohh - classy post!

So at least you admit they *were* booing THE CORPS!

[chaddyt]

I'm curious.

I see a lot of people (mostly in the anti-narration crowd) here saying, "The Cadets would've won the title had it not been for the narration...."

I also recall many people taking issue with the fact that the narration isn't scored. If it's considered at all, I would imagine it falls under the GE category, in which the Cadets tied with BD (with a 39.30).

Considering BD was almost a full point ahead of Cadets at finals, are we saying that dropping the narration would've pushed the Cadets GE score to a perfect 40 and made the brass or percussion play another .10 better? Maybe made the guard a little more "on"?

Or should we just be honest in saying, "I would've liked the show better had it not been for the narration."

[pags]

Having marched Star 93, it kind of sickens me to see people comparing us to Cadets 2007 -- and not because they placed above us in '93. Both shows may have been unpopular amongst some of the fan base, but for completely different reasons. I don't see people holding The Cadets usage of narration in any higher regard years from now. I will say this though, I know how it feels to be 'boo'd', and I sympathize with them in that regard. No corps should have to go through that after the hours of hard work that put in to fielding a show for the fans.

That said, the Blue Devils are traditional, consistent and a tad bit tacky at times. It is just not enjoyable to see them win as, say, it would be Phantom Regiment. The Blue Devils tend to bore me each and every show between the exciting spots. Their visual style is rather hum-drum, and their music is always a hit or miss. Every year, they seem to play a song that will stick with us forever. Remember "When a Man Loves a Woman?" Well, can you name something else they played that show? What they do, they do extremely well, but they never do anything memorable or remarkable. They have had the nickname "Blah Devils" for decades now, and I believe they have earned it. I would rather see a corps do everything 80% well, and have a totally entertaining show (i.e. Madison, Crossmen, Blue Stars) then to see the Devils play really super fast loud complex music perfectly and leave me bored with everything else. However, I'm not saying that 80% should triumph over the Devils near perfect show scoring wise.

So, in the end, I think the better corps did win Saturday night. Having sat through finals watching all the corps perform, that much was apparent. Cadets had a few other issues besides narration that night.

Wow... I guess this just goes to show how two different people can see a show or shows in extremely different way...

I LOVED the Blue Devils show. I do not think that they won Saturday simply because they performed better...I thought they had the better show all-around of any of the competition. The "Blah" Devils? Not this show. Most everyone has been talking abot how the opener was one of the best in the history of DCI, let alone this year. I will always remember the snare line weaving through the diagonal line wheil the corps goes through Space Chords. The amount of cheering I hear on the APD's leads me to the reasonable assumption that a number of ther people will as well.

As for the When A Man Loves a Woman show? I DO remember other things from that show, namely La Suerte de los Tontos, as well as the opener with what loked like huge dice on the field.

Before I digress too much into what is memorable for Blue Devils, I'll also return a thrust to your parry and say that Star 93 did not have a lot of memorable stuff for me. I recall the general idea of what was being accomplished, and I recall the "blow the ears of the audience" volume heading into the closer, but that's about it. Star 1991 was far more "memorable" for me, in both music and visual. I remember the opener from Star 1990, but nothing else. Is that truly the barometer for the corps' accomplishments? Heck no.

Personally, I would rather have an all-around show than a show with too much visual or music. Cool drill moves and music that leaves me "blah" or entire shows of music where the corps does nothing do not interest me. I think the Blue Devils do an excellent job of finding a balance between the two.

[drumcat]

I'm curious.

I see a lot of people (mostly in the anti-narration crowd) here saying, "The Cadets would've won the title had it not been for the narration...."

I also recall many people taking issue with the fact that the narration isn't scored. If it's considered at all, I would imagine it falls under the GE category, in which the Cadets tied with BD (with a 39.30).

Considering BD was almost a full point ahead of Cadets at finals, are we saying that dropping the narration would've pushed the Cadets GE score to a perfect 40 and made the brass or percussion play another .10 better? Maybe made the guard a little more "on"?

Or should we just be honest in saying, "I would've liked the show better had it not been for the narration."

I pointed this out way, way back. You're dead on. Like or dislike narration or whatever, they ended up tied in GE. BD won it on the field, and that's the end of it. Had it been reversed, as in Cadets won on-field, BD won with GE, then it would be like 1993. But it's not.

You are exactly right. They were second best with or without narration, on Saturday night. Let's not slight either corps, and pretend that the opposite should have occurred.

[dcsnare93]

Wow... I guess this just goes to show how two different people can see a show or shows in extremely different way...

I LOVED the Blue Devils show. I do not think that they won Saturday simply because they performed better...I thought they had the better show all-around of any of the competition. The "Blah" Devils? Not this show. Most everyone has been talking abot how the opener was one of the best in the history of DCI, let alone this year. I will always remember the snare line weaving through the diagonal line wheil the corps goes through Space Chords. The amount of cheering I hear on the APD's leads me to the reasonable assumption that a number of ther people will as well.

As for the When A Man Loves a Woman show? I DO remember other things from that show, namely La Suerte de los Tontos, as well as the opener with what loked like huge dice on the field.

Before I digress too much into what is memorable for Blue Devils, I'll also return a thrust to your parry and say that Star 93 did not have a lot of memorable stuff for me. I recall the general idea of what was being accomplished, and I recall the "blow the ears of the audience" volume heading into the closer, but that's about it. Star 1991 was far more "memorable" for me, in both music and visual. I remember the opener from Star 1990, but nothing else. Is that truly the barometer for the corps' accomplishments? Heck no.

Personally, I would rather have an all-around show than a show with too much visual or music. Cool drill moves and music that leaves me "blah" or entire shows of music where the corps does nothing do not interest me. I think the Blue Devils do an excellent job of finding a balance between the two.

I too believe the Blue Devils won because they had a better show overall. However, I thought there were more entertaining shows down the ranks. Again, though, it's just a matter of opinion. I have heard people talk about how boring the Blue Devils show this year was, and others claim it was one of the best in DCI history -- proof that what is spectacular to one person, isn't necessarily to another.

Now, I'm not saying the Blue Devils never put on an entertaining show, but too me (just my opinion) it's like this, there are one or two hot charts they WOW me, and the rest of the show is fast-forwarding through. That said, I loved their drum book this year -- the writing was outstanding, and they performed the hell out of it. I think they're a classy organization, and are very good at what they do. After all, they wouldn't have won 12 championships if that wasn't the case.

As for '93 Star, I have found it to be like this, either people love it, or generally just don't care for it at all. There aren't very many people I have come across that are in between the two. I'm not even sure I'd even classify it as the greatest DCI show of all time, like some have done; although, as a corp, finals night was our best performance...everything just finally seemed to click in to place. I'm also not saying it was a memorable show by any means, even some of us who marched didn't quite get it until Finals week. However, from a marching/performance standpoint, it was very memorable season.

[12 Time Champs]

Having marched Star 93, it kind of sickens me to see people comparing us to Cadets 2007 -- and not because they placed above us in '93. Both shows may have been unpopular amongst some of the fan base, but for completely different reasons. I don't see people holding The Cadets usage of narration in any higher regard years from now. I will say this though, I know how it feels to be 'boo'd', and I sympathize with them in that regard. No corps should have to go through that after the hours of hard work that put in to fielding a show for the fans.

That said, the Blue Devils are traditional, consistent and a tad bit tacky at times. It is just not enjoyable to see them win as, say, it would be Phantom Regiment. The Blue Devils tend to bore me each and every show between the exciting spots. Their visual style is rather hum-drum, and their music is always a hit or miss. Every year, they seem to play a song that will stick with us forever. Remember "When a Man Loves a Woman?" Well, can you name something else they played that show? What they do, they do extremely well, but they never do anything memorable or remarkable. They have had the nickname "Blah Devils" for decades now, and I believe they have earned it. I would rather see a corps do everything 80% well, and have a totally entertaining show (i.e. Madison, Crossmen, Blue Stars) then to see the Devils play really super fast loud complex music perfectly and leave me bored with everything else. However, I'm not saying that 80% should triumph over the Devils near perfect show scoring wise.

So, in the end, I think the better corps did win Saturday night. Having sat through finals watching all the corps perform, that much was apparent. Cadets had a few other issues besides narration that night.

I have never met a single person that said "Blah Devils" and earning this name...thats crap, last time I check transitions arent the highlight of the show. memorable??? how about the drum racks in 02/03 or the opening of 96 or the trumpet screamers?

If anything, they might not have always been the cleanest, but the drum line always pushed the envelope in the rep they play

second, the entire ballad was tempo changing madness, so it may not have been OMG HOW DO THEY DO THAT, but from a musical stand point it was awesome. Id like you to explain what you mean by that they are tacky because if you mean playing the same charts in several shows i can name plenty of corps that have done it. As for "one" chart that you always remember, I know someone else already said their 2cents, how many shows can you name off the top of your head where the ENTIRE show just stuck with you. not every show hits everyone the same way and im not saying that you should love them....but I really dont think the general concensus is that BD is blah.

just my opinion, and im always open for debate