Arizona Academy

[Penguin]

They were good this year, but not remarkable. Unfortunately, I have a feeling they will go the way of most other come-ups from Div. II. I anticipate they will stay in that "almost in finals" range for quite some time though.

[audiodb]

Yep, but to be fair, Colts guard had an awful night. The fact they were performing in the rain, which Academy did not, didn't help matters either.

That's a good point. On the other hand, they were spared from the more intense wind gusts that preceded the rain, plaguing the performances of Academy, Spirit, Blue Stars and Madison.

[audiodb]

To those of you opposiong my "shhhhh" and advising me to just not click the links...thank you for the advice. If I think I need it, I'll use it.

I think you need it. :)

Now let me give the honks some advice...."SHHHH". That's right...."SHHHH". But don't "SHHHH" for me...."SHHHH" for you...AND The Academy themselves.

I've heard of silencing the critics, but I think you're the first to advocate silencing the enthusiasts.

I'm going to be very frank with the honks on this board. You guys have made complete fools of yourselves this year. Since January, we've been drowning in honk hype stating everything from "Academy is going to be in the top 12" to "they are going to be in the top 10, maybe the top 8 and maybe the top 5".

Enough of the hyperbole. I read this site too. I even dredged through the muck of pre-season prediction threads for a change this year. Not once did I see a single soul predict or even voice a fleeting hope for anything better than 8th place for Academy in 2007. If I'm wrong, feel free to provide links to the posts I missed. Otherwise, please cease with the smear campaign.

Now we sit here in late August with the facts...those facts being that The Academy really wasn't that good and were out of finals by a solid point.

And what is your point?

The Blue Stars also missed finals, but you aren't raining on their parade. The Blue Stars were a new division I entry last year, but you didn't shush everyone with an optimistic prediction for them. The Blue Stars even had the gall to speak of top 12 as a goal this year, and still, you have no issue with them at all.

Fans predicted Madison Scouts to finish as high as 6th this year, yet here they are in 15th (and climbing quite a bit to get there), and not a peep out of you about "fools", "honks" or "hype" regarding Madison. Not a word about all the fans who had Crossmen pegged for finals this year.

So I still ask - why do you single out Academy?

SO!!!! If the honks want to make the same mistake and overhype the corps again...only to possibly eat more crow in 2008, knock yourselves out. At the end of the day, you are the ones who look foolish when the final results are in.

At this point, I'll bet the two who picked Academy to win in '08 only did so to see your reaction....

[supersop]

You said:

"It's a Semifinals drill and guard with a Finals quality Hornline, horn book, drumline and percussion book."

and

"[Academy ranked] 13th in Brass and Ensemble (and Spirit really did crank up that hornline down the stretch to pass Academy and Blue Stars)."

My main point is that 13th or 14th, that's by definition not a finals hornline or book. Perhaps I'm too nitpicky--it's still a job well done. I guess I fixated on brass too much when I pulled the numbers for the three corps you mentioned. Sorry for misinterpreting your point about Spirit, and thanks for the clarification. :)

And so that critical discussion will not be confused with criticism, let me say again that the Academy did well and should continue to do well in the future. And also that the Academy program is one to be proud of.

I know we're splitting hairs here .. but let's be fair. There were 16 corps who had aspects of their programs that were finals quality. Maybe they ranked 13th or 14th in a caption this year that could have been 9th or 10th just one year prior. Academy may have ended up 13th in brass according to the judges on Semi's night ... but the brass book was top 12 quality (and 3 weeks ago I said it was top 8 quality, which I still believe). The same can be said for the drumline. Where we are splitting hairs here is the difference between my opinion and the opinion of the judges on Semifinals night. Since my opinions dont' get posted on DCI.ORG/SCORES .... I guess the judges win :P

[Phantombari1]

That's a good point. On the other hand, they were spared from the more intense wind gusts that preceded the rain, plaguing the performances of Academy, Spirit, Blue Stars and Madison.

I was at the show and the Colts had more to deal with during their performance. I am a big fan of the Academy and after watching them practice on more than a few ocassions I expect them to continue to climb. Their performance in tempe wasn't very good (IMO) and I would have placed them lower, having said that, I do believe they have the talent pool and staff to continue to show measurable progress...I'm pretty sure that's what Mark has in mind anyway.

[passionatedc]

I've heard of silencing the critics, but I think you're the first to advocate silencing the enthusiasts.

Well, the Academy hype is just that overboard right now.

Enough of the hyperbole. I read this site too. I even dredged through the muck of pre-season prediction threads for a change this year. Not once did I see a single soul predict or even voice a fleeting hope for anything better than 8th place for Academy in 2007. If I'm wrong, feel free to provide links to the posts I missed. Otherwise, please cease with the smear campaign.

No, just that it might happen in the next few years. regardless of the when, it's ridiculous and overboard.

And what is your point?

Oh dude, please. I've made my point. If only the Academy honks would listen.

The Blue Stars also missed finals, but you aren't raining on their parade.

Of course not. They are quiet!

The Blue Stars were a new division I entry last year, but you didn't shush everyone with an optimistic prediction for them. The Blue Stars even had the gall to speak of top 12 as a goal this year, and still, you have no issue with them at all.

Dude. There is a major difference between an occasional optomistic prediction and DAILY DAILY DAILY DROWNING in overhype that never ceases! LOOK AT THIS! IT STILL HASN'T STOPPED AND THE SEASON IS OVER! I thought for sure that after their 13th place finish, all the honks would have gone. "OOOOOOooooooo! Whoops! I guess we should slow down a little". No, instead they just keep it coming. I don't have an issue with the Blue Stars because their hype was normal. The Academy people have just plain gone overboard and can't seem to realize when enough is enough.

Fans predicted Madison Scouts to finish as high as 6th this year, yet here they are in 15th (and climbing quite a bit to get there), and not a peep out of you about "fools", "honks" or "hype" regarding Madison. Not a word about all the fans who had Crossmen pegged for finals this year.

Again, none of them went as overboard. And the "honks" comment is directed at exactly what they call themselves. It's not something I made up.

Edited August 21, 2007 by passionatedc

[Michael Boo]

I wish there was a way to "vote" for one question and not for the ones I don't wish to vote for. That's a problem when too many poll questions are asked at the same time.

[DCfan76]

Unbelieveable. The hype-honking-hype just never ends.

Let this organization develop and get a couple of full time Div. I tours under their belt... THEN we can talk about where they might go from there. Until then, maybe it would be a good idea to take passionatedc's advice and "shhhh" for a while.

[VKMello84]

This thread is comedy gold!

All the assumptions being made about the future based solely on what happened this season. The truth is that most people know absolutely nothing about what is going on with these units. We don't know which corps may be and the verge of losing or landing a key instructor(s). We don't know whether some sort of looming financial difficulty might finally catch up with a unit and cause a major drop-off. We don't know about any of a number of other things that could happen. No one would have thought that Madison would have trouble making finals after 1999, no one could have guess that 27 would only be in finals two more times after the 1982 season. No one really knew which year Bluecoats were going to make their big move and become more than the longest running non-top six corps ever.

Here is some trivia to consider which may or may not be fun or relevant.

Number of corps to place 13th and never make finals: 4

Falcon Cadets

Watkins Glen Squires

Florida Wave

Southwind (still active)

Percentage of 13th place corps to make Finals the following season: 44%

Number of times the same 12 corps have appeared in finals in consecutive years: 2

Edited August 21, 2007 by VKMello84

[thebrassshop]

I think History shows us it isn't that easy breaking into the top 12

The last corps before this year was The Madison Scouts, I believe that was 5 years ago

Colts have been on the bubble for at least 3 years and just made it this year,

they probably will be on that bubble for 2 or 3 years until they start touring more that 13 shows.