The Official 2008 Madison Scouts Discussion Thread

[Marauder124]

The iguana concept makes pretty good sense to me.

[Marauder124]

The cavaliers was a good example because I do not get their show at all. I mean the gaurd is the only thing that screams asian influence, the music and drill sound like they could be put to a completley different concept.

[Linda Slocum]

I really believe that this could be a top 5 show based on music and drill.

Seems the other corps have more pauses for "pretty pictures", where the entire corps freezes for 3 seconds or more each time they make a new pattern on the field. The Scouts are constantly moving, not allowing time for these "pretty pictures" to develop, so could it be that the judges aren't even seeing the complexity or the relevance of the drill to the show theme?

[DantheOldMan]

I said this before & I will say it again...why would the Madison Scouts decide to do a show with an iguana theme? I really don't get it at all. And even if they had iguanas on the flags or something...what is the point...and what the heck does an iguana have to do with the Madison Scouts?

I don't think the theme is the problem. Many of the corps shows are like traditional marching band shows instead of traditional drum corps shows. Some have dorky things on field, like boxers, or actors and narration. Some of the shows are just plain boring, even though they are well executed. SCV's show was well marched, with nice drill, but the music left me high and dry. Unexciting. Blue Devils' show was, well, wierd. (I guess I need to see that one in person). The movie Spartacus came out in the 1950s, and this is the third time PR has performed this show in the last decade and a half. Would you prefer the Scouts do a Malaguena retread? If an unexciting, boring marching band style halftime show gets high scores, I guess DCI has hired too many marching band directors to be judges, because they obviously don't know what drum corps are all about.

The Scouts show has traditional music and traditional marching. The Scouts are known for their latin music. If they can clean up this show (especially guard), they can move up in points. I'm still hoping for a top 12 finish.

[acn]

The movie Spartacus came out in the 1950s, and this is the third time PR has performed this show in the last decade and a half.

I'm not going to bother going to corpsreps, but I believe the last time PR did Spartacus was '82, so that would make it the first time they've played it in 26 years.

And it's a GREAT show. Great music, drill, and no narration. A classic drum corps show.

[dcpfan08]

iguana=madison in dci...it's genius and if you haven't figured that out then you shouldn't be on this thread. nice closer last night. i can't wait for some cleaning. see you in atl scouts! yea for shows with actual moving music and crazy drill!

[geluf]

Unfortunately, they are working twice as hard as everyone else. My son was speaking to a Blue Devil, who was complaining that they have a 12 hour day of practice coming up after 2 or 3 days off.

I will bet not only my next 12 paychecks, but my savings that the Blue Devils are not taking "2-3 days off" and are, in fact, rehearsing close to 12 hours each one of those days. With the possible exception of a laundry day if they have one worked in there and time knocked off for traveling to sites.

*Every* corps rehearses that much (PC is a possible exception because of the tour model they use). The Scouts are not working "Twice as Hard" as everyone else. To say that is ignorant and disrespectful to the kids in other corps who are working JUST as hard as yours.

[TerriTroop]

I've said this before but I believe it bears repeating. The only way the Scouts will get the attention of the judging community is they have to figure out how to become the unmistakable 20 ton elephant in the room. From top to bottom, the Scouts have no choice but to work twice as hard as everyone else. It's quite obvious that nobody in the judging community will be handing the Scouts a free pass to the top 12. No, if the Scouts want even a sniff, there going to have to earn it in resounding fashion!

I'm posting in this thread because this is something that every corps in the perceived "lower tier" has to deal with most of the time.

1. Younger, less experienced members means more difficulty cleaning, tweaking, etc.

2. Less experienced members have a harder time keeping personal form, keeping their minds on emotional projection and maintaining a bold ego presence on the field.

3. Being in the lower score region is hard to deal with when you're working your rears off every day, and again this tends to wear on younger members even when the staff is doing their best to cushion that blow. This adds to the stress and difficulty of #1 and 2 above.

It's not unique to the Scouts to have to try to be the "20 ton elephant in the room." I've been saying this about Troopers, too. I think it applies to any corps that is expecting to make a drastic move upward: you have to have a well-designed vehicle for the kids, and the kids have to take their physical and emotional presence up about 10,000 notches and grab the judging community by the throat and make them take notice.

With both Troopers and Scouts, there are mental breaks. To be honest, those breaks (to me) are more obvious in the Scouts show. That's not because they're more immature than the Troopers, it's because their show demands a ton of details (possibly overshooting in that area?) that take incredible amounts of mental stamina to pull off. Right now, some of it is not hitting the mark. Will it? Well, I've never know Scouts to back down from a challenge, so I expect it will be outstanding by the time they hit finals week.

I LOVE the Scouts. I've loved them since I first started marching, and I cheer for them with passion. I understand the frustration in the closeness of point spreads. I'm not going to play the second-guessing game because I've been dealing with the "Troopers never get any judge love" problem for a long, long time. For me I'm happy that Troop is moving up in score and maintaining a good position for the year and getting some notice.

How this year shakes out is how it shakes out. All I know is I expect Madison and Troopers to both be on the field Friday of finals week. I don't expect Troop to be on the field Saturday, but Madison? I don't know, but it would be wonderful to see. I haven't seen the other shows they're up against, but I'll get a better read by San Antonio.

Lastly, I was at the show last night in Denver. It was a fine night of drum corps, and I'm sure you're all as proud of the Scouts as I am of the Troopers.

[BRASSO]

I don't think the theme is the problem. Many of the corps shows are like traditional marching band shows instead of traditional drum corps shows. Some have dorky things on field, like boxers, or actors and narration. Some of the shows are just plain boring, even though they are well executed. SCV's show was well marched, with nice drill, but the music left me high and dry. Unexciting. Blue Devils' show was, well, wierd. (I guess I need to see that one in person). The movie Spartacus came out in the 1950s, and this is the third time PR has performed this show in the last decade and a half. Would you prefer the Scouts do a Malaguena retread? If an unexciting, boring marching band style halftime show gets high scores, I guess DCI has hired too many marching band directors to be judges, because they obviously don't know what drum corps are all about.

The Scouts show has traditional music and traditional marching. The Scouts are known for their latin music. If they can clean up this show (especially guard), they can move up in points. I'm still hoping for a top 12 finish.

Madison's show this year" has traditional music and traditional marching " ?

a theme with weird Reptiles from the Rain Forest Jungles.... and incorporating Latin rythmns with weird sounding music nobody out of Bands ever heard of..... but with Corps roots in the Explorer Scouts of Madison, Wisconsin ?

Ok, if you say so.

Edited July 13, 2008 by BRASSO

[Machiavelli]

Unfortunately, they are working twice as hard as everyone else...

It's not how long or how hard, it's about productive rehearsals. I've watched the Devils rehearsh for decades and there is never any wasted time. The staff is a well-oiled machine who has a collective single track mind.

It's very possible that with a new staff like Madison's that they are only 80% as effective during rehearsals than other corps who have had the same staff in place for years if not decades.

Madison is a young corps that need a different style of instruction than BD, Cavies, PR, CC, Blue... the list goes on. I don't expect them to make much more progress when compared to the competition.

In a different thread, or maybe earlier in this one, I commented on watching spreads between the Scouts and Cavies. My thought was that Scouts would have to close to about 11 points to make Finals. Last night they were still 13+ away. The spread from 1st to 12th is currently 11 points. Unless 5 corps become stagnant and Madison makes huge strides, it's unlikely they will make it to Saturday night.

Everyone rehearses, but it's truly about efficiency and efficacy.