Bloomington, we have a problem

[Michael Boo]

You make your owm breaks. DCI put themselves in this position.

Darned DCI and its recurrent ability to create sinkholes at whim.

Nothing against Indiana or the U of I, but this venue would never have a chance of holding the finals contest...it's a so so stadium...

The U of I is several miles west in Urbana-Champaign, Illinois.

I was at the final DCI Mid-America at the IU stadium in 1993. It's a very, very good place for drum corps. Nothing at all so-so about it.

My guess is that hotel rooms & tickets will be easier to get for this finals than any other, & will be poorly attended.

Let's give it a chance and see what happens first. It's premature to write this year's Championships obituary.

I trust we all are hoping things will work out.

Now if we can just keep a fleet of UFOs from attacking the IU stadium, or the U of I stadium for that matter. :)

[Elmo Blatch]

It's the curse of the Great Bambino, drum corps style. What happened last year that might put a curse on DCI?

Just havin' a little fun.

Funny!

Oddly enough, didn't Garfield fans get that circus contraption Star built for their circus show and bury it in some unknown place in Indiana sometime after the 1991 season, as kind of a curse to Star? If that's the case, I think it has resurfaced.

Edited June 7, 2008 by Elmo Blatch

[CapRegBari]

I don't think we'll have to move, but Memorial Stadium in Champaign would be lovely.... I'm moving there on Finals day.

[taters]

Even with the giant sink hole its still a better field than Mars! :-)

[bishtom]

Memorial Stadium at The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign is currently under a $150 million remodel...I doubt it would be ready....2009 though...

[nineiron]

I will let DCI use my back yard for finals.

I will move the swing set and the judges can use my porch as the GE box.

Tickets will only be $ 100.

[TerriTroop]

I knew you'd have trouble with the reality of the situation. Tell you what, wrap yourself in a Roger Staubach jersey, grab some BBQ and a cold Lone Star and call me in the morning.

Garry in Vegas

Ok, you know how Foster's is "Australian for BAD beer?" Lone Star is the Texas equivalent. You need to drink Shiner if you want GOOD Texas beer.

BBQ is king. Mmmmmmmm MEAT.

Staubach ain't my style. Gimme a Houston Oilers jersey. (and omg that team song so totally stank but somehow the

people decided to use it. Ewww!)

An Austin based football field company going out of business just seems wrong. Wow.

[mace]

Just imagine. If electronics were legal for this year, the entire field would be in an underground river on its way to Louisville.

And this time I didn't forget the :)

Just a precursor - I understand that the field at Lucas Oil Stadium IS, INTENTIONALLY, two stories under ground.

We should all be praying for the IU and DCI folks who must work this out - its not really funny.

www.darc.us

[ToferVis]

man, i can see hopkins now holding up finals as he stares at the sinkhole and demands it get fixed...

let's try not to boo this time =P

[Fred Windish]

VERY disturbing development for DCI.

The little bit of research I did this morning leads me to believe a problem that significant, so close to to the playing field, will require testing across and under the entire surface. Also, most likely an entirely new playing field with all that represents underneath. Doubtful, the choice will be to lay down half a new field.

The best option MIGHT be to explore a solution that can still be controlled, that being an acceleration of the Lucus Oil Stadium construction timeline. Maybe working all three shifts, adding adding aditional crews, etc.

I believe the Colts are still planning on opening less than 3 weeks later. Maybe there's a way to get that work done sooner.

I can tell you, I spent Indy 500 race week at a hotel 2 blocks from Lucas Oil Stadium. There DID appear to be much work still to be done, particularly all around the concrete and landscaped plazas. Even the roof had many panels missing.

We'll see.