Temper Tantrum

[Daave]

I think that the "Little Guard That Could" (All 18 of them) have more than held their own, given the circumstances. I'd rather see them recieve cudos for what has been accomplished (again, given the circumstances) than veiled insinuations.

[Peel Paint]

Hey, I'm not insinuating anything. They've done well on the field if not with the judges with what they have, I agree. I'm speaking to realities. I believe it's hard to get full credit in CG or GE if your numbers are smaller than other corps. That's it. I believe that's the historic reality. You believe differently, we'll have to agree to disagree.

[Granny Smith]

I'm a little confused. Is it the brass or is it the guard? One minute you're saying that the brass let them down and the Troopers need to fix that, and then it's the guard that's holding them back.

Anyone who wants to see the Troopers succeed would agree that it would be great for them to have 30 guard members out there this year, but to give that as the reason for them placing lower than the three above them is a cop out.

I for one am not going to patronize the Troopers by saying, "isn't that cute little guard doing their very best and isn't it sweet that they are trying? Next year, they'll be better. Yay!" No! What I'm saying is that RIGHT NOW the visual design of this show, the execution of it, and the overall effect is better than these others.

Login to Fan Network tomorrow and watch these four shows: 1. Troopers, 2. The Academy, 3. Pacific Crest, and 4. Spirit and come back and tell me I've overdosed on my meds.

I want a cogent reason why they keep getting slotted so early and why these other corps are beating them. Almost two years straight this has been going on!

[Piper]

Hey, I'm not insinuating anything. They've done well on the field if not with the judges with what they have, I agree. I'm speaking to realities. I believe it's hard to get full credit in CG or GE if your numbers are smaller than other corps. That's it. I believe that's the historic reality. You believe differently, we'll have to agree to disagree.

I'll agree with that. The Troopers guard size has held them back. I'll also bet a dollar to a doughnut that they will recruit very heavily in that area next year.

[Peel Paint]

I'm a little confused. Is it the brass or is it the guard? One minute you're saying that the brass let them down and the Troopers need to fix that, and then it's the guard that's holding them back.

Anyone who wants to see the Troopers succeed would agree that it would be great for them to have 30 guard members out there this year, but to give that as the reason for them placing lower than the three above them is a cop out.

I for one am not going to patronize the Troopers by saying, "isn't that cute little guard doing their very best and isn't it sweet that they are trying? Next year, they'll be better. Yay!" No! What I'm saying is that RIGHT NOW the visual design of this show, the execution of it, and the overall effect is better than these others.

Login to Fan Network tomorrow and watch these four shows: 1. Troopers, 2. The Academy, 3. Pacific Crest, and 4. Spirit and come back and tell me I've overdosed on my meds.

I want a cogent reason why they keep getting slotted so early and why these other corps are beating them. Almost two years straight this has been going on!

It's both. I personally liked Troopers best of those four as well. But when has personal likes ever mattered?

I can't give you a better reason other than what I perceive as the historical way the DCI judges have called it. A smaller looking corps takes a hit. Troopers are smaller in CG. They also took a hit this afternoon in Brass execution, and I don't have more insight to this than you do. If you look at the recaps, you'll see it in Brass. But I'm also suggesting that low numbers in any onesection such as CG adversely tends to affect GE scores historically, as well as the low section, here, CG.

Edited July 27, 2008 by Peel Paint

[Pinwiz]

I want a cogent reason why they keep getting slotted so early and why these other corps are beating them. Almost two years straight this has been going on!

Troop keeps going on early because we place just low enough to stay in that area. We would have to be in 15th to move up to the next group. Last week we had the best possible draw, this weekend we had the worst. It will likely be a coin flip between Troop and Academy on Friday to see who goes on first.

If we want to perform in a better slot next summer, we need to make Semis.

Just this once, I want the coin flip to come down on Troop's side. Since 1992, every time the corps has been on the bubble for Semis/Finals they've lost. Just once!

[joelwilliams]

I'll agree with that. The Troopers guard size has held them back. I'll also bet a dollar to a doughnut that they will recruit very heavily in that area next year.

The community needs to really understand how long it has taken the organization to become competitive again to understand where some, like Granny, are coming from.

It has been since 1999 that we have had a shot at Friday night. It has been since 1986 that our corps got the finalist patches. We have been waiting for, and wanting, competitive success in a passionate way for much longer than most Corps have waited and now we finally have great show design and a talented Corps AND a shot at that success.

The anger from Trooper Fan comes from how they have had their show, performance and design be recognized and supported by the judging community - to a certain extent, and then today, after an exciting performance that appeared cleaner than corps in our block, we are rebuffed.

The show today was the cleanest I've seen from the Troopers this year. Now, granted other corps have made improvement as well. The thing that causes us indigestion, heart burn and high blood pressure is that we were beating some corps by nearly five points only a few days ago.

Today Trooper Fan is upset and in our estimation, rightfully so.

Edited July 27, 2008 by joelwilliams

[Pinwiz]

The anger from Trooper Fan comes from how they have had their show, performance and design be recognized and supported by the judging community - to a certain extent, and then today, after an exciting performance that appeared cleaner than corps in our block, we are rebuffed.

And not only rebuffed, but we were the only corps today to not have a significant score increase from last weekend. We went up 0.025. We're within our rights to be really, really angry about this. It's the same situation as the 5-point drop at Denver and the 3-point drop in Pasadena last summer. Had this happened to Crown or Madison or Phantom the board would have exploded.

Every time we're within range (92, 93, 95, 96, 99, and 06), this happens. Every. Time. I've been enjoying the summer but dreading that the other shoe is going to drop and today very well could have been that moment. It's too early to say that we're out of the hunt, but it's a wound that I thought had finally healed after the corps strong return last summer that was reopened. We want this. We want this SO BAD.

The corps will keep working, if things stay close then Troop will likely still go on at Quarters in 16th, but if this happens again in Bloomington I don't know what I'll do.

Just once. Just once. The corps can do it, and I don't want people writing their obituary just yet.

Edited July 27, 2008 by Pinwiz

[kdaddy]

K Daddy,

What does BISP mean?

The Trooper guard performed as well or better than every guard in our block today.

The score was too low. Troop should be either beating Spirit or on their heels.

BOHICA and BISP are both acronyms used on Jim Rome's radio show, though I'm sure BOHICA is used in a wider context...

[DCIHasBeen]

BOHICA? Granny! I never new you was a Navy girl!