DCI 2008 in review . . .

[84skyrydr]

Phantom, Phantom, Phantom. You finally get the accolades so long ago deserved. WOW, what a year. Blue Star show this year was pretty cool, but all this didn't just happen this year. Three years ago they laid the groundwork for this to become reality. Don't get lost in the excitement and forget to thank those who came before you. You really did deserve 8th and your drill designer deserves a raise. That bike thingy at the end was really unbelievable. Crown. MUSIC, MUSC, MUSIC.. nuff said. Cadets, I don't care what all the haters say,you guys were on. Did anybody else notice that music became a theme in itself this year? Lots of recognizable peices and stuff you could whistle for the ride home. Great year, and GOD am I stoked for Phantom.

[supersop]

Although, PR winning is EPIC!!!!!!!, I answered "All of the Above". Why?

It is my hope that 5 years from now, when Scouts are in 5th, Crown Wins, Blue Stars are 3rd and PR is 2nd ......... yeah I said it ......... This will be the year that everyone looks back and says, "Remember 2008 when all these guys were the big story? Scouts back in Finals, Blue Stars back in Finals, Crown broke the ELITE without question and PR won their first OUTRIGHT title........ yeah that was a sweet year. No wonder all this is happening now because it all started then."

It's been a VERY long road for all 4 of these corps. Each made major milestones in their histories. They all won and you know it

[luvs me sum mello!]

Blue Stars epic return. Not just a "they were out of finals for a couple years" but the "the corps was at 25 horns just a few years ago and now are in 8th at finals". That is THE story.

Phantom winning is great, and all, but come on. Was it ever not a possibility? I look at Phantom's victory and go "Ya. They deserved it and worked hard for it."

I look at the story of The Blue Stars and think how words can not describe the journey, especially some of the 4-5 year vets, have been on.

[Guardguy89]

I voted allof the above - and then some!

Seriously - one of the best years I can remember.

• Phantom wins - that alone makes this year special - from 3rd to 2nd to 1st (I hadn't seen anything like that since '84 when Cadets back back and won finals)
  
• Blue Stars back in top 12
  
• Madison back in top 12
  
• The competition between Crossmen adn Madison
  
• Troopers making a great comeback - and being able to get more guard people through DCI
  
• Blue Devils with oneof the funnest shows I can remember
  
• Crown - the whole show - and that color guard!!!!!!!!!!
  

And on and on - DCI 2008 is going down as the best season ever

Later,

Mike

[heather anne]

I said all of the above, with one addition: Troopers in semis. Coming back from nothing in 2006 to sems in 2008 is an amazing accomplishment, IMO.

Dang, reading all these reviews and comments is making me teary-eyed. I have GOT to figure out how to get to finals next year!

Thank you, Drum Corps, for an incredible season.

[JOHNNY_A]

CROWN!

4th place, with a 2nd place percussion score? I've been wanting to try out on for their snare line, looks like the competition's gonna be a LOT tougher than in years past. =D

Read the recap. Crown's percussion did not come in 2nd. They had 19.10's across the board. Good enough for 4th.

[MN DCI Fan]

Yeah, I forgot about Crossmen's resurgence. While they just missed finals this year, they took a big step up this year and are a great story unto themselves!

[Galen]

All of the above, plus Troopers getting back into semis.

[soccerguy315]

Congrats to...

Troopers, for a great product this year after not being on the field in 2006. I am so happy the Troopers are still part of the activity

Crossmen, for turning it around this year in the first year of independent operation in a long time, and coming so close to making it back to Saturday night.

Madison, for turning things around, and battling hard and pushing all season. Hope your stay in the top 12 is an extended one.

Boston, for putting out a quality show with a lot of new faces.

Blue Stars, for returning to finals in flying colors after nearly 30 years.

Crown, for breaking into the top 4.

Blue Devils, for a WEIRD show that was highly entertaining, and full of nuances.

Phatnom Regiment... for a show for the ages. For a show full of emotion. For a show full of power. And for your first unshared title.

DCI, for a great season.

Edited August 10, 2008 by soccerguy315

[GGarrett]

they're all huge. im almost compelled to say blue stars, though i voted phantom.

30 years is a LONG time. not even just back in finals, but 8th, having broken 90. crazy. this must be surreal for the blue stars of the 80's (barely existing) and 90's (div 3).

crown joined the bluecoats in being the only corps to jump into the top 4 since star was hanging around. they did it faster though, and probably more assertively. much higher score.....considering bluecoats scored the exact same score tonight as in 2006. by the way, they got 4th in drums (19.1), not 2nd.

bluecoats were in the top 3 in drums for the THIRD year in a row. 3rd in drums (and horns) in 06, 2nd in 07, and 3rd in 08. congrats, guys, glad most of you stuck around. hope it was worth it. I'M SO HAPPY YOU GUYS GET THE DRUM CAM ON THE DVD THIS YEAR. you deserve it. the hornline, as young as they were, truly made me proud; i'm really glad the (debatably) best brass moment of the summer was theirs to call their own. you performed the hell out of what you were given. oh and if the guard didn't pull out an 8th place finish on finals night, i dont think the jump to 6th could have happened...."get it," bccg, you guys are the sassiest color guard in dci by far. SIX WORDS. i love you guys.

congrats to boston too, for overwhelmingly exceeding my expectations before the season. i called you guys falling out of finals (ala magic '04), but 'neocosmos' was one of my favorite shows of this year. perfect show for the drum corps, i think. very aggressive, masculine (how i perceive their image as a whole), and entertaining, with a definitive nod to the past.

welcome back scouts.....xmen would have been a better story i suppose, but madison was definitely worthy....i think it was probably their best show since '05.

i think glassmen '08 was their best show since '02, both performance and design-wise.

cadets, im really glad your ending was changed so that the crowd was thinking about YOU and your abilities when the show ended, instead of george's ideas. i have a lot of good friends who switched corps (primarily from boston) to the cadets this summer, including my little brother and my roommate/best friends, and i hope those of you who aged out found the experience to be worth it. the last minute of your closer was one of the best 60 seconds in dci this year, and proof that hiding these talents behind an informative theme is a waste of time. for the many of you who aged out there this year, i'm truly sorry that george hopkins spent the last week of your careers bringing attention to the 2009 'holy name' cadets and their incoming show. you deserve better than that, and i hope you tuned it out as much as you needed to. i'm really glad you guys got to experience performing at that high of a level, on that scope. alex bender, i hope aging out with the maroon team instead of the blue one was a worthwhile end to your well-documented drum corps career.

bk, i really liked your show. it was the weirdest i've possibly ever seen but i appreciated the creativity, constant exposure, and belief in what you were doing. i didnt really get what your show was really 'about' but you made me believe in it anyway. even if some of your alumni would disagree with me saying this, I WAS ENTERTAINED.

bd........you guys were awesome all season. i loved it, minus some of the finals week changes. phantom was surely a hard beast to hold off come finals night.......if you guys had won, everyone (most people) would have hated you, so i guess it's for the best. you guys are a MARCHING SPECTACLE, putting on clinics at every show. thank you.

phantom, i can't believe you guys pulled off what you did.....show design aside, you guys worked your ##### off to put that show on the field. that video of the 4 to 5 firebird suite exercise from last year was telling......you guys, whether the staff made you do it or not, were physically going to put yourselves in the position to take it. i guess thats the point though. you guys were the best at doing what you were told ....certainly had the vehicle to make it happen. phantom, you made a bunch of people's years/lives tonight.....i'm sure the crowd's response to the score announcement would have effectively conveyed the magnitude of what you did, if those GOLD MEDALS didn't do so anyway.

two divisions of drum corps, two corps jumping into 1st on finals night. sorry, BD organization. congrats, phantom, SCVC, and drum corps fans who paid attention in 2008.

i got a bit carried away with these thoughts but uhhhh yeah, goodbye 2008/potential last year of junior drum corps eligibility. i enjoyed the drama.

It's always refreshing and nice to read something Jared writes when whatever it is inspires him to do so. Kinda rare now compared to years past, but eloquent never-the-less. He's notorious for single to maybe 6 or so word answers much of the time, and then you get something like this above...

Had to be kind of rough last night, though, yeah? Or maybe not so much? I'd be interested to hear your thoughts given placement and effort put in by your former corps this year...

(for those who don't know, Jared opted out of his age out year with Bloo... but that's his biz.)