Finals Predictions 2009

[hostrauser]

Optimistically assuming several corps return to the field next season...

1. Blue Devils

Have only been outside Top 3 once in past 15 seasons; feeder corps isn't too shabby either. 2009 should mark 25 consecutive years in the Top 5. Incredible.

2. The Cavaliers

Highest average Finals score in DCI over the past 10 seasons: 97.660. How high is that? In the past 10 seasons, The Cadets, Santa Clara Vanguard, and Phantom Regiment have topped the Cavaliers' AVERAGE Finals score exactly one time each. The Cavaliers have finished below 97 only once in the past ten seasons.

3. Carolina Crown

While I'd love to see Crown win in 2009 almost as much as seeing Phantom win this season, I don't think people appreciate just how hard it is to beat BOTH the Blue Devils and Cavaliers in the same season. It's only happened four times in the past fifteen years (08 Phantom, 05 Cadets, 98 Cadets, 98 Vanguard).

4. Phantom Regiment

Visual scores are a little too shaky for me to forecast a dynasty, but man, that music. Phantom has been Top 5 seven years in a row, the 2nd longest streak in corps history (9, 1976-1984).

5. Bluecoats

Have scored over 93.1 four years in a row; as hard as it may be to believe, Carolina Crown, Santa Clara Vanguard and The Cadets all can't say that.

6. Santa Clara Vanguard

Won in 1989, won in 1999... so they're due, right? SCV has only one Top 3 finish in the nine seasons since their last championship; an even worse stretch than their championship drought from 1989 to 1999.

7. The Cadets

Is this a fading dynasty? Since the creation of the "build-up" system of judging in 1984, The Cadets have scored under 95 only three times. But TWO of those times have been in the last three years. This is the first time since 1989-1991 The Cadets have finished outside the Top 4 twice in three seasons.

8. Madison Scouts

Adding Ramiro Barrera and Ken Karlin to the staff already reaped dividends. 2008 Scouts was the first Scouts show I've seen with that "Madison Attitude" since 1999.

9. Blue Knights

Their show designs might not tickle everyone's fancy, but they've been Top 10 five years in a row and nine of the past twelve.

10. Blue Stars

Love the direction this corps is headed, but I don't see them crashing the Top 6 just yet. Of course, I picked them 16th for 2008 and they finished 8th, so if I pick them 10th for 2009 they'll finish 5th, right?

11. Crossmen

Four straight years out of Finals ends next year. Young corps gained experience this year, and the move to San Antonio will look better and better with every passing year.

12. Glassmen

I think a lot of people take the Glassmen for granted. They've been in Finals 14 of the past 16 seasons, the same number of Finals appearances as the Madison Scouts and MORE than Carolina Crown or the the Blue Knights over that span.

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13. Boston Crusaders

14. Colts

15. Troopers

16. Spirit

17. The Academy

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18. Seattle Cascades

19. Pacific Crest

20. Capital Regiment

21. Jersey Surf

22. Mandarins

23. Southwind

24. Pioneer

[chaddyt]

1. Holy Name - after 5th in 06, coming so close last year, and dropping back down again this year, Hop and crew will be coming out with guns a'blazin.

2. Phantom - it will be close, but the .025 margin will not be enough this year.

3. Crown - they're just a steam-roller whose driver is probably on crack. They knock off...

4. BD

5. Cavies

6. SCV

7. Bluecoats

8. Colts

9. Blue Stars

10. Scouts

11. Crossmen

12. Blue Knights

[cmathis]

1. Holy Name- anni year, bernstien, etc

2. BD- sigh

3. Regiment- 2008 hangover

4. Cavies- is the cavies decade over?

5. SCV- big year and step forward for SCV

6. Crown- see bloo 2006 to bloo 2007

7. Bloo- another year, another lackluster finish

8. Boston- BAC back in the top 8

9. BK- hi, we're BK and we play dark, classical music

10. BS- will earn this tenth place finish

11. Scouts- it's a long way to the top if you want to rock and roll

12. G-men- we might not see them this high

But also pay attention to this:

In 2006, Bloo placed 4th with a 93.175, which is the same score they got this year finishing in 6th place. This year Crown placed 4th with a 96.800, which is a considerable amount above Bloo's scores, not to mention it's the highest 4th place finish in the history of DCI. With that, I'm pretty confident in saying that Crown will be in the top three in 2009.

[tigger2]

I'm in:

1st: Cadets -Collin, Ian, Gino, with George finally realizing he has to get out of the way some.

2nd: Crown -The climb has been too steady, and entertaining is in, oh, and Jennifer & Lee rock!!!

3rd: BD -Never too far out, trying on new brand of wide audience appeal (biggest potential spoiler)

4th: PR -Haven't figured out that when a formula works, stick to it a few seasons

-Please, please, please...by the power of Grey Skull, prove me wrong

5th: Cavies -Also trying to rediscover themselves and find different music approach

6th: SCV -Better on some fronts, but not as in-the-know/up to date with design as office thinks they are

7th: Bluecoats -Holding their own with great corps and solid shows

8th: Blue Stars -Up their show design and talent level, rethink uniform

9th: B. Knights -More audience friendly, but doesn't get the nod

10th: Crossmen -Smart, patient people with an agenda...code word.....stealth (watch out 2009)

11th: Madison -More talent shows up, not quite enough diversity on staff

12th: Boston -Some rough winter transitions and identity issues, sorry guys (2009 better!)

13th: Spirit -Close. Get new program coordinator, people love the show (watch out 2009)

14th: Colts -Still not with learning curve, but really close to Spirit

15th: Troopers -Get butts in gear with guard program and have great audition turn-outs, barely over G-men

16th: G-men -Keep relying on guard and balloons. Too many captions ignored.

17th: Crest -Good again, just dirty again.

Edited August 14, 2008 by tigger2

[megadrive]

1. Holy Name

2. Cavaliers

3. Phantom

4. Crown

5. BD

6. SCV

7. BS

8. Bloo

9. Madison

10. Boston

11. Crossmen

12. BK

13. Colts

14. G-Men

15. Troop

16. Spirit

17. Academy

[derbydawg]

TOP TWELVE

Cadets...............Just feeling the Bernstein

BD....................They are great, but are short on raw GE

Crown...............One place at a time baby, one place at a time.

Regiment..........Too much to top this year

Cavies..............Melodies and musical depth givin' 'em fits

Vanguard..........really good, top five just better

Coats................really good, top six just better

Knights.............Actually connect pretty well with crowd with late surge

Blue Stars.........Better than 2008, but seeing it ain't easy

Crossmen..........Much better with some punch

Boston...............Better, but so are others

Madison.............Need more outside input, guard still weak

SEMIS and QUARTERS

Spirit...............Very close with revived spunk

Colts...............Better, but a few weak links

Glassmen........Depth a real issue

Troop..............Movin' up some more

Academy ........Better show, still getting in the speed of things

PC..................Show not as good as 2008

Mandarins.......Better show, too hard

Pioneer...........better show, fewer people

Edited August 14, 2008 by derbydawg

[DCImonkey]

1. Cadets

2. Crown

3. Blue Devils

4. Phantom Regiment

5. Santa Clara Vanguard

6. Cavaliers

7. Blue Knights

8. Blue Stars

9. Madison Scouts

10. Bluecoats

11. Boston Crusaders

12. Crossmen

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13. Colts

14. Glassmen

15. Troopers

16. Spirit

17. Pacific Crest

[Noname]

Just so everyone knows, this is how I think it'll work out, not how I want it to.

1. Cadets

Just a fuzzy warm feeling.

2. Blue Devils

They're always up here somewhere, I think they'll get second, but definitely not as close as this past year was with Phantom

3. Phantom Regiment

Winning champs will already give the corps a boost in talent I think, as well as confidence. But I don't see their lead lasting, as much as I want it to.

4. Cavaliers

Something tells me that last year was a show that was made to win (unfortunately they got 3rd, same as '07 but a much better show), so I don't think as much will go into this year, but I don't know.

5. Carolina Crown

They'll have another exciting show that has the theme they like to go with, and with the Bb major chords that'll cause a standing O.

6. Santa Clara Vanguard

They'll move up one spot with an awesome show, worthy of something like 3rd or 4th, but so will everyone else above them.

7. Bluecoats

Another theater-oriented show that the crowd will love, but it'll be more like Criminal.

8. Blue Knights

9. Madison Scouts

10. Blue Stars

11. Boston Crusaders

12. Crossmen

13. Colts

14. Spirit

15. Glassmen

16. Troopers

17. Pacific Crest

18. Mandarins

19. Capital Regiment

20. Jersey Surf?

21. Pioneer

[cadetzoid]

Conjecture of course, but some real thought, and rumor applied:

1st. Cadets

Don't think percussion staff changes will hurt, though each man was great at his job, legends if you will.

As someone else mentioned, hoping Hopkins lets his talented staff have more design input. They are all QUITE capable.

2nd. Blue Devils

I wanted to put Crown here, but probably not quite yet. BD is performs so well and crazy talent in the corps and on staff.

Do think fall design conversations need to be about a change of format. I do not see the connectivity in their show concepts so much, and think

the last five or six seasons have not been terribly unlike each other.

3rd. Crown

Just more of the same with some serious design conversation about adding innovation to their already amazing, state of the art stuff.

4th. Regiment

Want to put this at the top spot again, but they rarely do it up two years in a row. Still a huge favorite.

5th. Cavies

Not sure how to sustain the current formulas without addressing the audience's music hunger. Thought 2007 was clearly on the right track. Would not have taken long for all those smart staff members to massage that concept into more years of winning.

6th. Blue Coats

Better than in 2008, making top six in 2009 seem like this year's top four. Return to music more like 2007.

7th. SCV

Design team not cohesive, unless Jeff Fedler can convince them things are dis-jointed. If so (director change?), could be several spots higher.

8th. Blue Knights

Maybe the most consistent corps last several years. Take fall to seriously look at making a run for more appeal and higher placement. Plan doesn't really start showing up until 2010.

9th. Blue Stars

Down a place with a better corps, but everyone above them has played the stay in the same place or move higher game. Similar show design to 2008 would be smart, with more demand in the brass book. Keep staff in place, as they should.

10th. Crossmen

Members stay and the staff makes all the right design choices. Bring in a few names to help move things along. This will be the start of a real surge. Early season over Stars, but not quite enough at the end.

11th. Madison

Great recruiting and wave of support helps out here. Nick Williams helps keep too many old school dudes from pushing to go back to things that the activity has simply moved away from...if they listen...as they should.

12th. Spirit

OK. Enough of the in again, out again thing. Joel Vincent decides to take a deep breath and look for long range plans for a steadily raising, and consistent top twelve corps. Get aid from those who have done that and also understand the whole Spirit past thing, but eager to create modern version of that.

13th. Colts

Better this year than 2008. Spirit and Madison just have more in their pocket with show design.

14th. Boston

Big slip, but very eager and well fought battle. This actually helps in that it causes them to fix some internal problems with longevity in mind.

15th. Glassmen

Start ahead of a few, but doesn't last. This years momentum not enough to carry into 2009.

16th. Troopers.

More of a crowd favorite than even last year. Bigger corps. Careful with that uniform change!

17th. Academy

Come out smokin' but not enough to carry beyond last spot in semis.

18th. Crest

Much they same with most corps above them having a better year.

19th. Mandarins

Beating Crest much of early season. Not quite enough depth to push them over PC for good.

20th. Pioneer

Better every season now. Not enough to change placements.

HOPE ALL OF THESE GUYS ARE BACK IN OR NEWLY A PART OF WORLD CLASS:

Teal Sound

Cascades

Surf

Southwind

Capital Regiment

Anyone I am forgetting???

Edited August 18, 2008 by cadetzoid

[liebot]

1. Me

2. Me

3. Me

4-20. Some other corps.

Spirit of Disney: Me.

Edited August 14, 2008 by TSRTS13