Bad experinces Finals week, and good ones .

[Zeke]

They definitely couldv'e used and IN-N-Out Mobile Cook Truck at the Stadium.

[Lancerlady]

They did have kid friendly sections... they were called Sections 1 and 12. Those were the sections that had cheaper seats (not the $125 variety) and plenty of room since they were the only sections that weren't sold out.

If the toddler-toting parents were told that they had to sit in these seats way off the 50 or leave the kids at home, would they go there? Likely not... good idea, but not practical IMO. I can't see them roping off a section of prime seats for a kid friendly area... how would Ticketmaster handle such a thing? "I'm sorry ma'am, but I can't sell you those seats unless we get from you either a certified birth certificate proving that you have a child in the pre-kindergarten age group, or a signed waiver stating that you understand that you'll be surrounded by toddlers."

Little ones are fine in certain environments... rehearsals, smaller competitions (there's tons of those all across the country), and possibly away from the main seating areas in larger competitions. There's no such thing as "can't leave them with grandmas etc". There's always the choice to stay at home and bring the kids to the larger shows when they're older.

Well this activity is supposed to be "for the kids", we get that phrase thrown at us enough.

Some people m'am, don't have grandmas, people like me who had their baby later on in life such as myself, a miracle baby, can't always leave them with a 70 year old grandma so YES that excuse is real. BUT, I am one of those who do stay at home with my son because he is more important to me then some drum corps show. I just thought the suggestion the lady had was a good one. I would've loved to see finals this year, and Phantoms show live and the win, but couldn't cause I couldn't find anyone to watch him people have real lives, and real jobs etc.

Maybe they could consider opening a section of the press box seats for parents who wanted to pay for it. This would be practical. Kids would be closer to a bathroom etc...and able to move freely. I would pay for that. And it wouldn't interfere with such paying customers who can't stand the thought of a toddler at a drum corps show.

Excuse the rant but I had to say something..now you can go back to complaining about the horrible food.

Edited August 15, 2008 by Lancerlady

[Bryan]

GOOD:

I had an amazing weekend!! From the sides of both a performer and a spectator, I felt IU stadium was a pretty swell place to play and see some great drum corps.

Plenty of parking.

Helpful ushers/security...the Midwest is just more friendly than the East.

BAD:

Food selection and price was...."Box 3" at best.

Extremely loud pre-recorded advertisements/announcements between Open Class corps were distracting to performers at the gate, and probably didn't need to be that loud given the small crowd size anyways.

My digital camera had fallen out of a (massive) hole in my pocket somewhere in the souvie area just before World Class Finals.

Did you, or any of your friends or acquaintances, happen to pick up a Sony camera and take it home?

It was a CyberShot DSC-W70, in a small gray and red pouch. Contained a Red Cross blood donor card to protect the screen, as well as my Open Class Finalist patch that I had just gotten earlier that afternoon. The camera had nearly all my pictures from tour on it, which can't be replaced.

If you have the camera and would rather take the "finders-keepers" approach, fine. I'll settle for the memory card. Honesty from the drum corps community and a lot of good luck is all I'm hoping for at this point... I am willing to reward anybody who returns it.

Thanks, and congrats to everyone on an amazing year!

Bryan

Raiders 2007 Pit

Raiders 2008 Baritone

[BigDale]

Good:

Nice renovated motel room right on the corner of Hwy 46 and Walnut. I drove in on Wednesday and got a room for that night and Thursday night.

Cheap parking at the stadium that you could leave and come back and not repay.

Nice chinese restaurant that had 4 kinds of saki and a full bar. Even what was left of the lunch buffet was good and they gave me a discount.

Bad:

The water tasted funny. Seriously. It also made the fountain sodas taste bad at the stadium.

The nice chinese place closed at 9:30pm, so the great bar they had there could not be enjoyed.

The spanish place next to it had the worst margaritas I have ever had in N. America, both frozen/ undrinkable and on the rocks/ inpalatable. They also turned into a very "ghetto" nightclub that scared away most corps fans and college girls too. The bartender complained when I only left a couple of dollars for a tip. They also quit serving food at 10pm, so none of these places had any idea what was going on and how much money they COULD have made.

In their defense though, IU is not a real "football" stadium like MI, OH or WI stadiums are. They just don't have the tradition.

[AlCastellanos]

GOOD

- Another great year of drum corps. I go to shows to get wowed & I sure did! Just loved the shows this year!

- Marriott Courtyard had great accommodations & a nice staff (except for the guy who checked us in Wednesday evening.)

- The shuttle to the stadium from the courthouse was very handy.

- I feared the worst flying out and took the earliest shuttle to the Indy Airport and sure enough, it was a mess already at 6am Sunday morning. Drum Corps always wrecks the local airport but what can you do? Thank God for the self-serve kiosks for those of us who have the luxury of not to check luggage. I got my boarding pass right away and even made an earlier flight back to NYC & was able to have lunch at home in my apartment.

NOT-SO-GOOD

- Disrespectful fans/bad sports e.g., we were seated near fans of a specific corps and 1 guy in particular was loudly and rudely blasting other corps performances and/or show concepts. I was a guest of VIPs who told me this guy was on that corps board to which I say, so what, don't be rude! While awaiting scores at finals, he was loudly congratulating a PR fan on his cell phone saying he got the news on his blackberry that they had won before it was announced. I know you can't do anything about other people's behavior except rat them out.

- I received a clear-as-day flirt from a handsome fella (mid/late 20s, br hair, some kind of chin hair, rugby shirt, shorts, flip-flops) and I made it clear (perhaps too clear?) that I was amenable to the flirtation. I went to the concession area during the breaks w/my wingman, sans wingman but I got the idea one of the 2 buddies you were with was coaching you out of responding. I know it is better to have loved & lost but here I just lost! Anyway, I am the big bald dude w/mirror sunglasses and I just put this out there bigger than Dallas!

- Steak N Shake not the best food but they were open 24 hrs which was handy and that's where you people were and my buddy & I love talking to other drum corps folks after shows

[dbc03]

Well this activity is supposed to be "for the kids", we get that phrase thrown at us enough.

That phrase is referring to the kids on the field and you know it.

[Phillygwm]

Well this activity is supposed to be "for the kids", we get that phrase thrown at us enough.

Some people m'am, don't have grandmas, people like me who had their baby later on in life such as myself, a miracle baby, can't always leave them with a 70 year old grandma so YES that excuse is real. BUT, I am one of those who do stay at home with my son because he is more important to me then some drum corps show. I just thought the suggestion the lady had was a good one. I would've loved to see finals this year, and Phantoms show live and the win, but couldn't cause I couldn't find anyone to watch him people have real lives, and real jobs etc.

Maybe they could consider opening a section of the press box seats for parents who wanted to pay for it. This would be practical. Kids would be closer to a bathroom etc...and able to move freely. I would pay for that. And it wouldn't interfere with such paying customers who can't stand the thought of a toddler at a drum corps show.

The press box idea might be a good one, depending on the venue. If I recall, Rose Bowl had suites set aside for people; make one or two of those family friendly, private bathroom for changings, maybe catered or food nearby...and the kids can distract each other

Or special daycare. I'm not sure how practical this is (probably not much,) but what if a local daycare center agreed to take kids those evenings, for a fee? I know malls and other public places sometimes offer those kind of amenities. It's just selfish to say that "I'm not going to miss this show, even if I have to bring my bratty kid along." Selfish to the kid and selfish to those around you.

Look, I'm not anti-kid. I've sat near little kids before (mumbling "Oh s---" to myself) who have indeed behaved well (usually by sleeping through.) But that seems to be more the exception than the rule...and, as a parent, your definition of well behaved may differ from those folks in neighboring seats. I just like watching my show in peace, with minimal distractions. It just happened that this Finals was very distracting because of a little kid, even one who was, by 5 year old standards, not horribly behaved. Next year I might be writing about drunks, or people with weak bladders, or something else.

[sday88]

Bad:

The water tasted funny. Seriously. It also made the fountain sodas taste bad at the stadium.

Was that the problem? I couldn't even finish the Coke I bought, I tasted terrible. I just thought it was because it was Coke. Even though I'm a Pepsi drinker I do usually tend to like fountain soda Cokes.

[rudi man]

Guess what people I have the perfect solution , if anyone wants to bring young children to a DCI event

then DCI can sell them tickets at half price for backside stadium seats where the kiddies could bay at the

moon , have a accident or just be plain obnoxious and nobody will know the difference .

[prsop01]

The press box idea might be a good one, depending on the venue. If I recall, Rose Bowl had suites set aside for people; make one or two of those family friendly, private bathroom for changings, maybe catered or food nearby...and the kids can distract each other

Or special daycare. I'm not sure how practical this is (probably not much,) but what if a local daycare center agreed to take kids those evenings, for a fee? I know malls and other public places sometimes offer those kind of amenities. It's just selfish to say that "I'm not going to miss this show, even if I have to bring my bratty kid along." Selfish to the kid and selfish to those around you.

Look, I'm not anti-kid. I've sat near little kids before (mumbling "Oh s---" to myself) who have indeed behaved well (usually by sleeping through.) But that seems to be more the exception than the rule...and, as a parent, your definition of well behaved may differ from those folks in neighboring seats. I just like watching my show in peace, with minimal distractions. It just happened that this Finals was very distracting because of a little kid, even one who was, by 5 year old standards, not horribly behaved. Next year I might be writing about drunks, or people with weak bladders, or something else.

If a local, licensed day care made a deal with DCI to take kids for finals evening I would pay a hefty fee for that! We took turns going to Quarter's and Semi's, so I'm not concerned about those evenings, but to have local trusted care on Finals night would be HUGE!

Trust me, I don't relish missing the majority of Finals because I'm chasing my toddler around the ramps, especially being pregnant - those ramps were quite the hike!

But this promised to be a historic night for a corps I put a lot of blood, sweat and tears into, and it was, and it was worth being there for!