Blue Devils Reaction to Finals

[BD3BK2R2]

I'm quoting it, too. Awesome stuff, man.

Also, I liked your show. A lot. It was one of my favorites this summer.

I agree with you 100% but, These aren't kids. You must be 18 or older to be in BD. These are adults that already know better. I've been around drum corps for over 25 years which is longer than any marching member has been alive and I have to tell you there isn't 1 corps in history that wasn't ###### when they went undefeated all season and then lost Finals. It doesn't matter who worked hard or who did what, we all work hard and have a shot at the title. It just seems that the BD haters don't care what they say or do, By calling BD ###### this I play Baritone ### looses all credibility and just labels himself as an ###. I'd bet he didn't make the B corps years ago and is still bitter today. Travler Garvey My real name. Edited December 11, 2008 by BD3BK2R2

[Bucbari]

I wonder if the 2nd and 3rd place corps were crying in 1986 after they lost championships to a corps that never won a contest before. Weren't they both changing top spots all summer long?

One number:

81......

[euphononium]

There's more to life than "winning." There's more to drum corps than winning. I wish some people would realize that.

Not only is there more to life than winning, there is more to life than drum corps. IT IS JUST BAND ON GRASS, FOLKS. If coming in SECOND PLACE at WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS of a rather insignificant activity is the lowest point of your life, you've got some thinking and growing up to do.

Don't get me wrong - I look back on my drum corps experience as something positive. It was the 7 best years of my life, but now, I look back on my marching career as a whole. I had some pretty ###### years of watching finals, but none of them were the low points of my life. I was in second place. It is the absolute worst place to be, I know! It certainly wasn't a low point in my life... in fact, I was grateful to be honored with a silver medal. Second place is pretty #### good! I was in first place, too... to be honest, I don't even know where my ring is. That wasn't even a high point in my life. I hope that the members of the 2008 Phantom Regiment enjoyed their three month hiatus from the real world and celebrated their butts off the whole way home, but I also hope that they can move on with their lives and do something significant in a world that has nothing to do with drum corps.

I didn't age-out too long ago, but I've quickly come to the realization that this activity, while great, is SO insignificant in the grand scheme of things. Sure, drum corps taught me some good lessons about myself and how to succeed, but get a REAL job, get married, have a kid - being the best Band On Grass will seem pretty insignificant. Lose your job, watch your loved ones pass away.. then tell me how that second place feels. What are you going to say..."I'm so sorry to hear about your cancer Uncle Bob, this is almost worse than that time I came in second place." Uncle Bob would probably tell you to #### off.

To all the members of the Blue Devils who've shown a little less class than any of us desired: next time you wear a chip on your shoulder, make it invisible. Confidence does great things, but great things come to those who least expect it. Trust me.

[JimF-LowBari]

<clipped for space>

Personally winning was fun, even in the small corps circuit. But main reason I started doing DC was to continue playing a horn. I came back to entertain people and have an outside activity with people fun to be around. And not having DC consume my life like it used to is a BIG plus.

For the people who think their life was ruined because they came in second, come back in a few decades after jobs, families, illnesses, deaths, etc, etc and tell me if DC was such a BFHD. (H = Hairy).

Edited December 11, 2008 by JimF-3rdBari

[Richard]

Look, I'm not saying BD would have won had they been less cocky, and I'm not saying that every member in the corps had this attitude, as there is no way for me to know anything about they. I just think that confidence wins championships - overconfidence gets you killed.

I'm going to have to call you out on this. First of all, I'm a BD fanboy. They can do no wrong in my eyes because they're so good. I appreciate excellence and they bring the excellence, every single year. Anyway, confidence and overconfidence don't have a lot to do with winning championships or "getting you killed". I believe I read that in 94 BD all got baseball jerseys with a big 7 on the back because they KNEW they were going to win their 7th championship. Overconfident? Yup, but I think that worked out for them.

Someone else already said this, but BD's confidence that borders on and even crosses into arrogance is what makes them so appealing to me. They're #### good and they know they're #### good, and I don't have a problem with that. You can't fault them for being competitive and wanting to win. Who doesn't want to win anyway? And who doesn't subconsciously (or consciously) expect to win after losing so few times all season? Bottom line: there is nothing wrong with expecting greatness, just know that it's going to hurt if your expectations aren't met. And for what it's worth, BD 08 was a great, great show and performance, but I don't think anyone is debating that.

Quick tangent here: I don't understand why people use the words "the judges finally got it right" to describe what happened at finals this past season. First of all, it insinuates that Phantom was without a doubt better than BD that night, and when you have a 0.025 margin of victory you cannot definitively say that. If anything, they were on equal ground and it shook out with PR on top. Secondly, the judges put BD on top in GE Vis, Visual Perf, Colorguard, Vis Ensemble and Brass, so saying "the judges finally got it right" concedes that BD was superior in 5 of 8 captions, which doesn't seem to support the point you're trying to make. Let me be clear that I am NOT saying that BD should have won or anything like that. I'm just pointing out an expression that confuses me and explaining why.

[Peel Paint]

I don't have a problem with BD's attitude. It is part of their identity, and they've earned it. And having a bad-butt, we-own-the-world, super-competitive attitude means that good sportsmanship is probably not a highly placed value in the corps ethos. I don't care. Everybody doesn't have to be alike. We can value what sets some corps apart, including this.

And to the extent that your remarks about judges "getting it right" are directed at least in part at me, well I also agree that you can't have a closer margin mathematically or a much closer margin in DCI, and it doesn't mean much. I understand that. Obviously if one judge had sneezed and hit a tenth or two higher or lower with the pencil, it would have turned out differently. It's also why I don't think it matters much that Devils placed second. But by "getting it right" what I'm referring to is that so often entertainment or crowd appeal seems to take a small hit on the scoresheet rather than be rewarded. Fans and judges are often not in synch in what they value. Of course when the scores are so close, corps are trading the caption wins, including in GE. There was no mandate in that result.

There was a "For once..." feeling in the stands that night that for many fans meant, "The judges felt as I do". It's pure emotion. It has nothing to do with the math.

Edited December 11, 2008 by Peel Paint

[MalletMusic]

Wasn't this topic beat to death after finals, why would anyone bring this up again? It's already the 2009 season for crying out loud! People move on, just like us Blue Devils have. I know we were all disappointed finals night, but I don't really know of any of my corpsmates who are still bitter about it, we had the best show of our lives that night.

Move along, nothing to see here.

:bla:

[salad315]

I'm going to have to call you out on this. First of all, I'm a BD fanboy. They can do no wrong in my eyes because they're so good. I appreciate excellence and they bring the excellence, every single year. Anyway, confidence and overconfidence don't have a lot to do with winning championships or "getting you killed". I believe I read that in 94 BD all got baseball jerseys with a big 7 on the back because they KNEW they were going to win their 7th championship. Overconfident? Yup, but I think that worked out for them.

Someone else already said this, but BD's confidence that borders on and even crosses into arrogance is what makes them so appealing to me. They're d*mn good and they know they're d*mn good, and I don't have a problem with that. You can't fault them for being competitive and wanting to win. Who doesn't want to win anyway? And who doesn't subconsciously (or consciously) expect to win after losing so few times all season? Bottom line: there is nothing wrong with expecting greatness, just know that it's going to hurt if your expectations aren't met. And for what it's worth, BD 08 was a great, great show and performance, but I don't think anyone is debating that.

As i clearly said in my post, there is no way for me, personally, to know whether their overconfidence cost them the title. Personally, i actually doubt it. That said, do you really expect people to feel bad for you when you dont win after prematurely bragging about how you will?? Continuing with that, are you actually surprised that people are turned off by the attitude? If you're going to take the pride, the arrogance, and the overconfidence that comes with the way BD wins, then you #### well better be able to take the heat too, otherwise - go find a new drum corps to be a fanboy of.

[salad315]

Wasn't this topic beat to death after finals, why would anyone bring this up again? It's already the 2009 season for crying out loud! People move on, just like us Blue Devils have. I know we were all disappointed finals night, but I don't really know of any of my corpsmates who are still bitter about it, we had the best show of our lives that night.

Move along, nothing to see here.

:bla:

The topic will die when people dont care anymore....obviously they still do.

Just ask lolcorps

[CVQuesty]

... I mean if i had a chance to play with something like the Chicago Symphony I would but I bet there are a Prima Donna or two in that group, so what you deal...

You know what, though? The peincipal Trumpet Player is Chris Martin, a former Spirit Alum and son of hall-of-famer Freddy Martin. He's learned what it means to win **AND LOSE** with Spirit, and it got him to where he is today...he says that himself. I think in the long run, he's a more worthy successor to Bud Herseth than anyone else could've been because his worldview is tempered by knowing how to both win and lose with grace.

Everyone needs to lose sometimes. It's part of the game.