Who Could Break Into Finals This Year?

[BRASSO]

INT will stay top 12, I hope.

My guess, INT will be somewhere in the middle of the pack, but like every year, show the ability to get a lot of the fans up and out of their seats.

Edited June 5, 2009 by BRASSO

[SpiritOfJSUFan]

I Voted for Spirit....

I think The Vehicle that Spirit is using this year was a very bold and wise move for the team in baby blue....

Kansas suits them well.... EVERYONE wants / wanted Spirit to look for an identity and find some kind of niche that they can please both the audience and the judges.

Spirit found it.

I honestly think Spirit will turn heads this year and scare the last 3 corps in the top 12. they are coming out strong and have a great product and i think it is what spirit needs.

I am just going to go out on a limb and say that there is a few corps in the top 12 that probably wont preform on saturday night due to the level of competitiveness that is coming out of every single corps this year.

Lucas Oil Stadium is going to be the center of the action on August 6. All 22 Corps will be there to battle it out and who will walk away one of the 17 that will advance. it is in the air to say.

But i will be willing to put money on it that DCI 2009 will be the most competitive year and most entertaining since 2000. Can Anyone say Repeat of 2000. There WILL BE A TIE SOMEWHERE.....

[washingtoncorpsfan]

I always have to vote for the boys in blue

Edited June 6, 2009 by washingtoncorpsfan

[Bruckner8]

I Voted for Spirit....

[snip]

I honestly think Spirit will turn heads this year and scare the last 3 corps in the top 12. they are coming out strong and have a great product and i think it is what spirit needs.

That means you think they could finish 9th...scaring the bottom 3, and pushing one of them out. Pretty bold.

[mimatt80]

I voted for Crossmen. I have been to their Spring Training everyday this week. They are really going to surprise some folks. Their percussion book is really good.

[acolli17]

I'm surprised more people aren't looking to Troop to break in to Saturday. Some bias here, but I do think the largest thing holding them back from higher placement last year was the size of the guard, and they've drastically improved on that this year. We all saw how much they improved from 2007, I think they could do it again.

[dapperpoet]

I'll say it right now: Spirit will finish 10th.

[melloflava]

Wow....I like it when folks show Spirit some love!!! These prediction threads are a little like playing poker ;) Some of us have bad cards we just don't know it yet... so, we start bluffing to make our hands seem better--while others don't necessarily have better cards, but they know how to play the game.

[TerriTroop]

I'm surprised more people aren't looking to Troop to break in to Saturday. Some bias here, but I do think the largest thing holding them back from higher placement last year was the size of the guard, and they've drastically improved on that this year. We all saw how much they improved from 2007, I think they could do it again.

We'll just have to wait and see. There are several other corps aiming for the same goals, and while every staff is doing the "placement isn't the goal" dance with their membership, you know the members and staff of all of those corps are probably feeding the hype beast in their own way. All in all, it's going to be one heck of a race this year.

[notelvis]

Since I have no empirical data (i.e. shows and scores) to go on, and I have much more detailed information about one particular corps show and staff focus (I wonder which one that would be! ), I feel the need to vote for the home team. We'll see what happens in a few weeks.

I bet this poll would fluctuate greatly over the next 2 months, which is why quarters and semis are so much more exciting to me than finals night. It really is a much more flexible game in the lower tiers!

I had an old friend who once observed (after several seasons on the Sky Ryders staff) that the happiest corps on finals night were the corps that finishes first and the corps that finishes 12th!

(I have no personal experience around a corps that finishes first but I have experienced the thrill of working with a corps that finished 12th three or four times...)

Terri is right in that the battle for position in that 11 or 12 to 14 or 15 is always exciting.......every bit or moreso than the battle for first.