Great Surprise & Disappointment

[BDCorno]

If we had been forced to attempt to practice at a housing site with no fields, there would have been no public outcry about our situation. The corps administration was offered a gift horse; they chose not to look it in the mouth. Any other corps would have made the same decision.

Yeah, what is up with that? The Crossmen did not insist upon the stadium, so don't criticize them. If you want to find fault, point to DCI - but I'm sure they did the best they could with the situation. You know if it was a prelims type situation, it would not have happened. Get over it!

[BDCorno]

The shot decisions always disappoint people. It's impossible to make an edit that will satisfy everyone.

True, but they did a poor job at Denver, plain and simple. If it gets bad, I just switch to hi camera.

[oldsoprano]

If we had been forced to attempt to practice at a housing site with no fields, there would have been no public outcry about our situation. The corps administration was offered a gift horse; they chose not to look it in the mouth. Any other corps would have made the same decision.

Please don't get me wrong. I'm not blaming Crossmen in any way. Of course they chose to make use of the offer, as would any corps. I'm just saying that it did give them somewhat of an advantage, that's all. Perhaps another field could have been found in a public park or somewhere that wouldn't have given one corps that advantage over all the rest.

You mentioned earlier that Crown was sharing the housing site. Wonder where they rehearsed?

[Taylor]

Please don't get me wrong. I'm not blaming Crossmen in any way. Of course they chose to make use of the offer, as would any corps. I'm just saying that it did give them somewhat of an advantage, that's all. Perhaps another field could have been found in a public park or somewhere that wouldn't have given one corps that advantage over all the rest.

You mentioned earlier that Crown was sharing the housing site. Wonder where they rehearsed?

I actually don't know. My wife and I were sleeping in a classroom with Tim from Crown's souvie staff. When we woke up, both corps were gone and the buildings were all locked up. The three of us were forced to shower at the Alamodome, but it was worth it to get a few more hours of sleep. The souvie people were all glad that there were no prelims this year, making load-in later.

[withstiximakefire]

all shows were pretty good, biggest suprise was BAC and troop, i honestly wasnt expecting the caliber of shows they put out, BAC did really good, perhaps one of the best shows ive seen since 03, troop got my attention quite quickly and made me a fan. great job to both, in open class revolution did quite a good job considering all of the "extracurriculars" that theyve been dealing with, didnt seem to phase them at all (let it be known im biased) but i still think they put on a hell of a show

[Lead]

I certainly understand how housing issues can come up, but being allowed to practice in the air conditioned Dome while everyone else is out in nearly 100-degree heat goes a little beyond just an opportunity to rehearse at the show site.

If it had been any other show, it wouldn't have been that big of a competitive advantage, but for this show, whether it was intentional or a last-minute thing because of a bad housing situation, you've got to admit it did give them an advantage.

How could they not be fresher when they did their show than any of the other corps who spent much of the day rehearsing in the heat? I know, for instance, that Spirit had one guard member that was rushed to the emergency room in an ambulance because of the heat. After getting a couple of bags of IV fluids, she made it to the AlamoDome in time for step-off, but had only recovered enough to march a small portion of the show where she had a weapons solo. That left a guard hole the rest of the show.

Bottom line is, whether planned or not, it was still a competitive advantage.

My devil's advocate to your take on the situation is that the corps had to end rehearsal EARLY, shower and then go out and eat/wait in the parking lot's 102 degree heat. They were literally sitting around out there for a LONG time with nowhere to go.

[mpron]

Maybe they'll let you sit on nice white chairs while they walk away with the trophy. Then you can form a circle talk to others about your point of view. Then the stadium lights will go off and you'll probably be talking... sitting on the chairs... trying to make a point about sitting on the chairs and playing a tune.

Your gibberish is so pointless.

Make sure they sign the chairs for you.

Aside form the fact that BD DOES NOT USE dot books. :-)

[supersop]

Surprises:

BOSTON CRUSADERS!!! They're maxing the impacts, now let's see if they can max everything else. I'm really excited for them!

TROOPERS Not totally suprised but I'm glad they're progressing at the current rate. I truly hope they know how to clean the snot out of that show between now and finals.

BLUE KNIGHTS Love the show ... surprised at the placement and scores. I'm still kinda shocked

CAVALIERS I like them way better than I thought I would. I still feel they're a bit over controlled, but they sold me on their style at this point.

Disappointments:

SCV I expected them to be reaching a higher "SELL" factor at this point. It's getting clean and the show is VERY GOOD! I'm just not getting the feeling the members have really REALLY bought into it yet. Great design (still needs a couple rewrites I've been crying about for a month), well performed, no fire and very little emotion. PLEASE BUY INTO THIS PROGRAM SCV!!!!!!!!! This is the element that truly made you GREAT for so many years. Do it again.

BD Stellar execution. The design is enough to win ... but it's not over the top by any means. I really wish the design team would plan a show for 3 years and not settle for anything less than SUPERIOR before it's ever handed out. This staff has the talent to do so .... but it's time for some soul searching.

CROWN I know they've been sick. I know they've been working hard. I know there are a million excuses .... but the show is there (just like SCV). Sell your soul to the show so you can become immortal in drum corps history. You were off a bit on the performance level and we all gave you a rub on the back and an understanding pensive expression. Get past it and show us who you really are!!!

MANDARINS This corps is getting shafted. Nuff said.

[xbones7480]

If indeed Crossmen were allowed to rehearse in the Alamodome all day on the day of a major regional, then I call foul.

If that's the case, they had an unfair advantage over all of those corps in their immediate grouping who sweated through a rehearsal block earlier in the day in the the Texas heat.

C'mon, DCI, that's just plain wrong.

And I say that as someone who has always loved, and still loves, the Crossmen.

Don't forget the Crossmen practice in 100 degree temps during their ENTIRE spring training. That's 4-5 weeks of the stuff. So, you may say they have a disadvantage from the get go because of the Texas heat.

I'm glad they got to practice in the dome; that's AWESOME.

Edited July 21, 2009 by xbones7480

[skajerk]

Don't forget the Crossmen practice in 100 degree temps during their ENTIRE spring training. That's 4-5 weeks of the stuff. So, you may say they have a disadvantage from the get go because of the Texas heat.

I'm glad they got to practice in the dome; that's AWESOME.

I think you're trying to make too big a deal out of something that's not there because I don't recall 4-5 weeks of 100 degree weather in the spring. Sure there were a couple days but not weeks. The average temps in April and May hovered around the upper 80s and lower 90s with a few days here and there going into triple digits. The consistent hot weather didn't start here until after they were already on tour.

I don't buy this argument anyway. Every corps has it's hardships when dealing with weather. Take the Mandarins for example. Central Valley heat is no joy ride when all days come around.