Tom Brace Posted July 29, 2009 Share Posted July 29, 2009 tie it in to the world class fan network. then spread it out to all. bump it to $80. nope it should be $118. $59 for WC and an additional $59 for OC. That would be the right thing to do. Anything less devalues their efforts and continues to propogate this second class citizenship. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
txorchdork013 Posted July 29, 2009 Share Posted July 29, 2009 no. It's where the truth lies. OC don't have a significant audience to support their efforts in performance. Period.Where were the 15K who were attending WC semifinals on Friday night? Sleeping. I got up...got my son up...grabbed breakfast and drove 80 miles to see OC finals. Because I wanted to. We don't want to. We want to attend WC QFs and Semis and Finals. Heck, I'm sure OC corps would be happy if 1/2 of Thursday night's audience thought enough about them to get up on Saturday morning to see them perform. Agreed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom Brace Posted July 29, 2009 Share Posted July 29, 2009 I agree, but if you've been around as long as I think you have, you know it's not very likely to happen because of the "WC is everything" mentality. How do you get past that? By pushing OC in their faces. Put the OC corps into quarters and educate a few WC chauvanists on what OC can be - and how it can beat a few WC corps in the process. Nothing succeeds like success.... Again, the OC directors don't want that. They wouldn't take part. They want 12 corps with an opportunity to march in Lucas Oil...not just a few. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MCLpatrick Posted July 29, 2009 Share Posted July 29, 2009 (edited) Call me crazy, but that's the way it used to be to too long ago...A few of the Div II corps' would compete at quarter finals... Div III corps did too....back in 1994 it was the top 5 scoring corps in Div II/III finals, which put the Americanos and Blue Stars both DivIII corps that year in quarterfinals Edited July 29, 2009 by MCLpatrick Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom Brace Posted July 29, 2009 Share Posted July 29, 2009 yes. and to be honest, after the fantastic shows, few fans cared about the age out ceremony yeah, see...the Wednesday night thing would be perfect, however DCI cannot afford the additional night in the stadium. I believe that was cutback after 2002. it was too expensive. Now, if some of these ideas had an endowment with them to secure the stadium for Wednesday night for Open Class Finals, I think we may have some more discussing to do. yeah, I'd be willing to contribute the last $100 necessary, but if you want it sooner than that, I'd just get the money directly to a corps to keep them going next year. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom Brace Posted July 29, 2009 Share Posted July 29, 2009 Div III corps did too....back in 1994 it was the top 5 scoring corps in Div II/III finals, which put the Americanos and Blue Stars both DivIII corps that year in quarterfinals most of the changes to this occurred after the 2002 season and it was more about the cost of the stadium for Wednesday (extra day's rent) then about any other thing. It went to the II/III (OC) activities moving to a local HS stadium and a Saturday AM finals. I would wager in '94 all the events were in the same stadium (as they were in Buffalo in '95.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BoyWonder1911 Posted July 29, 2009 Share Posted July 29, 2009 Here are my thoughts. If a WC corps can't score 80 points by quarterfinals/semis/finals then they really don't belong in WC. I would make them go back down to OC until they can become more competitive. Groups like Oregon Crusaders, Jersey Surf, etc that can put on a decent show, they should be in WC and not Pioneer who can't even get to 75 points most seasons. I'm sorry but that may be rude, but come on. When I go to see DCI competitions, sure I support all the corps, and I cheer for the crappy groups, but do you really think they belong in WC? It's almost embarrassing to watch these talent-disadvantaged corps getting utterly crushed by the giants, when there are open class corps that would greatly benefit. 22 corps in WC. There really should not be more than 17 I think. I understand the WC corps has money and can tour all season, but maybe the SCV organization can stop naming their 2nd corps SCV Cadets, and likewise with the generic sounding Blue Devils "B". Nothing wrong with having a feeder corps, but does it have to be named that? But when it comes down to it, I really don't want to watch Pioneer do their celtic crap. If you can't compete with these other groups, then just step down and open up a spot for another corps to come up and try to prove what they can do. And they should let the top 2 OC corps compete at Finals, but they should include the top 12 WC corps as well, and just have 14 go. No reason why an OC should be able to knock out a WC corps. That aint fair to the 13-17 WC spots. Boy Wonder Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
E-Daddy Posted July 29, 2009 Share Posted July 29, 2009 If this is such a big deal, have one of the Open Class Corps Directors put a motion in the winter meetings for this to occur next year. If no Open Class Director puts in a motion, you have your answer. It might be the fans choice, but not the directors choice. Or conversely, there should be a strong lobby effort that is on=-going with Dan Acheson - BUT the support of the Open Class Corps is critical. Personally, I have mixed feelings. Why should an OC corps reap the benefits or participating in a WC event, when they knew the ground rules going in. On the other hand, if there was no direct financial benefit to the OC corps, then I say set some criteria, let them go on first, and let the cards fall where they may. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kusankusho Posted July 29, 2009 Share Posted July 29, 2009 Again, the OC directors don't want that. They wouldn't take part. On what basis do you make this claim? They want 12 corps with an opportunity to march in Lucas Oil...not just a few. This isn't "instead of" OC finals, it's "in addition to" OC finals. I can't think of any reason why anyone in OC would not want that. Maybe I'm missing something, but nothing comes to my tiny little mind. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rifuarian Posted July 29, 2009 Share Posted July 29, 2009 Here are my thoughts.If a WC corps can't score 80 points by quarterfinals/semis/finals then they really don't belong in WC. I would make them go back down to OC until they can become more competitive. Groups like Oregon Crusaders, Jersey Surf, etc that can put on a decent show, they should be in WC and not Pioneer who can't even get to 75 points most seasons. I'm sorry but that may be rude, but come on. When I go to see DCI competitions, sure I support all the corps, and I cheer for the crappy groups, but do you really think they belong in WC? It's almost embarrassing to watch these talent-disadvantaged corps getting utterly crushed by the giants, when there are open class corps that would greatly benefit. 22 corps in WC. There really should not be more than 17 I think. I understand the WC corps has money and can tour all season, but maybe the SCV organization can stop naming their 2nd corps SCV Cadets, and likewise with the generic sounding Blue Devils "B". Nothing wrong with having a feeder corps, but does it have to be named that? But when it comes down to it, I really don't want to watch Pioneer do their celtic crap. If you can't compete with these other groups, then just step down and open up a spot for another corps to come up and try to prove what they can do. And they should let the top 2 OC corps compete at Finals, but they should include the top 12 WC corps as well, and just have 14 go. No reason why an OC should be able to knock out a WC corps. That aint fair to the 13-17 WC spots. Boy Wonder Pioneer's World Class status has more to do with its organizational stability than the "celtic crap" you've so unfairly been subjected to. And any corps that is ballsy enough to still teach kids from scratch -- and to accept the competitive consequences of it -- is not crappy in my book. But it's your choice to be a blithering idiot if you want. As for the topic of the this thread -- or rather the topic it has evolved to cover -- I'll say again: DCI has no obligation whatsoever to preserve OC drum corps. DCI was conceived by the big corps to serve the big corps. It's their prerogative, and let's not forget that DCI, in the past, has had a hard enough time staying afloat trying to serve the interests of the corps at the top. If anything, they've kept OC alive far longer than it would have stayed otherwise. Open class corps has been run over by a society that no longer sees the need for local organizations like the small corps that used to proliferate across the nation, and by you, the fans, who don't feel it is worth your time and money to watch them, march them, and but their souvenirs. Those evil, conveniently faceless scapegoats at DCI aren't completely blameless, but the bulk of the responsibility lies elsewhere. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.