Undefeated or Underdog

[hboyce]

This.

hboyce, stop trying to grasp at something that isn't there. Regiment won in '08. BD won in '07. No matter how hard they might try, a single corps can't win every single year. That doesn't mean that on the years they don't they should have won, or that they were actually more impressive because of consistency. It means some years they don't win. That's all.

I play baritone good, stop trying to put words in my mouth. All I said is that I felt consistency was more impressive. Do I think BD is going to win every year? No. Do I believe they deserve to win every year? No. All I am saying that I enjoy watching them and having been a part of them because I know every year that it is going to be a top caliber product.

When a 'down' year is a bronze medal. That is impressive. The same can be said for Cavaliers and Cadets. Or any other multitude of corps from different eras.

I would appreciate it people here would drop their preconceived notions of me before I speak.

[bluublood]

If there was an award for most consistent, then BD will get it. Unfortunately for you the best drum corps in any given year is the one with the highest score on finals night.

Here is a scenario for you. The US has to pick a drum corps to compete in the Olympics (assuming all other countries have outstanding corps as well). What would be most appropriate/logical/sane choice to represent (competitively) the US??

[SF2K4]

The reason you don't choose a winner based on consistency is because the season is a process, a constant progression toward a better final product. Teams at the beginning of the season, if they want to win, improve by the end of the season. Now a team could start the season off better than anyone, improve consistently, and still lose if a team lower than them in the beginning improves MORE over the course of the season thus passing them at some point. Think of a graph where one line is angled slightly upward while another starts lower and is angled so that it doesn't cross the line above until near the end. At that point said team made MORE IMPROVEMENTS throughout the season thus ending with a better product.

You can't judge based on consistency because that doesn't reward improvement. However if you CONSISTENTLY IMPROVE EXPONENTIALLY then you have no fear of losing.

[I play the baritone good]

Here is a scenario for you. The US has to pick a drum corps to compete in the Olympics (assuming all other countries have outstanding corps as well). What would be most appropriate/logical/sane choice to represent (competitively) the US??

The most appropriate/logical/sane choice would be whichever corps was at the top of the world at that time. If this notional Olympic drum corps competition took place after the '05 DCI season, would the most appropriate/logical/sane choice have been the Blue Devils? Or would it have been The Cadets?

I play baritone good, stop trying to put words in my mouth. All I said is that I felt consistency was more impressive. Do I think BD is going to win every year? No. Do I believe they deserve to win every year? No. All I am saying that I enjoy watching them and having been a part of them because I know every year that it is going to be a top caliber product.

When a 'down' year is a bronze medal. That is impressive. The same can be said for Cavaliers and Cadets. Or any other multitude of corps from different eras.

I would appreciate it people here would drop their preconceived notions of me before I speak.

I'm not trying to put words in your mouth, but you were coming off as slightly condescending towards any group that has passed up BD at the end of the season. After last year, that really sets me off.

[Feathers Up]

Here is a scenario for you. The US has to pick a drum corps to compete in the Olympics (assuming all other countries have outstanding corps as well). What would be most appropriate/logical/sane choice to represent (competitively) the US??

Have try-outs??? Instead of the "Dream Team" it would just be the "Dream Corps"..

[bluublood]

Have try-outs??? Instead of the "Dream Team" it would just be the "Dream Corps"..

That defeats the purpose of the scenario.

[dugada]

I like the underdog in sports with a clear scoring system. The dissadvantage of a subjective judging system is that major changes in scores are often times hard to justify. I enjoy a little bumping around with those that are already close or those that have been steadily improving. It's a delicate balance of keeping the scoring consistant while allowing reasonable movement and placement changes.

As fans we all have our emotional causes, they win too much, they never win, they are home town favorite, they are the underdog. The best we can hope for is the judges make an honest evaluation within their particular catagory. The term underdog tends to say there are other considerations besides what they do on the field either positve or negative. My vote, undefeated if they deserve it.

[bluublood]

The most appropriate/logical/sane choice would be whichever corps was at the top of the world at that time. If this notional Olympic drum corps competition took place after the '05 DCI season, would the most appropriate/logical/sane choice have been the Blue Devils? Or would it have been The Cadets?

I'm not trying to put words in your mouth, but you were coming off as slightly condescending towards any group that has passed up BD at the end of the season. After last year, that really sets me off.

Blue Devils. I would pick our most consistent corps year in and out.

[ajwdad]

it would be quite interesting if all the shows mattered, like in tournaments, or racing... I guess that DCI would make more money and that the early shows would count more. Fans all over the country would get more for their money, and not just those that go to Indy. Even the NFL recognizes national, and divisional champions, but of course the big prize is the super bowl. Here is a place that DCI could do much better in marketing. And we could have a west coast champion, east coast champion, southern champ, northern champ etc... and get even more fans involved As it is, the only show that matters to a lot of you is finals. All of the rest are only prelims, and don't carry much weight.

If Tiger had to win the open to be considered the best, he would not be the best very often. As it is, he has been the undisputed best in the world for most of the last decade, even if he did not win the majority of the tournaments that he entered.

For now, the best is only the one show winner of the finals, and flukes along with upsets do happen... Finally, we have a judged event as opposed to a objective event. Makes an upset even more likely given human error.

Edited August 6, 2009 by ajwdad

[I play the baritone good]

Blue Devils. I would pick our most consistent corps year in and out.

Really? You'd pick the current DCI 4th place corps to represent the United States for a single competition against the rest of the world?

If the competition were 10 years long, then BD would be a contender. But even then, for the most RECENT past 10 years The Cavaliers have been the most consistent, not BD. I think they'd probably take it.