When you think 2009...

[Trevor]

bump

[dans]

People liked the Cadets again. As a matter of fact they got numerous standing ovations all season

[CrownLeadSop]

For me, it's The Troopers making it to finals. I was really impressed with their show this year.

Then, Carolina Crown getting the silver medal!

This for me as well.

[josh161]

The incredibly awesome top 5!

[Wadep66]

I really believe that 10 years from now, Troopers making finals again will be what is talked about. One rarely talks about who was 2nd or 3rd from years back. America's corps rising from the ashes and coming back to greatness will be what is discussed.

[Schickmeister]

Not sure if anyone mentioned it, but apart from any of the on the field stuff, as a marching member the sickness that ravaged a bunch of corps this summer will definitely be a huge memory from this summer for me.

[VKMello84]

I don't know why there is so much focus on Crown getting some sort of medal which did not even exist a number of years ago. Or so much focus on Crown beating Garfield or even being given high horns.

To me, the thing was Crown coming out on Thursday night and their hornline absolutely blowing away everything which had come before. That was completely unexpected. And that was probably one of the most stunning things I had ever seen in drum corps. I sat through there performance stunned, unable to believe that someone was that much better than Phantom, Bluecoats, SCV and the Cadets.

For me drum corps is about experiences. The corps seen in a theater or on a DVD is never as real to me as the corps seen in a stadium.

The scoring in the end is nothing more than subjective opinion. There are no real answers to be found in the recap sheets. He a couple of guys with clipboards not seen fit to score Crown highest in brass, it would not have changed my opinion of them on iota.

So yeah, I never thought that I would see Troopers in Finals again, and SCV had a fantastic show, and I will never forget Blue Star's banquet set-up. But the one thing which will always stay with me is Carolina Crown's brass performance.

[festive]

Troop for sure.

Absolutely.

[fifer]

Of the options listed, I would pick Crown coming in 2nd. But what I will think about first and foremost when remembering 2009 is that finals were held in the worst stadium I have been in throughout my entire drum corps history (but I was never in Montreal, so I can't compare it to that stadium). So my top ten memories list of 2009 finals would be:

1. The extremely poor sound quality in Lucas Oil Stadium

2. The limited number of seats with good, high sight lines in Lucas Oil Stadium

3. The headache-inducing stadium lights in Lucas Oil Stadium

4. The tight corridors to get to/from your seats in Lucas Oil Stadium

5. The broken down escalator (only one on “home” side of stadium) in Lucas Oil Stadium on finals night

6. The small, out-of-the-way bathrooms in Lucas Oil Stadium

7. The placement of DCI Marketplace behind the ticketed area of Lucas Oil Stadium

8. The difficulty in finding and getting to the DCI Marketplace in Lucas Oil Stadium

9. The limited number of interesting things to do in Indianapolis (at least, not enough to make it a worthwhile location to return to for eight more years)

10. The limited flights in/out of Indianapolis versus many other previous finals locations

[NIGHTFLY3000]

Troopers making top 12 is a big story, but missing from your line up is the continued struggles of the Madison Scouts. Will they be able to come back to the top 12? Next year? In five years?

CC is also a big story but an even bigger story is Phantom's inability to capitalize on 2008. Wow what a drop.

Overshadowing all other stories though is synth usage in marching music's major league which is allowed by having amps on the field and the sound quality of final's home for the next 8 years.

Will the fans keep coming?

Will they be buying championship DVDs?

Is MMML in a financially viable situation for finals to remain @ LOS for eight more years?

These questions and their answers are the real stories of 2009 and the coming years.