DCI finals review

[GMichael1230]

Let me correct you.....I purposely said that I DID NOT participate in the boo'ing for exactly the reason you mentioned....the kids. No one booed until the score was announced. Everyone around me, and my friends, were not happy at all that the 2nd-5th place corps did not overtake BD, but we did not boo. To put them at .10 away from the highest score in DCI history is just not right. Mind you, this is opinion, but one shared with many.

I will summarize with one thought....DCI is a youth activity that has to be supported with a fan base. Economic fact. SCV brought me to tears with the beauty. Cavies, loved the guard and visual. Cadets, loved the AMAZING visual and exciting, exciting, show.... Crown, loved the guard, brass and pure creativity of the show. BD....myself and all my friends could only say "Boring and easy as hell in comparison, but they are clean."

Back to my economic statement....I would hold up almost ALL champion shows since about 1984 to a novice viewer and say "this is exciting and you should go spend a ton of money to see a show for THIS" to many people. I cannot do that with this year's champion, in my opinion, and I have been watching/marching/teaching since 1984. Spartucus made my parents come back to a show for the first time since 1990 when I last marched. Point made.

Winning is important in this world......but those who create magic are remembered for a long time.

There was much magic this year, for many reasons, except the champion. Congrats to the members of BD. I'm proud of them, and their achievements, but just hope they are not replicated in design for other corps.

Side note, in Atlanta I brought 8 novice viewers and their favorites in no order were:

Crown

Cadets

Cavies

Blue Stars

Bluecoats

Just my 2 cents. We must reach the audience and teach kids, and not focus on a ring/placement as the end all to be all of this activity.

How 'bout that ! Cadets finally on a list where someone calls them a favorite !!

This I believe.....

G

[Jeff Ream]

So posting my opinions and supporting them with facts means that I'm closed minded? Can you point to an instance where I've been closed minded? Whenever I've disagreed, I've tried to support my views with as much evidence as possible so my line of thinking isn't a mystery.

Imagine that, remove someone with a contrasting view and fewer arguments crop up. I get irritated not when people post their opinions, but when their opinions are not backed up by some line of reasoning. There's a big difference between saying "I don't enjoy the Devils drill because I personally prefer more geometric drill" and saying "The Devils drill is easy." The first is a personal preference, which is fine. The second is a subjective assessment based on judging from an armchair. I see this kind of argument most often from people who never marched Devils drill, and aren't familiar with the challenges and difficulties of complex, morphing curvilinear forms. I've discussed this in thorough detail throughout the season, so if you're curious do a search for my recent posts.

My point is merely that making these kinds of statements without backing them up with your line of thinking is just going to incite uninformed argument and pointless debate. Instead of saying "The Devils' drill is easy", say "I think the Devils' drill is easier because of X". That kind of argument allows for infinitely more intelligent, positive discussion instead of the shouting matches that most threads currently dissolve into.

My point was not that you're opinion is wrong, invalid, or incorrect. I was saying that when you make comments like this:

it comes across as close-minded and that you're not even reading what I'm writing. If you think I'm wrong, fine. If you think the Devils show was the easiest in DCI this year, fine. But when you whip out quips like that, you don't come across like you're generally interested in discussing anything unless you agree with it.

Look, this is my main point and all I'm asking here.

When you state an opinion, show us your reasoning. I may not agree with your opinion, in fact I may not even agree with your line of reasoning. But at least I can respect it because you showed me the way you formulated it.

When you post a review, explain why you like and don't like certain elements. Nobody's arguing that your opinions aren't valid, but we can't continue the discussion unless we understand what's happening in your head. In fact, we can't examine our own opinions and possibly change them unless you provided us compelling reasons to do so. When you just post something like "The Devils have the easiest show this season and I don't understand why they're winning." Something caused you to think that, something propelled you to interpret it that way. Just put that something into words! You've got to convince, not just state.

That's all I ask. Is it too much? I'm just trying to promote a healthier, more engaging form of discussion in a forum which is known for it's shouting matches. Does anyone disagree with that goal?

thank you for proving me right. you have a lovely drum corps. I'm looking for lawn furniture, are the chairs for sale?

[LAMystreaux]

LOL @ Jeff!

Talk about going in one ear and out the other. . .many of us have not only stated we did not care for the show, and thought it was easier on the difficulty scale, and have expressed why. . .many times. Yet, we still get these dissertations on why we are wrong and closed minded and can't gauge difficulty unless we marched it.

[liebot]

BD moved more than anyone except Cadets this year. Just going to reiterate that point.

[drumcorpsfan4567]

BD moved more than anyone except Cadets this year. Just going to reiterate that point.

It looked to me like Crown moved more as well...but maybe I am wrong.

[fecontra]

BD moved more than anyone except Cadets this year. Just going to reiterate that point.

According to your bretheren up above , it is not civil to just make a point like this.

You are required to state the exact movement times and how you came to this conclusion to foster free discussion.

I for one , find your statement to be almost incredible.

and remember , all this arguing started because a few folks disagreed with the margin of victory, not who won.

[bucmellow]

Outstanding review, you tell it as it is. Judging leaves a lot to be desired. I'm certain BD fans won't like your conclusions, but those who have been involved in drum corps for decades, it's right on. To get the credit they got for their show at the expense of other corps who had far more difficult shows is just a mystery

Edited August 15, 2009 by bucmellow

[LAMystreaux]

BD moved more than anyone except Cadets this year. Just going to reiterate that point.

Hard for me to believe. What do you consider moving?

[liebot]

Hard for me to believe. What do you consider moving?

Marching/running/crabbing etc. If you actually watch the show, BD is running around the field for a pretty significant portion. When they're not sitting/posing/dancing around the chairs the corps proper is moving at some pretty extended step sizes and some extremely high tempos. Crown moved a lot too, but they stood still/posed/danced for extended periods of time as well. The entire opening production was pretty low demand, then they moved a lot for about 2 minutes or so, then they danced around for most of Puck. . . the whole "Somewhere" medley was very, very low demand. . . and then they ran around for parts of their closer.

It's kind of funny, because Crown's was my favorite show of the year, with BD a close second. . . I don't understand where people get it in their head that Crown was going crazy running around the whole field and BD was standing still. The chairs are just any easy scapegoat for any BD haters out there. . . Crown did as much (if not more) non-marching/body-movement-related/"low physical demand" stuff as BD. I mean. . .the music box/silent moment in "Somewhere" was 15 whole seconds of no movement on the field. . . followed by about 16 counts of walking, and then another 30-45 seconds of no movement. . . that's an eternity for drum corps. An eternity. It doesn't make the show any easier, and it certainly doesn't make it any less effective (that moment was, to me, the most effective moment in DCI this year). I just don't understand people lobbing this criticism at BD and letting Crown slide. Both were super effective, and both had similar levels of difficulty.

Edited August 15, 2009 by TSRTS13

[Timing Gun]

Wrong again. Write a show that gets people off their butts. BD has done it plenty of times regardless of where they were performing. No matter how many times you write this regional bias crap, it won't make it anymore true.

On a side note, whoever mentioned this hornline diagonal pass through the chairs while the flags were flagging, I must have missed that. Where in the show did that occur? I was trying to pay special attention to chair usage thinking maybe I was wrong thinking it was an easy copout. I never had that moment Saturday night where I felt I was proven wrong by the design usage.

You must have been getting a hot dog for that part of the show. 2009 Allentown, PA VOD 3:01. Clearly you missed it. Guess you only saw what you wanted to see.

Too bad, you missed a great bunch of kids putting on one heck of a show.

Edited August 26, 2009 by Timing Gun