If Lucas Oil was a Bust...

[KeithHall]

Buffalo is very easy to get to. They have an airport and if you hop on I-90 you can't miss it. I also believe the crowds were huge there for those championships. DATW have been selling DC to the community for years and they love it. Probably cheaper to run than anywhere else (I could be slightly wrong here though).

Well let's just discuss them all. First let's start with all of the NFL stadiums and weigh their pros and cons.

Giants Stadium, E. Rutherford NJ - Pros: Artificial turf and plenty of parking Cons: old, very expensive area to stay for a number of days.

Gillette Stadium, Foxboro MA - Pros: Nice stadium, newer, artificial turf now that DCI killed the grass Cons: $25 parking, that #### elevator, expensive area

Land Shark Stadium, Miami FL Pros: Nice stadium, slightly dated, excellent natural surface Cons: Marlins still play there, and it's in Miami...NO

Ralph Wilson Stadium, Buffalo NY Pros: Hosted DCI Finals 3 times. Great parking Cons: It's in Buffalo...how the #### do you get to Buffalo?

Cleveland Stadium, Cleveland OH Pros: New stadium, Rock and Roll HOF Cons: Lake winds, natural grass, Cleveland Rocks? Hmm no

Heinz Field, Pittsburgh PA Pros: New stadium, excellent sight lines Cons: Natural grass, worst turf in the NFL

M&T Bank Stadium, Baltimore MD Pros: Newish stadium, artificial turf, mid-atlantic area appealing to north and south. Cons: Lack of parking perhaps in downtown Baltimore

Paul Brown Stadium, Cincinatti OH Pros: Newish stadium, aritifical turf, midwest locale Cons: Proximity to the interstate (noise) What is there to see in Cincy?

Jacksonville Mun. Stadium Jacksonville FL Pros: ummm Cons: Why not just go back to Orlando? It's in FL, it's grass, it rains alot. The Super Bowl doesn't even want to go back there.

LP Stadium, Nashville TN Pros: Great location, excellent stadium, MUSIC CITY Cons: Semi-south, natural grass,

Lucas Oil Stadium, Indianapolis IN Pros: Great A/C! Nice downtown Cons: ECHO echo echo echo

Reliant Stadium, Houston TX Pros: Retractable roof, drainage! Cons: Retractable roof! HOT! Natural grass

Arrowhead Stadium, Kansas City MO Pros: 2 very successful DCI Finals, Central location, excellent parking Cons: Natural grass

Invesco Field, Denver CO Pros: Apparently everything Cons: Natural grass

Oakland Coliseum, Oakland CA Pros: Excellent seating on the opposite side Cons: grass, Oakland A's still play there. oh and it's in Oakland

Qualcomm Stadium, San Diego CA Pros: San Diego weather, parking Cons: grass, older stadium with bad sight lines, large distance between fans and field

[84BDsop]

Trust me. Pasadena was a huge mistake. San Diego is just a better place for weather and for families. Although the Murph is not an ideal location because they have that stupid baseball infield there. There must be another stadium that could host it there. Where does Univ. of San Diego play their games?

I don't think the baseball infield is there anymore....the Padres moved to their own stadium a few years back.

[hrnguy500]

Bloomington was fairly decent IMO. The seats were little crowded but there wasn't a bad seat in the house. Concessions were a bit poor as was the traffic trying to get in and our of the city.

Denver is still at the top of my list.

What about Chicago? Soldier Field anyone?

[motrouble]

how about soldier field in chicago!

[motrouble]

get outta my head hrnguy! i was thinking the same thing!

[kstein]

Some of the "problems" in other venues can be fixed. I believe the Kraft family would be willing to renegotiate the inflated (to many) parking prices and work with DCI staff so that the stadium staff would better understand how to work with drum corps staff adn fans in Foxboro. I've found that organization to be particularly family and community friendly, so I think many of the gripes could be eliminated. I think the good, smart folks in Bloomington with a bit more notice could really knock the heck out of hosting Finals and improve the overall experience for the fans.

Unfortunately, nothing is going to fix the unbelievably bad acoustics in Indy. Nothing.

[TerriTroop]

Austin... Not really "South" in the traditional sense, but many plusses here. Yes it is hot as h-e-double hockey sticks in TX in Aug, BUT at least it is not humid. With The Crossmen and Revo both being located in TX as well as Forte and some senior corps, I thing TX should be included on the rotation. Memorial Stadium has a HUGE concert side and there is an alternative field on campus that could be used for quarterfinals and Open Class

While I would absolutely LOVE to have Championship Week here in Austin (OMG dream come true!!!) I honestly don't think it would be comfortable enough, heat-wise. At this time of the year it's almost always 98-105, we do have humidity (not like Orlando or Houston, but it's not minimal) and the asphalt where kids would be warming up would be even more scorching. Think San Antonio without air conditioning. (but definitely with better acoustics!!!) Also, summer session classes would still be going on, and the stadium is very central to a great deal of the campus. But I'm sure there would be ways to handle it. Maybe we should try it once?

Crossmen and Revo are only 90 miles away, which would be great for them, and we have several all-age and 18+ corps around the state. I know Texas fans would pack the house for Finals for sure, but those 100+ degree afternoon daytime performances might not get much attendance.

Austin is a great destination city, but it's definitely more like a college town. Plenty of pubs and eats, some nice attractions. My favorite would be Barton Springs pool. It's a natural spring-fed pool with room to wade, swim and dive - there's fish and rocks and lots to see with goggles. It stays a cool 68 degrees all year long. There's the state capitol and some very interesting local shops. SoCo (South Congress) is becoming famous for it's blend of "trailer eateries," upscale restaurants, resale and retail shops and everything in between.

There's plenty of hotel/motel space, but if you want to stay anywhere near the stadium you'll pay major bucks. Luckily the public transportation service is pretty good (buses) and run late enough to handle most any need. I'm sure DCI could set up a contract with the bus system to have a special DCI shuttle service to major parking garages. Most of the major events in Austin set up something with a local school bus contract service or the city.

Oh, that brings up parking. Parking on UT campus, especially during work/school hours? HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!! Ok, there's work to be done there.

I'm talking myself into it, apparently. But still. HOT HOT HOT. And then the big question is UT sports being amenable to having this event come at all. I'm skeptical about that one.

[BigDale]

Camp Randall, Madison, WI.

Nice stadium, loves drum corps, cooler weather, CLEANER CITY and less southern drawls from the locals.

Nicer pubs near the stadium too!

[barigirl78]

San Diego

I go to San Diego for Comic-con every year. It's one of the best places to have ANY event. If they can accomodate the 125,000+ people that go to Comic-con (not including the professionals and vendors), they can accomodate anyone.

[shawn craig]

I loved Invesco Field in Denver.

Can't really comment on the other stadiums except lucas with sucked big time.