imperfect analogy

[BRASSO]

Here is an admittedly imperfect drum corps analogy (keep in mind, I live in Indy)

Imagine the Blue Devils were undefeated through all the DCI regionals, and had the #1 seed (ie- last performance spot in quarters) locked up by Allentown.

Then, they had one more show befor quarterfinals at Lucas Oil Stadium (say, a Sunday night after Allentown at the NFL Hall of Fame show in Canton).

Now, 2/3 through their show, their director yanks their soprano soloist (you know, the BD stereotypical stratospheric high note guy), and puts in the soloist from the Blue Devils B corps. The kid is young, and may have potential, but while he can hit the high C all day long, he is too inexperienced to handle the lip trill leading up to the double C, and flubs it. Gibbs also pulls out the center snare, guard caption, and drum major (wouldn't want them to get a sudden case of carpal tunnel right before Championships).

The Bluecoats, who are fighting for a top 6 spot at finals, wind up beating BD, thus ruining their opportunity for a perfect season.

The BD Nation (ie- BD alumni and fans) are livid. They light up the drum corps media (DCP), and publications have editorials justifiably bashing the BD leadership (ie- Drum Corps World for example). Even non-BD fans are scratching their heads over the decision. Gibbs justifies his decision by saying that a perfect season was never the goal, but the drum corps public isn't buying it. He also asks rhetorically "what if our soloist got stung on the lip by a bee during the last part of a meaningless show? What would everyone be saying then?"

Again, this is an imperfect analogy (the Bluecoats don't have the #1 ranked defense with BD's young replacement soloist backed up on his own 10 yard line after not playing a note in a show all year long, lol). However, it does say something about the difference between playing it safe, or taking chances to achieve great things (remember the Boston Crusaders undefeated regular season a few years ago? If it weren't for a miracle catch by the that Cadets rifle soloist, they would have won the title that year and capped their own perfect season). ** how long before someone who absolutely doesn't get this analogy protests that the Boston Crusaders have never gone unbeaten etc. lol **

To stay with the football analogy, I think maybe you should have punted........... ( haha.....'just kiddin')

Edited January 2, 2010 by BRASSO